A Brief Enquiry into the State after Death, as Touching the Certainty thereof; and Whether we shall Exist in a Material or Immaterial Substance; and whether The Scripture Doctrine of a future State Be supportable by the Light of Reason

FIRST EDITION, engraved portrait frontispiece (giving the author's name, which is not on the title-page), a bit browned and soiled in places, some messy pen trials, a couple of paper repairs, price erased from title-page, pp. xi, [12-] 31, 8vo, late nineteenth century half brown calf, ex-Wigan Public Library with their blind stamp on first and last leaf, signature of John [ ] Kettel on title and of George Kellet on recto of frontispiece, sound. This curious tract is 'written up' on the Chetham's Library website, from which we quote: 'Sylvanus Hibbert's snappily titled A Brief Inquiry into the State after Death [&c] is a pamphlet that deserves to be better known for three reasons. Firstly, it advocates cremation some years before this became popular. Secondly, the pamphlet is quite rare. In a note in the Library's copy of this book, James Crossley, Honorary Librarian of Chetham's and President of the Chetham Society, claimed that this was "perhaps the scarcest of Manchester tracts, certainly one of the most curious. Dr. Hibbert-Ware, Sylvanus's nephew, cashed in and destroyed every copy he could find". Lastly, the book has an engraved frontispiece of the author, which shows that either he didn't care about his physical appearance or that he was simply having a laugh. if anyone knows of a less flattering caricature of a Manchester man then please let us know.' And see The Life and Correspondence of Samuel Hibbert Wake, Chapter II. (ESTC T53007; 6 copies in the UK, including Chetham's, Yale only in the USA). …