Horae paulinae, or the truth of the scripture history of st. paul evinced, by a comparison of the epistles which bear his name, with the acts of the apostles, and with one another

London: Printed by J. Davis for R. Faulder, 1790. [4], 426pp, [6]. With two terminal blanks. Finely bound in contemporary gilt-tooled tree-calf, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece. Marbled endpapers. A fine copy, with the slighest of shelf-wear. With the wood-engraved bookplate of Joseph Cook (from the Bewick studio) to FEP. Presentation copy, inscribed 'From the author' to verso of FFEP, apparently in the author's hand, with the recipient's name added - presumably in his own hand - 'to John Barker, Master of Christ Coll: Cambridge & Bishop of Wadingham Lincolnshire. A choice presentation copy, in a handsome contemporary binding and with fine Cambridge provenance, of English moral philosopher and Anglican clergyman William Paley's (1743-1805) first work of Christian apologetics. Dedicated to his long-time friend John Law, who officiated at Paley's wedding, Horae Paulinae was published the year after his influential Evidences of Christianity (London, 1789), which was ostensibly a response to David Hume's scepticism of the miraculous, making the case for God as witnessed in the 'intelligent designing mind'. The two works therefore both attempted to justify the credibility of the New Testament as history, and particularly the apostolic Books; in the Horae Paulinae the epistles of Paul are specifically compared for their veracity with the Acts of the Apostles. This copy was presented by Paley to John Barker (1728-1832), then head of the Christ's College Cambridge, where the author had studied and was elected Fellow in 1776. The bookplate of Rev. Joseph Cook (1759-1844), featuring his arms, signature and country house at Newton Hall, himself a student of Queen's, who graduated MA in 1785, adds a further Cambridge connection. ESTC T80551.. First edition. 8vo.