Description

SCARCE EARLY AMERICAN IMPRINT. SIGNIFICANT CONNECTICUT PROVENANCE. INFLUENTIAL LITERARY FORM. Hill, Rowland. Village Dialogues, Between Farmer Littleworth, Rev. Mr. Lovegood and Others. By Rowland Hill, A.M., Four volumes in two. Woodward's First American Edition, From the Fourth Edition, Corrected by the Author. Philadelphia: Printed and Published by WW Woodard, No. 52, Corner of Second and Chestnut Streets, 1806. 2 vols. 18cm. Vol. 1: 224 [i.e., 324] p.; v. 2: 363, [1] p. Last page v. 2 blank. Error in paging: v. 1, p. 324 misnumbered 224. At rear "Philadelphia, April 12, 1806. W.W. Woodward ... has published the pocket Bible, and has them bound at twelve different prices. ... "--v. 2, p. [364]. Shaw Series II 10556 MWA #279188 Condition: Very Good. Contemporary tree calf bindings with some relatively light wear but still supple. (See pics). Gilt rules on spine and red and gilt titles and volume numbers still present. Bindings are tight and straight and quite handsome. Pages are extremely clean and free of water staining with very little foxing. A page with a lateral tear but no loss. Provenance : Signatures and dates of two members of the prominent Pitkin family of East Hartford, Connecticut, including Sarah Pitkin , 1806. Bookplates of Sarah Pitkin and J. Sherman Pitkin (his no longer adhering and laid in). The Pitkins include William Pitkin , Governor of the Colony of Connecticut 1766-1769. Printer : William Wallis Woodward (ca. 1770–1837), a printer , bookseller, and stationer, operated a shop in Philadelphia from 1793 until early in the 1830s. Woodward published an abbreviated version of this work in 1802 which was a single 18cm volume of just 113 pages. So it's understandable that he called this comprehensive 1806 edition his "First American Edition." Hill's work was first published in England in 1801. A complete Philadelphia 1806 set is not easily found, especially in this condition. Text : Village Dialogues was successful on both sides of the Atlantic and went through numerous editions. At the time it was highly experimental in form, as Hill (a prominent preacher) sought to steer away from didactic moralizing, which was no longer palatable to readers, and instead created dialogues between fictive characters that utiltized many of the aspects of the novel, including narrative, characterization, pathos, realism, and satire. Hill covers many topics of the day, including the SLAVE TRADE, MARRIAGE, STAGE PLAYS, and DEATH. Author (From Royal Collection Trust): Rowland Hill (1744-1833) was an evangelical preacher and dissenting minister who attracted huge crowds, sometimes up to 20,000 people, on his preaching tours throughout the country. He described himself as the 'Rector of Surrey chapel, Vicar of Wotton-under-Edge, and curate of all the fields, commons etc. throughout England and Wales'. Hill founded, and was the resident pastor at, the independent Surrey Chapel, Blackfriars, London, where he used the Anglican liturgy and allowed evangelicals of any denomination to preach. He established 13 Sunday schools for over 3,000 children, the Dorcas Society for the relief of poor married women, an almshouse for poor women, and a school of industry for poor girls. He also supported the London Missionary Society, was involved in the formation of the Religious Tract Society, supported the British and Foreign Bible Society, and was a trustee of the Evangelical Magazine. Hill was on close terms with Dr Edward Jenner, and became a keen advocate of vaccination. In 1806, he opened a clinic attached to Surrey Chapel, and thousands of children were vaccinated there. Hill's popular work of fiction, Village Dialogues, ran to 30 editions.