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RELIGION

A B BIBLES C D-E F-G H-J
K-L M N-P Q-R S T-V W-Z
ANTIQUARIAN
CATHOLICA
HAS ITS OWN, ADDITIONAL “AISLE”
IN THE PRB&M
WEBSHOP — WHICH
SEE.
 If
you are interested in THE REFORMATION,
you will usually find things herein, below;
but your best bet is to click to our
16TH-CENTURY
shelves.
See
also, via the Catalogue of Web Catalogues,
discrete gatherings devoted to Judaica/Hebraica, Books of Common
Prayer, Hymnals, Quakers/Friends, Mormon/LDS, Bibles
& Testaments . . .
etc. . . .
For
an unillustrated PDF gathering of “Mission'iana”
click here.
&
for extended, unillustrated PDF lists of denominational interest
check here.
|

Separation of Church & State — RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
First Collected Edition
(A
LANDMARK). Locke, John.
Letters concerning toleration. London: A. Millar, H. Woodfall, I. Whiston &
B. White, I. Rivington, et al., 1765. 4to (29.5 cm, 11.6"). Frontis., [8], 399,
[1 (blank)] pp.
$2000.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First collected edition of Locke's four letters on the subject of religious liberty, including the original Latin text of the groundbreaking first letter. The first Letter Concerning Toleration, originally published in 1689, was widely read (including by Jefferson) and served as a major philosophical support for freedom of worship by all, including Jews, Muslims, and pagans. Locke's subsequent letters — the fourth was left unfinished at the time of his death — were defenses of the first against attacks made by Anglican clergyman Jonas Proast.
The copper-engraved frontispiece portrait of the author was done by I.B. Cipriani after Sir Godfrey Kneller; it is celebrated.
This is a lovely, “gentleman's library” edition, well printed with generous margins.
Provenance: Two text pages and back pastedown with flourished ownership inscriptions of Richard Wood, Jr., dated 1780.
ESTC T114245; Graesse, IV, 243; Lowndes 1380; Allibone 1113–14. Contemporary speckled calf, spine with gilt-ruled raised bands and gilt-stamped leather title-label; binding lightly rubbed/scuffed overall, joints starting from top and front hinge (inside) starting; spine with a chip and a small paper label. Front pastedown with three bookplates most tantalizingly layered over one another, the most recent being from a 19th-century social club library; front free endpaper with pencilled and inked numerals in an early hand. Pages age-toned and faintly to moderately spotted; minor offsetting from frontispiece to title-page. (26302)
This entry is repeated in the
“KL” section of this
catalogue . . .
A
Restoration
Binding
A Painted
Fore-Edge
(A
Long-Treasured Heirloom). Church
of England. Book of Common Prayer.
The book of common prayer and administration of the sacraments, and other rites
and ceremonies of the church, according to the use of the Church of England.
Together with the Psalter or Psalms of David, pointed as they are to be sung
or said in churches. London: John Bill, Thomas Newcomb, & Henry Hills, 1680.
12mo (14.7 cm, 5.75"). [432] pp. (lacking A1, blank or licence). [with]
Bible.
English. Authorized (i.e., “King James Version”). 1679. The
Holy Bible, containing the Old Testament and the New ... appointed to be read
in churches. London: John Bill, Thomas Newcomb, & Henry Hills, 1679. 12mo.
[870] pp. [and with] Bible.
O.T. Psalms. English. Sternhold & Hopkins. 1679. The whole
book of Psalms, collected into English metre, by Thomas Sternbold, John Hopkins,
and others. London: Pr. for the Company of Stationers, 1679. 12mo. [72] pp.
$6875.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Beautiful family heirloom prayerbook containing a later, but
still 17th-century, printing of the King James Bible alongside the BCP
and Psalter. The Bible is printed in two columns of roman type, without the
Apocrypha; the New Testament has a separate title-page dated 1679. The Book
of Common Prayer does not exactly match any of the 1680 printings described
by ESTC or Griffiths: the collation ends with S12, while the title-page
does not include “and
the form & manner of making, ordaining, & consecrating of bishops,
priests, and deacons,” nor does it give “Printed by the assigns
of . . . “ before the publishers' names. The Psalter is likewise an
unusual variant, not exactly matching any variant in ESTC.
Provenance:
Fore-edge painted with “Elizabeth Smith, 1680";
front fly-leaf with inscription recording the birth of William Rice in 1681
and with inscription of Charles Knowlton, dated 1738; fly-leaf verso with
early inked genealogy describing the Smith-Rice-Knowlton descent.
Binding:
Elaborate Restoration binding: black morocco framed in gilt semi-circle and
strawberry rolls surrounding a broken panel design of red-inlaid scalloped
corners decorated with floral-dotted volutes, containing a bouquet of tulips
and other flowers with red and citron morocco inlays; the upper- and lowermost
tulips each with a smaller gilt-stamped flower and leaf tool inside, spaces
filled with small flowers and dots. Spine gilt extra using cover rolls and
additional floral decorations, with two decorated compartments of red morocco;
board edges and turn-ins with gilt rolls. The tools used do not appear to
be an exact match to any binder represented in Bennett, Nixon, or Maggs: Bookbinding
in the British Isles, although the tulip with superimposed small flower
is reminiscent of the binder Nixon identifies as the Small Carnation Binder.
All edges gilt. Fore-edge painted with name as above, surrounded by hand-painted
floral decorations.
BCP: Wing (rev. ed.) B3659B. Not in ESTC; not in Griffiths
(see 1680/5 for a very close example). Bible: ESTC R215858; Wing (rev.
ed.) B2308A; Herbert 758. Psalms: Not in ESTC, not in Wing.
Binding as above, front joint cracked (sewing holding) with corners/edges
rubbed; spine leather with small cracks and head chipped, small area darkened.
BCP lacking A1, either a blank or a licence and much more likely an
initial blank; title-page repaired at one corner. Elsewhere, one leaf with
tear from outer margin, extending across one column without loss; page edges
with occasional small smudges from fore-edge decorations; some faint spotting
and foxing. Now housed in a café au lait morocco slipcase mistakenly
giving 1630 as year of publication, based on misleading print impression on
title-page.
A good and interesting book apart from its extraordinary
binding, charming fore-edge treatment, and multi-generational provenance.
(25925)
This entry is repeated in the
“C” section . . .


