Heavenly treasure, or mans chiefest good : wherein the several workings of the heart about, and in pursuance of its chiefest good, are solidly and judiciously discovered / by William Strong ...

London : Printed by R.W. for Francis Tyton, at the sign of the Three Daggers in Fleet-Street, near the Inner-Temple Gate, 1656.

1 volume ; 15 cm

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Great Britain -- England -- London, -- publication place.

272982

From dealer's description: "88. STRONG, William. HEAVENLY TREASURE, OR MANS CHIEFEST GOOD. Wherein the several workings of the heart about, and in pursuance of its chiefest good, are solidly and judiciously discovered ... London, printed by R.W. for Francis Tyton, at the sign of the three daggers in Fleet-street, near the Inner-Temple Gate. 1656. 12mo, pp. [xlviii], 395, [13], 397-467; somewhat foxed in places, and with the occasional burn-mark at the edge of a few leaves (not affecting text); a few prelims thumbed; in early black morocco, panelled in gilt, marbled endpapers (free upper endpaper missing, replaced with modern blank paper), edges gilt. Lettered in gilt on spine at a later date (perhaps in the 19th century). First and only edition. William Strong probably came from Dorset, and was educated at Cambridge, graduating in the early 1630s. He rapidly became a notable preacher and by the mid-1640s was in favour with Parliament; in 1645 he was appointed to the Westminster Assembly of Divines, and he was often to be heard preaching at St Margaret’s Westminster. He was allied with the independent ministers, but was not a revolutionary, being happy to support governmental control of the church. This treatise was published after his death in June 1654 – he was buried at the Abbey, but after the Restoration his bones were dug up and thrown into a pit at St Margaret’s. The book carries several short prefaces, the first by John Rowe (1626/7-77) who, in June 1655, was appointed to succeed Strong at Westminster Abbey; he was also ejected at the Restoration. The second is by Richard Vines, the puritan preacher: Vines’s death occurred in February 1656, which perhaps supports the idea (see below) that the book was published in late 1655. There are also prefatory words by George Griffith and Thomas Manton (both also active at Westminster as low-church ministers) as well as a fifth, which is anonymous. A brief note immediately before the text warns the reader against another work published as by Strong, The Saints Communion with God (1656, Wing S6006), as a ‘most Imperfect, if not counterfeit Bundle’, and implies that this present book was compiled from Strong’s own notes, and with his widow’s authority. Wing S6004. ESTC locates only seven copies, three of them in London (BL, Dr Williams’s and Congregational Libraries), two in Oxford (Bodleian and Regent’s Park), and two in the USA (Yale and UTS, New York). Provenance. Finely and neatly inscribed towards the foot of the title: ‘Mrs Anne Filmer her booke Anno 1655’. This is quite possibly Anne (1624-71), the daughter of the political theorist Sir Robert Filmer. Her mother – who survived Sir Robert (d. 1653) – was also Anne, but Sir Robert was knighted in 1619 and for the previous three decades she had been Lady Filmer, so it’s highly unlikely she would have called herself Mrs, whereas a mature unmarried woman might easily use that prefix. In the late 1650s the younger Anne married Sir John Godshalke, and they had at least one son (another John). The date of the inscription shows that the book was published in last months of 1655, or at any rate before late March 1656." Ordered from Christopher Edwards, D9765, 2024-09-04, List 92 Ninety-nine books and manuscripts Mostly recent acquisitions, item #88

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