Pilgrim's Progress, 22nd edition, 1728

This is a post I put on Facebook last year and want to have on this blog.

Pilgrim's Progress, 22nd edition, 1728

May 4, 2012

For some thirty years I have been collecting interesting editions of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. I have about 75 copies. For the past six years I have been seeking the 22nd edition, published in 1728. Finally my bookseller, Robert Kirkman of Bedfordshire, UK, obtained a copy and offered it to me. I jumped at it and it arrived today. It will be the capstone of my collection, since any earlier edition would be exceedingly rare and expensive. This one was not cheap, but I justified the purchase as an investment that can only increase in value. Also, this edition was the first to be published as a fine book in larger format than the early editions. Bunyan died in 1688, so this copy was printed just 40 years after his death. Here is Mr. Kirkman's description of the book.

Title: The Pilgrim's Progress, From This World to that Which is to Come,
Delivered under the Similitude of a Dream, Wherein is discover'd The Manner
of his Setting Out, His Dangerous Journey, and Safe Arrival at the Desired
Country, In Two Parts, Complete, The Two and Twentieth Edition, adorned with
Twenty-Two Copper Plates, engraved by J. Sturt, London, 1728; The Pilgrim's
Progress From This World to that which is to Come, Part 11, Delivered under
the Similitude of a Dream, Wherein is set forth, The Manner of the Setting
out of Christian's Wife and Children, their Dangerous Journey, and Safe
Arrival at the Desired Country, London, Printed for John Clarke, at the
Golden Ball in Duck Lane, 1727
Author: BUNYAN (John), .
Publisher: Printed for J. Clarke at the Golden Ball in Duck-Lane and J.
Brotherton at the Bible next the Fleece-Tavern in Cornhill - 1727

Description: FIRST COMPLETE EDITION containing two parts, also First John
Sturt Illustrated Edition, with both printed title pages of which the first
is printed within two line border, with copper engraved portrait
frontispiece and 21 copper engraved plates, all plates proofs before letters
except frontispiece and plate at page 45, 8vo. (pp. 213 + 196), with 2-page
publisher's advertisements at end, eighteenth century full brown calf, two
line gilt borders on sides, re-spined, red and green leather
lettering-pieces, date in gilt at foot of spine, endpapers renewed with
antique paper, signature of Dinah Chambers in an early handwriting on blank
verso of frontispiece. The first complete edition containing the two parts,
printed only 40 years after Bunyan's death and 100 years after his birth.
This edition was a landmark celebrating the centenary of Bunyan's birth.
Publishing for the first time two parts in one volume where previously the
parts were printed separately. This was the first well produced edition of
Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress illustrated with fine copper engraved plates by
John Sturt produced for the castle rather than the cottage. Earlier editions
were cheaply printed in 12mo size with crude woodcuts. John Sturt, 1658 -
1730, engraver was apprenticed to Robert White who is known for his portrait
of Bunyan now in the British Museum. The British Library General Catalogue
of Printed Books lists this edition as the First Complete Edition containing
the two parts. Following those editions printed during Bunyan's lifetime
this must be the next most desirable of all the early editions. RARE.Worn
copy but complete, sides a little worn but binding re-spined and now sound,
frontispiece browned and repaired on blank recto of frontispiece, one plate
repaired without loss of engraved surface and accompanying leaf of text
repaired without loss, six other leaves with smaller repairs without loss,
corner of leaf of publisher's advertisements at end repaired, blank corner
of a couple of leaves creased, contents of the first part grubby which
diminishes in the second part. All the copper engraved plates in this copy
are proofs before letters except the frontispiece and plate at page 45 which
may have been supplied from another copy nevertheless copies are rare in any
condition.

Review of Will Campbell: Radical Prophet of the South

Just finished reading Will Campbell: Radical Prophet of the South, by Merrill M. Hawkins, Jr. This is Hawkin's PhD dissertation, written for Baylor University, and published 1997 by Mercer University Press.It is part biography and part historical and theological exposition. It has the academic style and flavor, but also the thorough documentation and critical analysis of its genre.

It was very helpful to me in the aftermath of Campbell's death to have an overview of his life and writings. I had read his books over the years but never put them all together in a coherent story. I had also, like many people, admired Campbell while being puzzled by him. Many of us Baptists ministers sat at his feet in rapt fascination while he criticized our churches and our schools, in fact the whole culture in which we are wrapped up. Few had the courage to do as he did and stand as a prophet and an activist against it all.

Hawkins helps make sense of it all and offer some analysis of Campbell's limitations as well as his greatness. The book is especially helpful for giving Campbell's unique perspective on race relations in the South, an approach that reaches out to poor whites as well as African Americans. I have a criticism to offer about the editing, or the lack of it. There are numerous errors of composition and printing that prove to be more and more distracting as you read through it. They must have been having a bad year at Mercer Press back then.

Retirement

“What are you doing now that you are retired?”

People ask me that all the time. I suppose most who are not yet retired have genuine questions about what retirement is like. Those who think of me as a pastor and preacher are probably trying to re-conceive me now that I do not have those roles to define me. Those who think of retirement as constant golfing or fishing know that that’s not what I do. And most of us task-oriented Americans find it hard to identify ourselves apart from our work. That makes retirement difficult for many people to accept, for themselves or for others.

I address the pastor-preacher role by pointing out that I have served two churches as interim pastor since retiring, and I am open to doing more of that. I have even taken special training as an intentional interim minister with the Center for Congregational Health. I occasionally have opportunity to fill in for someone in the pulpit, but the supply of preachers in Nashville far exceeds the demand.

