EARLY FEMALE OWNERSHIP
[WILSON,] Thomas, Bishop of Sodor and Man.
A short and plain Instruction for the better Understanding of the Lord’s Supper, with the necessary Preparation requir’d, for the Benefit of young Communicants, and of such as have not well consider’d this Holy Ordinance, to which is annex’d, the Office of the Holy Communion, with proper Helps and Directions for Joining in every Part thereof with Understanding and Benefit … The eleventh Edition, with Additions, and corrected throughout.
London, B. Dod, T. Longman & C. Hitch, J. Hodges, and J. & J. Rivington, 1755.
12mo in 8s and 4s, pp. [2, blank, advertisement], xii, [4], 210; with woodcut ornaments and initials; light scattered foxing, but a good copy; bound in contemporary speckled calf, spine ruled in gilt, edges speckled red; a little worn, corners bumped, cracks to joints, front free endpaper removed; contemporary ink ownership inscription ‘Anna Maria Emerson’ to title, ink ownership inscriptions of ‘Mary Bazlinton’ dated ‘1778’ and ‘March 20the 1778’ to front pastedown and advertisement leaf, pressed flower to p. 128.
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A short and plain Instruction for the better Understanding of the Lord’s Supper, with the necessary Preparation requir’d, for the Benefit of young Communicants, and of such as have not well consider’d this Holy Ordinance, to which is annex’d, the Office of the Holy Communion, with proper Helps and Directions for Joining in every Part thereof with Understanding and Benefit … The eleventh Edition, with Additions, and corrected throughout.
Scarce first posthumous edition of this liturgical manual by Thomas Wilson, Bishop of Sodor and Man, with two early female owners.
Bishop Wilson (1663–1755) is noted for his renewal of the Church on the Isle of Man, rebuilding several churches and establishing parish libraries across the island. His missionary efforts extended not just to Man – his Principles and Duties of Christianity (1707) is the first book printed in Manx and was followed by translations of the Gospels and Acts – but also further afield, publishing the widely read Short and Plain Instruction (first 1734) as well as an Essay towards the Instruction for the Indians (1740) for use in North America, here advertised opposite the title with ‘a large Allowance to such Persons as take Numbers of them, to give away either into foreign Parts, or at Home’ (advertisement leaf).
Not in ESTC, although Library Hub finds copies at the British Library and Cambridge University Library; no copies traced in the US. ESTC records a pirated Dublin ‘eleventh edition’ of the following year (T83459, showing BL and Trinity College Dublin only).
