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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
“Madmen
or Epileptics”
(Anyway, NOT
Bewitched)
Farmer, Hugh. An essay on the demoniacs of the New Testament. London: G. Robinson, 1775. 8vo (21.6 cm, 8.5"). [16], 416 pp.
$300.00

First edition of this treatise on demonic possession, arguing that “the disorders imputed to supernatural possessions, proceed from natural causes, not from the agency of any evil spirits” (p. 2). Despite the heated debate that sprang up over the Rev. Farmer's conclusions, the cogency of his argument and clarity of his writing were widely acclaimed among his contemporaries.
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
Provenance: Signature of Philip Harwood on half-title.
ESTC T68112; Lowndes 780; Allibone 578. Recent quarter calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and blind-tooled compartment decorations. Half-title with early inked ownership inscription. Half-title, title-page, and last page institutionally pressure-stamped, title-page with inked numeral in lower margin. Pages slightly age-toned, otherwise clean. (25088)

Fawcett's Hymns — First Edition
Fawcett, John. Hymns: Adapted to the circumstances of public worship, and private devotion. Leeds: Pr. by G. Wright & Son for the author, 1782. 12mo. 279, [9] pp.
$900.00
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Uncommon first edition of these hymns written by a Baptist theologian, including the still-popular “Blest be the tie that binds.” Words only, without music; handsomely typeset with modest ornamentation.
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)

Sheriff's
Sales, Foreign
Intelligence, a Wet
Nurse &
Other Ads
. . .
Religious
Reports Not Lacking
The Federal Gazette and Philadelphia Evening Post, Wednesday, 18th February, 1789. Philadelphia: Andrew Brown, 1789. 4to (28.4 cm, 11.2"). [4] pp.
$300.00
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No. CXXI of this daily newspaper, of interest not only for its
general content but for the numerous advertisements, which include a proposal
for the first American printing of a Catholic Bible (Carey's “Doway Translation”),
a notice of a runaway apprentice boy (18 years old), and the hopeful posting
of “A young married Woman, with a good breast of milk” who would
like to take a child to nurse.
Also reported/canvassed are hot religious disputes at the University of Pennsylvania and “Carlisle” (Dickinson), with reference to (literal) iconoclasm at Cambridge colleges under the Protectorate ; a double execution in New-York; and minutes of the General Assembly (including a petition from residents of Germantown protesting “enormous” taxes, “an act to prevent the importation of convicts within this common wealth,” and several items having to do with insolvent debtors.
Unbound, as issued; edges tattered, pages creased, age-toned and foxed, with tears along one fold and scattered small holes, with loss of a few letters or words not affecting general sense. Two pages with large, early inked notations over text. (24658)
Outside! the Canon A Shoemaker's Verses
Fellows, John. Grace triumphant, a sacred poem, in nine dialogues; wherein the utmost power of nature, reason, virtue, and the liberty of the human will, to administer comfort to the awakened sinner, are impartially weighed and considered. . . . A new edition, embellished with a portrait of the author. London: Pr. for Alexander Hogg, [ca. 1770]. 12mo. Frontis. port., 120 [i.e., 96] pp.
$475.00
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A rare work by a minor English hymn-writer. Very little is known about John Fellows (d. 1785). Described as “a poor shoemaker,” in 1780, he became a Baptist while taking up residence in Birmingham. (Apparently, he had been a Calvinist Methodist for most of his life; see Hatfield.) His oeuvre consists mostly of hymns and religious poetry, this being his first published work (first edition, 1770). He was additionally the author of works entitled “The New History of the Bible in Verse,” “Popish Cruelty Displayed,”
“Hymns in a Variety of Metres,” and “Hymns on Believers' Baptism.”
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)
Finzi, Solomon ben Eliakim. [two lines in Hebrew, then] Sive clavis gemarica .... Helmstadii: Georg. Wolfgangi Hammi, 1697. 4to (21 cm, 8.25"). (a)4(b)4(c)1A–H4I2; [18], 68 pp.
$650.00
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Scarce first edition thus, translated by Christoph Heinrich Rittmeier: Talmudic commentary, with text printed in parallel columns of Hebrew and Latin. Finzi’s Mafteach ha-Gemara was printed in the original Hebrew in Venice in 1622; the author was sometimes, as he is here, referred to as Eliakim Panzi or variants thereof.
Searches of OCLC, RLIN, and NUC Pre-1956 locate only three U.S. holdings.
VD17 23:237187N; Zedner, Hebrew Printed Books in the Library of the British Museum, 716. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with gilt-stamped leather author/title-label (“Panzi”). Pages age-toned, with mild offsetting.
First Baptist Church (Philadelphia, PA). An address from the Baptist Church, in Philadelphia, to their sister churches of the same denomination, throughout the confederated states of North America. Drawn up by a committee of the Church, appointed for said purpose. Philadelphia : Pr. by Robert Aitken, 1781. 8vo (19 cm, 7.4"). 16 pp.
$800.00
Controversy that arose in the First Baptist Church of Philadelphia concerning the universalist principles of its pastor Elhanan Winchester (1751–1797).
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Provenance: Signature of Jos. Walter on wrapper.
A scarce publication.
Evans 17310; Hildeburn 4072. 19th-century half brown sheep over marbled paper with gilt-lettered spine, original plain blue wrapper bound in; binding rubbed with front joint just starting. Ex-library copy with inked call number on front cover, bookplate on front pastedown, pencilled call number on verso of second front flyleaf, pressure-stamps, and rubber-stamps (including front wrapper and title-page, “Locked Section”). Title- and following
leaf chipped in lower outer corner, repaired with paper; light foxing and spots of soiling, only. Inked ownership inscription as above, on front wrapper.
Flavel, John. A token for mourners: or, the advice of Christ to a distressed mother, bewailing the death of her dear and only son.... Exeter[, N.H.]: Pr. by Henry Ranlet, sold also by the booksellers in Boston, 1795. 12mo (14.7 cm, 6"). 168 pp.
$225.00
John Flavel (1630?–91) was a minister of Dartmouth, England,
until he was ejected as a nonconformist in 1662. He continued to preach in the
area and authored many works of practical piety. This popular work on grieving
was first published London, 1674; the first American edition was printed in
Boston in 1707 and would have found a ready audience among the Calvinists of
New England. This edition, the first to be printed in New Hampshire, exists
in two states — this one has “sold also by the booksellers in Boston”
on the title-page. (In addition, there was another 1795 edition printed in Newbury,
Vt.) Regularly reprinted into the 19th century, the Token saw editions
in Welsh and Gaelic.
ESTC W19733; Evan 28677. On Flavel, see: Dictionary of National
Biography. Contemporary quarter sheep over brown paper covered boards,
significant loss of paper and of edges of boards. Some shallow chipping, notable
soiling, browning, and waterstaining (yet no difficulty reading text). A volume
that’s been through a good deal, but is probably stable for quite a
long while to come.

