Correspondence dated June 1874 from New York, New Haven & Hartford R.R. Co. to Samuel Hart regarding stock dividend with enclosed schedule and stamped postmarked envelope addressed to Rev. Prof. Hart at Trinity College]

1874. First printing. Loose_leaf. Fine. 5 1/8 x 8 inches. Single page of printed correspondence with enclosed train schedule card for 1880 and hand addressed envelope. Letter neatly folded in thirds with pencil notes on verso. Envelope slightly charred at edge. Enclosed schedule card lightly yellowed but clean. Provenance: Personal library of Samuel Hart. An interesting early railroad notice and schedule with a notable provenance and associated items. Also an interesting insight into the affairs of Samuel Hart (1845-1917), who was the Secretary of the House of [Episcopal] Bishops, dean of the Berkeley Divinity School, the (un)official “middle way” seminary of the Episcopal Church at Middletown, Connecticut, and Custodian of the Standard Book of Common Prayer. In 1886, he became the third custodian of the Standard Book of Common Prayer. In 1892, he became secretary of the House of Bishops. In 1898, he became the fourth historiographer of the Episcopal Church. He served in all three of these offices until his death. (In 1893, he was elected Bishop of Vermont, but he declined the office.)He received a B.A. from Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, in 1866, where he later taught widely and was made professor of Latin in 1883. In 1899, he became vice dean and professor of doctrinal theology and the Prayer Book, and in 1908 became dean at the Berkeley Divinity School. In 1891, he was elected president of the American Philological Association, a non-profit scholarly organization devoted to all aspects of Greek and Roman civilization. Originally its members studied a great variety of texts and languages, but as disciplines such as linguistics and modern languages created their own societies, the APA came to be concerned with classical antiquity and closely related fields. It is the preeminent association in the field.Hart published editions of Juvenal (1873) and Perseus (1875); edited Bishop Seabury's Communion Office (1874) and Historical Sermons of Bishop Seabury (1883–1886); and Faith and the Faith (one of the Bohlen lectures, in 1914). His magnum opus was a History of the American Book of Common Prayer (1910). Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Samuel_Hart_(clergyman); An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church 236. Hart’s library experienced a very destructive fire, and as a result items from it are exceedingly rare and generally in poor condition (with water and/or smoke damage. This is a very nice rarity with an important provenance.