
18TH-CENTURY BOOKS
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King Alfred & “Trial by Jury”
Celebrated to Boot
(Coke, Edward). Engraving of Edward Coke. London: T. Cadell, 1792.
$75.00
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Coles, Elisha. A practical discourse of God’s sovereignty.
With other material points derived thence.... Newburyport [MA]: Edmund M. Blunt, 1798. 8vo (20.5 cm, 8.2"). 372 pp.
$350.00
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Second American edition, following a Philadelphia printing in 1796, of this popular religious treatise; the Practical Discourse went through numerous editions due to its success among dissenters. Calvinistic in its tendencies, the work discusses the Doctrines of Election, Redemption, and Effectual Calling (a distinction of Coles’s creation, separating the concept from calling “which is outward only, and prevails not,” p. 225), among other topics.
ESTC W24802; Evans 33532. Contemporary mottled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; binding abraded with leather cracking over the spine, spine label lettering rubbed. Pages age-toned, with some spots of foxing. (11508)

“Ignorance is the Foundation of
Atheism, & Freethinking the Cure of It”
Collins, Anthony. A discourse of free-thinking, occasion'd by the rise and growth of a sect call'd Free-thinkers. London: 1713. 8vo (19.4 cm, 7.625"). 178 pp., [1 (blank)] f. (lacking preliminary material).
$750.00
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First edition, early issue of a controversial work that spawned an extensive debate. The author, a close friend of John Locke and of freethinkers John Toland and Matthew Tindal, was a Cambridge-educated philosopher who, despite the furor over his writings, was acknowledged by his contemporaries as “an amiable and upright man . . . [who] made all readers welcome to the use of a free library” (DNB). His Discourse, an argument in favor of individual logical assessment of Christian doctrine and other beliefs, brought forth vigorous rebuttals by Richard Bentley, George Berkeley, Jonathan Swift, and others, but remains
a landmark work of rationalistic religion. Opinions continue to vary, even in modern criticism, regarding whether Collins's work promoted deism or atheism; he himself claimed that increased independent critical thinking was responsible for the decline in belief in witchcraft.
This copy lacks the two preliminary leaves. The catchword on p. 7 is “allow'd.” This is the variant issue with a final blank leaf instead of the advertisement leaf.
Provenance: From the library of the Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School; properly deaccessioned.
Evidence of Readership: Occasional pencil markings and a few marginal comments in the first third of text.
ESTC T31966; Allibone 411–12. Recent blue-grey marbled paper–covered boards, spine with printed paper label. Title-page repaired with loss of perhaps ten letters of epigraph, with partially trimmed name inked in an early hand, and with very elegant old institutional pressure-stamp; title-page verso with pencilled call numbers; first text page with institutional stamp in upper margin, inked and pencilled numeral in lower margin. Two preliminary leaves lacking. A few leaves closely trimmed at one or another margin; last 20 with very short marginal tears not approaching text. Light age-toning and occasionally a spot; generally, clean; marked as above. An influential work on rational religion with evidence of use. (36007)
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Reestablishing
the Peace of J.-C.
Concile
National de France. Décret
de pacification proclamé par le Concile national de France, dans l'Église
métropolitaine de Notre-Dame de Paris, le dimanche 24 septembre 1797,
(3 Vendémiaire, an VI de la Rép. Fr.). Paris: L'Imprimerie-Librairie
Chrétienne, 1797. 8vo (21.1 cm, 8.4"). 40 pp. (17–24 lacking).
$100.00
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First
edition:
Never bound, uncut copy of this list of talking points regarding
the Concile's plan to rebuild the Église de France.
Martin & Walter 5106. Sewn, never bound; title-page
with affixed paper shelving label in lower inner corner, not touching text,
and with pencilled monogram in upper outer corner. Page edges untrimmed.
Lacking center signature (pp. 17–24: end of article IV, beginning
of article V). Pages gently age-toned, otherwise very crisp and clean. (30698)
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The Consequences of
OUTLAWRY in England & Ireland
Conroy, John. Custodiam reports; or, a collection of cases relative to outlawries, and the grants thereon, as argued and determined on the revenue sides of the courts of exchequer, both in England and Ireland, with many references. Dublin: J. Exshaw, 1795. 8vo (22 cm, 8.6"). [4], 206, 179 [i.e., 180 (159 used twice)], [10 (index)] pp.
$750.00
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Sole edition: a treatise on outlawry in civil actions, with a custodiam “being a leafe from the crown under the seal of the Exchequer, whereby the lands and tenements, &c. of a person outlawed . . . are made over to the plaintiff for and towards satisfying of his debt” (p. 1). The appendix of precedents is paginated separately from the main text.
