Vintage Quaker Books

Margaret Fell’s Writings

admin — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:53:49 +0000

Margaret Fell was popularly known as the “mother of Quakerism.”
She was born Margaret Askew in Lancashire, England. In 1632,
she married Thomas Fell, a barrister of who later became a judge
and a member of Parliament.

In 1652, Margaret was converted to Quakerism by the preaching
of George Fox, and her home, Swarthmoor Hall, became a center
of Quaker activity continuing after the death of Judge Fell in 1658.
She received and forwarded letters from roving missionaries and
wrote many epistles herself; she was frequently called upon
to intercede on behalf on Quaker leaders and missionaries in case
of persecution or arrest.

Margaret was imprisoned in Lancaster Castle from 1663 to 1668
for allowing Quaker Meetings to be held in her home. She defended
herself by saying that “as long as the Lord blessed her with a home,
she would worship him in it.” While in prison, she wrote religious
pamphlets and epistles. Perhaps her most famous work is
“Women’s Speaking Justified.” a scripture-based argument for
women’s ministry, and one of the major justifications for equal
rights for women in the 17th century.

She married George Fox in 1669. After her marriage, she was again
imprisoned for about a year. Margaret Fox spent most of the rest
of her life at Swarthmoor and continued to take an active part in
the affairs of the Society. She is often credited with helping to
institutionalize the Society of Friends. She died in 1701.

We are offering a scarce and important volume of her writings
which includes her letters, epistles, and tracts, as well as
testimonies of her life from her children, Thomas Camm and Thomas
Dockrey. Many of these have not been reprinted. Also interesting
is that this volume was printed by Jane Sowle, a woman printer
who with her daughter, Tace Sowle, published many of the
early Quaker writings.

Fell, Margaret. A Brief Collection of Remarkable Passages
and Occurrences Relating to the Birth, Education, Life,
Conversion, Travels, Services, and Deep Sufferings of That
Ancient, Eminent, and Faithful Servant of the Lord,
Margaret Fell; But by her Second Marriage, Margaret Fox.
Together With Sundry of Her Epistles, Books, and Christian
Testimonies to Friends and Others; and also to those in
Supreme Authority, in the several late Revolutions of Government.
London: J. Sowle, 1710, 1st edition.

8 vo, 535 pages + index; worn covers, spine neatly repaired
with black cloth, but cloth is now worn with several small holes;
missing front free endpapers, inner hinge broken at page 2,
title page taped at hinge, owner name (John Russell Hayes)
inside cover along with a handwritten list of important dates
in the life of Margaret Askew; missing back free endpaper, paper
browned and foxed, occasional light pencil underlining and a
early few margin marks in pen. Five page catalog of books
published by J. Sowle at the rear. [Smith I:602]

$625.00 including shipping in the US and insurance.

1824 Quaker Pamphlet on the African Slave Trade

admin — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 21:43:35 +0000

“It is greatly to be regretted, that among all the
benevolent and laudable exertions for meliorating the
condition of man which characterize the present day,
so little has been done, or is now doing, towards informing
the public mind in this county, upon the subject of this
nefarious and cruel occupation….we rejoice in the persuasion,
that the real character and effects of the slave trade as
it now exists, need only to be published through our country,
to raise one general feeling of abhorrence, and to around
men of liberal and enlightened minds, to devote their time
and talents in procuring the abolition of a traffic replete
with the deepest guilt in its prosecution, and whose design
is the unconditional and cruel bondage of thousands of
rational beings, equally entitled with ourselves to the
enjoyment of all the blessings, the comforts and the
privileges of life.”

This pamphlet, published by the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting for
Sufferings, reviews the American and British laws concerning the
slave trade, gives extracts from various letters documenting the
ongoing trafficking in African slaves, and summarizes the status of
slave trading in France, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, United States.
Also included are letters concerning the formation of a settlement
on the African coast for the reception of liberated African slaves.

The report is comprehensive and detailed, with many
extracts from first hand accounts and original reports.

A View of the Present State of the African Slave Trade.
Published by Direction of a Meeting Representing the
Religious Society of Friends in Pennsylvania, New-Jersey, &c.
Philadelphia: William Brown, Printer, 1824. [Smith I:767]

69 page pamphlet, plain blue paper covers, paper and
covers are browned, foxed, and damp-stained,
owner name on front cover and title page,
some edges chipped and corners bent, good.
$150. including postage in the US and insurance.

