Description:

Samuel Sewall
n.p., April 30, 1717
Witchcraft Judge Samuel Sewall Unique Signed & Annotated 1650 Biblical Work, Consigned By Mass. Institution!
SB

A mid-17th C. concordance, or verbal index to the Bible, personally owned by Judge Samuel Sewall (1652-1730), famous for his involvement in adjudicating the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The volume is by Reverend Samuel Newman (1602-1663), "A Large and Complete Concordance to the Bible in English, According to the Last Translation. (A Like Work Formerly Performed by Clement Cotton,) Now this second impression corrected and amended in many things formerly omitted, for the good both of Scholars and others: far exceeding the most perfect that ever was extant in our Language, both in ground-work and building" (London: "Printed for Thomas Downes, and Andrew Crook, and are to be sold at the green Dragon in St. Pauls Church-yard," 1650). This was a revised and expanded edition. Sewall has signed and dated this volume as "Samuel Sewall; April 30, 1717. pret 33" on the first page of the "To the Reader" section. In addition, Sewall has annotated at least two pages of the volume, and there may possibly be more instances of Sewall's annotations found in this 1,000+ page book. Please see more on the annotations below. Provenance: From the collection of the Canton Historical Society (Canton, Massachusetts), who have had it in their custody since the 1970s. Sale proceeds will benefit the Canton Historical Society.

The large folio-sized tome has supple brown leather covered boards and marbleized endpapers. An ownership sticker reads "Universalist Historical Society" on the front pastedown endpaper, and there are also two other ownership signatures in addition to Samuel Sewall's 1717 ownership signature. "Samuel Sewall 1731" appears on the first page of the "Advertisement to the Christian Reader" and may be the signature of Sewall's son and namesake Samuel Sewall, Jr. (1678-1751). The second ownership signature as "Bullen S / Samuel H" is found on the bottom of the title page, and could refer to one Samuel Bullen. Expected wear including a detached front cover and partially detached back cover, with surface loss, flaking, and chipping especially to the spine. Condiition issues within the volume include isolated damp- or water-staining, foxing, and wrinkles. The title page has been restored and reinforced. Else very good to near fine. The volume is unpaginated but this edition has elsewhere been listed as having 1,376 pages. 9.125" x 13.125" x 3.25." Folio. The volume weighs approximately 8.7 lb.

Samuel Sewall signed and dated this volume as "Samuel Sewall; April 30, 1717. pret 33," where "pret." probably referred to "pretium," the Latin word for "price." Thus Sewall most likely purchased this book for 33 shillings, possibly from the Samuel Bullen whose name appears on the bottom of the title page. We know exactly what Samuel Sewall was doing and thinking on the day he signed this book, thanks to a diary which he kept over the course of most of his life. Sewall noted on "April. 29. 30 [1717]" that a pirate ship which had lately been harassing coastal shipping had been wrecked. For more information, please see: "Diary of Samuel Sewall, 1674-1729, Vol. III" (New York: Arno Press, 1972), p. 129. Also in 1717, Sewall was appointed the chief justice of the Superior Court of Judicature of Massachusetts, the predecessor of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Annotations in Sewall's hand in this volume are on the "LOR" page, inscribed by Sewall as: "David the servant / of the Lord. Psal. 36. title."; and on the "VAL" page inscribed by Sewall as: "Valuation of persons male & female / Levit. 27. 1-4 / See Estimations." As stated before, it is quite possible that other Sewall inscriptions may be discovered in this volume; our search was thorough but by no means exhaustive.

A concordance is an index of Biblical keywords organized alphabetically, and cross-referenced with the Bible passages in which they appear. First developed in the 13th C., the concordance proved a very useful and popular research tool for clergy, religious scholars, and learned practicing Christians. The concordance could be used to prepare sermons arranged around a certain theme, or perhaps draft other discourses, like court decisions.

As Sewall's annotations in this concordance illustrate, he was an extremely well-educated, pious, and meditative man. Sewall had received undergraduate and graduate degrees at Harvard University in 1671 and 1674 and he was fluent in Latin in addition to English. Sewall had been one of nine judges tasked with examining and sentencing the Salem witches. The keywords Witch, Witchcraft, Witchcrafts, Evil Spirit, Familiar Spirit, and Devil appear in this 1650 concordance, as do entries for Justice, Proof, Guilt, Mercy, Mercifull, and Mercies. In 1697, Sewall publicly recanted the role that he had played in the Salem Witch Trials, and performed acts of penance in accordance with his Christian beliefs. Sewall believed that the role he played in most probably condemning innocent people at Salem helped to explain his misfortunes in later life.

The first concordance in English was issued in the mid-16th C. The scholar Clement Cotton had issued a widely-read concordance of the New Testament in 1622. Samuel Newton published the precursor of this 1650 volume as "A large and compleat concordance to the Bible in English according to the last translation" in 1643. Several editions of Newton's concordance were published after the 1650 edition, in 1662, 1672, 1682, and 1698. Newton's concordance was in reprint as late as 1889.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

WE PROVIDE IN-HOUSE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE!

  • Dimensions: 9.125" x 13.125" x 3.5"
  • Medium: SB

Accepted Forms of Payment:

ACH, American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Money Order / Cashiers Check, Personal Check, Visa, Wire Transfer

Shipping

Unless otherwise indicated, we do our own in-house world-wide shipping!

Applicable shipping and handling charges will be added to the invoice. We offer several shipping options, and remain one of the few auction houses that proudly provides professional in-house shipping as an option to our clients. All items will ship with a signature required option, and full insurance. Most items are sent via Federal Express, with P. O. Box addresses being sent through USPS. We insure through Berkley Asset Protection with rates of $.70 per $100 of value, among the lowest insurance rates in the industry. Our shipping department cameras document every package, both outgoing and incoming, for maximum security. In addition, we compare our shipping and handling rates against those of other auction houses, to ensure that our charges are among the lowest in the trade.

Upon winning your item(s), you will receive an invoice with our in-house shipping and handling fees included. ***We will ship to the address as it appears on your invoice. If any changes to the shipping address need to be made, you must inform us immediately.***

International shipments: In order to comply with our insurance provider, all international shipments will be sent via Fed Ex and customs paperwork will show a value of $1.00. International buyers should contact our office directly with any questions regarding this policy.

Third-Party Shipping Option: If a third-party shipper is preferred, the buyer is responsible for contacting them directly to make shipping arrangements. For your convenience, we have provided some recommended shippers. For your protection, we will require a signed release from you, confirming your authorization for us to release your lots to your specified third-party. At that point, our responsibility and insurance coverage for your item(s) ceases. Items picked up by third-party shippers are required to pay Connecticut sales tax. Items requiring third-party shipping due to being oversized, fragile or bulky will be denoted in the item description.

Please see our full terms and conditions for names of suggested third-party shippers.

After payment has been made in full, University Archives will ship your purchase within 10 business days following receipt of full payment for item.

Please remember that the buyer is responsible for all shipping costs from University Archives' offices in Wilton, CT to the buyer's door. Please see full Terms and Conditions of Sale.

August 27, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
Wilton, CT, US

University Archives

You agree to pay a buyer's premium of 25% and any applicable taxes and shipping.

View full terms and conditions

Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $99 $10
$100 $299 $20
$300 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $2,999 $200
$3,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 + $5,000