Annals of the Swedes on the Delaware. To which is Added The Charter of The United Swedish Churches

Philadelphia, PA: J. C. Pechin, 1835. Book. Good. Decorative Cloth. First Edition. 16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall. Brown polished cloth with a lovely leaf pattern, gilt on burgundy leather title label on back strip. Slightly exposed at corners; both joints are split, with top board still attached by a binding cord and portion of endpaper, rear firmly anchored by binding cords. Slightly chipped spine extremities. Front pastedown shows original bookseller's tag of Daniels & Smith, 4th & Arch Sts., Philadelphia, and former owner bookplate of James N. Stone; another former owner signature (perhaps Stone's) appears on the front flyleaf. Howes C-469(a). 180 pp., illus. w/ frontis. portrait of N. Collin, D.D. drawn by Rev. H. J. Norton, "on stone" by A. Newsam, with tissue guard. Woodcut of Wicaco Church (Gloria Dei) after. p. 156 (opposite title pg. of Charter) not listed in Howes. Laid in is 1935 newspaper clipping reprinting the following from the 7 Jan. 1834 edition of the United States Gazette: "The Rev. Jehu Curtis Clay, rector of the Swedish Churches in Philadelphia and its vicinity, has prepared a small volume, Annals of the Swedes on the Delaware. It is exceedingly entertaining because of the anecdotes and facts recorded. Our citizens generally are interested in the old fashioned church of Wecacoe near the Navy Yard, where the Reverend author of the Annals before us officiates, and most of us remember the venerable Dr. Collin, his predecessor, of whom a likeness ornaments the little volume." Making this a unique association copy, however, is a 1-pg. undated 18th-century manuscript fragment on laid paper addressed to Mrs. Maria Norderlind, wife of the Rev. Eric Norderlind, with an explanatary note by former owner Mr. Stone (signed and dated 1890) that the fragment was found among the papers of Geo. Ord[?], Esq. The content of the note, by an undetermined author, has to do with the writer's feelings that his religious faith may simply be a "monstrous hypocrisy." Clay, on p. 123, notes that in the spring of 1757, the Rev. Eric Norderlind was appointed assistant minister to Mr. Parlin, and following the latter's death on 22 Dec. of that year, was appointed by a 2 Jan. 1758 letter to supply the church during the vacancy, which extended until the spring of 1759, when the Rev. Charles Magnus Wrangel was appointed as Parlin's successor. The Charter includes Wicaco (Gloria Dei), Kingsessing (St. James), and Upper Merion (Christ Church)..