Famous for Its
Maps of the Holy Land
& Based on Sources Now Lost
Adrichem (a.k.a. Adrichom), Christiaan van. Theatrum Terrae Sanctae et biblicarum historiarum cum tabulis geographicis aere expressis. [colophon: Coloniae Agrippinae: Officina Birckmannica, sumptibus Hermanni Mylij, 1628]. Folio (37 cm; 14.5"). [6] ff., 256 pp., [15] ff.; 12 fold. or double-page engr. maps.
$10,000.00
Next to the last edition, and fifth overall, of Adrichem's important and influential work on the Holy Land. Adrichem (1533–85) was a Delft-born priest (a.k.a. Christianus Crucius) who wrote several works on Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
Theatrum Terrae Sanctae is famous for its engraved maps, but the work is justly sought for its descriptions of Palestine and the antiquities of Jerusalem. Additionally the work contains a chronology from Adam to 1585, the year of the author's death.

First published in 1590, Theatrum Terrae Sanctae had subsequent editions in 1593, 1600, 1613, 1628, and 1682; and was translated in several languages, including English. Because Adrichem used contemporary sources that are now lost, the work is important for the history of Palestine and Israel during the last half of the 16th century.
The work begins with an engraved allegorical title-page, has woodcut initials and tailpieces, and bears
12 folding or double-page engraved maps. The text is printed in roman type in double-column format.
VD17 12:119393Z; Bibliographia Belgica A 131; Tobler 210; Röhricht 210–11. Recent full black morocco, tooled in coppery gilt old style. Some browning to maps, a few very old repairs to same; endpapers and some other leaves with instances of darkening at edges, the leaf “behind” the largest folding element showing this most strikingly (and showing it extended farthest into the margins). Foremargins brittle and some with short tears or with strengthening strips.
In all, a good+ copy and a very handsome volume. (24104)

