A Synopsis of the Moral Theology of Peter Dens, as Prepared for the Use of Romish Seminaries and Students of Theology
Philadelphia: J. Harmstead, 1841. First American Edition. Octavo, 511 pages, period gilt-lettered black cloth covered boards. With a small label on the inside of the front board reading, “Downingtown Franklin Library No. 683,” but with no additional library markings. A Synopsis of the Moral Theology of Peter Dens is an important example of 19th-century American religious controversy, presenting an English-language synopsis of the Roman Catholic moral theology of Pierre Dens, the influential 18th-century theologian whose works were widely used in Catholic seminaries. Published in Philadelphia in 1841 as the First American Edition, the book was translated from the Latin by Joseph F. Berg and issued for a Protestant readership at a time of heightened anti-Catholic sentiment in the United States. Its title’s use of the term “Romish” reflects the polemical language of the period, and the volume was intended less as a neutral theological manual than as an exposé of Catholic doctrine and seminary instruction. As such, it is a notable artifact of antebellum American religious debate, Protestant-Catholic controversy, and the broader print culture of theological polemics in the early republic. Some slight rubbing and wear, scattered foxing and discoloration throughout, else in good + condition. Item #381
Price: $300.00