Gleanings by the Way.

[MORMONISM, the Book of Mormon]. - Rev John Alonzo CLARK (1801-1843).

Gleanings by the Way. Philadelphia: W.J. & J.K. Simon and Robert Carter of New York, 1842. 12mo signed in sixes (7 x 4 1/4 in; 175 x 110mm), pp. [i-]iv-v[-vi; 7-]8-11[-12; 13-]14-352. (Title somewhat soiled, old dampstaining.) Contemporary black half leather (worn, extremities rubbed, upper cover almost detached). Provenance: J. J. Pa. Brown (early signature to title); John Tibby (ink ownership stamp, 1827-1901, he ‘was said to have the largest private library in Western Pennsylvania, containing only religious and historical volumes.’ [obit., ‘Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette’, February 27, 1901]).

First edition, and apparently rare: the last copy listed as having sold at auction was the Streeter copy in 1968; OCLC lists just three copies. One of 2000 copies printed (according to the manuscript agreement between Clark and W.J & J.K. Simon, the publishers). The final 65% of the book (pp.126-352) comes under the general sub-heading of ‘Mormonism’ and deals with ‘the Mormon delusion’, including observations on the LDS Church in Ohio and Missouri. The earlier chapters are made up of extracts from a journal kept on a tour down the Ohio, up the Mississippi, to the Galena lead mines and across northern Illinois to Chicago in a lumber wagon. This work also contains some descriptive accounts of Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania.

“The Reverend John Alonzo Clark was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in May 1801. In 1823 he was graduated from Union College near Albany, New York, and after several additional years of ministerial training he was admitted to orders in the Episcopal church on April 12, 1826. His professional career spanned the years of the Second Great Awakening, an evangelical movement which spread across much of the country, but was most strongly felt in portions of the Northeast -- particularly in the "burned-over" district of western New York and in southern New England. Clark represented the evangelical wing of the Episcopal church, and his sermons reflected the evangelical emphasis on the inherent sinfulness of man, the acceptance of Christ as Redeemer, and the necessity of conversion through faith. He traveled extensively to preach in places as far afield as Palmyra and Geneva, New York; Providence, Rhode Island; and Philadelphia, engaging in missionary work in western New York from 1826-1829. Clark quickly gained a reputation as a notable preacher, and in 1829 he settled in New York City to take a position as Assistant Rector at Christ Church. In 1832 he moved on to Providence, where he assumed the title of Rector at Grace Church, and in 1835 he moved to Philadelphia and became Rector at St. Andrew's Church…. Clark's health began to decline throughout the 1830s, and in 1837-38 he traveled to Europe in the hopes of regaining his strength. His health having failed to improve, however, he ultimately was compelled to resign his position at St. Andrews in 1843, and on November 27 of that same year he died.” (University of Delaware Library, special collections department).

Howes C440; Streeter 2275;  Auerbach 222; Buck 310; OCLC 1031726938 (3 copies).