The question about recreation and pastimes I answer by noting that I go to the Y for exercise five days a week and have done some traveling including three cruises and two Road Scholar educational trips with my wife. I also love to read and collect books. I even sell some books on the internet as I sort through my library and attend local estate sales.

I also have three grown children and three grandchildren, one of whom comes to our house on a weekly basis. I enjoy having lots more time for family.

As for tasks to keep me busy, I don’t think I will ever get finished organizing and downsizing my substantial library and files from forty years of ministry. I also have a house full of possessions that need to be cared for or thrown away, and a house and yard that always need attention. Like most retirees I have so much to do that I don’t see how I ever had time to work at a job. Part of the problem is that we accumulate too many things and need to simplify. And part of the problem is Parkinson’s Law: The work expands to fill the time available. Another aspect of the problem is that, while there are many things to do, there are few deadlines and priories are not clear. The pressure is off, and it is hard to know which task to take up today and easy to put them off.

I also want to do some writing, at least I always thought I would do that. In fact writing is hard to do. I have written hundreds of sermons through the years, but there is not much market for published sermons unless you are a famous preacher. I have a lot of knowledge and some wisdom, but there are a lot people who have more than I have and know how to express it and get it published. I still may attempt a book, but more likely I will blog and write an occasional article for some publication or website.

The matter of teaching is somewhat similar. Since graduate school I have had a fantasy that someday, maybe when I retired, I would teach in a college or seminary. I was even considered for a seminary teaching position twice and actually could have had one of those jobs, but the timing and circumstances were not right. I think I have a lot I could teach young candidates for the ministry. But here again, there are a lot of people who can do it better, and today’s students require a lot more to gain and keep their attention that we did years ago.

All in all, I am very happy in retirement. I have never needed a lot of people around to make me happy. I enjoy time alone and with my family. I don’t feel the need to prove myself by turning out accomplishments at this stage. I love to read and have a sizable personal library, a great public library, and a couple of university libraries within a few miles. I am blessed with good health, though I do have more doctors and pills as the years go by. As a healthy seventy-five-year-old I can expect to live quite a few more years.  I am in pretty good shape financially. As a minister with a teacher spouse, we never made much money, but we watched our pennies, saved, and invested, so we do not have to worry about that.

On the other hand, I have realized of late that I am in a new phase of retirement after six years. I am finally feeling the weight of it. I have had time to think about it and to see the downside. I do feel some frustration over not accomplishing much that is meaningful to others. I have had a hard time being a church member after being a pastor all my adult life. I chose to continue as a member of the church I served as pastor. Many experts on church and ministry consider that a mistake, and I am now considering the likelihood that they may be right. I am not currently doing much to help anyone.

I am also feeling the challenge of being a growing Christian in the later stages of life. I believe aging can be a spiritual journey, but it is not an easy one. Erik Erikson describes the task of the final stage of life as developing integrity versus despair, to look back on your life with a feeling of contentment, to say, It is OK to have been me. I think I am on track with that, but I am not finished. For the person of faith the task is to trust God more than ever and rest gratefully in God’s love while still sharing it with others.

Mothers' Day Reflections

           On August 12, 1911, Margaret Bales was born in Lone Grove, Llano County, Texas. A few weeks later, on September 7, 1911, Muriel Stevenson was born in Monroe, Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. They would not meet until the late nineteen fifties when Margaret’s daughter, Peggy Ratliff, and Muriel’s son, David George met at Howard Payne College in Brownwood, Texas.

            Margaret Bales Ratliff grew up on a small farm in a dry, rocky area of Texas. Like a lot of people in rural American then, they were poor by today’s standards but rich in some important ways. Margaret had a dream of becoming a teacher and went to Mary Hardin Baylor College. She and her sister had two dresses each and they would trade on weekends. She started teaching before she graduated and finished in the summers. Her brother, Albert, was killed in action in the Pacific during World War II. She married, Wortham  Ratliff, whose family operated a dairy farm, and moved to San Antonio when he got a job in aircraft maintenance at Kelly Air Force Base. They had two daughters. Margaret continued to teach in the public schools. The family was active in a Baptist church. She taught Sunday School and was active in the Child Evangelism Fellowship and the Bible Memory Association. In retirement she continued to teach adults, sometimes including men, in Sunday School in Kingsland, Texas. She died on June 24, 20089, at the age of 96, in Lakeway, Texas, near Austin.

            Muriel Stevenson George grew up in a small town in Northeast Louisiana. Her mother died when she was two, and she and her infant brother were boarded with another family until their father remarried. Her relationship with her stepmother was not good and made her childhood difficult. After high school she went to work in the office of the Ouachita Candy Company in Monroe. There she met Evans George who had come from Central Arkansas to work. They had two sons. They tried to start their own business in the late forties, but it failed, and the family started over again in Texas. Muriel went to work in a bank in San Antonio. Evans became sales manager for Gebhart Mexican Foods. They raised their children in church and maintained membership in Baptist Churches wherever they moved. In later years they lived in Denver, Colorado, where she died August 19, 2006, just short of her ninety-fifth birthday.

            Both of these women came of age and married during the Great Depression. They lived through two world wars and the tumultuous years that followed. They established good marriages and good homes. They lived in small, modest houses with few of the modern conveniences we enjoy today. They worked hard and found employment outside the home to help their families. They put all their children through college. They supported their churches. Both have lived their last years as widows, as most wives do, having nursed their husbands through their final illness.

            As we come to Mother’s Day this year, I am keenly aware of the importance of these two women and countless others like them who have been faithful to God and to their families through so many years. We have their DNA, their examples, their teaching, and their love to thank for our lives and those of our children. Mother’s Day is a time to remember and give thanks.