The Philadelphian Magazine: Containing a Great Variety of Important, Instructive, and Entertaining Matter, Chiefly Original, Calculated to Promote True Religion and Virtue

London: H. Trapp, 1788-1789. 2 vols. 8vo. 448; 416, [8, errata and index] pp. Modern dark green quarter morocco and marbled boards; toned, occasional staining and foxing, a few small paper repairs, vol. II A1, B2-3 silked, A1 repaired with some loss to text on verso. In custom slipcases [Vol. II bound with:] WINCHESTER, Elhanan. A Selection of Sermons, Some Original, and Others Never Before Published in Europe.... The First Volume. London: Printed for the Author. Sold by T. Scollick, 1789. 60 pp. Not in ESTC or OCLC.Rare complete run of The Philadelphian Magazine, all 22 numbers published in London, February 1788-November 1789, by the American Universalist clergyman Elhanan Winchester (1751–1797), bound with an unrecorded collection of his sermons. "Winchester was a remarkable orator, an early antislavery advocate, and a prominent pastor during the years of the American Revolution. He should be remembered as one of the most influential contributors to early American Universalism and as a man who embodied the religious and intellectual ferment of his time" (ANB). Includes Winchester's epic "An Heroic Poem. The Process and Empire of Christ," numerous sermons on Universalism, poems by various other contributors, and several items on slavery and abolition, including the first printing of Winchester's antislavery sermon, published here as "The Slave Trade an Abomination." "Winchester’s writings against slavery gained him fame among northern abolitionists during the 1840s. During his southern travels, Winchester became convinced that slavery was an 'abomination.' He preached a 1774 sermon against the slave trade and published it as a pamphlet, The Reigning Abominations, in 1788. Winchester argued forcefully that slave holding and slave trading were evils that debased all involved and kept Africans and plantation owners from full fellowship with God. Winchester worked to convert slaves and their masters with no reported tension among his congregants" (ANB). The Philadelphian Magazine was published while Winchester was living in London, having left Philadelphia in 1787 to spread the gospel of Universalism in England. "His oratory and writing gained him some attention in Britain, including friendships with Joseph Priestly and John Wesley. During his London sojourn, Winchester turned out most of his published works and hymns" (ANB). A rare complete run: no copies recorded at auction since 1920. Volume II is bound with a collection of Winchester's sermons unrecorded in ESTC and OCLC. PROVENANCE: "Mary of Wade Fydd Gate" (inscription on endleaves of vol. II, pencil and pen annotations and marks throughout).REFERENCE: ESTC P2536 (4 copies, all in America); Crane & Kaye, A Census of British Newspapers and Periodicals, 1620-1800, no. 709 (3 copies, all incomplete); Sabin 62413 (April 1788 number only); Ward, Index and Finding List of Serials Published in the British Isles, 1789-1832, p. 126.