Two parliamentary acts defending religious freedom

Lot 144
27.06.2024 00:00UTC +00:00
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$ 630
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1236375
Lot 144 | Two parliamentary acts defending religious freedom
Estimate value
$ 1 000 – 2 000
[QUAKERS] – Anno Regni Gulielmi III. Regis […] An Act that the Solemn Affirmation and Declaration of the People called Quakers, shall be accepted, instead of an Oath in the usual Form. London: Charles Bill, 1696. [Sold with:] Anno Primo Georgii Regis. An Act for making Perpetual an Act of the Seventh and Eighth Years of the Reign of His late Majesty King William the Third, Intituled, An Act that the Solemn Affirmation and Declaration of the People called Quakers, shall be Accepted instead of an Oath in the usual Form; And for Explaining and Enforcing the said Act in relation to the Payment of Tithes and Church-Rates; And for Appointing the Form of an Affirmation to be taken by the said People called Quakers, instead of the Oath of Abjuration. [London: printed by John Baskett, 1715].

First editions of two important parliamentary acts for religious freedom, granting Quakers the right to take a “solemn affirmation” in place of swearing an oath. Prior to the passing of the first act in 1696, “Friends were hounded by penal laws for not swearing oaths, for not going to the services of the Church of England, for going to Quaker meetings, and for refusing tithes. Some 15,000 suffered under these laws, and almost 500 died in or shortly after being in prison, but they continued to grow in numbers” (Britannica). The 1715 act made that of 1696 perpetual. Smith II, p.266.

Together two acts, folio (1696: 309 x 198mm; 1715: 316 x 199mm). 1696: pp. [1], 723-727, [1], woodcut title vignette, headpiece, initial, printed in Gothic type (stain in lower margin). Sewn as issued, unbound (minor repairs to two edges); 1715: pp.249-252, woodcut initial, printed in Gothic type (a few spots). Unbound; housed together in a modern cloth chemise and morocco-backed slipcase.
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