1742 The Almost Christian Discovered by Matthew Mead Rare Early American Puritan

Description: Note: provenance information has been added to this description, as significance of the original owner, Thomas Foxcroft and his family, has been uncovered.( see below ) --------- The Almost Christian Discovered : Or, The False Professor Tryed and Cast. Being the Substance of Seven Sermons, First Preached at Sepulchers , London , 1661. And now at the Importunity of Friends made Publick. The Sixteenth Edition. By Matthew Mead Boston Printed by J. Draper , for J. Edwards and S. Eliot in Cornhill. MDCCXLII. 1742 Antique hardcover. Original full leather binding. Leather over wooden boards. 3 1/2" x 5 7/8" (2) + 6 + 148 pages + blank endpapers. 280 years old. This is a rare book; a 1742 printing of Matthew Mead's " The Almost Christian Discovered ." First published in 1662, this is the sixteenth edition, printed in colonial America, in Boston, before the United States existed. This book was originally owned by " Tho. Foxcroft " ( see the photos ). Rev. Thomas Foxcroft (1697-1769), of Boston. Thomas Foxcroft was a grandson of Thomas Danforth (1623-1699 ), politician, magistrate, and landowner in the Massachusetts Bay Colony , and Deputy Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1679 to 1686. ( Danforth had some association with the Salem Witch Trials - see below ). ------------- Author Matthew Mead ( or Meade , circa 1630 - 1699 ), was an English Puritan Independent minister. The seven sermons of this book were preached at St. Sepulchre's, Holborn, London, in 1661. Mead was afterward ejected from St. Sepulcher's by the Uniformity Act of 1662, which prescribed the form of public prayers, administration of sacraments, and other rites of the Established Church of England, according to the rites and ceremonies prescribed in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. Adherence to this was required in order to hold any office in government or the church. Mead was in London during the great plague of 1665-1666 and probably during the Great Fire of 1666, also. Afterward he preached in the ward of Stepney in London, where he later became pastor. His congregation was the largest in London. He preached his last sermon on May Day, 1699, and died on October 16, 1699, aged 70. He was buried in Stepney churchyard. ------------- Mead's " The Almost Christian Discovered " is a work considered to be of such value it is still in print today, centuries after it first appeared. To the Puritans, to please God, proper motive was as necessary as proper conduct. The carnal hypocrite must be awakened out of his undeserved sense of security. In this book, Matthew Mead shows the many ways that a person can be deceived into thinking he is a Christian, when he really is just an " almost Christian ." Mead explains important topics like the need for self-examination, signs of the unpardonable sin, and reasons a believer ought to take comfort. He concludes with three essential matters : the evil and repugnant nature of sin, the misery and desperate danger of the unregenerate, and the utter insufficiency and inability of anything other than Christ Jesus to minister relief to sinners. This 17th century Puritan work was meant to shake the believer-in-name-only out of complacency, yet to give comfort to the true believer. ------------ It should be noted that this 1742, 16th Edition, printed in colonial Boston, is a rare book. Condition. Entirely as-found, with no repairs of any kind. The covers are still attached, though there is partial splitting in the leather at the juncture of the covers and the spine. ( see the photos ) The front free blank endpaper is present but detached. Old ink names on the endpaper ( "Abigail Foxcroft " and " Martha Foxcroft " ), and a later inscription dated March 27, 1845. Name in old ink at the head of the title-page : " Tho. Foxcroft ". ( Thomas Foxcroft was the original owner of this book ). Very little foxing. Some aging of the paper, but the pages are generally in very good condition. ------------- The original owner of this 1742 book was Thomas Foxcroft. This is either Rev. Thomas Foxcroft (1697-1769) or his son, Thomas Foxcroft ( born May 31, 1732 ). Finding no record of the son Thomas's death, it is likely that he died as a young child. This book, published in 1742, would have been beyond the understanding of a boy 10 or so years old, in any case. We can, therefore, reasonably conclude that the original owner of this book was the father, Reverend Thomas Foxcroft ( 1697 - 1769 ). Rev. Foxcroft was, himself, also the author of a number of Sermons, first printed in the 1700s. ------------ Rev. Thomas Foxcroft ( 1697 - 1769 ) Thomas Foxcroft was born on February 26, 1697, in Boston , to Colonel Francis Foxcroft, warden of King's Chapel , and Elizabeth Danforth. Elizabeth Danforth, his mother, was a daughter of Thomas Danforth ( 1623 - 1699 ). Thomas Foxcroft's grandfather, Thomas Danforth, was a politician, magistrate, and landowner in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was Deputy Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony , in office 1679 - 1686. A conservative Puritan, Thomas Danforth served for many years as one of the colony's councilors and magistrates, generally leading opposition to attempts by the English kings to assert control over the colony. He accumulated land in the central part of the colony that eventually became a portion of Framingham, Massachusetts. His government roles included administration of territory in present-day Maine that was purchased by the colony. He appears in Arthur Miller's 1953 play " The Crucible " ( though inaccurately depicted ; In reality Danforth was critical of the conduct of the Salem Witch Trials and played a role in bringing them to an end ). Thomas Foxcroft was educated at Harvard. He joined the ministry of Boston's First Church in 1717 and remained there for the remainder of his career. Foxcroft was the author of various Sermons , first printed from 1719 to 1760. He continued to preach until the day of his death. He died in Boston on June 18, 1769. The place of his burial in unknown. He was the father of some 12 children, though only a few survived into adulthood. He fathered two sons named " Thomas ". The first was born Jan. 3, 1719 and appears to have died as a small child. The second son whom he named Thomas was born May 31, 1732. I can find no record of a date of the second Thomas's death, which suggests that he also died as a young child. ---------------------- A rare Early American printing of an important Christian work. Originally owned by noteworthy Boston minister Thomas Foxcroft, the grandson of a significant figure in colonial Boston history. 280 years old. Carefully packed for shipment to the buyer.

Price: 2000 USD

Location: Coventry, Rhode Island

End Time: 2024-11-19T15:18:39.000Z

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