Thomas Story - 17th Century Traveling Friend

admin — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 21:12:43 +0000

“The unity of Christians never did, nor ever will, nor can stand
in uniformity of thought and opinion, but in Christian love only.”
–Thomas Story

Thomas Story was an influential and much admired
seventeenth century Quaker. As a youth, he attended Carlisle
Grammar School and was accomplished in fencing and music.
He read law under Dr. Richard Gilpin in Cumberland and set up
chambers in Carlise. He was a good churchman, but began
to have scruples about the christening of infants and other rites.

In 1689 he met with several influential Quakers. In his
convincement, he at once “put off his usual airs, his jovial
address, and the sword which he had worn as a modish and
manly ornament.” He also burned his musical instruments and
simplified his manner of dress. Story closed his practice as a
lawyer and began to preach. In 1693, he met William Penn
who helped him find employment among Quakers. He was
appointed registrar of the Society of Friends.

Story traveled extensively in the ministry. With William Penn,
he visited meetings in Ireland. In November, 1698, he sailed to
Pennsylvania where he remained for sixteen years. He was chosen
as the first recorder of Philadelphia and was a member of the
council of state. He was elected mayor of Philadelphia, but paid
a fine for declining to serve. During his stay in America, he
traveled and preached, including visiting Jamaica and Barbadoes.
He married Ann Shippen, the daughter of Edward Shippen.

After her death, he returned to England and continued his
ministry in London, traveling to Holland and Ireland. In Bath, his
preaching was so much admired that the afternoon meetings were
crowded with people of both sexes, and “of all ranks and notions.”
He continued to travel until 1741.

His last years were spent in the town of his birth, Justice Town,
where he built a new house and planted a nursery of forest trees
which later became a vast woodland around his home. He died in
1742 and is buried in the Friends’ Burial Ground in Carlisle.

Some of his writings are available online - for a sample, read his “Words of Reproof for Busybodies.”

Thomas Story’s life and writings have much to offer modern Friends.
Click here for a selection of writings by and about Thomas Story.

Robert Barclay, Quaker Apologist

admin — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 20:01:28 +0000

Robert Barclay was born on December 23, 1648. A scholarly youth,
Robert studied in Paris where a wealthy uncle offered to make him
his heir if only he would join the Roman Catholic Church. Meanwhile,
Robert’s father, David Barclay, had become a Quaker. In 1667,
Robert followed his example and joined the Society of Friends.
Soon afterwards, he became a theologian of the Quaker viewpoint
writing in defense of the Society, by publishing in 1670,
Truth Cleared of Calumnies, and, in 1673,
A Catechism and Confession of Faith.

Barclay published his classic exposition of Quakerism
in Latin in 1676 as Theologiæ Vere Christianæ Apologia.
He then translated his own book into English.
The Apology For the True Christian Divinity has since
been reprinted over sixty times and translated into several other
languages.

Most of Barclay’s effort was directed at defending Quaker doctrine
and showing its superiority to competing doctrines of his time,
especially those of Calvinism. Barclay argued that the only real
Christianity is that in which the Spirit of Christ is present. Since
the Bible must be interpreted and brought alive by the Holy Spirit,
even its words are secondary to inner illumination. Any merely
historical or liturgical faith is dead. Any worship which lacks
Christ’s presence is a sham. Faith must be something experienced.

Barclay’s influence was not through his theology alone. He was
active in national affairs and negotiated in behalf of King James II.
He died at the age of 42. His nine children were ardent Quakers,
and their descendants were prominent among the famous Quaker
families of subsequent centuries: the Barclays, Gurneys and Frys.

We are pleased to offer a selection of works by and about Robert Barclay.
Click here.

Two Philadelphia Merchants

admin — Thu, 17 May 2007 17:38:51 +0000

The nineteenth-century saw the rise of a prosperous merchant class
in Philadelphia. We are offering biographies of two of these
successful business men, as well as a study of the sociological
factors that influenced them.

Cope, Thomas P. Philadelphia Merchant:
The Diary of Thomas P. Cope, 1800-1851.
South Bend, IN: Gateway Editions, 1978,
628 pages.
Very good in chipped jacket.
Cope was a shipowner, merchant and
philanthropist. In his diaries, he commented on
society, democracy, wealth, the status of women,
and countless other subjects.
$16.00 including media rate shipping.

Tooker, Elva. Nathan Trotter: Philadelphia Merchant, 1787-1853.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1955, 1st ed., 276 pages.
Moderately worn, good in tattered jacket.
He began business as an importer of English gold,
turned to specialization in metals, and eventually
invested much of his capital in commercial paper.
He continued to live simply and unostentatiously as
befitted a fifth generation of Quaker Trotters.
$16.00 including media rate shiping.