UPBRAIDING a Lutheran Theologian for
His Statements on Transubstantiation
Ad frivolas calumnias, et cavillationes sophisticas Danielis Hoffmanni doctoris theologiae responsio ministrorum Ecclesiae Bremensis, qua monetur Hoffmannus, ut suo se pede metiens, & secum habitans, ad sobrietatem sapere discat, neque supra quam sapere opertet, sapiat. Bremae: ex officina typographica Theodori Glückstein, 1584. Small 8vo (16.2 cm; 6.25"). [32] ff.
$775.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Daniel Hoffmann (1538–1621) seems to be remembered now for having engaged in disputes in which he ended up making frivolous and indefensible assertions. The present publication arose from his statement concerning transubstantiation during a debate with other Lutheran theologians.The text is in Latin printed in italic, but with some passages in Greek and others in German (the latter printed in fraktur). One final section is entirely in Greek.
There were only two editions of this printed, one year apart. This is the second (1584) and is apparently much scarcer than the first (1583): It is not listed in VD16 and WorldCat finds only two copies worldwide, one of which has been deaccessioned.
VD16 A184 (for 1583 ed.). Recent ebony-brown calf old style: Round spine, fillets extending onto covers terminating in trefoils, and covers framed in blind double fillets. Very good condition. (26755)
Reformation Concern about
Monasticism
Ain Schoner Dialogus wie ain Bawr mit aim Frawe[n] brüder Münch redt[,] das er die Kutten von jm würfft, vnd dem Münch arbayt zügeben, lustbarlich vnd lieblich zu lesen. [Augsburg: Philipp Ulhart d.Ä.], 1525. Small 4to (19 cm; 7.5"). 6 pp.
$900.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Monasticism and the nature of religious orders was a key early topic of debate during the first decade of the Reformation, and this “pretty dialogue” was one in the body of literature on the topic. There were three editions, all printed in 1525 (one each at Strassburg, Augsburg, and Würzburg).
This edition has a handsome, single-unit woodcut title-border incorporating pillars, stags, vines, and cherubs. The text is in fraktur, of course.
Rare: WorldCat locates only one copy of any edition in the U.S. (at Emory — this edition), while VD16 locates three German copies each for the Augsburg and Würzburg editions and only a microform of the Strassburg printing.
Kuczynsk 579; VD16 S3433. Removed from a nonce volume. One small area of discoloration on title-page. Very good condition. (25922)
Allix, Pierre. Dissertatio de Trisagii origine. Rothomagi: Apud Joannem Lucas, 1674. 8vo (18.2 cm, 7.125"). A–I4; 70 pp., [1 (blank)] f.
$1000.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Peter Allix (1641–1717) was a Huguenot pastor and theologian
noted for his works on theology and Church history: In this work he investigates
the origins of the well-known Greek hymn, the Trisagion, i.e., “Holy God,
Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us” that also figures prominently
in Western liturgies. Obliged to flee France following the revocation of the
edict of Nantes in 1685, he continued his academic writings (now in English)
and—using the Anglican liturgy—founded a French church in London.
This
sole
edition is ornamented with a woodcut printer’s device
and a woodcut headpiece and initial; the text is referenced with sidenotes.
Rare:
Only two copies traced in the U.S. via OCLC, RLIN, and NUC Pre-1956.
Provenance: Bookplate of Virtue
& Cahill Library (the library of Portsmouth’s Catholic Cathedral)
no. 8783, with a large overlaid rubber-stamp thereon starkly, blackly noting
the dispersal and eventual sale of the library “following enemy action”—the
cathedral having been bombed by the Germans in 1941.
On Allix, see: The Dictionary of National Biography,
I, 334–35. 19th- or early 20th-century half calf over marbled paper,
spine with gilt title; edges of leather with a dog’s tooth roll in blind.
Leather rubbed, especially on joints and edges. Some soiling and waterstaining,
mostly light and most notable on early leaves, with some small wormholes in
the margins; a little fine chipping and some shallow dog-ears. Old inked ownership
inscription on title-page, crossed out but still legible.

Anti-Anabaptist
Althamer, Andreas, attrib. author. Ein kurtze Vntterricht, den Pfarherrn und Predigern: Inn meiner gnedigen Herrn der Marggraffen zu Branndenburg. [et]c. Fürstenthumben un[d] Landen, hieniden in Francken, und auff dem Gebirg verordent, wes sie das Volck wider etliche verfürische Lere, der Widertauffer, an den Feyertägen auff der Canntzel, zum getreülichsten und besten, auss götlicher Schrifft vermanen, und unterrichten sollen. [Nuremberg: Jobst Gutknecht, 1528]. Small 4to (20 cm; 8.75"). [14] ff.
$975.00
Click the image for an enlargement.
Althamer (1498–1564), a Lutheran minister, was a strident opponent of the Anabaptists. This work, written at the behest of Margrave George of Brandenburg, who after publication had it distributed to all pastors and preachers in his realm, aims to prove the doctrine of infant baptism from the Old Testament and in doing so ties it directly to circumcision as a sign of the divine covenant and grace.
During the Bern Disputation (1528) Althamer stood and defended the Lutheran doctrine of the Lord's Supper.
This is printed in gothic type and offers a title-page graced by a four-element woodcut
border composed of floral, avian, and animal motifs, with putti not forgotten.
Provenance: Ownership signature on title-page of Howard Osgood, noted late 19th- and early 20th-century collector and scholar; old circular pressure-stamp on same page of a seminary (properly released).
WorldCat finds two copies in North America, one of which has been deaccessioned, and COPAC finds two copies in Great Britain, both at the British Library.
Hillerbrand, Anabaptism,3577; VD16 ZV2334 or ZV2333 or B6972 (all listed without attrib. author). Removed from a nonce volume, provenance indications as above. Light dust-soiling to exterior paper; minor library pencillings and one old inked numeral; limited brown stain in blank area of last leaf, offsetting to previous page opposite. A few instances of marginal notation or textual correction in old ink and an old hand. (25960)

