A Treatise On Magic; Or, The Intercourse Between Spirits And Men by Quitman, Frederick Henry - 1810

Quitman, Frederick Henry. A Treatise On Magic; Or, The Intercourse Between Spirits And Men. Albany: 1810

"Presentation copy from - the author - on front blank recto."

Balance Press, 1810.
12mo, contemporary professionally re-backed ¼ marbled boards, gilt-ruled spine; internally clean & crisp. Early owner's signature at head of title. Presentation copy signed by "the author" on front blank recto. Housed in a Period ¼ Sheep Clamshell gilt spine.
American Imprints 21169 (4 copies).

This book looks into the history and beginnings of Magic in good and evil and in entertainment, from all periods and religions, covering Egyptian and Greek mythology to superstitions Witchcraft, Sorcery and much more, with pages 61 – 76 of annotations wonderfully explained and referencing back to the full explanations within the book.

The Rev. Dr. Frederick Henry Quitman, the son of Stephen Henry and Anna Quitman, was born August 7, 1760, in the Duchy of Cleves in Westphalia [on an island!], in the lower Rhine. His father held an important office in the Prussian Government. The son, manifesting at an early age a great love for books, more than common intelligence, and superior talents and application to study, was placed by his father, into the celebrated school of Halle. After receiving the advantage of a liberal education Henry then transferred to Halle University. Under the guidance of George Christian Knapp (1753-1825), August Herman Niemeyer (1754-1828), Johann Salomo Semler (1725-1791), and other eminent professors in that distinguished seat of [Pietist, then Aufklarung Rationalist ] learning.

For more than thirty years Dr. Quitman divided his time among a number of small and scattered Lutheran churches in the Hudson River Valley. These congregations were dispersed groupings of German speaking farmers and craftsmen. At the time there was a profound shortage of German speaking Lutheran pastors willing to serve in the rustic wilds of New York. Dr. Quitman often preached seven or eight times a week in either German, Low Dutch, or English. "In is preaching he was brief, biblical, practical and impressive inculcating with great energy the Christian gospel… [and] He never used a manuscript in the pulpit." First in the associated churches of Schoharie and Kobles Kill [until 1798 ]; and afterwards in those of Rhinebeck, Wurtemburg, Germantown, and Livingston.