[UNKNOWN WILMINGTON DELAWARE BINDERS 1801]. Lectures on primitive Christianity: in doctrine, experience, worship, discipline, and manners, as it appeared in the church at Jerusalem

Wallin, Benjamin

Published by Printed for John Boggs, Jun. by Bonsai and Niles, Wilmington, DE, 1801

About this Item

8vo. xx, 390 pp. Text foxed and brown as commonly. Contemporary Wilmington binding by Taylor & Andrews (signed with their letterpress ticket): tree sheep, smooth spined panelled in five compartments, gilt red morocco label in the second, edges plain, pair of binder's blanks at the front (those at the back torn away). Front joint split, board almost detached, extremities rubbed and worn. Preserved in a protective cloth case. The binders Taylor and Andrews of Wilmington, DE remain completely unrecorded in the standard sources, and it would appear that no bindings by them are located in AAS, Bryn Mawr, UDel, Winterthur, or anywhere else for that matter. Of this edition of "Lectures on Primitive Christianity," the List of Subscribers (p. xvii) records "Taylor and Andrews, Wilmington" having subscribed for 50 copies (!), easily eclipsing all other orders. With some effort we have discovered in the Maryland State Archives a 1796-1907 Chancery Court Ledger (MSA S528-26) bearing the booksellers' ticket "Thomas, Andrews & Butler" in Market Street, Baltimore. Was there any relationship between those booksellers and our Wilmington binders? This is a scarce imprint; other than the severely defective and disbound copy that sold at National Book Auctions in 2016 (for $11.75), the last copy to appear at auction was in the Charles H. Pennypacker Library (sold at Henkels, 25 October 1912, lot 742). John Boggs, of Wilmington, issued only four titles in his erstwhile career as a publisher in Wilmington: "Meditations and Contemplations among the Tombs" (1796); "Travels of True Godliness" (1797, "printed for John Boggs, Minister of the Gospel"); the present "Lectures on Primitive Christianity" (1801); and "Scriptures the Only Guide in Matters of Religion" (1803). Confusingly, there were three Rev. John Boggs in Wilmington at the same time. We believe the first two titles were published by Rev. John Boggs Sr. (1737-1808), a minister of the Wilmington Primitive Baptist Church, and the second two by his son John Boggs Jr. (1770-1846), who was ordained a Baptist minister in 1803. PROVENANCE: John Darragh (born Philadelphia 1763, died Glasgow, New Castle County, Delaware in 1822). He is recorded as a New Castle resident in the Delaware Land Records in 1797 and 1799; notably, on an entry under 3 September 1799, Darragh attests that he will grant the liberty of "my [16-year-old] negro boy Jesse" when the boy turns 35 --> by descent to his daughter Ann H. Darragh (1791-1866) of New Castle --> her gift to the New Castle Presbyterian Church Library, with bookplate. Shaw & Shoemaker 1601. Seller Inventory # 4025

Bibliographic Details

Title: [UNKNOWN WILMINGTON DELAWARE BINDERS 1801]. ...

Publisher: Printed for John Boggs, Jun. by Bonsai and Niles, Wilmington, DE

Publication Date: 1801

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Good

Edition: First Edition.