The #%@! Frenchman Was EVERYWHERE!
Fletcher, John. An appeal to matter of fact and common sense. Or a rational demonstration of man's corrupt and lost estate. Philadelphia: Melchior Steiner, 1783. 12mo. 271, [1] pp.
$200.00
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Early American, Philadelphia edition of this Methodist treatise on original sin.
Evidence of readership: Occasional pencilled marginalia, including “Great chapter,” “Know,” and, in one case,
the comment, “Voltaire again!”
There is a large signature at the back which we do not quite make out, but it is dated July 14th, 1789.
ESTC W11665; Evans 17930. Contemporary sheep, spine with raised bands and binding slightly sprung; leather cracking over spine and lost in small areas at corners, edges, and spine foot to insect damage or abrasion. Front free endpaper lacking; back free endpaper with inked inscription dated 1789. Pages browned and stained, with minute insect damage to blank areas (only) of first few leaves and with marginalia as above. (14942)
Fleury, Claude. Moeurs des Israélites et des Chrétiens ... nouvelle édition. Lyon: J. Ayné, 1808. 12mo (17.5 cm, 6.9"). [6], 397, [3] pp.
$150.00
Uncommon edition of a pair of treatises on Jewish and Christian customs of antiquity, originally published as two companion works in 1681 and 1682. Fleury, a lawyer turned theologian who tutored the sons of Louis XIV, is best known for his highly successful and oft-reprinted Histoire ecclésiastique; Brunet notes that the present items are “deux excellents ouvrages.”
Brunet, II, 1291 (for an 1810 ed. only, not citing this ed.). Contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title-label; front joint entirely open with leather chipped along base of joint, spine leather and gilt rubbed in spots, corners bumped, small dent to outer edges. Front pastedown with private collector’s bookplate; front pastedown and free endpaper with institutional rubber stamp (no other markings). Pages faintly age-toned, else clean.
A Little Boy with
Heaven on His Mind
The flower gathered, or the history of Henry Packman Smith. London: The Religious Tract Society, [1838–39?]. 32mo. 64 pp.
$250.00
Edifying tale of a pious young boy who, before his death at the
age of seven, enthusiastically accepted Jesus as his Saviour. This is the uncommon
unabridged version; the story is more often seen in shortened form as part of
a later collection published by the American Tract Society. The publication
date given here was suggested by a mention of the item in the 1838 Baptist
Magazine.
Binding:
Contemporary blue calf framed in gilt rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons,
spine with gilt-stamped title and floral decorations, turn-ins with gilt dentelles,
front cover gilt-stamped “C. Anderson.” All edges gilt.
Portrait: In addition
to the personalized binding, this copy has the skillfully executed silhouette
of a boy in a cap glued to the back of its title-page, opposite the contents.
Is
this Charles Anderson?
Provenance:
Charles Anderson.
NSTC 2S26587. Binding as above, corners and spine extremities
very slightly rubbed. Title-page with early inked inscription of Charles Anderson
in upper margin. A beautiful little volume. (22728)

