Life of Henry Dunster, First President of Harvard College

Jeremiah Chaplin

Published by James R. Osgood and Company, 1872

About this Item

Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1872. 315 pp. 7 ½ x 5 . Inscribed to Rev. L.L Caldwell DD and signed "With the author's respects." Bound in original brown cloth with blind-stamped borders. Brown-coated endapers. In very good condition. NOT ex-library. From the library of Arthur Holland (1850-1926), a Harvard alumnus and wealthy railroad magnate, with his stamp. Includes contemporaneous articles about the book's publication and the author's death. Henry Dunster (1609-1659) emigrated from England to Boston in 1640 under the sponsorship of Richard Mather (father of Increase Mather). He became the first president of Harvard that August where he developed and taught Harvard's entire curriculum alone for many years. Dunster held Harvard together financially during an economic downturn that began soon after his arrival. However, in 1653 he provoked controversy when he rejected core tenets of Puritan theology such as his belief that only adults should be baptised. His heterodoxy presented a threat to the stability of Puritan society. So in 1654 he exiled himself to Plymouth Colony where he served as a minister in Scituate until his death in 1659. This biography was Chaplin's attempt to rescue Dunster from the hands of his Puritan detractors. The corporate charter that he established still governs the University today. SCARCE.

Seller Inventory # N-LI1872H_0924

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Life of Henry Dunster, First President of Harvard College
• Publisher: James R. Osgood and Company
• Publication Date: 1872
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • Biography
  • History