105d Stillingfleet, Edward. (1635-1699) Origines Sacræ or a Rational Account of the Grounds of Christian Faith as to the Truth and Divine Authority of the Scriptures, And the Matters therein contained.

[London]: Printed by J.H. for Henry Mortlock at the phoenix in St. Paul’s Church-yard, and at the White Hart in Westminster-Hall, 1680

$850

Quarto, 6.5 x 4 in. Fifth edition. A4, (b)-(d)4, B-Z4, Aa-Zz4, Aaa-Zzz4, Aaaa-Dddd4, Eeee2. This copy is bound in speckled, paneled calfskin that is slightly worn at the edges.

“[Stillingfleet] was a clear and methodical writer, and a much admired preacher: Pepys, who first heard ‘the famous young Stillingfleet’ in 1665, noted that in the opinion of Archbishop Sheldon and some others, he was ‘the ablest young man to preach the gospel of any since the Apostles.’ But Stillingfleet’s real strength lay in his remarkable powers of application, in his ability (as Burnet saw) ‘to make himself quickly the master of any argument which he undertook,’ and in his severe scholarship. In commending his Origines Britannicae, Richard Bentley, who had been his chaplain, rightly praised him for ‘perusing multitudes of Authors, whether printed or in MSS.,’ but also for his ‘great Knowledge and profound Judgment, in separating the Chaff from the Wheat, discarding what is Spurious, correcting what is Erroneous, and retaining and Establishing what is genuine, authentick, and well-grounded.’” (Sutherland) This work is also important for the history of geology because in it Stillingfleet discusses how the earth was formed, and of what constituent parts it is composed.

Wing S-5621