An Apology for the Bible, in a Series of Letters, addressed to Thomas Paine, Author of a Book entitled 'The Age of Reason, Part the Second, Being an Investigation of True and of Fabulous Theology'
London, Printed for T. Evans ... 1796 (third edition)/ 1796.
Duodecimo, [iv], 386 (last blank), [2] (advertisements) pages.
Early gilt-decorated full polished speckled calf lightly rubbed at the extremities; early ownership signature on the title page (and a much later one on a binder's blank); a fine copy.
Richard Watson (1737-1816), 'Lord Bishop of Landaff, and Regius Professor of Divinity in the University of Cambridge' on the title page, 'successfully turned his hand to chemistry and divinity and ecclesiastical politics when his career demanded it and happily abandoned them when that need disappeared. [A] friend's generosity permitted him to become a landowner and improving farmer and it was as such that he found contentment. But he was perhaps less important than his reputation suggested. The legend of the radical bishop who supported revolution and later turned apostate concealed the duller reality of a consistent, independent-minded but rather old-fashioned whig'. This rejoinder 'to Paine was urgent and anxious; the debate was no longer an intellectual exercise but a crucial defence of the political and social order' (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online).
Item #100119
Price (AUD):
$200.00