MEMOIRS OF THE REV. DAVID BRAINERD; MISSIONARY TO THE INDIANS

Dwight, Sereno Edwards. LIFE OF BRAINERD. (title page) MEMOIRS OF THE REV. DAVID BRAINERD; MISSIONARY TO THE INDIANS ON THE BORDERS OF NEW-YORK, NEW-JERSEY, AND PENNSYLVANIA: CHIEFLY TAKEN FROM HIS OWN DIARY, BY REV. JONATHAN EDWARDS, OF NORTHAMPTON. INCLUDING HIS JOURNAL, NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME INCORPORATED WITH THE REST OF HIS DIARY, IN A REGULAR CHRONOLOCAL SERIES. Printed and published by S. Converse. 1822. 507 pgs. Bound in contemporary mottled calf, red leather label; minor rubbing to joints and head and tail of spine; some light foxing to end sheets and minor spotting to the text.  Presentation inscription from E. D. Griffin to his daughter Ellen Maria Griffin in ink on front free endpaper, dated 1837 in pencil.  Stamped “Ex Libris Wilson H. Kimnach” on front pastedown. A very good copy in original American binding.

 Nicely printed and bound later edition of the diaries and journals of David Brainerd (1781-47), notable missionary to Native Americans who died at the age of 29 years.  His missionary work became the inspiration for generations of New Light ministers who followed in his footsteps.  During his short life he became intimate friends and colleagues with Jonathan Dickinson (see above) who encouraged his work in New Jersey, and he was betrothed to the daughter of Jonathan Edwards Jerusha, who also died of tuberculous after nursing the gravely ill Brainerd. 

The text of this work was taken from Brainerd’s diary by Jonathan Edwards and this edition includes for the first time passages from his journal, “now for the first time incorporated with the rest of his diary, in a regular chronological series edited by Sereno Edwards Dwight”.  Brainerd’s first hand account of the customs of the Mid-Atlantic Tribes and their sometimes rapid acceptance of Christian principles was read not only by the missionary class but also by the curious who were interested in learning about the lives of American Indians.