Dimmick, Francis Marion. Anna Clayton; or, The Inquirer after Truth. Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1859. Revised Edition. [10579]
Copyright, 1859; Preface to the Revised Edition, 1866.
Gold cloth with black border pattern, gilt title to spine, 7 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches, ring mark on the front cover, otherwise very good. Frontispiece illustration, 427 clean pp., tight. Good. Hardcover.
This work is similar to the “Theodosia” books on the Baptist side. The book is based upon letters between the author and his sister, Mrs. Diantha Dimmick Reynolds. Rev. Dimmock took these letters as the basis for the following story, in which the heroine investigates minutely the issues surrounding the baptism controversy, and is convinced of the Presbyterian position. Much scholarly and historical material is present.
In the introduction the author says of his sister, “She was flooded with Baptist documents, but was unwilling to endorse their views until she had carefully and intelligently investigated the whole subject. She requested me to come to her assistance in meeting and examining the arguments and doctrines laid before her…By the arguments presented to her, and by suggestions as to the proper study of the Bible in determining its teachings and doctrines, she was led to see, as she believed, the errors, false statements, and illogical reasonings of our Baptist brethren.” – from the preface.
Rev. Francis Marion Dimmick (1827-1900), b. Union Dale, PA; d. Los Angeles, CA. Dimmick was a graduate of the Lane Theological Seminary of Cincinnati, was ordained in the Second Presbyterian Church of that city, and was sent by the New School Presbyterians to Omaha, Nebraska, in 1860 to establish a church.