How
to be a
Good
& Well-Liked
Little Girl
or Boy
Forrester, Francis [pseud. of Daniel Wise]. My Uncle Toby's
library. Boston: Brown & Taggard, 1862. 8 vols. (of 12). 8vo (15.5 cm, 6.2"). Each volume containing a frontispiece and either 64 or 62 pp.
$900.00
A sparkling, as new set. “My Uncle Toby's Library” was the first children's series published by Wise (1813–98), an English-born Methodist Episcopal pastor, author, and editor who emigrated to New England in 1833. Originally published in 1853–54, this series comprises twelve illustrated didactic tales, eight of which are uniformly bound here as a charming and attractive set. The titles present are: Arthur Elleslie; or, the Brave Boy; Minnie Brown; or, the Gentle Girl; Ralph Rattler; or, the Mischief-Maker; Aunt Amy; or, How Minnie Brown Learned to Be a Sunbeam; Fretful Lillia; or, the Girl Who Was Compared to a Stingnettle; Minnie's Picnic; or, a Day in the Woods; Cousin Nelly; or, the Visitor; and Minnie's Playroom; or, How to Practise Calisthenics. The last-named volume involves Minnie and her friends learning various exercises (with dumbbells and other equipment) under the watchful eye of instructor Miss Pinkney, and is illustrated with woodcuts of the movements.
Sternick 496.4 (describing binding as red). Publisher's blind-stamped green textured cloth, spines gilt extra; bindings fresh and clean. Eight vols. of 12 present. Each volume with inked ownership inscription dated 1863 on front free endpaper. Pages slightly age-toned with occasional faint offsetting from illustrations, generally clean. A beautiful set, virtually as new. (24423)

On the Loss of a
“Tender, Just, & Gracious” Queen
Forster, William. A joyous and peaceable state of mind, the happy fruit and effect of afflictions. In a sermon preach’d on the sad occasion of the death of Her late Majesty Queen Anne, of blessed memory, in the parish church of St. Clement Danes, August the 8th, 1714. London: Pr. for D. Browne & W. Mear, 1794. 8vo (21.3 cm, 8.4"). [4], 19, [1 (blank)] pp.
$90.00
First edition of this sermon on Hebrews XII:11. The author (some sources give his name as William Foster) was rector of St. Clement Danes and chaplain to John Cecil, Earl of Exeter.
The title-page here, with its black-bordered and -accented text, is is a nice example of modest “mourning typography.”
Uncommon: OCLC and ESTC locate only two U.S. institutional holdings.
ESTC T119686 . Disbound; sewing mostly perished, leaves separating. Edges slightly ragged and light soiling to margins. (26247)

“Pagan
& Popish
Persecution”
Foxe, John. Abridgment of the Book of Martyrs; or a history of the lives, sufferings and triumphant deaths of many of the primitive as well as Protestant martyrs; from the commencement of Christianity to the latest periods of pagan and Popish persecution ... Troy, NY: Tuttle & Belcher (stereotyped by Francis F. Ripley), 1839. 12mo. 432 pp.; 6 plts.
[SOLD]
“Now compiled by an American editor,” this is a reprinting of Tuttle's 1835 edition. The volume is illustrated with a frontispiece and five other plates depicting various tortures; two scenes each to each plate.
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Not in American Imprints (1839). Contemporary speckled sheep, rebacked and rehinged some time ago with library brown tape; binding much worn and abraded, spine cloth with window cut to show original gilt-stamped title (covered with cellophane tape). Spine with institution's call number; front pastedown, first and last text pages, and all edges of closed book rubber-stamped. Pages foxed. (20025)
François de Sales, St. Verdaderos entretenimientos del glorioso señor San Francisco de Sales.... Madrid: Por Andres Ortega a costa de Bartholome Ulloa, 1768. 4to (20.8 cm, 8.125"). [14] ff., 350 pp., [1 (blank)] f.
$500.00

