Very scarce early imprint of Anne Dutton's work on the doctrine of Justification.
Anne Dutton [1692-1765] was a deeply influential Calvinistic Baptist authoress during the Great Awakening era. She published under the name of Rev. Thomas Dutton, though her identity was well-known. She and her husband, who died at sea on return from a missionary journey to America, were well-known as prominent Calvinistic Baptists.
Because of the lack of appetite for serious works of history or theology from the pen of a woman, her first published work was issued under her nom de plume Thomas Dutton, perhaps a combination of her first husband's first name and her second's last name. It was a Narration of the Wonders of Grace, a lengthy work on history of the Church from a Baptistic perspective.
The authoress' identity, however, was apparently something of an open secret. She corresponded regularly with George Whitefield on revival and the doctrines of grace, with John Wesley controversially on the doctrine of election, and was very much one of the few influential female voices during the era. She wrote on the work of Christ among the "negro slaves" of America, and on theological subjects. It is not a strain to call her the most significant female theological voice of the eighteenth century.
Dutton, Thomas [Pseud. Anne Dutton]. A Treatise on Justification: Shewing the Matter, Manner, Time, and Effects of It. Glasgow. William Smith. 1778. Third Edition. 185pp.
Good + to very good in original calf, through at corners and slightly cocked. Early ownership signature from various of the "Smith" family, evidently of Albany, New York. This I believe is the first Scottish edition and contains a subscriber's list. The publisher's proposed publication sheet is torn with stains at lower right. Some foxing and minor stain at lower extremity of block toward the rear. Both boards tender. Textually very solid.
