![[QUAKERS]. -- BURROUGH, Edward (1634-1663). A Declaration of the Sad and Great persecution and Martyrdom of the People of God, called Quakers, in New-England, for the Worshipping of God. London: Printed for Robert Wilson, [1660/1].](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2012/NYR/2012_NYR_02622_0107_000(quakers_--_burrough_edward_a_declaration_of_the_sad_and_great_persecut075619).jpg?w=1)
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[QUAKERS]. -- BURROUGH, Edward (1634-1663). A Declaration of the Sad and Great persecution and Martyrdom of the People of God, called Quakers, in New-England, for the Worshipping of God. London: Printed for Robert Wilson, [1660/1].
4o (184 x 137 mm). Title printed in red and black. (Some minor foxing and spotting, last page soiled.) Modern quarter morocco.
FIRST EDITION of Burrough's savage and indignant reply to the Massachusetts Bay governor, John Endicott, containing the first printed account of the martyrdom of Quaker Mary Dyer, the most notorious act of the Puritan governors.
When the Massachusetts General Court sent a petition (The Humble Petition and Address, published in 1660/1, see previous lot) to King Charles II explaining and defending their persecutions of Quaker missionaries in the Massachusetts Bay Colony of Quaker missionaries, Edward Burrough, a leading Quaker pamphleteer and controversialist, answered it with this publication.
Upon the Restoration in 1660, Burrough approached King Charles II to find protection and relief of Quakers in New England, who were then being persecuted by Puritans. Charles granted him an audience in 1661, and was persuaded to issue a writ temporarily halting the corporal and capital punishments of the Quakers in Massachusetts. Burrough's publication (and a subsequent audience with the king) led to Charles' issuance of an order halting the punishments in the fall of 1661, although they were resumed, in only slightly less severe form, the following year.
The first part is a point-by-point refutation of the Massachusetts claims; the second part is a detailed list of the punishments, cruelties, and indignities suffered by Friends at the hands of the colonial authorities; and the final section is a narrative description of the three executions of 1659 and 1660, and includes a copy of Mary Dyer's letter sent to the rulers of Boston after she had received the sentence of death, as well as "the Words of Mary Dyar [sic] upon the Ladder."
In 1662, Burrough himself was arrested for holding a meeting, which was illegal under the terms of the Quaker Act. He was sent to Newgate Prison, London. An order for his release signed by Charles II was ignored by the local authorities, and Burrough remained in Newgate until he died on February 14, 1663, at the age of 29.
Alden & Landis 661/22; Church 563; Howes B-1021; JCB (3) III:27-28; Sabin 9455; Smith, Bibliotheca Anti-Quakeriana, p. 168; Streeter sale II:630 ("wonderfully vivid and reads almost as if it had been written yesterday"); Wing B-5994.
4o (184 x 137 mm). Title printed in red and black. (Some minor foxing and spotting, last page soiled.) Modern quarter morocco.
FIRST EDITION of Burrough's savage and indignant reply to the Massachusetts Bay governor, John Endicott, containing the first printed account of the martyrdom of Quaker Mary Dyer, the most notorious act of the Puritan governors.
When the Massachusetts General Court sent a petition (The Humble Petition and Address, published in 1660/1, see previous lot) to King Charles II explaining and defending their persecutions of Quaker missionaries in the Massachusetts Bay Colony of Quaker missionaries, Edward Burrough, a leading Quaker pamphleteer and controversialist, answered it with this publication.
Upon the Restoration in 1660, Burrough approached King Charles II to find protection and relief of Quakers in New England, who were then being persecuted by Puritans. Charles granted him an audience in 1661, and was persuaded to issue a writ temporarily halting the corporal and capital punishments of the Quakers in Massachusetts. Burrough's publication (and a subsequent audience with the king) led to Charles' issuance of an order halting the punishments in the fall of 1661, although they were resumed, in only slightly less severe form, the following year.
The first part is a point-by-point refutation of the Massachusetts claims; the second part is a detailed list of the punishments, cruelties, and indignities suffered by Friends at the hands of the colonial authorities; and the final section is a narrative description of the three executions of 1659 and 1660, and includes a copy of Mary Dyer's letter sent to the rulers of Boston after she had received the sentence of death, as well as "the Words of Mary Dyar [sic] upon the Ladder."
In 1662, Burrough himself was arrested for holding a meeting, which was illegal under the terms of the Quaker Act. He was sent to Newgate Prison, London. An order for his release signed by Charles II was ignored by the local authorities, and Burrough remained in Newgate until he died on February 14, 1663, at the age of 29.
Alden & Landis 661/22; Church 563; Howes B-1021; JCB (3) III:27-28; Sabin 9455; Smith, Bibliotheca Anti-Quakeriana, p. 168; Streeter sale II:630 ("wonderfully vivid and reads almost as if it had been written yesterday"); Wing B-5994.