Here translated into Spanish by Francisco de Cubillas Donyague, the Spiritual Conferences of St. Francis de Sales (1567–1622), bishop of Geneva, were written as addresses to the Sisters of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin, an order founded by St. Jane Frances de Chantal with his assistance. They cover the virtues to be practiced in the religious life and have been valued by both laity and religious for their common sense, sensitivity, and insight. Also included in this edition are an essay on preaching well, a funeral sermon, and a few shorter works by the saint. The first Spanish edition was issued in 1667. This edition is rare, only one copy being traced via NUC Pre-1956, OCLC, and RLIN.
Palau 290780. Recent quarter red morocco over red cloth, spine gilt extra, red marbled endpapers, and top edge red. Clean, attractive interior.
Freystadt, M. Philosophia cabbalistica et pantheismus. Regimontii Prussorum: Borntraeger (pr. by Conradus Paschke), 1832. 8vo (19.8 cm, 7.75"). xv, [1], 143, [1] pp.
$350.00
Uncommon sole edition of Freystadt’s essay on Kabbalah and on pantheistic thought, printed in Latin and Hebrew with sprinklings of Arabic and Greek. Steineschneider cites this as Freystadt’s “dissert. inaug.”
Steineschneider, Catalogus Librorum Hebraeorum, 5085. Contemporary paste paper–covered boards, spine with hand-inked title label; binding rubbed and abraded, spine with stamped shelving number. All edges stained red. Front pastedown with 19th-century private collector’s bookplate.
The
Sibylls &
Zoroaster, Too!
Gallé, Servatius, editor. [two lines in Greek, romanized
as] Sibulliakoi chresmoi, [then in Latin], hoc est, Sibyllina oracula ex veteribus codicibus
emendata, ac restituta et commentariis diversorum illustrata, operâ & studio Servatii Gallaei:
accedunt etiam oracula magica Zoroastris, Jovis, Apollinis, &c. Astrampsychi Oneiro-criticum,
&c. graece & latine, cum notis variorum. Amstelodami: apud Henricum & viduam Theodori
Boom, 1689. Small 4to. [13 of 14] ff., 791, [1] pp., [13] ff., 127, [1 (blank)] pp.; without the
added engr. title-page.
$500.00
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First edition of Gallé's compilation of the pronouncements of the Sibylls. The
work has text in Greek and Latin, and the apparatus in Latin; Hebrew types also appear. Galle
(1627–1709), a Dutch clergyman and philologist, brings together everything relevant to the
famous pronouncements of the sibylls, the prophetesses of Greco-Roman antiquity. Their
prognostications were in Greek hexameter verse, the authenticity of which was said to be assured
by the presence of acrostics within.Also contained here is the famous Oracula Magica Zoroastris cum Scolliis Plethonis et
Pselli as edited by Johannis Opsopoeus.
STCN 168904; Brunet, II, 1465; Caillet
10165; Hoffmann III, 396; Landwehr, Hooghe, 72; Schweiger, I, 287 .
Contemporary half brown calf with mottled paper sides; spine with gilt-accented raised bands,
red leather gilt label, and gilt devices in compartments; all edges interestingly marbled. Binding
worn and top of spine pulled. Without the added engraved title-page, and a small, early paper
repair on title-page; not a perfect copy, but certainly a decent one and priced accordingly.
(26691)

Contradicting Collins . . .
Gentleman of Cambridge. An answer to the discourse on free-thinking: Wherein the absurdity and infidelity of the sect of free-thinkers is undeniably demonstrated. London: John Morphew & A. Dodd, 1713. 8vo (19.7 cm, 7.75"). [8], 28 pp.
$300.00
First edition of this response to Anthony Collins's Discourse on Free-thinking, one of many published replies to Collins's landmark treatise on the role of independent critical thought in religion and philosophy. The present rebuttal is often assigned to Richard Bentley, although ESTC considers that an erroneous attribution.
ESTC T22052. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with gilt-stamped leather title-label. Pages clean. (20790)

“Pvritane” Pamphlet
Geree, John. The character of an old English Puritane, or non-conformist. London: Pr. by W. Wilson for Christopher Meredith, 1646. 4to (19 cm, 7.5"). [2], 6 pp.
$875.00
First edition, here in the uncommon issue printed by Wilson with the “Puritane” title spelling (seen as “Puritan” in other issues). Geree's brief but meaty treatise captures the essence of Puritan philosophy; the DNB says it “presents a picture of pre–civil war puritanism as a movement of order and sobriety and one which accepted the importance of ecclesiastical and secular authority.”
Click the images for enlargements.
Not widely held: ESTC, OCLC, Wing, and NUC Pre-1956 find only 10 U.S. institutional locations, one of which has now been deaccessioned.
In its way, a handsome little production, being very much in “the character of an old English” imprint of its era — complete with sidenotes, busy type ornamentation, and exuberant font variation.
ESTC R227244; Wing (rev. ed.) G589. On Geree, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online. Recent marbled paper wrappers. Pages clean and notably wide-margined. (25007)

