Edward Burrough, 1661

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, [1661].

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. When the Massachusetts General Court sent a petition (The Humble Petition and Address, published in 1660/1) to King Charles II explaining and defending their persecutions of Quaker missionaries, Edward Burrough, a leading Quaker pamphleteer and controversialist, answered it with this publication. It led the author to an audience with the King himself, and to Charles issuing an order to halt 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." Alden & Landis 661/22; Church 563; Howes B-1021; Sabin 9455; Smith, Bibliotheca Anti-Quakeriana, p.168.

Quarto (176 x 129mm). Title printed in red and black (title a little soiled and laid down repairing a few tiny chips and closed tears to edges, some browning). Early 19th-century calf gilt (somewhat rubbed, rebacked). Provenance: Howard Phipps (bookplate) – Harriet Dyer Adams (book label).