Mather, Cotton

Magnalia Christi Americana: Or, the Ecclesiastical History of New-England, from Its First Planting in the Year 1620, unto the Year of Our Lord, 1698. In Seven Books. London: Printed for Thomas Parkhurst, 1702

Folio (12 3/8 x 7 3/4 in.; 315 x 195 mm). Double-page map of New England and New York, final leaf of publisher's advertisements;  lacking the errata, long tear in map repaired, map backed in linen, corner tears on title-page,  5H4, and 5I1 neatly repaired, withal a bright, crisp copy. Late nineteenth-century brown morocco, panelled in gilt and blind with central gilt cartouche, the spine in six compartments gilt (two reserved for gilt lettering), gilt-ruled dentelles, plain endpapers, edges gilt; slightly worn at joints and corners, boards scratched.

Acquisition: William Reese

Church 806; Howes M391; European Americana 702/127; McCorkle 702.3, 680.4 (ref.); Streeter 1:658

Folio (12 3/8 x 7 3/4 in.; 315 x 195 mm). Double-page map of New England and New York, final leaf of publisher's advertisements; lacking the errata, long tear in map repaired, map backed in linen. Late nineteenth-century brown morocco, panelled in gilt and blind with central gilt cartouche, the spine in six compartments gilt (two reserved for gilt lettering, gilt-ruled dentelles, plain endpapers, edges gilt; slightly worn at joints and corners, boards scratched.
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First edition of "the most famous American book of colonial times" (Streeter). It is an indispensible source for colonial social history including civil, religious, and military affairs at the end of the seventeenth century and is equally noteworthy for its lively biographies.The map, which depicts New England, Long Island, and eastern New York has been described by cartographic historian Barbara McCorkle as "the first eighteenth-century general map of New England." It was probably derived from A New Map of New England. New York. New Iarsey. Pensilvania. Maryland. and Virginia, which likely was created by Phillip Lea in 1680.