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Peter Jones (1802–56) was a mixed-blood Missisauga chief and a Methodist missionary at New Credit, Ontario.

•  Pilling, Proof-sheets, 2024; Pilling, Algonquian, 266; Shoemaker 39161. Not in Sabin; not in Newberry Library, Ayer Indians; not in Boston Athenaeum, Schoolcraft Collection.   Contemporary brown calf, modest triple-rule border on covers in blind; rebacked and spine blind-tooled with ruled compartments containing blind-stamped devices. Lower outer corners of both title-pages torn away and paper repairs made, with partial loss of imprint information on each page; old library rubber-stamp to top of English one. Staining, sometimes heavy; chipping of page edges; pp. 39/40 with large semicircular tear with loss of text. Far from a perfect copy, but copies are extremely uncommon in commerce these days.  (25853)

Arndt and Eck cite Bender, who says “This first American Mennonite Hymnbook isnot to be confused with one of similar title printed by Saur at Germantown in 1753, called erroneously by Seidensticker and Flory a Mennonite hymnbook.” Each portion of this item has a separate title-page, with the second section's title-page reading Sammlung altre und neuer Geistreichen Gesänge. The woodcut frontispiece depicts David playing his harp.

•  Arndt & Eck 2419; Shoemaker 2239.   Contemporary calf rebacked some time ago, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and publication labels; rubbed, original clasps now lacking. Front fly-leaves with early inked and pencilled inscriptions. Final leaf (pp. 21/22 of the 22-page appendix of brief hymn texts, not of the main portion of the work) lacking. Edge nicks, chips, and tears, some extending into text; three leaves torn in half from outer margin, without loss of text; two leaves (one index) with lower outer corner torn away, with loss of a few words; last two leaves with outer edges ragged. Some upper corners bumped. Pages browned, with waterstaining to lower inner portions of about a third of the volume.  (25569)

Binding: American binding of straight-grain black morocco framed in wide gilt roll with smaller blind roll and blind-tooled corner decorations, spine gilt extra, board edges with gilt rolls; gilt inner dentelles. All edges gilt. The binding has tools that are the same as seen on examples in the Maser Collection at Bryn Mawr College and the Papantonio Collection at the American Antiquarian Society that were executed by Wilson & Nichols.

Provenance:  Presentation inscription on the front fly-leaf, “Rv. G.T. Bedell [probably Gregory, Rector of St. Andrew's, Philadelphia] / with the regards / of Thos. N. Stanford” [probably the New York publisher]. Later in an institutional library; deaccessioned.

In a neat old hand, virtually every hymn has its author identified; in one place, two alternate lines are supplied.

•  Shoemaker 30362. On binding: Maser, Bookbinding in America, 37; Papantonio, Early American Bookbindings, 47.  Binding as above, rubbed at points and front cover with two scuffed areas affecting tooling, one of the gilt, one of a blind bit; back cover with other, less striking scuffed spots; spine head pulled. Spine leather overall pebbled, or roughened, by exposure to significant heat; gilt tooling much dimmed, though still “readable.” Front pastedown with institutional bookplate, deaccession noted. Front fly-leaf with early inked gift inscription as above and pencilled annotation dated 1845. Pencilled annotations to hymns as noted above; title-page with shadow of pencilled annotation in upper margin. Spots of staining to first and last few leaves. Priced according to its afflictions, not its continuing points of interest. (25654)

•  Hymnal: Shaw & Shoemaker 43969 ( = 43951); Arndt, The First Century of German Language Printing in the United States of America, 2286. Kurze Andachten: Shaw & Shoemaker 44299; Arndt 2288.   Contemporary black roan in imitation of straight-grain morocco, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; binding with minor scuffing, spine with faintly visible scuff from now-absent shelving label. Front pastedown institutionally rubber-stamped; back pastedown with Pennsylvania bookseller's small ticket. Expectable spots of browning throughout as usual in German imprints of this period. A few page corners dog-eared.  (24426)

Signed binding: Front free endpaper stamped “Bound by R.W. Smith.”