Geree's
FIRST Vindication — Infant-baptisme
Geree, John. Vindiciae paedo-baptismi: Or, a vindication of infant baptism, in a full answer to Mr. Tombs his twelve arguments alleaged against it in his Exercitation, and whatsoever is rational, or material in his answer to Mr. Marshals Sermon. London: Pr. by John Field for Christopher Meredith, 1646. 4to (19 cm, 7.5"). [8], 71, [1] pp.
$800.00


First edition of this reply to John Tombes's Two Treatises and an Appendix to Them Concerning Infant-baptisme, both works being part of a vigorously conducted controversy on the topic involving Geree (the Church of England clergyman who wrote The Character of an Old English Puritan), Tombes, Michael Harrison, Stephen Marshall, and others among the most prominent theologians and preachers of the day.
Click the image for an enlargement.
ESTC R200633; Wing (rev. ed.) G603. Recent marbled paper wrappers. Pages very slightly age-toned with one early inked marginal annotation, else clean and crisp. (25024)

Geree on Infant Baptism, Again: A Vindication of His Vindication
Geree, John. Vindiciae vindiciarum: Or, a vindication of his Vindication of infant-baptisme, from the exceptions of M. Harrison, in his Poedo-baptisme oppugned, and from the exceptions of M. Tombes, in his chief digressions of his late Apology, from the manner to the matter of his treatises. London: Pr. by A.M. for Christopher Meredith, 1647. 4to (19.2 cm, 7.5"). [6], 42 pp.
$850.00
First edition of this defense of Geree's Vindiciæ pædo-baptismi (published in 1646), itself a reply to both Infant Baptism God's Ordinance by Michael Harrison and Two Treatises and an Appendix to Them Concerning Infant-Baptisme by John Tombes. Geree, a Church of England clergyman, may be best remembered for his summary of Puritan philosophy, The Character of an Old English Puritan — the publication of which was another result of the voluminous controversy with
Tombes over infant baptism.
Click the image for an enlargement.
Uncommon: OCLC, ESTC, Wing, and NUC Pre-1956 report only eight U.S. holdings, one of which has been deaccessioned.
ESTC R201234; McAlpin, II, 487; Wing (rev. ed.) G604. Recent marbled paper wrappers. Title-page slightly darkened, last page with offsetting to margins, pages otherwise clean. Stubs of previous binding leaves visible at back. (25017)
Giacinto di Santa Maria. Memorie dell’ umile servo di Dio P. Carlo Giacinto di Santa Maria.... Roma: Nella Stamperia del Bernabò, 1728. 4to (22.5 cm, 8.875"). [12] ff., 323, [1] pp.
$800.00


Fr. Hyacinth of Saint Mary (P. Giacinto di Santa Maria), an Austin friar, here gives the life of a fellow Augustinian, the Genoese Servant of God Charles Hyacinth of St. Mary (Carlo Giacinto di Santa Maria, 1658–1721), for the edification of the faithful and to promote his cause for canonization. That cause enjoyed some limited success, as Charles was elevated from a simple Servant of God and is now considered the Venerable Charles Hyacinth.
The most striking feature of this piece is the first of the two plates, a lifelike portrait of the book’s subject engraved by Heinrich Wehymer after Antonio Davide. The other plate, an unsigned etching, depicts the statue of Our Lady of Consolation in the Augustinian church at Genoa. Also present is an engraved title-page vignette depicting the arms of Pope Benedict XIII, the work’s dedicatee, and there are a few initials and woodcut head- and tailpieces, the tailpiece on the last page being especially large and handsome.
This
is apparently the sole edition of this biography, and it is rare: A search of OCLC, RLIN, and NUC Pre-1956 revealed no copies, and the Italian Library Service union catalogue lists only one holding, at the Central Library in Turin.
Vellum over paste boards with staining on front cover; pastedowns torn along turn-ins and puter edge of front free endpaper somewhat tattered. Lightly foxed throughout, a few pages more heavily so, with a light waterstain on the bottom edge and/or lower outer corner of most leaves (barely visible, on some). Small hole in outer margin of half-title and hole with tear (from a paper defect) in the margin of pp. 51–52. The second plate with two closed tears into the engraving, without loss. All edges mottled red and blue.
Giarda, Cristoforo. Vita del venerabile seruo di Dio Monsignor Francesco di Sales.... Venetia: Gio. Maria Turrini, 1664. 8vo (22 cm, 8.6"). a8A–N8O6; [8] ff., 222 (i.e, 220) pp; 1 plt.
$325.00

