Pro rege populo Anglicano apologia contra Johannis Polypragmatici (alias Miltoni Angli) Defensionem destructiuam, Regis & Populi Anglicani.
Antwerp: Apud Hieronymum Verdussen, 1651. First edition of his attack on Milton's Defensio pro populo Anglicano against Salmasius, the pseudonym for a group of Anglican clergy. Minor staining to covers, half-title restored and mounted, intermittent browning. A good, clean copy. Contemporary vellum with gilt spine, edges stained red. Twelvemo. [24], 195, [1, errata] pp. Item #15475
Rowland (1605/6–1680), a Church of England clergyman who studied at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, settled in the Netherlands after purportedly being ejected from his rectory at Foots Cray. He published this work anonymously, and contemporary rumor made Joseph Jane or John Bramhall the author. When Milton's nephew John Phillips counter-attacked in print, Rowland issued from Antwerp a response, Polemica sive supplementum ad apologiam anonymam pro rege etc. per Jo. Rolandum pastorem Anglicanum (1653), claiming authorship of Pro rege populo. After the Restoration, Rowland reestablished his credentials and returned to Foots Cray.
Price: $450.00