Title: The Book of the Church, Volume I
Author: Robert Southey, Esq. LL.D.
Printer: William Clowes, Northumberland-Court, London
Publisher: John Murray, Albemarle-Street, London, 1824
MSU Call Number: XX BX 5055 .S7 1824
Physical Description
This copy of the first volume of The Book of the Church is 394 pages. The book is bound in green leather. The spine has raised bands, red and black leather labels, and gilt lettering and tooling. The edges of the spine are fairly worn. Gilt tooling is featured on the upper and lower boards as well as their edges. There is green speckling on the text block. On the front pastedown are two pieces of provenance evidence: one bookplate and one bookseller’s sticker.
About the Author and Contents of the Book
Robert Southey (1774-1843) was a British Romantic poet and author. Over his 50 year career as a writer, Southey published collections of letters, poems, plays, historical narratives, essays, and literature reviews. In 1813, he was appointed Poet Laureate and held the title until his death in 1843. Southey’s Book of the Church, published in 1824, consists of two volumes and is a detailed history of the Church of England. The first volume, which is featured in this project, begins with a recounting of British religion before the arrival of Christianity and ends in the late 1400s during Henry VII’s reign. A book solely about religion was somewhat of a departure from Southey’s other works, but the historical aspect and his own political conservatism provide reasons as to why he may have written this book.
(Pictured left: A portrait of Southey)
Provenance Evidence
Unnamed Recipient of a Letter from Southey
In this copy, two leaves of a letter are inserted after the table of contents. This letter was written by Robert Southey on June 27, 1824 and is addressed to an unnamed “dear friend,” thereby making it difficult to determine the recipient. However, unlike many of Southey’s other letters, this one was never published, meaning this insertion is the original copy. Because of this and the fact that it was written the same year The Book of the Church was published, it is highly plausible that whoever received this letter was also the first owner of the book.
One contender for the recipient of this letter is a man named John May who was a close friend of Southey’s. Southey refers to May in numerous letters as “my dear friend” while letters to other people are addressed by name or as “dear sir.” Southey also wrote a different letter to May dated the same day as this one (June 27, 1824), in which he talks about the sources he used when writing The Book of the Church. Despite this evidence, it is still not possible to definitively link May to this copy of the book.
(Pictured on the right: Southey’s signature)
J. C. Frampton May
The second piece of provenance evidence in this book is a bookplate located on the front pastedown. The bookplate depicts a lion above a crown and the phrase “Non Flectere A Vero.” The name J. C. Frampton May sits below the image. A likely candidate for the owner of this bookplate is John Coleridge Frampton May, who was born in Yorkshire, England in 1837 and died in Somerset, England in 1902. Little information is available about May except that his father was a reverend, perhaps explaining why he may have owned this book about religion. Upon his death in 1902 at the age of 65, May’s sister, Susanna Frances May, became the executor of his estate and possibly the owner of this book.
(Pictured right: May’s death notice in The Times)
J. A. D. Bridger
Next, there is a bookseller’s sticker on the top left corner of the front pastedown. The sticker reads “J. A. D. Bridger Bookseller, New & Second-Hand Market Jew St., Penzance.” John Archibald Douglas Bridger lived from 1878 to 1964 and was a bookseller between 1906 and 1939. Bridger’s shop was located at 112A and 112B Market-Jew Street in Penzance, Cornwall, England. Judging by a few of his catalogues, Bridger specialized in Cornish books, but sold books on many different subjects, including botany, Arctic travel, maps, and stamps. It is unclear exactly how or when this copy of The Book of the Church made its way to Bridger, but because he sold second-hand books, was working as a bookseller a few years after J. C. Frampton May’s death, and his shop was less than 150 miles from Somerset, England where May died, it is possible he purchased this copy from May’s estate.
