Rogers’ 1625 Defense of the Church of England

Rogers, Thomas. The Faith, Doctrine, And Religion, Professed, And Protected In The Realme Of England, And Dominions Of The Same. Expressed in thirty nine Articles, concordably agreed vpon by the reuerend Bishops, and Clergie of this Kingdome, at two seuerall meetings, or Conuocations of theirs, in the yeeres of our Lord. 1562. and 1604. The Said Articles Analised Into Propositions, and the Propositions prooued to be agreeable both to the written Word of God, and to the extant Confessions of all the neighbour Churches Christianly Reformed. The Adversaries Also Of Note And Name, which from the Apostles daies, and Primitiue Church hitherto haue crossed, or contracted the said Articles in generall, or any particle, or proposition arising from any of them in particular, hereby are discouered, laid open, and confuted. Perused, and by the lawfull authority of the Church of England, allowed to be publike. London : Printed by Iohn Legatt, and are to be sold by William Sheffard, at the entring in of Popes-head-Alley out of Lumbard streete, 1625.

ESTC S106059, STC (2nd ed.), 21230a

3rd printing. Binding: Hardcover (Vellum). Book Condition: Very Good Condition. Item Type: Book.

Pagination: [36], [1]-56, 53-199, 190-122 [232] pages; Numbers 53-56 repeated in the paging, p. 79 has no number, pp. 200-231 misnumbered as a repeated 190-221, p. 232 misnumbered as 122; variant: p. 162 is properly numbered (not as 126 in some copies). Size: Around 7" or slightly taller - Duodecimo (12mo). 222 pages.

Signatures: [par.]-4[par.]⁴, 5[par.]², A-2F⁴, 2G²

The preface is signed in print by Thomas Rogers. His explication of the theology of the Church of England here is based upon his earlier work The English creede, consenting with the true auncient Catholique and Apostolique church.

Legatt printed at least two different editions in 1625 for two different booksellers, Andrew Hebb “at the signe of the Bell in Paules Church-yard” and William Sheffard “at the entring in of Popes-head-Alley out of Lumbard streete,” This copy was printed for Shaffard and, based on the WorldCat library holdings, is the rarer of the two. According to the English Short Title Catalog (ESTC), the copies for Sheffard were a re-issue of Hebb’s (STC 21230) with a cancel title page.

Bound in the original vellum with cloth bands visible at the edges of the spine. The vellum is dirty from exposure and the rear hinge is cracked, separating the cover from the text block and breaking the cloth bands. The glue attaching the cover at the spine has dried and become brittle.

The text block has tanned from age, but the paper remains supple. There are no end papers or blank leaves at the front, so the outside edges of the title page are browned from contact with the folded and glued vellum. The outside page edge of the title page is tattered but has been reinforced on the verso with some repair tape. No foxing in this copy. The page edges appear to have had a brown paint applied to them in a speckled patter. The top edge is darkened from old gilt or exposure. 

There is a bookplate of a previous owner attached to the inside of the front cover. In addition, her decorative stamp is at the lower inside corner of the title page.

WorldCat shows ten holdings of the 1625 printings under five OCLC numbers, of which one (559359194) is of the printing for Sheffard, held by The British Library, St. Pancras. ESTC finds six holdings in the British Isles and four in the U.S. (Folger Shakespeare, General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Harvard University and the University of Minnesota).

Shipped Weight: 0 lbs 9 oz.