Radicalism in religion, philosophy, and social life; four papers from the Boston Courier for 1858.

Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1858. First Edition. . Hardcover. See Description. First Edition in book form. 8vo. pp. 79, [1]. Bound in a well preserved green blind stamped publisher's cloth. The front cover contains an area of fading or discoloration. A mild water stain line is visible on front end papers; pages are generally clean but lightly age-toned. George Lunt (1803-1885) was the U.S. district attorney for Massachusetts during President Zachary Taylor's administration. In 1857 he became editor of the conservative "Boston Courier." [DAB]. Lunt's book collects four anti-liberal essays which were originally published in the "Courier." Among them are the following - a diatribe against reformer Theodore Parker, a refutation of a lecture given by Ralph Waldo Emerson, a refutation of a pro-suffrage lecture given by Georg W. Curtis, and an article entitled the "Philosophy of Abolition." PROVENANCE: Inscribed by Rev. Luther Farnham to Rev. Thomas Smyth (on front blank page). A three page letter written by Farnham (dated "Boston, Feb. 2, 1858") is also attached to the verso of the front free end paper. The letter is addressed to "Rev'd dear Sir" (presumably Smyth). Rev. Luther Farnham (1816-1897) authored a booklet survey entitled "A Glance at Private Libraries" (1855), "the first study of its kind to be done in the United States." (See Basbanes, "A Gentle Madness," p.155-56). Farnham was also Secretary of the Southern Aid Society, a missionary organization which preached the Gospel to poor whites and blacks down south. The letter concerns Farnham's intent to write a series of articles on the history, agriculture, religion, and education of the southern states in the hopes of promoting better feelings between north and south. Rev. Thomas Smyth was, presumably, the well known Presbyterian theologian who lived in Charlestown South Carolina. He is mentioned in Farnham's library survey as possessing about 17,000 books. [for G. Lunt see Sabin 67423].