[Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf] — A response to an anonymous anti-Moravian tract, printed by Franklin

[Moravian Church — Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf]

The Remarks, which the Author of the Compendious Extract, &c. In the Preface to his Book, Has friendly desired of The Rev. of Thurenstein, for the Time Pastor of the Lutheran Congregation of J.C. in Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by B. Franklin, 1742

8vo (163 x 96 mm). Typographic ornaments in text, 2 pp. advertisement at rear, extra illustrated with a tipped-in cutting of a photographic-reproduction of Benjamin West's portrait of Benjamin Franklin at the rear free endpaper; a few minor spots in the text, light offsetting from since-removed ephemera to front free endpapers, altogether a fresh copy. Finely bound in late nineteenth- or early twentieth-century full crushed red morocco by Stikeman, spine, boards, board edges and turn ins gilt, all edges gilt; joints lightly rubbed, tiny spots of wear at upper corners, front free endpaper detached.

The first edition in English of Count Zinzendorf's response to an anonymous work attacking the Moravians.

The anonymous attack, titled Compendious Extracts, was "said to be written by a group of Presbyterian clergymen, including Gilbert Tennent and Samuel Blair" (Miller). These Remarks are an English translation of Zinzendorf's Diejenigen Anmerkungen (Philadelphia: Gedrukkt [by Benjamin Franklin] und zu finden bei Isaias Warner, 1742). The fact that this work was translated is indicative of the Moravians' concern how they were viewed by English-speaking colonists.

The Moravians were a group of Protestant dissenters with roots in Germany who had settled in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They lived in a model community, sharing same-sex housing and working in communally owned enterprises. In 1741, the influential Moravian leader Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, who authored this text under his pseudonym "The Rev. of Thurenstein," visited Philadelphia, where he met with Benjamin Franklin and various American Indian leaders. Though the church initially shared in some of the religious fervor of the First Great Awakening, they were later repudiated by reformist Presbyterians, who attacked them in publications like Compendious Extracts. Franklin printed twelve works for the Moravians in 1742, all attributed to Zinzendorf.

According to Rare Book Hub, this is the only copy of this work to appear at auction since 1977.

REFERENCES

Miller 315; ESTC W17846; Evans 5108; Hildeburn 799; Sabin 106361; Martha K. Robinson, "Moravians," in The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia (https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/moravians/)

PROVENANCE

George Edward Dimock (bookplate) — Undesignated private collection (sold Freeman's, Fine Books and Manuscripts, 6 August 2014, lot 174)