•  ESTC T92186.   19th-century half morocco with marbled paper-covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; refurbished. Title-page with old institutional pressure-stamp; rear free endpaper with paper adhesion and tear as from removal of old “due” slip. All edges gilt. A few scattered light spots, occasional pencilled marginalia, pages otherwise clean. A nice copy.  (19510)

Nicely printed, this is illustrated with an engraved frontispiece portrait of John Fellows, with the titles of some of his other works (see above) appearing beneath it; preliminary pages (8 pp.) consist of a dedication to the Rev. Mr. John Ryland of Northampton, and a preface. Stated at foot of title-page: “Price One Shilling and Six-Pence.”

Rare:  ESTC locates only two copies in the U.S., and this is one of them, now deaccessioned; and OCLC adds only the copy at Yale.

•  ESTC N39616; on Fellows, see: Edwin F. Hatfield's The Poets of the Church (New York, 1884), & Josiah Miller's Singers and Songs of the Church (London, 1869).   Recent quarter calf and marbled paper over boards; gilt-stamped leather spine labels, gilt-ruled raised bands, gilt rule where leather meets paper of covers. Title-page chipped at upper right corner, one leaf a little ragged at outer edge, another leaf repaired at outer margin. Pages overall clean, but with some random spotting and slight age-toning, including to title-page and frontispiece; light offsetting to title-page from facing plate. Ex-library with “no. 5" marked in blue crayon at the top of title-page; faintest traces of library call number on the verso; no other markings. Final three pages (pp. 94–96) mispaginated 118, 119, and 120. Handsome.  (24459)

OCLC and ESTC find only one U.S. location (and one former location, since deaccessioned); NUC Pre-1956 does not even list this edition.

•  ESTC T92017.   Period-style speckled calf, covers framed in blind double fillets, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; signed in blind on lower rear turn-in by Grace Bindings. Title-page verso with private collector's elegant 19th-century rubber-stamp. Frontispiece mounted; upper outer corner of title-page repaired. Frontispiece and title-page gently age-toned, pages otherwise clean. A handsome little volume.  (25287)

•  Shaw & Shoemaker 4172; Goedeke, Grundriss zur Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung aus den Quellen, 572; Arndt, First Century of German Language Printing in the United States of America, 1337. Andachten: Shaw & Shoemaker 4360; Arndt 1338. Anhang: Shaw & Shoemaker 4171; Arndt 1334. Contemporary sheep, spine with later and sympathetic gilt-stamped title and author labels, binding with brass and leather clasps (intact); leather rubbed and some chipped away with joints open though holding, and spine leather showing some cracking. Front pastedown, free endpaper, and fly-leaf with early inked ownership inscriptions; back pastedown with later pencilled notation; front free endpaper separated and back free endpaper lacking. Pages age-toned and spotted (as usual in German imprints of this period); some corners dog-eared. One leaf with portion of outer margin torn away, with loss of a few words. Condition actually rather typical, for this sort of volume!

Binding:  Contemporary red goat, framed in gilt floral tooling with crowned fleurons, covers stamped with center medallions of crowned monograms surmounted by herald angels. Supra-Libros —“Chapel Royal St James's.”  Board edges gilt-tooled. All edges gilt, with fore-edge painting as below.

•  ESTC T123146.   Binding as above, strongly rebacked with red morocco, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and compartments with gilt-stamped floral decorations; older portions with rubbing and a few small scuffs. Minor rubbing to page edge gilt and to fore-edge; pages gently age-toned with the odd faint spot. An altogether lavish little production.  (26522)

•  Contemporary sheep with spine gilt extra and covers gilt modestly, rubbed and pulled at top of spine; ex-library with paper label and remnant of call number on spine, perforation-stamps on title- and one other leaf, several inked or stamped old numbers, and old pencilling. Paper browned as so often, with some foxing and soiling; all edges red.  (25827)

•  Publisher's quarter cloth with illustrated paper sides. Inside front hinge weak and paper split due to nature of binding. Else, sound. (3595)

•  Shaw & Shoemaker 30511; Richmond 1416.   Full original calf, plain style, rubbed overall with small chips on front cover; chip at head of spine, front joint starting. Paper browned, and some stains; a bit of blue crayon doodling in blank area of top left corner of p. 50. Early leaves with stitch holes in inner margin, not touching text; three leaves with tears, not affecting text. Ex–theological library with area of spine blacked out where call number once was; library name and five-digit number rubber-stamped on front pastedown, accession number inked and rubber-stamped at base of p. [iii]. (21139)