Difference between revisions of "Apology for the True Christian Divinity"

Revision as of 12:16, 11 June 2013

by Robert Barclay

"One of the most impressive theological writings of the 17th century. It breathes a large tolerance and is still perhaps the most important manifesto of the Quaker Society." ^[1]

The Apology was composed and first published in Latin in 1676. With a boldness that seems to have endeared him to the Stuart kings, Barclay opened the book with a plea for toleration addressed to Charles II and written in direct and somewhat admonitory language much admired by Voltaire, among others. The Apology appeared in English in 1678, and has since been reprinted many times and in many languages. Robert Barclay's reputation among Quakers has waxed and waned, but the Apology remains the classic statement of Quaker principles, and few would dispute Leslie Stephen's judgement in the Dictionary of National Biography that the book is ‘impressive in style; grave, logical, and often marked by the eloquence of lofty moral convictions’.^[2]

Bibliographic Information

Author: Robert Barclay, (1648-1690)

Title: An Apology for the True Christian Divinity: Being an Explanation and Vindication of the Principles and Doctrines of the People called Quakers

Published: Birmingham: Printed by John Baskerville, 1765.

Edition:

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Bound in contemporary calf and very neatly re-backed in matching leather with gilt-decorated spine. Purchased from Argosy Book Store.

References

1. ↑ Encycl. Brit. xiii, 504pp.
2. ↑ Gordon DesBrisay, ‘Barclay, Robert, of Ury (1648–1690)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 11 June 2013