(Pictured on the left: Bridger’s bookseller sticker)
Wayne H. Phelps
The fourth known owner of The Book of the Church was Wayne H. Phelps (1938-2023). Phelps held a PhD in English from Princeton University and was especially interested in Shakespeare. He was a professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania from 1962 to 1972 and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University from 1972 to 1977. He continued to work in higher education until his retirement in 1986. During his career, he had work published in multiple academic journals, including Shakespeare Quarterly and Studies in Bibliography. According to a citation written by Phelps, he purchased The Book of the Church from the Ravenstree Company in July 1970.
(Phelps pictured on the right)
MSU Special Collections
Lastly, the current owner of the book is Michigan State University’s Special Collections. MSU purchased this copy of The Book of the Church from Wayne Phelps’ estate sale on August 30, 2024.
Bibliography
1939 England and Wales Register, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/61596/records/29189263.
“Deaths.” The Times. November 22, 1902. https://go-gale-com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/ps/navigateToIssue?u=msu_main&p=TTDA&mCode=0FFO&issueDate=119021122&issueNumber=36932&volume=&loadFormat=page.
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858 – 1995, 254, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/1904/records/19395755.
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858 – 1995, 749, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/1904/records/16291488?tid=167940495&pid=212177699245&ssrc=pt.
Google Maps. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Taunton,+UK/112+Market+Jew+St,+Penzance+TR18+2LE,+UK/@50.5711709,-4.9788367,9z/data=!4m13!4m12!1m5!1m1!1s0x486d8a921fb7907f:0x75eb0e344edee9fb!2m2!1d-3.106849!2d51.015344!1m5!1m1!1s0x486ac463faa36ceb:0x3cb805e713f10d23!2m2!1d-5.5357343!2d50.1190798?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDMyMy4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D.
“J.A.D. Bridger Twenty-Eight Catalogues.” Lay’s Auctioneers. https://www.davidlay.co.uk/auction/lot/330-jad-bridger/?lot=118181.
Marlborough College Register 1843 – 1879, 35, 1880. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uiug.30112083764172.
“Robert Southey.” Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/robert-southey.
Southey, Robert. Letter to Edward Hawke Locker. “4156. Robert Southey to Edward Hawke Locker, 13 March 1824.” March 13, 1824. https://romantic-circles.org/editions/southey_letters/4156Southey.
Southey, Robert. Letter to John May. “4206. Robert Southey to [John May] [Fragment], [c. 27 June 1824].” June 27, 1824. https://romantic-circles.org/editions/southey_letters/4206Southey.
Southey, Robert. Letter to Neville White. “4204. Robert Southey to Neville White, 24 June 1824.” June 24, 1824. https://romantic-circles.org/editions/southey_letters/4204Southey.
“The Book of the Church / by Robert Southey, Esq. LL.D., Poet Laureate, Honorary Member of the Royal Spanish Academy, of the Royal Spanish Academy of History, of the Royal Institute of The Netherlands, of the Cymmrodorion, of the Massachusetts Historical Society, of the American Antiquarian Society, of the Royal Irish Academy, of the Bristol Philosophical and Literary Society, &c. ; in Two Volumes ; Vol. I[-II].” MSU Libraries, https://catalog.lib.msu.edu/Record/folio.in00006877914.
UK, City and County Directories, 1766 – 1946, 414, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/search/collections/3145/records/38730218?tid=&pid=&queryId=56488c2f-7806-4d88-9125-59b3e07b7c69&usePUBJs=true.
“Wayne H. Phelps, Phd.” Marquis Who’s Who Milestones. https://milestones.marquiswhoswho.com/milestone/wayne-phelps/.
“Wayne Howe Phelps Obituary.” Donaldson Funeral Home. https://www.donaldsonfh.com/obituaries/Wayne-Howe-Phelps?obId=27158471.
Special thanks to Tad Boehmer, Andrew Lundeen, and MSU Special Collections.
Project by Claudia Kane in Spring 2026 for Professor Brockey’s HST/ENG 475 class at Michigan State University.