ESTC T97031; Sweet & Maxwell (2nd ed.) I:322.4. 19th-century half calf and dark red ribbon-embossed cloth, very pleasingly rebacked, spine with gilt-stamped title and raised bands framed by bead-and-line blind tooling; original leather corners worn, cloth scuffed, front cover with faint traces of ring indentation and small area of bubbling by lower outer corner. Pages gently age-toned; one lower outer corner torn away, not touching text; one leaf with paper flaw in lower outer portion. A good solid copy that will present a pleasing appearance on the shelf. (34120)
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Cortes's Stirring Letters
in French
Cortés, Hernán. Correspondance de Fernand Cortès avec l'empereur Charles Quint sur la conquête du Mexique. Francfort: J.J. Kesler, 1779. 8vo. xvi, 471 pp.
$400.00
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French-language edition of the second, third, and fourth letters incorrectly numbered respectively as the first, second, and third. Translated by M. le vicomte de Flavigny.
Sabin 16953. Contemporary treed calf, front joint (outside) starting at top to open. A good+ copy — in fact, a rather nice one. (20510)
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Reconciling
Church & State
Coupé, Jacques-Michel.
De la religion en politique. Paris: De l'Imprimerie Nationale, An IV [1795]. 8vo (19.8 cm, 7.8"). 58 pp.
$125.00
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First edition of this Convention Nationale–sponsored publication by clergyman and politician Coupé, a member of the Jacobin Club. Coupé here offers his thoughts on the practice of religion during the Revolution, with brief individual assessments of such topics as worship, miracles, religious principles, etc., focusing on their implications in the contemporary political climate.
Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locate only five U.S. institutional holdings.
Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with paper shelving label in lower inner corner, pencilled initials in upper outer corner. A very few light spots, pages otherwise clean. (31091)
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Creation of a Dynasty The Kings of Spain of the House of Bourbon
Coxe, William. Memoirs of the kings of Spain of the house of Bourbon, from the accession of Philip V. to the death of Charles III. 1700 to 1788. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, & Brown, 1815. 8vo. 5 vols. I: xxvii, [13], 475, [1] pp. II: [6], 396 pp. III: [6], 389, [1] pp. IV: [6], 421, [1] pp. V: [6], 393, [37 (index)] pp.
$585.00
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Second edition, following the first of 1813, of this painstakingly well-researched study of the period. The author was a historian who served as tutor to the sons of the Duke of Marlborough and the Earl of Pembroke, as well as travelling companion to Lord Herbert, Lord Brome, and various other noblemen; he published several works recounting his tours through Poland, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland.
NSTC C4019. Contemporary calf, covers framed in gilt dotted roll, spines with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels, compartments with gilt-stamped decorations; rubbed and scuffed overall with a hinge or two just “tender,” some sides showing signs of waterstaining, spine heads reinforced some time ago with paper and two feet chipped with tape reinforcement. Ex–social club library with paper shelving labels on spines, 19th-century bookplates, call number on endpapers, old rubber-stamp on title-pages and a few others. First or last pages of some volumes with light to moderate waterstaining almost entirely confined to margins; scattered spots of light foxing. A compromised set, priced accordingly; complete, however, and not without its points. (29495)
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“Yesterday Morning We Quitted
Schaffhausen . . . ”
Coxe, William. Sketches of the natural, civil, and political state of Swisserland; in a series of letters to William Melmoth ... second edition. London: J. Dodsley, 1780. 8vo (23.5 cm, 9.25"). viii, 474, [2] pp.
$250.00
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Second edition, following the first of the previous year: Swiss travelogue, incorporating contemporary political analysis and a bit of discussion of Protestant vs. Catholic religious observances alongside the descriptions of natural beauties. The author was a historian who served as tutor to the sons of the Duke of Marlborough and the Earl of Pembroke, as well as travelling companion to Lord Herbert, Lord Brome, and various other noblemen; he published several works recounting his tours through Poland, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and Switzerland.
ESTC T160087; Brunet, II, 399. On Coxe, see: Dictionary of National Biography. Contemporary half morocco with marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title; leather a bit scuffed over corners and extremities. Front pastedown with institutional rubber-stamp (no other markings). Light to moderate foxing throughout (nothing worse). (19364)
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JAPAN: “The Subject Is Great, the Actions Sublime,
the ADVENTURES
Surprising & Full of Wonders”
Crasset, Jean. The history of the church of Japan. Written originally in French by Monsieur L’Abbe de T. And now translated into English. By N. N. Volume I. London: [publisher not identified], 1705. 4to (21.6 cm; 8.5"). [28], 544, [8] pp.
$500.00
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Vol. I only of the English translation of Crasset's Histoire de l'eglise de Japon, originally published in 1689; the second volume of the translation was not published for several more years, appearing in 1707. Crasset, a Jesuit preacher, made much use of Father Solier's work on the subject, Histoire ecclésiastique des isles et royaumes du Japon, expanding its chronology with his own account of the years from 1624 to 1658. Also included is
a section describing different aspects of secular Japanese life, including diet, housing, and relationships, among other topics.
Provenance: “Ad Cubiculum Sacerdotis Soc. Jesu Hooton” inscribed on title-page in ink; later in the library of the Pacific School of Religion (properly released).