Scarce early printing (following the also uncommon first edition of 1650, which was issued with another work) of this biography of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, with a nicely accomplished, tipped-in woodcut portrait depicting the saint. Giarda is better remembered for his Bibliothecae Alexandrinae icones symbolicae, a symbol book which went through a number of editions in various languages; of the present saint’s life
NUC Pre-1956 gives only one holding, with no additional locations in RLIN or OCLC.
Click
the righthand image for an enlargement.
Provenance: Front free endpaper with early inked ownership inscription of Marianna Ungarelli; title-page with blurred heraldic pressure-stamp affixed.
Later quarter rough paper over marbled paper–covered limp boards; binding rubbed. Pages age-toned, with additional mild foxing.
History
of Convocation. Gibson
on Ecclesiastical Law.
Gibson, Edmund. Synodus Anglicana: Or, the constitution
and proceedings of an English convocation, shown from the acts and registers thereof, to be agreeable
to the principles of an Episcopal church. London: A. & J. Churchill, 1702. 8vo (19.4 cm, 7.6"). [2],
xii, [24], 221, [1], 130, [2], 137–76, 169–75, 222–308, [10] pp. (pagination erratic, text complete).
$450.00
First edition (despite a misleading variant issue with an incorrect publication date of
1672) of this important source of ecclesiastical history and canon law. Not a lawyer himself, Gibson,
Bishop of London, nonetheless made a significant contribution to English canon law with his
landmark Codex juris ecclesiastici Anglicani; the present work marks his first legal effort, predating
the 1713 publication of the Codex, and reflects his dedication to research and scholarship pertaining
to the Church of England. The DNB notes that the Synodus Anglicana “came to be regarded as
definitive.”
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the interior image for an enlargement.
ESTC R24103; Lowndes 888; Wing (rev. ed.) S6383 (noting the true
publication date). On Gibson, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online.
Recent quarter calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped
leather title and publication labels and gilt-stamped compartment decorations, leather edges tooled in
blind. Lower (closed) edges and title-page recto and verso institutionally rubber-stamped; last page
with affixed printed errata slip. Back fly-leaf with early inked annotation; text with a very few
instances of inked bracketing in an early hand, pages otherwise clean. All edges speckled in red and
brown. (25422)
[Gillet, Eliphalet]. History of the Bible and Jews, with remarks upon the rise and progress of Mahometanism and Popery. Adapted to the use of schools. Hallowell [ME]: Ezekiel Goodale (pr. by Benjamin Edes), 1806. 12mo (17.7 cm, 7"). 312 pp.
$400.00
First edition as such, and relatively uncommon. This is an English rendition of Jan Philipsz Schabaelje’s 1635 Lusthof des gemoets, a retelling of Old and New Testament history as a series of conversations between an inquisitive pilgrim and various Biblical figures, here edited and “accomodated to the use of schools in America” by the Rev. Gillet. Gillet, who also published a number of sermons and discourses, was a founding member of the First Congregational Church in Pittston, Maine, as well as a member of the Maine Missionary Society. At back is a list of Goodale’s other publications, to be had at the “Sign of the Bible.”
Shaw & Shoemaker 10485. Contemporary speckled sheep, worn and abraded; back cover with slices to leather, title label on spine almost entirely rubbed away. One leaf torn; pages age-toned throughout, with staining/spotting. Back pastedown with calligraphy practice inked in an early hand.
Ginther, Antonius. Speculum amoris et doloris in sacratissimo ac divinissimo corde Jesu incarnati, eucharistici, et crucifixi, orbi christiano propositum....editio IV. Augustæ Vindelicorum: Joannis Jacobi Lotteri, 1743. 4to (21.1 cm, 8.4"). [38], 408, [16 (index)] pp. (lacking engraved title, pp. 49/50); illus.
$875.00

