The Leedberg Athenæum

Twenty Sermons (1774)

  • Title: Twenty Sermons
  • Author: Andrew Eliot
  • Printed and sold by John Boyle in Marlborough Street
  • Estimated year of printing: 1774

Notes:

The Siege of Boston marked the opening phase on the American Revolutionary War in 1775.  When the Siege began, most residents fled the city, which at that point in time was just a small peninsula with limited ways on or off.  Andrew Eliot (1718 – 1778) was the pastor at the New North Church in Boston at the time.  He sent his family away for safety, but decided to stay in Boston and provide spiritual support to those that couldn’t leave.  In doing so, he cemented a place in history as a selfless church leader who supported American independence.

Printed in Boston in 1774, this book is my earliest American printing, predating the Revolutionary War.  It is a collection of twenty sermons by Eliot on a variety of topics.  In the 18th century, churches were a key part of a community, and these sermons were composed and delivered in the context of the brewing war.

Eliot’s New North Church was an alternative to the more famous Old North Church.  New North Church was rebuilt in the 1800s, the new building is still standing today as St. Stephen’s.  

The owner’s inscription “Joseph Kidder” appears on the title page and multiple times on the front endpaper.  This likely points to having been owned by a man by that name who was born in Billerica, MA, in 1741 and became pastor at First Congregational Church in Nashua, NH, from 1766 through 1813.  Also tucked between the pages is a fern leaf — a preserved, centuries-old, organic bookmark.

Historical context:

When this book was printed in 1774, George III was King of Great Britain.  A year earlier in 1773, the passage of the Tea Act, which required the American colonies to exclusively buy tea from the East India Company, led to the colonists conducting the Boston Tea Party in protest.  Britain responded with the Intolerable Acts in 1774, a series of bills meant to punish the colonists, including closing the port of Boston.  This all culminated in armed conflict in 1775, beginning with the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April, followed closely by the Siege of Boston, which began the American Revolutionary War.  

Further Reading:

Acquired October, 2025