Coale (Josiah) The books and divers epistles of the faithful servant of the Lord Josiah Coale; collected and published, as it was desired by him the day of his departure out of this life, sole edition, bifolium B2&3 detached, with loss to lower inner gutter and creased, 3H1&2 at end detaching, small mostly marginal worm traces, occasional spotting or light staining, lightly browned, contemporary sheep, lacking metal clasps, head pf spine, edges and corners worn, upper joint just starting at foot, rubbed and stained, [Wing C4751], small 4to, no printer, 1671.

⁂ Quaker minister Josiah Coale (c.1632-1668) was convinced to the Society of Friends in 1654. He spent a majority of his ministry in America, and was possibly the first Quaker to set foot in the territory that would become Pennsylvania. He endured great hardship in his support of his Quaker brethren, and after banishment from Virginia he settled in New England, where he suffered imprisonment on numerous occasions. Coale was the confidant of Quaker leader William Penn, with whom he travelled in 1668 to meet with the Duke of Buckingham in an attempt to secure relief for their abused brother Friends. Penn provides a laudatory prefatory testimony on Coale for this volume, in which he states; 'Twas his life and joy to be speaking the Word of the Lord, and not his own: And many thousands doubtless rest behind, who are living Testimonies to the Power, Vertue, and Efficacy of his Ministry.' The collection includes a reprint of Coales earlier work 'The Whore Unveiled', 1665, as well as newly printed material, including 'An Epistle to Friends in New-England' and 'To all People in Jamaica'.

Provenance: 'Ann Sharpel, her book, 1st 11th Mth, 1671'; 'Rebeccah Stevens' (ink inscriptions).