A Free Address to Protestant Dissenters, On the Subject of Church Discipline; With A Preliminary Discourse, concerning the Spirit of Christianity, and the Corruption of it by false Notions of Religion.
London: Printed for J. Johnson…, 1770. The first work is clearly the most substantial of these three pieces. “Priestley’s ecclesiastical views retained the impress of his early training among independents. The decay of church organisation and the neglect of the sacraments among liberal dissenters concerned him; he proposed remedies in his address (1770) on church discipline…” (DNB). The other two works are short pieces, in which Priestley expresses his unhappiness at his treatment in his home city of Birmingham after his property was sacked and burned. Priestley fled Birmingham for London, and moved to America in 1794. Title of the first work dustsoiled, a little light foxing. Overall very good. First edition. Crook TR/90. [Together with:] Priestley, Joseph. Dr. Priestley’s Letter to the Inhabitants of Birmingham: Mr. Keir’s Vindication of the Revolution Dinner: and Mr. Russell’s Account of Proceedings Relating to it, with the toasts, &c. London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1791. Octavo. 16 pp. Priestley’s letter, together with the Keir and Russell contributions, was originally published as part of An Authentic Account of the Late Riots, in the Town of Birmingham (1791). [and:] Priestley, Joseph. The Present State of Europe Compared with Ancient Prophecies; A Sermon Preached at the Gravel Pit Meeting in Hackney, February 28, 1794, Being the Day appointed for a General Fast…With a Preface Containing the Reasons for the Author’s leaving England. London: Printed for J. Johnson, 1794. Octavo. xx pp. The preface only, to the first edition of a work that extended to forty-four more pages. The preface in some ways stands on its own, and compliments his letter to the inhabitants of Birmingham. Bound together in old boards, uncut. Octavo. 32, 137, [1, contents], [2, advertisements for sixteen other Priestley works] pp. Item #12276
Price: $950.00