Creepy Crawlies & Winged Wish-they-weren'ts
American Tract Society. Lessons from insect life. With numerous illustrations. Boston: American Tract Society, [1863]. 12mo. Frontis., 185, [1 (blank) pp.
[SOLD]
Click the images for enlargements.
Illustrated with more than a dozen in-text wood engravings of ants, spiders, ant-eaters, kermes, branches of bushes, etc.
Publisher's green textured cloth modestly blind-stamped at board edges and with the ATS logo blind-embossed in the center of each cover, spine stamped and lettered in gold, now dull. Ex–social club library: call number on pastedown, rubber-stamp on title-page, no other markings. Lacks the front free endpaper and with a very few stains; overall a very nice copy. (26267)

“The
Foule Mist of
Anabaptisme”
Anonymous. A short history of the Anabaptists of High and Low Germany. London: Robert Austin, 1647. 4to (19.3 cm, 7.6"). [2], 56 pp.
$600.00
Third edition, following the first of 1642 and second of 1643, of this uncommon anti-Baptist diatribe, in which the unidentified author accuses Anabaptists of being false to the true
Reformed religion and likely to “bring us in time to community of wives, community of goods, and destruction of all” (p. 56).
Click the images for enlargements.
ESTC R30642; Wing (rev. ed.) S3598. Later plain paper wrappers with edge wear and chipping at spine. Title-page with very old institutional pressure-stamp and early inked numeral in upper margin. Outer corners stained, edges ragged; one leaf with upper outer corner torn away, with loss of a few words; title-page darkened and last page stained; still a good, usable copy. (25531)

Defending the Immortality of the Soul
&
also the Necessity of a Revealed Religion
Anonymous. Free thoughts upon the discourse of free-thinking. London: John Pemberton, 1713. 8vo (19.8 cm, 7.8"). [4], 68 pp.
$400.00
First edition of this anonymously published, unattributed response to Anthony Collins's Discourse of Free-thinking. That controversial treatise, the groundbreaking work of the 17th- and 18th-century English Freethought movement, inspired numerous rebuttals, with the present item being one of the less commonly seen replies.
ESTC T96164. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with gilt-stamped leather title-label. Pages slightly age-toned, else clean. (20770)

Duty Revisited with a
New Spin: Faith Added
Anonymous. The new Whole duty of man, containing the faith as well as practice of a Christian; made easy for the practice of the present age ... fourteenth edition. London: Edward Wicksteed, [1756]. 12mo (18.1 cm, 7.15"). Frontis., add. engr. t.-p., [2], xiv, 556 (i.e., 565), [18], 584–85, [3] pp.
[SOLD]
Extensive reworking of Richard Allestree's devotional classic, first published in 1658. This much-altered version of the hugely popular guide to moral conduct “treats of the faith as well as practice of a Christian” (p. 583) and was first published in 1741 in competition with a printing of the old, unrevised version, which — as the title-page here notes — “was designed for those unhappy Times in which it was written.” Much criticism of the original text is present. The updated rendition cites several major areas where the first Duty had been lacking, with details under those topics including “the Duty of Princes,” “the King's Supremacy in ecclesiastical Affairs, and Power to punish evil Ministers,” “the Deceit and sin of Borrowing on bad Securities,” and (for wives) “How to behave to an adulterous Husband; and how to reclaim him.”
Click the images for enlargements.
The original Whole Duty is now generally ascribed to Allestree although, as the DNB says, “it has by some been supposed that Allestree joined [his good friend and biographer] Bishop [John] Fell” in writing it.” Allestree (1619–81) was a royalist Church of England clergyman; Bishop Fell reports that “few of his time had either a greater compass or a deeper insight into all parts of learning” (DNB). The hand responsible for the present alterations of his most famous work has not yet been identified.
The volume begins with a copper-engraved frontispiece depicting Moses giving the law and Jesus giving grace and truth, and an additional engraved title-page. The frontispiece to the original edition, done by
Hollar, is reproduced here as a full-page illustration. The section of “Private Devotions: Containing directions and prayers for morning and evening . . .” has a separate title-page.
Provenance: Large ownership note of Nathan Levering on imprimitur page; the start, perhaps, of his second signature (much smaller) to the bottom of the title-page.
This edition is uncommon, as are most of the other printings from this time period. OCLC and ESTC locate only three U.S. institutional holdings, two of which have since been deaccessioned.
ESTC T80506. On Allestree, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online. Contemporary speckled calf framed in gilt double fillets, recently rebacked, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-dotted raised bands; corners and edges rubbed. Lower edges (closed) institutionally rubber-stamped; frontispiece and several pages pressure-stamped; dedication with inked annotation and numeral. Front fly-leaf with early inked annotation consisting mostly of numerals; title-page verso with inked ownership inscription as above. Foxing and the occasional stain; one leaf with short tear from outer margin touching text without loss; one index leaf with tear affecting a few words. In fact, a decent copy of this interesting book. (25857)
His
Fellow Novice Was Fra Angelico
. . .
An
INCUNABLE
from the Press
of Grüninger
Antoninus, Saint, Abp. of Florence. Tertia pars totius
su[m]me maioris beati Antonini [i.e., Summa theologica, pars tertia]. [Argentinae: Johann Grüninger,
1496]. Folio ( 31 cm; 12/25"). [311 of 312] ff., lacks final blank.
$4000.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Fame would descend on at least three of the would-be Dominicans who made their
noviates in 1405 at Cortona under Bl. Lawrence of Ripafratta. They were Fra Angelico — the painter;
Fra Bartolommeo — the miniaturist; and St. Antoninus (1389–1459) — the reformer and theological
writer.
Summa Theologica Moralis is the saint's principal work and was written shortly before his death.
Scholars say it marks a new and considerable development in moral theology, as well as containing
a fund of matter for the student of the history of the 15th century.
Offered here is vol. III (of 5) of the Strassburg, 1496, incunable edition from the press of Johann
Gruninger. It is printed in gothic type, double-column format of mostly 67 lines, with some guide
letters (unaccomplished) and spaces for capitals.
Provenance: 1630 ownership
inscription; later in the library of a divinity school, deaccessioned.
Goff A-878; Hain-Copinger 1249; GKW 2192; BMC, I, 109; Polain 272; Proctor 469;
ISTC ia00878000. Full modern calf old style: Spine with raised bands, accented
with gilt rules, small gilt place/date stamps, and otherwise plain (with no labels); rules in blind
extending onto covers from each band to terminate in trefoils with blind double fillets beyond. “Title-page” with 17th-century notes about the author and the printing of this work in a very neat hand in
Latin. Light waterstaining in some margins; pin-type wormholes in lower margin of early leaves. A
few leaves with browning due to impurities in water during paper manufacture; paper in fact excellent.
Lacks final blank (only). A fine production. (25495)