Very uncommon fourth edition of this emblem book, following the first of 1706. Ginther also published a book of sermons, Currus Israel, et auriga ejus, along with a Marian emblem book, Mater amoris et doloris; the present item was printed in Augsburg, Germany, with the text in Latin and illustrated with 50 engraved emblems. The emblems are unattributed, but the frontispiece (not present in this copy) was done by Johann Caspar Gütwein.
Rare in the U.S.: We trace only the Getty copy of this edition, and earlier editions are no less rare.
Landwehr, German Emblem Books, 317. Boards covered in music-printed paper from an 18th-century antiphonal, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and author labels. Engraved title and pp. 49/50 (emblem VII) lacking. Title-page and next leaf with long-ago repaired holes, one on the latter affecting an initial on the verso; title-page with old inked device(?) and 19th-century institutional stamp on verso, showing through in part to recto; a small hole in a third leaf, taking perhaps a letter or two. Final blank leaf and two other leaves also stamped. One leaf torn from margins into text, repaired with Japanese tissue. Pages slightly age-toned, some with mild foxing or the odd spot. Faults noted, this is yet a worthwhile and studyable/enjoyable volume.

FIRST
EDITION
Gough,
John. A history of the people called
Quakers. From their first rise to the present time. Dublin: Robert Jackson,
1789. 8vo (21 cm, 8.25"). 3 (of 4) vols. I: x, [2], 546, [10 (index)] pp. (pagination
skipping 294 to 297, text complete and uninterrupted). II: [2], 557, [11] pp.
III: 526, [10] pp.
$375.00
First edition of Gough's account of the origins of the Society of Friends, including
biographies of a number of Irish Quakers. This three-volume set in matching contemporary
bindings is composed of the original three books projected; a fourth volume, published in 1790,
is not present here. Each book has an index at the back.
Provenance:
Vol. I title-page with inscription dated 1790, reading “Joseph Russells
cost 10s a Vollume [sic]”.
ESTC T102429. Contemporary treed
calf, spines with gilt-stamped leather title labels; worn but sound. Bookplates of a now-defunct
institution on front pastedowns. Some instances of offsetting and foxing, generally no more than
moderate, with pages otherwise clean. (8655)
Second
Edition (?) —
“New” Fourth
Volume Present
Gough,
John. A history of the people called
Quakers. From their first rise to the present time. Dublin: Robert Jackson,
1790. 8vo (21 cm, 8.25"). 4 vols. I: x, [2], 542, [10 (index)] pp. II: [2],
557, [11] pp. III: 526, [10] pp. IV: 573, [7] pp.
$350.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Second edition (?) of Gough's account of the origins of the Society of Friends,
including biographies of a number of Irish Quakers. This is a four-volume, 1790 set in matching
contemporary bindings, composed of the originally projected three books first printed in 1789
along with a fourth, printed for the first time here, which brought the history up to date; each
volume has an index at the back.
Provenance:
Each volume's front fly-leaf (facing title-page) with inscription dated 1791,
reading “John Humphrey, his book 1791 Price 10s”; each volume's
pastedown with small bookplate of Richard McIlvain.
ESTC N2800. Contemporary treed calf, spines with gilt-stamped
leather title labels; worn, with all front covers and free endpaper of vol.
IV detached. Some instances of light offsetting and foxing, with pages generally
clean; some leaves chipped or with marginal tears, one tear causing loss of
a few letters from a heading. (14671)
For
a shelf dedicated to the
FRIENDS/QUAKERS, click here.
La grande danse macabre des hommes et des femmes, historiée & renouvellée de vieux Gaulois, en langage le plus poli de notre temps. Troyes: Jean-Antoine Garnier, 1728. 4to (22 cm, 8.6"). 76 pp.
$3750.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Wonderfully “antique” style printing of the classic French Dance of Death, textually revised but still based solidly on Marchant’s
original work of 1486, and making use of its woodcut designs. Issued as a chapbook,”Marchant” was sold by peddlers and at fairs, and was one of the most popular educational picture books in Europe since the Middle Ages. It contains two sections: First the Dance of Death of men of all ranks and professions and after that the Dance of Death of women of various ranks and stations in life.
Over
60 large woodcuts illustrate the text, with some images appearing in both sections. The volume concludes with several poems on the themes of life, death, and the afterlife.
Though an 18th-century printing of a “reformed” version, this production respects its original and has the typographic look of early post-incunables.
Uncommon: We trace
only nine copies in the U.S., all but one in libraries east of the Mississippi.
Binding: 19th-century calf by F. Bedford with that firm’s minute stamp on front free endpaper; covers framed in gilt triple fillets. Spine gilt extra, with gilt-stamped leather title and publication labels. Gilt inner dentelles, french-combed endpapers, and all edges red.
