Item #85415 THE EXEMPLARY LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES BONNELL, ESQ; LATE ACCOMPTANT GENERAL OF IRELAND, to which is added A SERMON PREACHED AT THE FUNERAL OF JAMES BONNELL ESQ. by Edward Lord Bishop of Killmore and Ardagh. William Hamilton.
THE EXEMPLARY LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES BONNELL, ESQ; LATE ACCOMPTANT GENERAL OF IRELAND, to which is added A SERMON PREACHED AT THE FUNERAL OF JAMES BONNELL ESQ. by Edward Lord Bishop of Killmore and Ardagh
THE EXEMPLARY LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES BONNELL, ESQ; LATE ACCOMPTANT GENERAL OF IRELAND, to which is added A SERMON PREACHED AT THE FUNERAL OF JAMES BONNELL ESQ. by Edward Lord Bishop of Killmore and Ardagh
THE EXEMPLARY LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES BONNELL, ESQ; LATE ACCOMPTANT GENERAL OF IRELAND, to which is added A SERMON PREACHED AT THE FUNERAL OF JAMES BONNELL ESQ. by Edward Lord Bishop of Killmore and Ardagh

THE EXEMPLARY LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JAMES BONNELL, ESQ; LATE ACCOMPTANT GENERAL OF IRELAND, to which is added A SERMON PREACHED AT THE FUNERAL OF JAMES BONNELL ESQ. by Edward Lord Bishop of Killmore and Ardagh

London, England: Joseph Downing, in Bartholomew-Close near West-Smithfield, [1703] 1718. Fourth Edition, Corrected. Hardcover. 12mo, 4.75 in. x 7.2 in., pp. xxiv + 256 +23 + 8 (Contents). Cambridge panel calf with three etched double-frames and tooled-panel floral design to all corners in blind on front and back.one of which has been worn or cut out. Five raised bands on rebacked spine, each band double-ruled in gilt at top and bottom. Title on spine in gilt on contrasting (red) spine panel with date at bottom. Rubbing to extremities. Striking, full-page etched frontis portrait of James Bonnell. Interior is clean, with the exception of just one or two pages, which show minor foxing, but not to obscure text. Side markers in nice wide margins. Lovely initial caps, and elaborate head and tail pieces. Very good. Item #85415

This biography first appeared in 1703 written by William Hamilton with a view to recommending James Bonnell ‘as a pattern worthy our imitation, in all the duties of the Christian life’. The choice of biographer was made by Bonnell's widow Jane, who was keen that the sale price of the biography should not ‘be above the common people's purchase’. Initially published in Dublin and London as the Life and character of James Bonnell, in most subsequent editions it appeared as the Exemplary life and character . . . . Reissued on three occasions between 1704 and 1718, the work enjoyed renewed interest in the nineteenth century and was reissued in at least six editions between 1807 and 1852.

Based on Bonnell's prayers and meditations found among his papers and correspondence, Hamilton's [account of James Bonnell's] life showed the intense nature of Bonnell's piety, with its emphasis on private prayer, the liturgy, weekly communion, and sabbath observance.

Hamilton listed Bonnell's reading, which included the Greek fathers of the church, the sixteenth-century English theologian Richard Hooker, and Thomas à Kempis's Imitation of Christ. Surprisingly the list also included St Francis de Sales's Introduction to the devout life, one of the most influential works in catholic counter-reformation spirituality, which Bonnell translated into English but never published. (from Dictionary of Irish Biography).

Price: $225.00 save 25% $168.75

See all items in Irish & Ireland: History
See all items by