Extended MANUSCRIPT in an
UNCOMMON PHILIPPINE LANGUAGE
Antonio Lobato de Santo Tomás. Manuscript in Ibanag on paper: “Quinque sermones in quinque precipuis festivitatibus B. Maria Virginis. Quibus accedunt sermo in feria quarta cinerumz et sermo in dominica 2o post octavam trinitatis. Per R. P. fray Antoniium Lobatao de Sto. Thomas. Tuguegarao, The Philippines: 1776–80. Small 4to. 196 pp.
$30,000.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Precious few manuscript sources in the Ibanag language survive from the Spanish colonial era of the Philippines. Only a handful of missionaries worked in the region of the northeastern Philippine provinces of Isabela and Cagayan, most notably in Tuguegarao City, Solana, Cabagan, and Ilagan, where the language was/is spoken; and not all mastered the tongue. Fray Antonio Lobato was one of those who did and it was he who took Fr. José Bugarin's Ibanag–Spanish dictionary, created in the previous century, and edited it to a usable work — though the result was not published until the 19th century, and, apparently, no other work was published in the language during the 16th, 17th, or 18th centuries.
The importance, then, of
a large body of work set down in the Ibanag language, from the 18th century and as written/spoken by one of the seminal scholars of the language, should be obvious for anyone researching the language as understood by missionaries, as used by missionaries, as influenced by Spanish, and as held out by Spaniards of authority as the model of Ibanag speech to be emulated. Beyond this, of course, is the interest of the sermons themselves, letting us see what the Ibanaq speakers were hearing from their missionaries — or, at least, this missionary — in this place, in this period.
Fray Antonio's sermons are here written in a clear, easy to read hand and the dates of composition or of delivery are often noted.
Provenance: A signature “Fr. Antonio Lobato de Sto. Thomas” appears at the bottom of the last page and is almost certainly that of the the friar himself, which would mean that this is his autograph manuscript of the sermons.
Contemporary very stiff vellum. Binding gnawed by a rodent with loss. Written on a good quality European paper, with some soiling and an occasional stain. No faults are serious and overall this is a remarkably good survival for an 18th-century Philippines manuscript. Now housed in a blue cloth clamshell box. (23668)
For
more CATHOLICA, click here.
[Arnall,
William]. The second part of the case of tythes; containing animadversions
on a reverend prelate’s remarks upon the bill now depending in Parliament...to
which are prefix’d the reverend prelate’s remarks. The third edition,
with additions. London: J. Peele, 1731. 8vo (19 cm, 7.5"). 32 pp.
$425.00

