First Attainable American Edition
Holy War. Made by Shaddai upon Diabolus, for the Regaining of the Metropolis of the World; or, The Losing and Taking Again of the Town of Mansoul.
Portsmouth, New Hampshire: John Melcher, 1794.
Full Description:
BUNYAN, John. The Holy War. Made by Shaddai upon Diabolus, for the Regaining of the Metropolis of the World; or, The Losing and Taking Again of the Town of Mansoul. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Printed by John Melcher... Also for sale at the book-stores of David West, 1794.
First attainable American edition. Twelevmo (6 3/4 x 3 7/8 inches; 173 x 100 mm). 333, [1, blank], [2, Gospel Hymns] pp. ESTC records only one earlier [1736] copy at the American Antiquarian Society, which lacks title page. There are two American editions printed in 1794, one in New York by Carey and the present printed in Portsmouth. This Portsmouth edition has two states of the title-page. With the error in pagination, page 214 misnumbered 114. This copy with "Two Gospel hymns"found on pages [335-336]. We could find no American edition at auction in almost 40 years, and no copy of the present edition.
Full contemporary sheep. Red leather spine label. Edges uncut. Bindings quote rubbed and with some chipping to head of spine and corners. Lacking endpapers. Pages evenly toned as usual with American paper of this time. Some edges trimmed close, just touching letters. Small marginal pieces missing to leaves F3, R2, and Dd, just affecting a few letters. Binding still holding firm. A very goos copy.
"John Bunyan could be said to have authored the most influential book in the English language (other than the King James Bible)- The Pilgrim’s Progress. But he has also written another dramatic allegorical novel- The Holy War- a knife-edge drama that illustrates spiritual warfare and the struggle for the human soul." (Christian Focus).
"Bunyan addressed the political and religious crisis that gripped England in The Holy War. Using multiple levels of allegory, The Holy War deals simultaneously with the believer's justification and sanctification, Christian or world history from Satan's initial fall to the eve of Christ's conquest, and the contemporary crisis. The warfaring of The Pilgrim's Progress now becomes not only the dominant motif but the vehicle for Bunyan to address nonconformists and whigs concerned about the threat of Catholicism and arbitrary government. Bunyan wrote The Holy War in 1681 and early 1682, probably moved in part by the parliamentary dissolutions in January and March. The epic's violence—rape, arson, banishment, and murder, even of children—is a damning indictment of the tory regime. Bunyan's message was a call to resistance, but not insurrection, a summons to the faithful to stand resolutely for their faith in the face of a state determined to crush nonconformity and impose a Catholic sovereign on the country. Bunyan issued a shrill warning that arbitrary government and popery are the enemies of Emanuel; Mansoul is not only the soul of each believer and the allegorical personification of Christianity but the symbol of England itself." (Oxfrd DNB).
Evans 26715. ESTC W18744.
HBS 69549.
$2,000.
Price: $2,000.00
Item #69549