Superb and rather rare biography of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, who may rightly be thought of as the purse of the Great Awakening.
Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (1707-1791), was a pivotal figure in the revival, using her immense wealth and aristocratic influence to fund evangelical ministries, build chapels, train preachers at her Trevecca College, and spread Methodism and Calvinistic Methodism. And her generosity was extended to both the Arminian and Calvinistic strains of the revival, though she personally leaned toward the Calvinistic wing of the movement, led by George Whitefield. He would later become her Chaplain for a time. That said, she continued unreservedly to support John Wesley and the movement of Methodism in both the United Kingdom and America and there is barely a church Wesleyan Methodist or Calvinistic Methodist tradition that cannot trace its history back to her generosity. Excellent.
The Life and Times of Selina Countess of Huntingdon. By a Member of the Houses of Shirley and Hastings, Sixth Thousand - With Copious Index. Volumes I & II Complete. London. William Edward Painter. 1844. 488pp. + 544pp.
Good + to very good in late 20th century woven cloth binding; textually very nicely preserved and retaining both original frontii, i.e. that of the Countess in volume i., and that of John Wesley in volume ii. Both volumes signed by George Darling on the title page.