A political writer who took up his pen at a very tender age, Arnall
became a target of Pope’s wrath (in the epilogue to the Satires:
“Spirit of Arnall, aid me whilst I lie!”). Here he involves himself
in the contemporary debate over tithing rights, questioning assertions made
in favor of the clergy. The points he rebuts were made by Thomas Sherlock, in
his Remarks upon a Bill Now Depending in Parliament; the response appeared
in its earlier editions under the simpler title Animadversions on a Reverend
Prelate’s Remarks, with this third edition being the first to bear
the expanded title, which apparently refers to Arnall’s text serving as
the second part of the prelate’s remarks.
Conveniently, both Sherlock’s argument and Arnall’s
response are printed here.
ESTC T108041. On Arnall, see: The Dictionary of National
Biography, II, 103). Removed from a nonce volume and now in a Mylar folder.
Final page stamped by a now-defunct institution. Small area of worming in
lower outer corner throughout, not touching text.
Arnold, Thomas. Principles of Church reform. London: Pr. [by R. Clay] for B. Fellowes, 1833. 8vo (20 cm, 7.875"). v, [1 (blank)], 88 pp.
$225.00
Principles of Church Reform by Thomas Arnold (1795–1842), the famous reforming headmaster of Rugby, was an important and controversial argument for comprehension of Protestant dissenters within the Church of England, including proposals for revising Church government and liturgy to encourage that. This is the first of four 19th-century editions, all published in 1833 (it was also reprinted by SPCK in 1962).
Single-click
the image,
for an enlargement.
NSTC 2A16362. On Arnold, see: DNB, II, 113–17. Removed from a nonce volume. A few dog ears, some shallow chipping, and traces of soiling. A little underlining and sidelining in old ink.
[Asgill,
John]. Mr. Asgill’s defence upon his expulsion from the House of
Commons of Great Britain in 1707. With an introduction, and a postscript. London:
A. Baldwin, 1712. 8vo (19.2 cm, 7.55"). 87, [1] pp.
$200.00

Asgill, expelled from the Irish House of Commons for the questionable
state of his finances and then from the English House for having published his
claim that true believers in Christ will be translated wholly into Heaven rather
than experiencing bodily death, here expounds on
his rapturous religious
tenets while affirming his belief in the Scriptures and denying
any wrongdoing—especially in the pesky land speculation matter. One might,
upon perusing Asgill’s arguments, agree with the assessment made by the
printer of the original treatise, who “fancy’d [Asgill] was a little
craz’d” (p. 40).
This example is apparently a variant state of the first edition of 1712 (ESTC
does not distinguish between variants, grouping all entries under one listing),
with p. 61, line 8 ending “of the Romish Persuasion.’
ESTC T41498. On Asgill, see: The Dictionary of National Biography,
II, 159–61. Removed from a nonce volume, now in a Mylar folder. Title-page
with small numeric stamp, spots of discoloration. A few pages more notably
browned than their neighbors; otherwise generally clean.

The Very Rare Richmond Printing
First Edition of the First Register — Anti-Slavery Content
Asplund, John. The annual register of the Baptist denomination, in North-America; to the first of November, 1790. Containing an account of the churches and their constitutions, ministers, members, associations, their plan and sentiments, rule and order, proceedings and correspondence. Also remarks upon practical religion. [Richmond: Printed by Dixon, Nicolson, and Davis, April, 1792]. 4to (18.5 cm; 7.5"). iv, 5-60 pp.
$2250.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
First edition of the first Baptist annual register, with an anti-slavery statement set firmly forth.
The wonderful cataloguers at the American Antiquarian Society write of this edition: “Apparently printed in sections, presumably by John Dixon, Thomas Nicolson and Augustine Davis, rival Richmond printers. The first 16 p. were probably printed in 1791; p. 17-60 in or before April, 1792. Evans, however, postulates that the first 16 p. were printed by Thomas Dobson of Philadelphia in September, 1792, and that Asplund replaced the original gatherings A and B of this edition with Dobson’s corrected sheets. Cf. the prefaces to the 1794 and 1796 editions, with title: The universal register of the Baptist denomination . . .”
In addition to its exhaustive account of who's who and what's where, this lists
both principles of belief and “Rules of Decorum”; the latter, e.g.,
forbid laughing and whispering when another member of the association is speaking
in assembly. Just before the Appendix, Asplund remarks on the un-Christian “inconsistency”
of “Keeping our fellow-creatures in bondage, who have as good a right
was we, both to civil and religions liberty — Not only so; but misusing
them, concerning common blessings, which certainly is a violation of the rights
of nature and inconsistent with a republican government.”
This
was a standard Baptist stance, if not one universally held; it is striking here
as appearing on p. 52, in the part of the pamphlet that Evans and the AAS agree
was Richmond-printed. At the end of that section,
Asplund notes that
he
is writing from the American “field”
“N.B. I am now travelling to collect materials for the Baptist History
of Virginia, which, perhaps, will be in print within eighteen months.”
Rare. We trace fewer
than half a dozen copies in U.S. libraries.
Evans 26580; Sabin 2222; ESTC W37301. 19th-century half
morocco with marbled paper covered boards; binding with label of “John
C. Moore, Rochester, NY.” Ex-library with area of discoloration on front
board where call number label was removed; bookplate on front pastedown; rubber-stamp
on title-page, and small stamp and pencilling on rear of same. Approximately
60% of title-leaf replaced in pen and ink facsimile. Some foxing and age-toning.
Not an ideal copy, but given the rarity, a darned good one. (24456)