Fairfax-Murray, French, 108; Morin, Bibliothèque bleue de Troyes, 435; Nisard, Histoire des Livres Populaires, II, 303. Binding with minor scuffing at corners and old (good) repairs to head and foot of spine, with leather starting to crack over joints; hinges tender. Pages slightly age-toned, with signature marks shaved.
For a dedicated DANCE
of DEATH gathering,
click here.
Great Britain. Parliament. A true and exact list of the lords spiritual and temporal, also of the knights[,] commissioners of shires, citizens and burgesses, chosen to serve in the Parliament of Great Britain. [London], 1741. 8vo (19.7 cm, 7.75"). 16 pp.
$500.00
Register prepared for the 1741 general election, with notations regarding how M.P.s voted on the Convention and on Walpole’s proposed Excise Bill (a tax on tobacco and wine). The current U.K. Parliament website sums up the terms thusly: “The Lords Spiritual are made up of the Archbishops of Canterbury and of York, the Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester as well as specific bishops of the Church of England. The Lords Temporal are made up of Hereditary Peers elected under Standing Orders, Life Peers, Law Lords, the earl Marshal and the Lord Great Chamberlain.”
Click the image to the left
for an enlargement.
Uncommon: ESTC locates only four copies, none of which are in the U.S.
ESTC T26238; Goldsmiths’-Kress 7877.5. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label. Pages age-toned, with some dustsoiling.
Green, Beriah. Things for Northern men to do: a discourse delivered Lord's Day evening, July 17, 1836, in the Presbyterian Church, Whitesboro’, N.Y. New York: Pub. by request, 1836. 8vo (21.5 cm, 8.4"). 22, [2 (blank)] pp.
$275.00
First edition: Call to action for the abolition of slavery, by a prominent reformer who served as president of both the Oneida Institute and the American Anti-Slavery Society and who here argues that citizens of the North are as morally responsible as those of the South in addressing the issues of slavery.
The author, a pastor and educator, was one of the most determined abolition activists in the United States; the DAB notes that while his dedication to the cause led to the closing of many doors in his career, his sermons on the subject “attracted wide attention,” contributing greatly to the catalyzing of American Christian opposition to slavery.
On Green, see: Dictionary of American Biography, VII, 539–40. Sabin 28512. Recent wrappers. Foxing throughout.
The BCP Bibliography
Griffiths, David N. The bibliography of the Book of Common Prayer 15491999. London: The British Library; New Castle, Del.: Oak Knoll Press, 2002. 4to. 616 pp.
$95.00
Sin
& Redemption
Grotius,
Hugo. Defensio fidei Catholicae de satisfactione Christi adversus
Faustum Socinum senensem. Lugduni Batavorum: Excudit Ioannes Patius, 1617. 4to
(22.5 cm; 8.875" ). [4] ff., 183, [1 (blank)] pp.
$850.00
Click the images for enlargements.
In this work Grotius deals with the nature of sin and its redemption; in doing so, he
critiques the Socinian stand on the matter and avoids totally the arguments “de gratia et
praedestinatione.” Specifically addressed here is Faustus Socinus's De Jesu Christi servatore.
This is the second edition, printed the same year as the first and by the same printer.Both the first and this second edition are little held in the U.S.: We trace three copies of
the first and three of the second, one of which has been deaccessioned.
Provenance:
Three 18th-century ownership inscriptions on title-page: Jehoua Portis,
Lib. Richbach, and Joh[ann]is Buys. 19th-century pressure-stamps of a Pennsylvania
theological library, deaccessioned.
Full modern calf old style: Spine with
raised bands, accented with gilt beading and blind rules, rules extending onto boards to Vs and
ending with trefoils; blind double fillets beyond. Gilt center device in each spine compartment
and a green title label lettered in gilt. Waterstaining in inner margins, extending into text on pp.
136–61; otherwise, expectable age-toning only. All edges red. (25847)

Protestant
Apologetics
Grotius, Hugo. De veritate religionis christianae. Lugduni Batavorum: Ioannis Maire, 1640. 12mo (12.7 cm, 5"). [8], 33–27, [7], 372 pp.
$675.00
“Editio nova, additis annotationibus, in quibus testimonia”:
Early edition of Grotius's defense of Christianity. The first Protestant textbook
of apologetics, this work was first published in Dutch verse in 1622 and then
in a revised Latin prose rendition in 1627.
This ed. not in Brunet. Contemporary vellum, spine with
early inked title; vellum showing minor spots of discoloration and spine with
call number. Front pastedown and bottom page edges with institutional rubber-stamp;
back pastedown with stamp of a 19th-century Dutch bookseller; front fly-leaf
with early inked annotation. First dedication leaf with inked numeral in lower
margin; some instances of early inked underlining and marginalia, confined
to early part of volume. First few leaves with light waterstaining to outer
portions. First part skips pp. 1/2 (between preface and first text page),
with this collation matching that reported online. (19564)
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