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Tag Archives: Quakers

Banned! — Letters Concerning the English Nation

26 Wednesday Sep 2018

Posted by rarebooks in Uncategorized

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Alexander Pope, Amsterdam, Bastille, British, Drake Stillman, England, English, Enlightenment, France, Francis Bacon, French, French Parliament, Galileo, Isaac Newton, Italian, John Locke, John Lockman, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, letters, London, Pennsylvania, Quakers, rare books, Roman Catholic Church, tail pieces, University of Toronto, vignettes, Voltaire, William Bowyer, William Penn, William Shakespeare


“The great Freedom with which Mr. de Voltaire delivers himself in his various Observations, cannot give him any Apprehensions of their being less favourably receiv’d upon that Account, by a judicious People who abhor flattery. The English are pleas’d to have their Faults pointed out to them, because this shews at the same Time, that the Writer is able to distinguish their merit.”

Letters Concerning the English Nation…
Voltaire (1694-1778)
London: Printed for C. Davis…and A. Lyon…, 1733
First edition
PQ2086 L4 E5 1733

Voltaire (nee François-Marie Arouet) fled to England after arguing with powerful French political figures. During his exile, from 1726 to 1728, he learned English, reading the works of William Shakespeare, John Milton, Isaac Newton, and Francis Bacon; and met other British authors such as Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift. The British embraced Voltaire as a victim of France’s political discrimination.

In Letters, Voltaire, with the works of John Locke and Enlightenment authors as his basis, wrote a slur against the French government and the French Roman Catholic Church, calling for political and religious reform. Letters was translated from French into English by John Lockman from a manuscript prepared by Voltaire.

Voltaire wrote about Isaac Newton and his theories in four of the letters. He told the story of the falling apple as the impetus for Newton’s theorem of the law of gravity, the first time this anecdote was told in print.


“…as he was walking one Day in his Garden, and saw some Fruits fall from a Tree, he fell into a profound Meditation on that Gravity, the Cause of which has so long been sought, but in vain, by all the Philosophers, whilst the Vulgar think there is nothing mysterious in it. He said to himself, that from what height soever, in our Hemisphre, those Bodies might descend…Why may not this Power which causes heavy Bodies to descend, and is the same without any sensible Diminution at the remostest Distance from the Center of the Earth, or on the Summits of the highest Mountains; Why, said Sir Isaac, may not this power extend as high as the Moon?”

Voltaire also wrote about William Penn and the founding of Pennsylvania as a haven for Quakers.


About this time arose the illustrious William Pen, who establish’d the power of the Quakers in America, and would have made them appear venerable in the eyes of the Europeans, were it possible for mankind to respect virtue, when reveal’d in a ridiculous light…Pen set sail for his new dominions with two ships freighted with Quakers, who follow’d his fortune. The country was then call’d Pensilvania from William Pen, who there founded Philadelphia, now the most flourishing city in that country.”

Letters was published in French in Amsterdam in 1734. It was immediately condemned by the French Parliament. Copies that made it into France were confiscated and burned. A warrant was issued for Voltaire’s arrest. The printer was imprisoned in the Bastille. At the same time, it was a bestseller in England, going through several more editions during the eighteenth century.

It is likely that this English edition was printed by William Bowyer (1699-1777), as the ornaments (the title vignette and tail-pieces) are those used in other of his imprints.

Rare Books copy has the bookplate of Drake Stillman (1910-1993), an emeritus professor of the history of science at the University of Toronto. He published many translations of the works of Galileo and other sixteenth century Italian scientists.

Recommended reading:
Galileo at Work: His Scientific Biography
Stillman Drake
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978
QB36 G2 D69, L1

Telescopes, Tides, and Tactics: A Galilean Dialogue about The Starry Messenger and Systems of the World
Stillman Drake
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983
QB41 G178 D7 1983, L1

Galileo: Pioneer Scientist
Stillman Drake
Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990
QB36 G23 D67 1990, L1

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Book of the Week – A New and Literal Translation of All the Books…

28 Wednesday Jan 2015

Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week

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American, Anthony Purver, Aramaic, Bible, Bristol, English, Felix Farley, George Crosfield, Greek, Hebrew, Joseph Crosfield, Latin, London, Quakers, Samuel Fothergill, Sarah Hird, Syriac, The University of Utah, William Johnston