Dobson Printing of
Asplund's Annual Register
Asplund, John. The annual register of the Baptist denomination, in North-America; to the first of November, 1790. Containing an account of the churches and their constitutions, ministers, members, associations, their plan and sentiments, rule and order, proceedings and correspondence. Also remarks upon practical religion. [Philadelphia: Pr. by Thomas Dobson, 1792]. Small 4to. iv, 5-57, [1], 69-70 pp.
$650.00
According to the OPAC at the American Antiquarian Society, this is “An abridgment of the 70 p. Philadelphia edition (Evans 26583) printed by Dobson in September 1772 [i.e., 1792]. In the present issue, the appendix relating to the Baptist churches of Great Britain (p. 58-66) has been omitted, and p. 57 has been reset.
Click the images for enlargements.
As is the case with the 70 p. issue, the first 16 p. are the same sheets as appear in the original [Richmond, April 1792] edition (Evans 26580), and were probably printed in 1791. Evans, however, postulates that the first 16 p. were printed by Dobson in September 1792. He accounts for their presence in copies of the [Richmond] edition of 60 p. by suggesting that Asplund substituted the corrected Philadelphia sheets for the unsatisfactory sheets of the earlier edition. Cf. the prefaces to the 1794 and 1796 editions, with title: The universal register of the Baptist denomination.”
In addition to its exhaustive account of who's who and what's where, this lists both principles of belief and “Rules of Decorum”; the latter, e.g., forbid laughing and whispering when another member of the association is speaking in assembly. Between the “Rules of Decorum” and the Index, Asplund remarks on the un-Christian “inconsistency” of “Keeping our fellow-creatures in bondage, who have as good a right was we, both to civil and religions liberty — Not only so; but misusing them, concerning common blessings, which certainly is a violation of the rights of nature and inconsistent with a republican government.”
Evans 26582; ESTC W37302. Uncut copy. In 20th-century black buckram binding. Ex-library with bookplate but no other markings. (24467)
Associate
Reformed Church in North America. The Constitution and Standards....
New York: Pr. by T.J. Swords, 1799. 8vo (21.5 cm, 8.5"). 612 pp., [2] ff.
$475.00