ESTC T94112; later edition in Cordier, Bibliotheca japonica, col. 425–26; DeBacker-Sommervogel, II, 1641. Contemporary Cambridge-style calf, rebacked some time ago with raised bands double-ruled in gilt, two gilt-lettered leather spine labels, and new endpapers; rubbed, especially spine, with a few abrasions. Ex-library as above: evidence of former call number label on spine, bookplate on front pastedown, rubber-stamp on endpaper and title-page, accession pencilling on title-page verso, circulation materials at back. Light pencilling on endpapers, one lower outside corner a tremoin, one leaf repaired, two with small holes and loss of a letter or two, one with a medium tear lightly touching text; light to moderate spotting and age-toning. Not pristine and priced accordingly — yet, a good book. (36729)
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Sermons from an
Influential Quaker
Crisp, Stephen. Sermons or declarations, made by Stephen Crisp, one of the antient preachers amongst the people called Quakers. Taken in short hand, as they were delivered by him. Philadelphia: Printed by Joseph Crukshank, in Third-Street, opposite the work-house, 1773. 8vo (16.9 cm; 6.625"). 60 pp.
$275.00
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A collection of sermons from “an eloquent, well informed, and effective proponent of Quakerism” of the 17th century (DNB). In addition to his frequently republished writings, Crisp (1628–92) helped found Quakerism in the Low Countries.
Included are “Pure and spiritual worship: a sermon. Preached at Devonshire-House, November 12, 1690,” “The kingdom of God within: a sermon. Preached at Grace-Church-Street, July 26, 1690,” and “The necessity of an holy life and conversation. Preached at St. Martin's-Le-Grand, March the 26th, 1687.”
Evans 12740; Hildeburn, Pennsylvania, 2867; ESTC W22226. Bound in recent marbled paper–covered boards with gilt red leather spine label. Light age-toning, the number 5 written on upper corner of title-page. (36215)
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The Free Will Debate: Anti-Libertarian, Pro-Necessitarian
Crombie, Alexander. An essay on philosophical
necessity. London: J. Johnson, 1793. 8vo (21.6 cm, 8.5"). [4], viii, 508 pp.
$1500.00
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First edition of the first published work by Crombie, a Scottish-born Presbyterian minister, schoolmaster, and philosopher. Here Crombie argues against Reid's and Gregory's positions on free will and defends Hume's determinism; one chapter addresses Gregory's comparison of motives and their operations to causes in physics as described by Newton's laws of motion.
Evidence of readership: This copy has extensive pencilled shouldernotes left by an unknown reader who thoroughly (and neatly) recorded numerous questions about and responses to the first 39 pages of the text — after which our reader is heard from no more.
ESTC T109696. Period-style quarter red morocco and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped publication information and gilt-ruled raised bands, leather edges with gilt roll. One leaf torn across from outer margin, without loss. Marginalia as above, pages otherwise clean. An attractive and interesting copy. (31050)
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Important Quaker Spiritual Autobiography
Crook, John. A short history of the life of John Crook, containing some of his spiritual travels and breathings after God, in his young and tender years. London: Printed & sold by T. Sowle, 1706. 8vo (19.1 cm, 7.51"). 53, [3 (pub. adv.)] pp.
$500.00
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First edition: an eminent Quaker leader's own account of his early life, spiritual awakening, and ministry, printed from a manuscript “written by his own hand” but not discovered until after his other works had been published. Crook (1617–1699) was a Justice of the Peace before joining the Society of Friends, after which he was imprisoned a number of times for his ministerial work.
Evidence of Readership: On the title-page, “Quaker” has been appended to Crook's name in pencil (done some time ago), with a bibliographic note in the same hand in the upper margin; two textual errors have been corrected, one in an early inked hand and one pencilled.
ESTC T73591; Smith I, 491. Modern green striped pastepaper–covered boards; spine gently sunned with paper spine label now blank, binding otherwise showing virtually no wear. Annotations as above. Pages browned (particularly first and last) and spotted with mild cockling and creasing. One leaf with tear from outer margin touching a few letters without loss.
A solid copy of the now-uncommon first edition. (41355)
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Cyprian, Ernst Salomon. Historia der Augspurgischen confession, auf gnädigsten Befehl des Durchlauchtigsten Fürsten und Herrn, herrn Friedrichs des Andern, hertzogens zu Sachsen-Gotha aus dem original-acten beschrieben. Gotha: J.A. Reyher, 1730. 4to. 24, 227, 224 p.
$375.00
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In addition to Cyprian’s history of the writing and subsequent impact of the Augsburg Confession, the volume prints the Confession itself. The “Confessio, oder bekentnus des glaubens etlicher fürsten und stedte uberantwortet Keyserlicher Maiestat, auf dem Reichstag gehalten zu Augspurg anno M.D.XXX" has aspecial title-page and separate pagination.
The main title-page is printed in black and red, the text in black letter (i.e., gothic, fraktur) and the footnotes in roman.
Contemporary vellum over paste boards; later paper spine label with hand lettering; small area of lower spine with black spots. Vellum loosening at the turn-ins. Board edges soiled. Few stray stains in some margins. Private bookplate. (18856)
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