6 works bound together. (8vo) 6½x3¾, limp reversed calf with untrimmed edges.
Comprises:
[A Short Reply to Mr. Whitefield’s Letter which he wrote in answer to the Querists. Philadelphia: Printed for the Querists, 1741.] 62, [2 blank] pp. Ascribed to Franklin’s press. Miller 260. Lacking nearly all of title-page.
[Gillespy, George.] Sermon. Lacking title-page. Final page inkstained. ii, 31, xii, [1], [2 blank] pp.
TENNENT, Gilbert. The Danger of an Uncoverted Ministry, considered in a Sermon. Philadelphia: Printed by Benjamin Franklin, 1740. 31, [3 blank] pp. First Edition. Miller 210.
The Querist’s, Part III. Philadelphia: Printed [by] B. Franklin, 174[1]. 150 pp. Lacking half of the final text leaf. Title-page dampstained with ink drawings on the verso, tear at bottom with loss of word “by” in imprint. The final digit of the date is inked over, Miller notes that this is the case in all three copies known to him. This work was written in reply to the preceding volume, "by the Old Side Presbyterian ministers of the Synod of Philadelphia, who had in June, 1741, expelled Tennent and his New Side colleagues from their body." Benjamin Franklin charged the Synod over 53 pounds for this printing, and his ledger notes the delivery of only 66 copies. Miller 261.
THOMSON, John. The Doctrine of Convictions set in a clear Light… Philadelphia: Printed by A. Bradford at the Sign of the Bible in Front Street, 1741. A-E8, F4 + errata leaf. Many words corrected in neat manuscript.
THOMSON, John. The Government of the Church of Christ. Philadelphia: Printed by A. Bradford at the Sign of the Bible in Front Street, 1741. xiv, 130 pp. Final leaf worn with some loss to text.
Remarkable group of American tracts from the early 1740's. Includes three works with Benjamin Franklin imprints, one Gillespy sermon lacking title-page which from the same period, and two printed by Andrew Bradford, in the year before his death. The sermons are mostly related to the Querist controversy. The Tennent sermon has been called "the most significant of the Great Awakening in the Middle Colonies" (Martin E. Lodge, "The Crisis of the Churches in the Middle Colonies, 1720-1750", PMHB, XCV, April 1971, p.206, quoted in Miller). In a primitive, apparently contemporary binding.
Condition:
Leaned, no endpapers; dampstained throughout, lacking some text as noted above, some early ink scrawls to the blanks, marginal wear and softening, several corners folded over; not in good condition, but entirely unrestored.