EARTHLY CARE, A Heavenly Discipline
Boston: John P. Jewett and Company, 1856. Wraps. An early printing of this religious tract, which enjoyed a wide circulation in the 1850s. “Stowe reasons that since ‘worldly care forms the greater part of the staple of every human life, there must be some mode of viewing and meeting it, which converts it from an enemy of spirituality into a means of grace and spiritual advancement.’ Critiquing the strands of Christian Platonism and Calvinism which see discontinuity between the worldly and the eternal, Stowe emphasizes the continuity between ‘worldly care’ and ‘spiritual advancement’ with her reading of how the ‘Bible tells us that our whole existence here is disciplinary; that this whole physical system, by which our spirit is connected with all the joys and sorrows, hopes and fears, and wants which form a part of it, designed as an education to fit the soul its immortality’ (Elizabeth Ludlow, Prayer and the Role of the ‘Soul-Artist’ in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Historical Fiction). Earthly Care immediately preceded the publication of Stowe’s first novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1853). 15 p. Original stitched green paper wrappers (2 ¾” x 4 3/8”). Mild soiling and wear to the wrappers; otherwise very good. Housed in a custom chemise and one-quarter green morocco over orange cloth slipcase. Very good. Item #72714
Price: $100.00