A DISCOURSE SHEWING WHO IS A TRUE PASTOR OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
London? J. Applebee, 1723. Pamphlet. POSSIBLY 1724. by John Checkley, (1680-1754). Octavo, 7 3/8" x 4 1/2." Pamphlet. pp. 16. Missing last two unpaginated leaves, including final errata leaf and final advertisement leaf. Light crease across horizontal center. Title-page browned and soiled, typical of age. Lightly crimping bottom right corner of title-page. Nice floral head piece and initial on pp. 1. Edges neatly trimmed, close to top of text shaving page numbers: 1, 3, and 13-16. Scattered brown staining, pp. 9-11, 13-16, text entirely readable. Interior pages lightly browned, with moderate foxing throughout. Pp. 12-16 include (possibly) apocryphal epistle of St. Ignatius to the Trallians. (ESTC N597). Good. Item #80762
The outspoken American clergyman John Checkley (1680-1754) secretly authored and printed this pamphlet (while being tried and convicted for prior seditious writings against the Puritans. Checkley's trial is considered to be a critical juncture in the history of religious toleration and freedom of the press in America. was secretly printed at a critical moment in the history of religious toleration and freedom of the press in this country.
"...Its publisher and author, John Checkley, a Boston bookseller and man of strong religious opinions, daringly brought out this pamphlet while being tried and convicted for libelling the Puritans in an earlier one (pamphlet); His trial 'was the last attempt . . . to prevent the publication of theological and ecclesiastical views. . . .' ---Edmund F. Slafter’s John Checkley; or the Evolution of Religious Tolerance in Massachusetts Bay 1897). Quite scarce.
Price: $400.00