Mayne’s 1662 Sermon for the end of Oxford’s Term

Mayne, Jasper. Concio ad Academiam Oxoniensem Pro more habita inchoante Termino, Maii 27, 1662. London: J. Grisond & R. Royston, 1662.

ESTC R31206; Wing M1469

First Edition. Binding: Disbound. Book Condition: Very Good+ Condition. Item Type: Pamphlet.

Pagination: 42 p. Size: Around 7" or slightly taller - Duodecimo (12mo).

This is the text of an address Mayne delivered at Oxford University at the end of the term on May 27, 1662, speaking on the subject of the conduct of life. His own experience must have provided a context for his advice. According to the entry on Mayne in the 1911 edition of Encyclopedia Britannica, he was a graduate of Christ Church, Oxford, and had two college livings in Oxfordshire, but was disposed during the Commonwealth. At the time of this address, two years after the Restoration, he had himself been restored to church offices. According to the entry, “At the Restoration he was made canon of Christ Church, archdeacon of Chichester and chaplain in ordinary to the king.”

His best-known work is a translation of Lucian’s Dialogues (1664). Earlier in life he had written two plays during the Commonwealth and some poetry, but “[a]fter receiving ecclesiastical preferment he gave up poetry as unbefitting his profession.” According to the listing of works in Wing, this is an early work and marked his turning away from his plays (although he did publish a collection of Certaine sermons and letters, also printed for Richard Royston, in 1653). Following this address, all his susequent works are religious and most dealt with the religious controversies of his day, along with pleas to live in unity and agreement (1646) and to heal schisms (1652).

ESTC shows eleven copies in the British Isles (held by British Library, Cambridge University (2), Carlisle Cathedral, Durham University, King’s Lynn Library, Longleat House, Oxford University (3) & Westminster Abbey) and four in North America. The four in the U.S. also show up in a WorldCat search (under two OCLC numbers): Columbia University/Union Theological Seminary, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas & UCLA (16137896, classified as a book) and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (62578570, classified as an article). The second OCLC number also shows an additional U.K. holding at University of St. Andrews.

Disbound from a sammelband. The pamphlet is bound by strings. Some remnants of the leather from the binding remain stuck on the spine.

The paper is bright and unmarked. Probably as a result of being bound with other works, the top margin has been closely cropped, though not affecting any text. No foxing in this copy. The page edges are speckled with a red stain. 

Shipped Weight: 0 lbs 2 oz.