Mss. Octavo Vols. B - Sermon notes, 1660-1694

GEMMS Manuscript ID
GEMMS-MANUSCRIPT- 1109
(old series: GEMMS-MANUSCRIPT-1323)
Title
Sermon notes, 1660-1694
Shelfmark
Mss. Octavo Vols. B
Creation Date
1660 - 1694
Contents Note

Notes on sermons preached predominantly at the First Church in Cambridge, most of which were delivered by Nathaniel Gookin, the resident preacher. Gookin died in the summer of 1692, leading to supply preaching by numerous other ministers, many of which were well known in New England at that point. The sermons preached in 1692 could be read in the context of the Salem Witch trials, as multiple executions occurred from June - September of that year. Increase Mather and Cotton Mather were tangentially involved as advisers to the Court of Oyer and Terminer. There are accounts of Cotton Mather urging for the execution of George Burroughs, the minister at Salem, before a reluctant crowd. Two days after this execution, this manuscript records a sermon by Increase Mather (21 August 1682) on Psalms 119:120 warning against "Evil Angells". A few weeks later, there is another sermon from Rev. Samuel Willard asking for religious reformation.

Material Features

278 pp. written by at least one anonymous hand. The headings of each sermon give the date, name of the minister and Bible verse. Three sermons are written in reverse at the end of the volume. A fully digitised version is available; see link below.

Acquisition

Gifts of Isaiah Thomas Andrews in 1813, Isaac Goodwin in 1816, and Charles H. Taylor in 1933.

Source of Data

Catherine Evans; The Congregational Library Catalogue

Sermons Contained
URLs
GEMMS record created
June 12, 2020
GEMMS record last edited
July 15, 2024