William and Thomas Bradford Printers Priestcraft Defended 1769

Description

[Macgowan, John 1726-1780], PRIESTCRAFT DEFENDED. A SERMON OCCASIONED BY THE EXPULSION OF SIX YOUNG GENTLEMEN FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.  FOR Praying, Reading and Expounding the Scriptures. Humbly Dedicated to Mr. V- – – – C – – – – r and the H- – – – ds of H – – – – S. By their Humble Servant, THE SHAVER. THE SIXTH EDITION. LONDON, Printed. PHILADELPHIA, Re-printed and Sold, by William and Thomas Bradford, At the LONDON COFFEE HOUSE.  M.DCC.LXIX.  Octavo, 25 pages. This copy has been rebound in nineteenth century marbled boards and quarter red goatskin, title and date stamped on the spine. Binder’s stamp: “Bound by Launder”.  Two initial blanks and eleven concluding  blanks were added by the binder.  The verso of p. 25 is blank, with “FINIS” appearing at the foot of p. 25. A manuscript “H” appears in the upper left-hand corner of the title-page.

The photographic book plate of bibliophile Thomas B. Criss, with its famous tribute to early printers and early printers’ devices, is signed “T.B.C. fec’t.” and dated Jan. 1902.  There is a pencil annotation, possibly his signature, “T. B. Criss  1901” on the recto of the initial blank. Authorship is attributed to John Macgowan in the Dictionary of National Biography. A spirited and – at times – caustic defense of  evangelical house-worship as well as of Methodism. The author is self-described on the title-page as a “shaver” and further identified as a barber in the text. Evans, 11320. ESTC, Cit. No. W21157.  Slight foxing of the title-page, front cover re-enforced, but still a generally good surviving copy of a rare imprint from one of the most important printing dynasties in Colonial America.

 

An Oration delivered on the Late Public Commencement at Rhode-Island College in Providence September 1774 Being a Plea for the Right of Private Judgement in Religious Matters or for the Liberty of Choosing Our Own Religion. Corroborated with the Well-Known Consequences of Priestly Power To Which Are Annexed the Valedictions of the Class then First Graduated by Barnabas Binney AB

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