Practical Discourses on Death, Judgment, Heaven & Hell in Twenty-Four Sermons

8vo.  195 x 125 mm., [7 ¾ x 5 inches].  [2], v, [1], 350 pp.  Bound in contemporary sheep, decorated in blind in the Regency style, raised bands, leather title label; joints expertly repaired with Japanese paper.   Contemporary signature of E. Storer on title-page.  Stamped "Ex Libris Wilson H. Kimnach" on front pastedown. With faults a very good copy in an original American binding.

First collected edition of the sermons of the Rev. John Webb, pastor of the New North Church of Boston.  Webb (1687-1750) was educated at Harvard College in 1708 and ordained in 1714.  He was an early convert to the New Lights and became a leader of the revival churches in Boston.  He was a colleague of Joseph Sewell, Thomas Prince, William Cooper, and he invited Whitfield to speak at the New North Church, where according to Arnold Dallimore's research,  people crowded the church and "squeezed into pews" to hear him speak.  Over the three months following the appearance of Whitefield, Webb was approached by nearly one thousand people who feared for condition of their souls and asked for guidance toward salvation. 

In the introduction to this book of sermons, Webb discusses the light and the awakening that he has experienced and the clarity that it has brought to his understanding of Scripture.  He mentions the success that he has had with his sermons and the acceptance of his word by parishioners but cautions that others, referring to Whitefield no doubt, have the lead the way and have delivered the "most excellent treatises" on the subjects of death, judgement, heaven and Hell.  These twenty-four sermons are a remarkable document which focuses on the most basic element of the revival movement, the condition of one's soul and path to salvation.

Evan, Charles.  American Bibliography, 2823.  Allibone, S. Austin.  A Critical Dictionary of English Literature, II, p. 2620.  Arnold A. Dallimore. George Whitefield: The Life and Times of the Great Evangelist of the Eighteenth-Century Revival, 1970, I. p. 533; 536-7.  JT/DSC* (1095)