Winslow, Edward

Estimate

8,000 - 12,000 USD

bidding is closed

Description

The Glorious Progress of the Gospel, amongst the Indians in New England. Manifested by three Letters, under the Hand of ... Mr. John Eliot, and another from Mr. Thomas Mayhew Jun... London: Hannah Allen 1649
paper, ink, leather

4to (186 x 139 mm). Headlines at B3 and D2v cropped, title a little soiled, some marginalia in ink (some shaved). Gilt calf by Bedford with red morocco labels.

Literature

Church 497; European Americana 649/131; Field 490; JCB II: 385; Sabin 22152; Thomason Tracts I: 747; Vail 114; Wing W3036

Catalogue Note

first edition of the fourth eliot indian tract. The text was assembled and edited by Edward Winslow, governor of the Plymouth Colony, who had returned to England in 1646 to defend the interests of the Massachusetts Bay Company. In London, Winslow became one of the founders of the Corporation for promoting and propagating the Gospel among the Indians of New England. The dedication to Cromwell’s Parliament cites Manasseh ben Israel as an authority for the opinion that the American Indians were the lost tribes of Israel. Eliot’s letters include a fascinating series of questions he had been asked by Indians regarding the Christian message, ranging from “How many good were in Sodome when it was burnt,” and “Did not Abraham sin in saying she [Sarah] is my sister,” to “If a man think a prayer, doth God know it,” and “When every day my heart thinks I must dye, and goe to hell for my sins, what shall I doe?”