Scottish “Covenanters” (so-called because they signed
the "National Covenant" against the BCP in February 1638) and “Seceders”
(those who refused to join the Church of Scotland when Presbyterianism was established
in 1691) in Pennsylvania joined to form the Associate Reformed Church in 1782
and soon added to their number from all over the eastern seaboard. This first
edition of their Constitution and Standards is printed in five parts
each with its own sectional title-page, and ornamented with a few woodcut tailpieces.
It opens with the Westminster Confession and includes the other key documents
of Scottish Calvinism with a section on the “Government, Discipline, and
Worship” of the Associate Reformed Church. While many congregations joined
the United Presbyterian Church in the 19th century, the Associate Reformed Church
is still in existence under the title of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian
Church.
ESTC W35823; Evans 35119. Contemporary sheep, spine with red leather title
label; abraded with a few wormholes (including one track across spine) and
front joint opening. Some pages quite stained, not impairing reading; a couple
instances of chipping in margins with loss of letters. Front free endpaper
excised. Pp. 433–44 pinned together in the inside margin. Pencil doodlings
on half-title and p. [5].
Two
Church Fathers
Two
Scholar Printers
An
Apparatus by Erasmus
Athanasius, Saint, Patriarch of Alexandria. Athanasii Episcopi Alexandrini sanctissima, eloquentissma que opera ... que omnia olimia[m] latina facta Christophoro Porsena, Ambrosio Monacho, Angelo Politiano, interpretibus, una cum doctissima Erasmi Roterodani ad pium lectorem paraclesi. [bound with another work as below]. Parisiis: Joanne Paruo [i.e., Jean Petit] , [1519]. Folio extra. [6], 255, [66] ff. [bound with] Basil, Saint, Bishop of Caesarea.
Basilii Magni Caesariensium in Cappadocia Antistitis sanctissimi opera plane diuina, variis e locis sedulo collecta: & accuratio[n]e ac impe[n]sis Iodici Badii Asce´sii recognita & coimpressa, quorum index proxima pandetur charta. [Paris: Venundantur eidem Ascensio [i.e., Badius Ascensius, 1520]. Folio extra. [10], 178 ff.
$3850.00
Click any image where the hand appears on
mouse-over, for an enlargement.
Two editions of Church Fathers from two scholar/printer presses. St. Athanasius's text was translated into Latin by three noted Renaissance scholars, edited by Nicholas Beraldus, and has the added prestige of apparatus by Erasmus. The title-page is printed within a four-piece woodcut border, with the title in red and black, and the page bears the famous Petit printer's device. The text enjoys handsome typography, side- and shouldernotes, and large woodcut initials.
The St. Basil is from Badius Ascensius's press and he acted as the editor, the translators having been Johannes Argyropoulos, Georgius Trapezuntius, and others. The title-page uses the same four-part woodcut title-page border as found on the St. Athanasius, bound in at the front, which makes much sense given the familial relationship between Ascensius and Petit.
Athanasius: Index Aurel. 109.388; Moreau, II, 1982. Basil: Index Aurel. 114.440; Renouard, Ascensius, II, 145/146; Moreau, II, 2246. Alum-tawed pigskin, elaborately tooled in blind over wooden boards with metal and leather clasps; one clasp perished. Binding with one corner tip broken off; small hole in leather on rear board; dust-soiled. Inside, some early marginalia and underlining in red; narrow arc of old, light waterstaining to fore-edges of one part. Pages generally very clean. (19915)
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PRB&M “FEATURED BOOK”
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St.
Augustine It
is
NOT
Anselm,
Bernard,
& the Dean
of Canterbury,
It IS!
Augustinus Aurelius, S. (pseudo). Pious breathings. Being the Meditations of St. Augustine, his Treatise of the love of God, Soliloquies, and Manual. To which are added, select contemplations from St. Anselm, & St. Bernard. London: S. Sprint, T. Bennet, R. Parker, J. Bullord, & M. Gilliflower, 1701. 8vo (20.7 cm, 8.1"). [10], 414 pp. (pagination 177/78 skipped, 209/10 repeated, text complete); 4 plts.
$325.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition of this translation by George Stanhope, dean of Canterbury and an acclaimed preacher. Although Stanhope and the title-page attribute the first four items to St. Augustine, the works were not written by that saint — the accompanying pieces by St. Anselm and St. Bernard, however, are correctly assigned.
The volume is illustrated with a frontispiece and three other copper-engraved plates done by “I. Simons.”
ESTC T97614. Contemporary speckled calf framed and panelled
in blind with contrasting plain calf panel and blind-tooled corner fleurons,
rebacked with lighter speckled calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label;
sides abraded. Contemporary inked ownership inscription to back of frontispiece
and similarly old small inked notation (monogram?) to title-page; ; title-page
institutionally rubber-stamped at base (no other markings). Pages age-toned;
intermittent light spotting and staining. (24438)

Dutch Opinions on the
Spanish Inquisition
Avontroot, Johannes Bartholomeus. Den grouwel der verwoestinghe, oft grondich bericht ende ontdeckinghe, van de gronden der Spaensche inquisitie. In s'Graven-haghe: Aert Meuris, 1621. 4to (19.7 cm, 7.75"). [28], 212 pp.
$1275.00
Scarce first edition of this anti-Catholic Dutch treatise on the Inquisition, attributed to Avontroot (or Avontrot) by Universiteitsbibliotheek Amsterdam.
Avontroot was executed by the Inquisition at Toledo in 1632.
This copy lacks the work by González de Montes, a.k.a. Reginaldus Gonsalvius Montanus, which should follow p. 212. It is largely printed in black letter.
Uncommon. OCLC finds only two holdings in the U.S., one being this copy, now properly deaccessioned, and the other at the John Carter Brown Library. NUC Pre-1956 does not identify any additional copies.
Vekené, Bib. der Inquisition, 139-140; Boehmer, Bibliotheca Wiffeniana, 290 (identifying the volume as the second Dutch translation of the Montanus work not
present here). 19th-century half calf with marbled paper-covered sides; joints and corners rubbed. Front pastedown with institutional bookplate, title-page with early inked ownership inscription in upper margin. Pages age-toned with some mild waterstaining; one leaf with lower outer corner torn away, not affecting text. (19569)

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