Some Brief Sacramental Mediations Preparatory for Communion at the Great Ordinance of the Supper.

Small 8vo, 19th century morocco spine and tips with boards, [1], vi, 216 pp. Binding worn and rubbed, top hinge a little tender, bookplate on front pastedown, trimmed, with partial lost of early owner's inscription on title page, but no other loss, lacks ads, some minor foxing; otherwise about very good. Samuel Willard (1640-1707) was a puritan clergyman born in Concord Massachusetts. In 1663 he became pastor of what was considered at that time the frontier community of Groton, Massachusetts. In 1671 he became involved with the demonic possession of Elizabeth Knapp, and recorded his observations on her care and treatment, which were not published until 1868. In 1675 he and his family became refugees of the King Philip’s War. Over the course of his life, Willard published a number of articles, and was regarded as one of the leading intellectuals of American Puritanism. He actually opposed the use of spectral evidence by the court in the Salem Witch Trials, and published his views on the subject in 1692. This is a second edition of this rather scarce title, which was published in the same year as the first edition. ANB. Evans 5315. Sabin 104,106 (1st edition). Not in Howes or Streeter. (Inventory #: 100914)