New England's memorial: Or, A Brief relation of the most memorable and remarkable passages of the Providence of God, manifested in the Planters of New England in America [1772 edition]

8vo, early calf, bound with fragments of 1794 newspaper as endpapers, viii, 208, [12] pp. Top cover almost detached, bottom hinge tender, binding well worn, browned with some foxing throughout, title page foxed and stained and almost detached, also trimmed affecting some page numbers and headers,paper somewhat fragile, leaves CC1 and CC2 repeated at the end.A fair copy. Morton (1613-1685) was born in the Netherlands, and came with his family to America on the Anne in 1623. His father died shortly thereafter, and he came to live with his uncle Gov. William Bradford. In 1647 he became secretary of the colony, and keeper of the records. He was considered a highly educated man, and after Bradford's death in 1657 he became custodian of all his writings. In his preface to the first edition of this work in 1669, he stated that it had been prepared from the papers of Bradford and Winslow. Until Bradford's own work on the history of the colony was published, this work was the chief authority on the subject. While it has faded as a source for this early period in colonial history, it is still considered the authority on the list of signers of the 1620 compact, and for the name Speedwell. A scond edition was published in 1721, and a couple of other editions were printed in the 19th century. DAB VII. Evans 12469. Sabin 51014.