OBSERVATIONS HISTORICAL AND PRACTICAL ON THE RISE AND PRIMITIVE STATE OF NEW-ENGLAND. WITH A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE OLD AND FIRST GATHER'D CHURCH IN BOSTON. A SERMON PREACH'D TO THE SAID CONGREGATION AUG. 23. 1730. BEING THE LAST SABBATH OF THE FIRST CENTURY SINCE ITS SETTLEMENT.

Foxcroft, Thomas:

Published by Boston: Printed by S. Kneeland and T. Green, for S. Gerrish in Cornhill, 1730.

About this Item

A nice association copy, bearing an inscription in a slightly later hand on the half title reading, "Lydia Abbot's Book the gift of Mrs. Abigail Foxcroft," and in the same hand (presumably Lydia Abbot's): "Lydia Abbot her book." Abigail Foxcroft (d. 1803) was apparently the daughter of the author. First and only edition of this "valuable tract, compiled from original sources" (Sabin). Thomas Foxcroft (1697-1769) was minister of the First Church of Boston from 1717 until his death in 1769. The present sermon was delivered on August 23, 1730, in observance of the centenary of the founding of Boston's First Church. Foxcroft begins by providing an account of the history of the first century of Puritan settlement in New England, recalling "the excellent Character and Spirit of our Forefathers" and "their Errand into this Wilderness." He then proceeds - in the tradition of the jeremiad - to lament the present "visible Decline of Religion" before calling for a return to the "bright Example" of the first generation. Notably, this sermon reproduces the text of the original church covenant of Boston's First Church, marking what is perhaps the covenant's first appearance in print (Walker). Described in an exhibit catalog of 1907 as "our first centennial sermon." Called "very scarce" in the Brinley sale catalogue. A significant sermon marking the centennial of the founding of Boston's First Church and an early account of the history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. EVANS 3280. ESTC W28699. HOWES F309, "aa." SABIN 25399. BRINLEY SALE 305, 1588. BRADFORD 1757. PARKS, NEW ENGLAND 378. SIBLEY'S HARVARD GRADUATES VI, pp.47-58. Williston Walker, The Creeds and Platforms of Congregationalism (New York, 1893), p.123. 1607-1907: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Massachusetts Exhibit of Colonial Books at the Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition (Boston, 1907), pp.22-23. Half title. Antique-style half calf and marbled boards, spine with raised bands, gilt leather label. Ex-Newberry Library, with their small ink stamp on the half title, titlepage, and several internal leaves. Half title and title-leaf restored along gutter, first leaf of dedication with an old repair, obscuring five full lines and fourteen half-lines of text. A good plus copy.

Seller Inventory # 47519

Bibliographic Details

• Title: OBSERVATIONS HISTORICAL AND PRACTICAL ON THE RISE AND PRIMITIVE STATE OF NEW-ENGLAND. WITH A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE OLD AND FIRST GATHER'D CHURCH IN BOSTON. A SERMON PREACH'D TO THE SAID CONGREGATION AUG. 23. 1730. BEING THE LAST SABBATH OF THE FIRST CENTURY SINCE ITS SETTLEMENT.
• Publisher: Boston: Printed by S. Kneeland and T. Green, for S. Gerrish in Cornhill, 1730.