Baltzell, E. Digby. Puritan Boston and Quaker Philadelphia.
Boston: Beacon Press, 1982, 2nd paperback edition,
585 pages.
Near very good paperback with scuffed covers and remainder mark.
The author traces the lives of fifty families,
comparing the dramatic differences in lifestyles,
public achievements, and cultural contributions
of the wealthy and elite of these two cities.
$9.00 including media rate shipping.

Scarce copy of the “Quaker Bible” published in 1764

admin — Tue, 15 May 2007 20:23:00 +0000

The “Quaker Bible” is an eighteenth-century
translation into English of the Christian Bible
by Anthony Purver, a Quaker shoemaker. He
taught himself Hebrew, Greek and Latin in
order to understand the Bible and worked
alone for thirty years in developing his translation.
Another Quaker, Dr. John Fothergill, published this
Bible at his own expense in 1764. Purver’s translation
of the Bible was the only alternative in its day to the
King James Version. However, the book was not a success;
the first edition was the only printing of this work.

We are offering a copy of this scarce Bible
(only the second set we have had
in the past twenty years):

[Purver, Anthony, translator]. A New and
Literal Translation of All the Books
of the Old and New Testaments,
With Notes Critical and Explanatory.
London: W. Richardson and S. Clark, 1764.
2 volumes. Folio (about 14 1/2″ by 9 1/2″).
[Smith II: 437]

Leather bound, worn scuffed covers, edges worn, missing
large pieces at corners, spines have been crudely repaired
with masking tape which has been painted brown, inner
hinges breaking, bookplates, paper browned and foxed, good.
The books are marked “dupl” in pencil on the title page.

Handwritten presentation: “The gift of Benjamin Ferris to
Wilmington Yearly Meeting.” [Benjamin Ferris was a prominent Hicksite from Wilmington, Deleware]

$1,250.00 including US shipping and insurance.

Overstock Sale — Books by D. Elton Trueblood

admin — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 13:05:14 +0000

Elton Trueblood was a professor of philosophy at Earlham College, a charismatic and popular speaker, and author of numerous books and articles. He had a special distinction as an interpreter of religious philosophy for everyman since the publication in 1944 of his first best seller, The Predicament of Modern Man.

We have in stock multiple copies of many of his works. Condition varies but most are good, moderately worn, used books. Some copies may have names or a few owner markings; some have dust jackets.

The price, including media rate shipping in the US is $8.00. Mix and match – each additional volume is $5.00. (Subject to prior sale - quantities are limited.)

1. Alternative to Futility A prescription for restoring the health of civilization hrough a “redemptive fellowship.”

2. The Common Ventures of Life: Marriage, Birth, Work, Death. Helps the reader realize thevalues in richer living which lie hidden in these common experiences.

3. The Company of the Committed. A bold and imaginative re-thinking of the church in contemporary life.

4. The Declaration of Freedom Penetrating insights about the faith, hope and responsibility of free men and the deepest foundations of liberty, equality, and human dignity.

5. Foundations for Reconstruction. How to build an enduring moral order: new interpretations of old commandments.

6. The Future of the Christian. The spiritual hunger of modern man is so deep, that the immediate future of the Christian faith may be brighter than we have dared to suppose.

7. The Incendiary Fellowship. Trueblood shows how the church can be set aflame today as it was in the first century of Christianity.

8. The Life We Prize. “Can America meet the challenge of communism?” (Written in 1951)

9. New Man for Our Time. “For Christians seeking the union of inner peace and outer service so needed in our world today.”

10. A Place to Stand. A practical guide to Christian faith as a solid point from which to operate in contemporary living.

11. The Philosophy of Religion. Develops and expounds the essentials of a philosophy which enables men and women to be both intellectually honest and sincerely devout.

12. The Predicament of Modern Man. A genuine religious faith may close the breach between spiritual growth and technical progress.

13. The Recovery of Family Life. The family can be saved and this book tells how.

14. Signs of Hope in a Century of Despair. This book lays a solid foundation for a sensible, genuinely Christian optimism.

15. The Validity of the Christian Mission. This book deals broadly with Christianity as a mission faith and challenges the idea that the mission effort is obsolete.

16. While It is Day: An Autobiography. “A warm and nostalgic, sincere and moving story of one man’s spiritual and intellectual pilgrimage.”

17. The Yoke of Christ and Other Sermons. The Christian gospel can make a tremendous difference when it becomes relevant to the daily lives of ordinary men and women.

18. Your Other Vocation. “He sees every occupation as a form of Christian ministry, a way of being a co-worker with God in building the kind of world which is inaccordance with His will.”