An Essay Toward the Proof of a Separate State of Souls between Death and Resurrection, and The Commencement of the Rewards of Virtue and Vice immediately after Death.
London: Richard Hett, 1732. First Edition. Hardcover. Octavo. ([4], 9-84 pp.). Lovely period-style full leather binding by renowned London book-binder and restoration expert Bernard C. Middleton (1924 - 2019). Brown speckled calf with raised bands and gilt stamped leather title-label on spine & tooling to boards. A first edition of this unusual work by Isaac Watts (1674 – 1748), the non-conformist theologian and logician (widely recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody") in which he argues that there may be Divine relief (the "separate state" of the title) for the souls of sinners who were commonly supposed to be consigned to hell. The work was re-issued as part of his well-known book "The World to Come" in 1739. From the collection of Dr. M. H. Coleman, with his ex-libris seal blind-stamped on the front free endpaper. Although eccentrically paginated - the book starts at p. 9, with only four un-numbered pages preceding it - this matches the only collation we could find, and thus it appears complete. Title page laid down, a couple of short tears in the fore-edge margins, a tiny (pin-head) sized hole in top-corner of page 9/10, pages slightly browned, else a solid, clean VG+ copy. Rare. Item #49546
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