[Americana] [Franklin, Benjamin] Smith, John. The Epistle From Our Yearly-Meeting, for New-Jersey, and Pennsylvania...from the 27th of the Ninth Month, to the 2d of the Tenth Month, inclusive, 1760...

A Scarce Quaker Epistle With a Message Against Slavery, From the Press of Benjamin Franklin

[Franklin, Benjamin] Smith, John
The Epistle From Our Yearly-Meeting, for New-Jersey, and Pennsylvania, Held at Burlington, by Adjournments, from the 27th of the Ninth Month, to the 2d of the Tenth Month, inclusive, 1760...
(Philadelphia: B. Franklin and D. Hall), 1760. Folio. 4 pp. Signed in type by Clerk John Smith; docketed on last page in a contemporary hand, “Burlington Epistle 1760”. Creasing from contemporary folds; scattered foxing; scattered small open tears at bottom; small separations along central folds, other scattered edge-wear; contemporary docketing, "For Goshen", "Burlington Epistle 1760". Miller 746; Evans 8603; Hildeburn 1669

A scarce Benjamin Franklin printing of the Quaker Epistle from the 1760 Yearly-Meeting, featuring a caution against slave owning amongst Friends: “discourage the Practice of making Slaves of our Fellow Creatures, hath been visibly blessed with Success, we earnestly exhort that Friends do not abate of their Diligence in this weighty Matter, but continue in the Love which beareth long, and is kind, to labour with such, as having Membership with us, do, in any Manner, by buying, selling or keeping them, countenance the Trade, to inform their Understandings, and convince their Judgements, and some of us are firmly persuaded, that if this Care is diligently and honestly pursued, the Society will, in Time, come up more universally in fulfilling the the Evangelical Law of Righteousness in this Respect.”

This is only the seventh copy we can locate in the available auction record in the past 100 years.

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Darren Winston, Senior Vice President at Freeman’s, has served as Head of Department for Books & Manuscripts, Philadelphia, since 2018. He has been a trustee of the Rosenbach Museum and Library since 2022, is a member of The Manuscript Society, The Bibliographical Society of America, and Philadelphia’s Philobiblon Club.

Raised in northern New Jersey, Darren moved to New York City in 1988 and began his career there as a bookseller in 1995. He spent the next 18 years selling to private clients and at East Coast book fairs. In 2003 he moved with his young family to Sharon, Connecticut where, in 2009, he opened his own bookshop. Darren Winston, Bookseller offered rare and vintage books, prints, fine art, and more, and hosted over 50 book signings and art shows. He was a trustee and, later, Board President, of the Sharon Historical Society, and for six years a trustee of Indian Mountain School in Lakeville, Connecticut.

Darren has hosted the radio program "Darren Winston's Book Report" for NPR-affiliate WHDD since 2009, appeared in the 2014 book-themed documentary The Paper Trail, and in 2024 he joined Antiques Roadshow as a books and manuscripts appraiser. From 1999 to 2005, Darren was the buyer and consultant to the Fine and Rare Books Department at Asprey, the British luxury goods company, at its New York headquarters. While there he spearheaded various in-store events including readings by Salman Rushdie and Dominick Dunne.

In 1993, Darren was hired as a Creative Consultant to Columbia Records, where he assisted in the repackaging of their 12-record Aerosmith back catalogue. He later sold his extensive collection of Aerosmith memorabilia, which he began amassing at the age of 14, directly to the band.

Darren now lives on the Main Line, outside Philadelphia, with his wife, two children, and dog. The family travels frequently to his wife's native England and Scotland. When not bookselling, he plays guitar in Pumped, an Aerosmith tribute band. Darren also appears on the top-rated PBS television program Antiques Roadshow.

Books and Manuscripts

[Americana] [Franklin, Benjamin] Smith, John. The Epistle From Our Yearly-Meeting, for New-Jersey, and Pennsylvania...from the 27th of the Ninth Month, to the 2d of the Tenth Month, inclusive, 1760...

Books and Manuscripts

[Americana] [Franklin, Benjamin] Smith, John. The Epistle From Our Yearly-Meeting, for New-Jersey, and Pennsylvania...from the 27th of the Ninth Month, to the 2d of the Tenth Month, inclusive, 1760...

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