AN ADDRESS TO PROTESTANTS UPON THE PRESENT CONJUNCTURE. by PENN, William.: - 1679

(London, Andrew Sowle), 1679.. FIRST EDITION, second issue, 1679, divided into 2 parts. Small 4to, 180 x 130 mm, 7¼ x 5¼ inches, pages: 4, catchword AN, (8), 5-246 page 124 numbered 114, (pages 241-246 misnumbered 141-146, page 1 signed A2 , A3, page 5 signed A2 and signature 'a1-a4' which is the Contents table, inserted between A2 and A3, as in all copies), LACKING FINAL LEAF OF APPENDIX which has been supplied in manuscript, written in old ink in an early hand without transcribing the errata which should be pasted to the foot of last page 248, bound in full polished calf, double ruled gilt border and blind tooled inner border to both covers, expertly rebacked to style with raised bands, gilt rules and gilt lettered morocco label with gilt date at foot of spine. One or 2 minor marks and scuffs to covers, title page reinserted, dusty and soiled at edges, with a few very short closed edge tears, repaired expertly, ink name at top, another faint one in the centre, tiny worm track in top margins which affects next 8 leaves, sometimes with loss of a single letter, another in fore-edge margin of title page which affects only the following leaf, this one catches the 's' of Address, both tracks on title have been repaired and part of the 's' inked in, margins well thumbed to early pages, pages lightly browned throughout, some upper margins cropped with loss in places of the page number, occasional brown spotting and small pale stains, some light soiling to margins, final printed leaf reinserted, dusty with repairs to inner margin and upper margin, partial loss of a few letters at inner edge of verso but all still legible, lots of early names and notes on rear endpapers in old ink, binding tight and sound. Poor copy, though most pages clean, acceptable only working copy. " ESTC 15359". All mentions of this work found by us refer to our edition of 1679 as the first edition, including Joseph Sabin, A Dictionary of Books Relating to America (59675), however there is an exceptionally rare issue dated 1678 on the title page and with the author's name given as W. P. William Penn (1644-1726) famous English Quaker is one of the founding fathers of the United States and the only one among them to have single-handedly created a democratic constitution and ruled a huge territory, Pennsylvania, a century before 1776. This work is one of Penn's longer pamphlets which deals with the argument for religious liberty. It is a powerful exposition of the doctrine of pure tolerance and a protest against the enforcement of opinions as articles of faith. MORE IMAGES ATTACHED TO THIS LISTING, ALL ZOOMABLE, FURTHER IMAGES ON REQUEST. POSTAGE AT COST.