A very nicely preserved first American edition of the devotions of Elizabeth Rowe (1674-1737), friend of Isaac Watts, who also served as her literary executor after her passing. Watts first published the work anonymously in 1737. It was immediately popular and its literary style and influence can be traced in the burst of hymns published during and after the Great Awakening, including those of John Wesley and Charles Wesley.

The present edition was published by John Dickins (1746–1798), an early Methodist preacher in the United States who, in 1789, set up the Methodist Book Concern with $600 of his own money and began to publish books and other literature. Methodist circuit riders from then on carried his materials on their travels and distributed them widely. He was the first steward of the Methodist Book Concern in America, and his small rented office in Philadelphia was America's first central repository for Methodist books. In time his publishing concern grew into The Methodist Publishing House, which in the mid-twentieth century was the largest religious publishing house in the world.

It is worth noting that Rowe’s work, oven overlooked by modern devotionalists, was among the first works Dickins printed. It is also significant for its place as written by a female author so early in the Methodist canon of standard Christian literature. It is almost entirely unique in this regard.

[Early American Methodism] Rowe, Mrs. Elizabeth. Isaac Watts [Introduction]. Devout Exercises of th Heart, in Meditation and Soliloquy, Prayer and Praise. Abridged for the Use of the Methodist Society. Philadelphia. Printed by Parry Hall, No. 149. Chesnut Street; and sold by John Dickins, No. 182. Race Street, Near Sixth Street. 1792. First American Edition. Second Printing. 214pp + Contents.

Very finely preserved original full leather binding with some moderate rubbing as shown. A lovely example. A bit bumped, light handling and some very minor toning.