A New and Literal Translation of all the Books…
London: Printed by W. Richardson and S. Clark, and sold by William Johnston in Ludgate-Street, MDCCLXIV (1764)
First edition

This is the first and only edition of the Bible of the Quakers. Samuel Fothergill (1715-1772) was a prominent Quaker of his generation. He spent two years, 1754-1756, in the American colonies, traveling almost 9,000 miles to attend Friends’ meetings in order to help strengthen their Quaker principles. Earlier, he had become interested in Anthony Purver’s translation of the Bible and encouraged its publication in parts in 1746.

Purver (1702-1777) was a Hampshire-born apprentice shoemaker-turned-Quaker-preacher. He learned Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Greek, and Latin, and read massive amounts of Biblical criticism, including rabbinic commentary, and studied early English translations of the Bible. For his translation of the Bible, Purver added critical and explanatory notes.

Purver contracted with Bristol printer Felix Farley to undertake the printing project. Purver’s enthusiasm waned and his work ground to a halt. Fothergill urged Purver to persevere, and when Purver completed the work in 1763, he paid Purver for the copyright and published the edition at his own expense.

The University of Utah copy is inscribed by Samuel Fothergill (1715-1772) to his niece on the front free endpaper of Volume I: “Doctor Fothergill/To his Niece S T/Now S. Hird.” An ink signature of Fothergill’s niece, Sarah Hird, is on the front free endpaper of Volume II. Book plate of Joseph Crosfield on the front pastedown of each volume. Joseph Crosfield was the brother of George Crosfield (1785-1847), who compiled Memoirs of the Life and Gospel Labours of Samuel Fothergill (1843). A note in a 19th century hand, appears on the verso of the leaf opposite the title-page in volume I. Our copy bound in contemporary speckled calf.

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Book of the Week – The Pennsylvania Gazette

24 Monday Jun 2013

Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week, Donations

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American colonies, Benjamin Franklin, Hugh Meredith, John Penn, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Quakers, Ronald Rubin, Samuel Keimer, William Penn

The Pennsylvania Gazette, 1763, Front Page
The Pennsylvania Gazette, 1763, Spread
The Pennsylvania Gazette, 1763, Back Page

The Pennsylvania Gazette
Philadelphia, PA: Printed by B. Franklin and H. Meredith, 1763
AN2 P4 U64, No. 1822 November 24, 1763

The Pennsylvania Gazette was published in Philadelphia between 1728 and 1800. It began publication with the title The Universal Instructor in all Arts and Sciences: and Pennsylvania Gazette, founded by Samuel Keimer. In 1729 Benjamin Franklin and Hugh Meredith bought the paper and shortened the name. Franklin printed the paper and also contributed pieces, often using a pseudonym. The paper became one of the most successful in the American colonies. This issue, no. 1822, November 24, 1763, leads with letters of welcome to John Penn, grandson of William Penn, upon his arrival in Philadelphia as governor.

Penn took the oath of office on October 31. He would be the last governor of colonial Pennsylvania, leaving in 1776 after the creation of an independent Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, when the Penn family was removed from power.

Letters of welcome include those from the Quakers, the “Managers and Treasurer of the Pennsylvania Hospital,” “the Corporation for the Relief of poor and distressed Presbyterian Ministers, and the Relief of their Widows and Children,” “the Baptist Church, at Philadelphia,” and “the Library Company of Philadelphia.” All of the letters seek aid of one sort or another from Penn. The Library Company’s letter notes that the Penn family “has always favoured our Institution, and promoted it, by their frequent and generous Benefactions.”

This issue was a gift from Dr. Ronald Rubin, a frequent and generous benefactor to the Rare Books Division.  Dr. Rubin, a political science professor and noted antiquarian, has written articles on world politics for the New York Magazine, the New York Times, the Jewish Press, the Jerusalem Post, Western Political Quarterly, Christian Science Monitor, Forward, the Wall Street Journal and other leading publications. An anthology of his pieces, A Jewish Professor’s Political Punditry: Fifty-plus Years of Published Commentary by Ron Rubin, was published this March.

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