[African-Americana] From Our Yearly-Meeting, Held at Philadelphia, for Pennsylvania and New-Jersey, from the 17th, to the 21st Day of the 7th Month. 1737

Philadelphia: Printed by Andrew Bradford, 1737. Bifolium leaf. 3 pp. Signed in type by Clerk John Kinsey. Creasing from old folds, separations along same; wear and chipping along edges; contemporary child's ink scrawl at top of first page ("Margaret Ellis..."); contemporary notations and ink scrawl on final blank page; scattered soiling and dampstaining; in quarter calf fall-down-back box. Hildeburn 554; Evans 4142; ESTC W5873

A very rare Philadelphia and Quaker document, with an early caution against participation in the slave trade: "As the Gospel breathes nothing but a Spirit of Love and Liberty to Mankind, so it hath been the early Care of Friends to caution against the practice of Trading in Negroes, which we think it necessary to repeat, and that those who have of them, treat them with Tenderness, as advis'd in several Epistles and Minutes of this Meeting." It was pioneering abolitionist and Quaker Benjamin Lay who persistently held his fellow Friends to adhere to this exhortation, and who excoriated those in the Quaker community who remained bedfellows with slavery in his tract All Slave-Keepers That Keep the Innocent in Bondage: Apostates, published in the same year as this document by Bradford's rival Benjamin Franklin.

Other messages within, directed at young and old Friends alike, demand the exercise of good behavior, the refrain from "indecent Use of Strong Drink", as well as the eschewing of "corrupt habits in Speech, airy and effeminate Gestures, with all needless, fanatical and Impetuous Things, in Dress and Furniture, together with Plays, Games, Sports and Pastimes".

Rare. ESTC locates only three examples, at Haverford College, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the Friends Historical Society of Swarthmore College. OCLC locates a further copy at the Durham University Library. According to RBH, this is the first copy offered since 1928, which was then catalogued as "One of the rarest of Quaker Broadsides".

This lot is located in Philadelphia.

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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.

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[African-Americana] From Our Yearly-Meeting, Held at Philadelphia, for Pennsylvania and New-Jersey, from the 17th, to the 21st Day of the 7th Month. 1737

This lot is located in Philadelphia.

Books and Manuscripts

[African-Americana] From Our Yearly-Meeting, Held at Philadelphia, for Pennsylvania and New-Jersey, from the 17th, to the 21st Day of the 7th Month. 1737

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