by Ysabel
Seasonable Thoughts on the State of Religion in New England: A Treatise in Five Parts (1743) is a book written by Charles Chauncy (1705-1787). Chauncy was a Congregationalist pastor in Boston, Massachusetts, who opposed the Great Awakening religious revival happening in Britain’s North American colonies during the 1720s to 1740s. His book was a reply to Jonathan Edward’s Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New England (1742), which was sympathetic to the Great Awakening.
Originally published in Boston in 1743, this copy of the book has been owned by several Congregationalists in New England. The name “Henry M. Dexter” is signed on the title page of the book. The handwriting is similar to the signature of Henry Martyn Dexter (1821-1890), a Congregational pastor in Manchester, New Hampshire, and in Berkeley church in Boston. Dexter was also a lecturer of Congregationalism at the Andover Theological Seminary and often wrote about the subject. On another page of the book, the name “David B. Kempton” is also signed. While the exact identity of David B. Kempton cannot be identified, as there are many individuals named “David B. Kempton”, a prominent Kempton family was living in Old Dartmouth, Massachusetts, in New England. All the Kemptons were Congregationalists. Thus, this copy might have been passed around to different Congregationalists in New England, which highlights how influential Chauncy’s book was among Congregationalists in New England.
This copy of the book has a leather binding in the Cambridge Panel style. The defining features of the Cambridge Panel style are its three panels and the sprinkling of dye to create varying degrees of density for the leather. The blind tooling, which is the technique of impressing designs onto the book cover, consists of a double blind line (two parallel lines) for the panels, a decorative roll around the central rectangle, and corner tools (flower designs impressed onto the corners of the second panel). The spine of the book contains a single red leather title label and double blind lines at the head (top) and tail (bottom) of the spine, as well as on each side of the raised bands. This use of the Cambridge Panel style explains why the author, title, and year of publication are found on a single label on the spine of the book, instead of on separate labels, which is typical of leather-bound books. Moreover, the Cambridge Panel style originated in England in 1690, and became the predominant style for plain leather bindings in the early 18th century. It was commonly used in 18th Century Boston, which was still a British colony in the 18th Century. This accounts for the use of the English bookbinding style for a book published in Boston in 1743.
Overall, this copy of Chauncy’s text reflects the religious and printing environment in New England during the 18th Century to 19th Century.
Works Cited
“Charles Chauncy.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 6 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Chauncy-American-clergyman-1705-1787. Accessed 2 April 2025.
“Cheney, Thomas.” McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia, https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/C/cheney-thomas.html. Accessed 1 April 2025.
Cowlishaw, Nick. “The Cambridge Panel.” Skin Deep, vol. 36, 2013, pp. 2-10.
“Eighteenth Century: Elaboration and Simplicity.” Michigan State University Libraries, https://lib.msu.edu/exhibits/historyofbinding/18thcentury. Accessed 2 April 2025.
“Great Awakening.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14 Mar. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Awakening. Accessed 2 April 2025.
“Old Dartmouth Historical Stretch Number 21.” New Bedford Whaling Museum, https://www.whalingmuseum.org/old-dartmouth-historical-society-sketches/old-dartmouth-historical-sketch-no-21/. Accessed 2 April 2025.
“Rev Thomas Cheney.” FamilySearch, https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/93JW-GHT/rev-thomas-cheney-1690-1747. Accessed 1 April 2025.
The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Vol. 1, New York, James T. White and Company, 1803.
Wolcott, Renée. “Splintered: The History, Structure, and Conservation of American Scaleboard Bindings.” The Book and Paper Group Annual, vol. 32, 2013, pp. 56-79.