Holmes, Abiel. The Life of Ezra Stiles, D.D., LL.D. A Fellow of the American Philosophical Society; of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; of the Connecticut Society of Arts and Sciences; A Corresponding Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society; Professor of Ecclesiastical History; and President of Yale College. Boston: Printed by Thomas & Andrews, 1798. First Edition. [10496]
Full leather, joints cracked, spine abraded, 8 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches, bookplate cut from the front paste-down. Old amateur repair to the title page hinge. Historical society oval stamp on the tp. [i]-vi, [7]-378, 381-404, [1]. The text block is in two pieces; lacks one leaf of the appendix; foxing; infrequent pencil marginalia. Poor. Hardcover.
Ezra Stiles (1727-1795), b. North Haven, Connecticut; d. New Haven, Connecticut. Stiles was a Congregational minister during the time of transition from strict Calvinism to a more liberal view that was influenced by John Locke and Isaac Newton. In 1749 he was chosen tutor in Yale College, and made use of Benjamin Franklin's gift of an electrical apparatus to the college, being the first to conduct such experiments in New England. The next year he made a missionary journey to the Stockbridge Indians and was earnestly solicited to become the stated missionary amongst them by the Society for Propagating the Gospel among the Indians, but his health would not allow it. He studied law while tutor at Yale, and was admitted to the bar in 1753, but the call of the ministry compelled him to complete his theological studies. He became pastor at Newport, Rhode Island (1755-1777) and was one of the first men in the establishment of what became Brown University. In 1777 he was elected president of Yale College, where he was also appointed professor of Ecclesiastical History, which offices he retained until his death.
"President Stiles, in person, was small and delicate, but symmetrical in his proportions. He had a penetrating eye, a clear and strong voice, and a countenance that could express mildness or authority, as occasion required. His manners united, in an uncommon degree, grace and dignity; and he could render himself equally acceptable to the higher and the lower classes. He was remarkable also for his simplicity and frankness; he was 'an Israelite indeed in whom there was no guile.'" - Hon. John Woodworth, in Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit, vol. i. p. 477.
