A really beautifully preserved three volume, tree calf set of Joseph Hall's [1574-1656] Contemplations. Spurgeon said of it, if its price were raised in proportion to its real value, it would become one of the most costly books extant.
The present was the copy of Presbyterian divine, Rev. John Romeyn, one of the founders of Princeton Theological Seminary. See biography below.
Hall, Joseph. Contemplations on the Historical Passages of the Old and New Testament. In Three Volumes, Complete. Glasgow. Printed by David Niven for R. & J. Hutchison, Bookbinders. 1796. 563 + 516 + 532pp.
Original tree calf, some rubbing, just through at extremities, rear hinge of volume one just through, but solid with care. Textually very good.
Signed by John Romeyn's nephew, John Romeyn Broadhead. Descended apparently from his uncle's estate.
John Brodhead Romeyn was born in Marbletown, NY. He attended Columbia College (now Columbia University) in New York City. After graduating with honors in 1795, he returned to his home in Schenectady, NY to study theology with his father Dirck, pastor of Schenectady's Reformed Dutch Church. He was ordained in Rhinebeck, NY in 1799. In April of that year he married Harriet Bleecker.
In 1803, Romeyn accepted a call to Schenectady's First Presbyterian Church. The following year he moved again, this time to the First Presbyterian Church of Albany. In 1808 he accepted a call to Cedar Street Church, New York City. Except for the years 1813-14, which he and Harriet spent in Europe, Romeyn remained at Cedar Street Church until his death in 1825.
Romeyn served as General Assembly Moderator in 1810, and was instrumental in the creation of the Princeton Theological Seminary, and of the American Bible Society.