Adams, Hannah. An Alphabetical Compendium of Various Sects Which have appeared in the World from the beginning of the Christian Aera to the present Day. With an Appendix, Containing a brief Account of the different Schemes of Religion Now embraced among Mankind. The whole collected From the best Authors, ancient and modern... Boston: Printed by B. Edes & Sons, 1784
Handsomely bound in full recent antique-style mottled calf. Gilt-ruled covers, gilt spine with red morocco label. , . [2], ii, [2], 204. lxxxiii, [1, errata], [22, index, and list of subscribers] pp.
Occasional foxing, as usual. Portion of top blank margin of title-page clipped away, old ink signature on ÒTo the ReadersÓ page. Overall a very good copy., Hannah Adams (1755-1831) was the first woman in the United States to make her living as a writer. Born in Braintree, Massachusetts, Adams was a distant cousin of President John Adams and the daughter of a lifelong bibliophile called ÒBookÓ Adams, whose history included a failed attempt at bookselling. Too frail to go to school, she was taught Latin, Greek, geography and logic by theological students who boarded with her family. One of these students introduced her to BroughtonÕs Dictionary of Religions, which led to her interest in writing on religious topics. The present book, AdamsÕ first, was an important contribution to this literature, in that she represented denominations from the perspective of their adherents, without injecting her own opinions. (She herself was a Unitarian). It includes one of the earliest accounts of the Shakers and a description of modern Jewry. This work went through four editions in America under different titles and was republished in England. Her other works include A Summary History of New England (1799), The Truth and Excellence of the Christian Religion (1804), History of the Jews (1812), Letters on the Gospels (1826). , Evans 18319. Sabin 208.
$US1500
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