PENN, W[ILLIAM]. 'NO CROSS, NO CROWN: OR SEVERAL SOBER REASONS AGAINST HAT-HONOUR, TITULAR-RESPECTS, YOU TO A SINGLE PERSON, WITH THE APPAREL AND RECREATIONS OF THE TIMES; BEING INCONSISTENT WITH SCRIPTURE, REASON, AND THE PRACTICE, AS WELL OF THE BEST HEATHENS, AS THE HOLY MEN AND WOMEN OF THE GENERATIONS...WITH SIXTY-EIGHT TESTIMONIES OF THE MOST FAMOUS PERSONS...IN DEFENCE OF THE POOR DESPISED QUAKERS, AGAINST THE PRACTICE AND OBJECTIONS OF THEIR ADVERSARIES...' [LONDON]: PRINTED IN THE YEAR, 1669

Small 4to (7 1/8 x 5 1/2 in.; 181 x 140mm). [6], 111pp., roman and italic types; minor foxing and toning. Full 19th-century polished brown calf, cover bordered in gilt, flat spine gilt-lettered, all edges gilt, inner dentelles gilt, marbled endpapers; extremities rubbed, corners bumped, head and tail of spine chipped, joints starting.

John Stuart Groves (leather bookplate to front pastedown)

'Cambridge History of English and American Literature' 8:17; Sabin 59721; Wing P1327

Small 4to (7 1/8 x 5 1/2 in.; 181 x 140mm). [6], 111pp., roman and italic types; minor foxing and toning. Full 19th-century polished brown calf, cover bordered in gilt, flat spine gilt-lettered, all edges gilt, inner dentelles gilt, marbled endpapers; extremities rubbed, corners bumped, head and tail of spine chipped, joints starting.
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First edition of one of Penn's chief works'No Cross No Crown' was written while Penn was imprisoned in the Tower of London for the “blasphemy” of a pamphlet, 'The Sandy Foundation Shaken', in which he had criticized what were regarded as the strongholds of Christianity. His purpose in writing 'No Cross No Crown' was, in his words, “to show the nature and discipline of the holy Cross of Christ; and that the denial of self … is the alone way to the Rest and Kingdom of God.”  While this was a familiar theme with mystics, in the tract Penn interprets the cross with the highest of puritan rigor, denouncing luxury and the common ways of society. Penn's effort was meant to be viewed as a warning against wrath that was to come, and only incidentally served as an invitation to enjoy the crown of rest in the kingdom here and now.

A scarce work, with only four other copies having been offered at auction in the last century