A Letter to the Rev. E.B. Pusey (with) A Letter to the Duke of Norfolk
[London]: 1866-1877. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter brown calf, marbled boards, blind-stamped spine with raised bands and gilt morocco label, light brown endpapers, all edges red. Works numbered in pencil 1-9, separately paginated, early owner inscription (dated 1878) to front free endpaper, sporadic foxing, pencil marks and notes to A Letter to Norfolk (#8), very minor wear to corners and edges. A near-fine copy. Item #1577
"THERE JUST NOW SEEMS A CALL ON ME TO AVOW PLAINLY WHAT I DO AND I WHAT I DO NOT HOLD ABOUT THE BLESSED VIRGIN"
First editions of John Henry Newman's A Letter to Pusey (1866) and A Letter to the Duke of Norfolk (1875)—part of a Victorian sammelband collecting nine pamphlets relating to the English Church. A Letter to Pusey was warmly inscribed by Newman on the verso of the title page: "With the kindest wishes & prayers of the Author Decr 10. 1872." A singular copy in a contemporary Victorian binding.
"After Newman became a Roman Catholic, Pusey remained concerned with the unity of the Church, striving in the Eirenicons...to reconcile theological differences." The Eirenicons "had attempted to narrow the distance between the Church of England and the Church of Rome by carefully distinguishing the formal teaching of the Church of Rome from popular devotions and unauthoritative theological statements" (Geoffrey Rowell). Written in November and December 1865, "The Letter to Pusey was published on 31st January 1866 and was meant to be a real means to unity." Replying to Pusey (and to Cardinal Manning), Newman's moderate views "showed his clear preference for 'English habits of devotion to foreign,' and rejected innovations and exaggerations introduced by Faber and Ward particularly. At once many old Catholics, priests and laymen, rallied to him" (Brian Martin).
Bound in contemporary calf, the separately paginated pamphlets are numbered in pencil 1 - 9 on the individual title pages. Besides John Henry Newman, this collection includes two English Church Union speeches by Charles Lindley Wood (Viscount Halifax), along with essays by Monsignor T.J. Capel (The Reply of a Ritualist) and Gilbert Scott (Restoration of St. Alban's Abbey). Also collected are two essays by William E. Gladstone, including The Vatican Decrees in Their Being on Civil Allegiance (#7). Gladstone’s declaration, that no Englishman could convert to Rome "without renouncing his moral and mental freedom," spurred Newman to action. A Letter to the Duke of Norfolk was Newman’s final published work. "Newman realized that it was his duty to answer Gladstone on behalf of converts, many of whom he was responsible for attracting to the Catholic Church." Newman insisted that Gladstone's arguments betrayed an objection "not to the Pope but to a Church: 'It is the powers themselves and not their distribution that he writes against'" (Brian Martin).
This custom binding bears the contemporary owner signature of "Isabel J Crewe 1878" (possibly the daughter of Sir George Crewe, 8th Baronet of Calke Abbey in Derbyshire). The text here bears interrogative pencil annotations in Crewe's hand, offering frequent critical questions and exclamations. Responding to Newman’s discussion of Papal infallibility, Crewe notes, "So according to this a Pope may teach & spread heresy." There were two 1866 printings of A Letter to Pusey, both with the same pagination (159p.) but no priority established. Vincent Ferrer Blehl. John Henry Newman: A Bibliographical Catalogue of His Writings. Blehl A15, A42a, A44a. Brian Martin. John Henry Newman: His Life and Work.
Following the Letter to Pusey, the volume runs as follows:
2. Wood (Charles L., Hon.) Substance of an Address delivered [...] at the Annual Meeting of the English Church Union, held at Freemasons’ Tavern, on June 14, 1877, English Church Union Office, [1877,] pp. 7, [1,ad];
3. Capel ([Thomas John], Monsignor) The Reply of a Ritualist to a Letter Addressed to him by Two Roman Catholics in Defence of Monsignor Capel. G.J. Palmer, 1872, pp. 19;
4. Scott (Gilbert) Restoration of St. Alban’s Abbey. Report. Printed by R. Clay, Sons and Taylor, n.d. [circa 1871,] pp. 19;
5. Wood (Charles L., Hon.) Substance of an Address delivered [...] at the Ordinary Meeting of the English Church Union, held at Freemasons’ Tavern, on February 27, 1877, English Church Union Office, [1877,] pp. 17, [3, ads];
6. ‘Presbyter Anglicanus’ [i.e. Joseph Hemington Harris] Christianity or Erastianism? A Letter Addressed, by Permission, to His Eminence Cardinal Manning, Archbishop of Westminster. John H. Batty, 1876, pp. 36;
7. Gladstone (W.E., Right Hon.) The Vatican Decrees in their Bearing on Civil Allegiance: A Political Expostulation. Second Thousand. John Murray, 1874, pp. 72.
8. Newman (John Henry [later Cardinal, now Saint]) A Letter Addressed to His Grace the Duke of Norfolk, on Occasion of Mr Gladstone’s Recent Expostulation. B.M. Pickering, 1875, pp. 131 (Blehl A42a).
9. Gladstone (W.E., Right Hon.) Bulgarian Horrors and the Question of the East. John Murray, 1876.
Price: $1,500.00