A Compendious History of the Rise and Progress of the Methodist Church, Both in Europe and America, Consisting Principally of Selections from Various Approved and Authentic Documents

Meacham, A[hira] G[riswold]

Published by Printed for the Publisher, by Joseph Wilson, Hallowell, U.C. [later Picton], 1832

About this Item

8vo. Contemporary sheep, unlettered spine. 503 pp., [1] errata. Leather is worn and creased but sound. Lacking flyleaves. Some foxing and browning throughout. Light damp staining at beginning and to outer margins. First edition of "one of the earliest denominational histories printed in Canada." (Lamb) In addition to providing a history of Methodism in Europe and America, the work includes Book VII, pp. 443-465, the first history of Methodism in Canada. The appendix gives a chronological list of all American Methodist itinerant preachers from 1773-1826. Most references incorrectly give the author's name as Albert Gallatin Meacham. Fleming's attribution to Ahira Griswold Meacham is based on research by J. William Lamb about Meacham and his work published in Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada (XX, 1981: 41-9). Meacham was a Vermont-born American Methodist preacher from New York who lived and worked in the Bay of Quinte region in 1832-34. He later moved to Illinois where he also practiced medicine. In 1839 he was expelled from the Conference for immoral conduct. An unusual imprint: Fleming lists only thirteen titles printed there prior to 1842, three of them newspapers (one of the newspapers actually with 'Picton' imprint - the town name was changed in 1837). John Wilson, who was the first to set up shop in Hallowell, Prince Edward County, and who was active from 1832-1834, was responsible for printing one newspaper and all ten books, including three almanacs, a reader, a constitutional act of Upper Canada, a Bible, a guide to health, two literary works, and the present history. Lamb located a total of 29 institutional copies in North America and a further thirteen of the 1835 American edition, which he determined to be a reissue of the sheets of the original printing with a cancel title printed with the same fonts. Fleming 717. TPL 1723. cf Morgan p. 275 (citing 'Meecham', Picton, no date & pp. 900 clearly indicating he had not seen a copy). Gagnon II 1359. cf Sabin 47211 (New York 1835 imprint; also citing Picton wit no date and different pagination).

Seller Inventory # 012293

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Compendious History of the Rise and Progress of the Methodist Church, Both in Europe and America, Consisting Principally of Selections from Various Approved and Authentic Documents
• Publisher: Printed for the Publisher, by Joseph Wilson, Hallowell, U.C. [later Picton]
• Publication Date: 1832
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • Religion
  • Christianity
  • Church History