Christ Rejected ot the Trial of the Eleven Disciples of Christ,; in a Court of Law and Equity, as Charged With Stealing The Crucified Body of Christ Out of the Sepulcher

12mo. in original full calf, spine lettered in gilt and lined and with fleurons, boards lined in gilt. 457 pp. + (2, A Synoptical View of This Little Work" and list of "Names of the Rev. Clergy who have patronized this work"). Illustrated with numerous half-page woodcuts. Good, rubbing to the binding, rounded corners, short split to the top front outer hinge and a somewhat longer one to the lower rear outer hinge. Firm in its binding and generally free form internal foxing. The author was inspired to compose this work of theological fiction/conjecture/allegory upon viewing Benjamin West's mammoth-sized painting "Christ Rejected" at Congress Hall in Philadelphia in 1830. After beginning with a description of the coming ashore of "Captain Onesimus" in Philadelphia harbor, his perambulations around the city and his coming upon the painting, the "Captain" begins thinking of the subject matter. In brief, the main portion of the work assumes that Jesus's eleven remaining original disciples steal his body from the tomb. They are charged eighteen hundred yaers later by firstly Caiaphas and the Romans who guarded the tomb; secondly "by the Jewish nation for these eighteen hundred years"; thirdly, "by philosophers and the Deists of Christendom, more or less for the last three hundred years.". The trial lasts for 26 days (chapters). Spoiler alert: the Chief Judge passes judgement of banishment on Caiaphus, Pilate, and Guards.