Rock of Ages~Augustus Toplady~1878~Very Good Condition~Gold Gilt~Engraved Images~Vintage Rare Hardback Book~Free Shipping

Rock of Ages~Augustus Toplady~1878~Very Good Condition~Gold Gilt~Engraved Images~Vintage Rare Book~Free Shipping.

This unique volume is in very good condition. Edgewear on the corners of the cover. One small tear on the first page, about one inch. Gold gilt page edges. Beautiful engraved images. No markings or inscriptions. Clean pages. Pages are made of extra thick paper. In great condition considering it is 148 years old. See photos. Would make a great gift book!

“Augustus Montague Toplady /ˈtɒpləˌdiː/ (4 November 1740 – 11 August 1778) was an English Anglican cleric and hymn writer. He was a major Calvinist opponent of John Wesley. He is best remembered as the author of the hymn "Rock of Ages". Three of his other hymns – "A Debtor to Mercy Alone", "Deathless Principle, Arise" and "Object of My First Desire" – are still occasionally sung today.

Toplady was a prolific essayist and letter correspondent and wrote on a wide range of topics. He was interested in the natural world and in animals. He composed a short work Sketch of Natural History, with a few particulars on Birds, Meteors, Sagacity of Brutes, and the solar system, wherein he set down his observations about the marvels of nature, including the behaviour of birds, and illustrations of wise actions on the part of various animals. Toplady also considered the problem of evil as it relates to the sufferings of animals in A Short Essay on Original Sin, and in a public debate delivered a speech on Whether unnecessary cruelty to the brute creation is not criminal?. In this speech he repudiated brutality towards animals and also affirmed his belief that the Scriptures point to the resurrection of animals.[4] Toplady's position about animal brutality and the resurrection were echoed by his contemporaries Joseph Butler, Richard Dean, Humphry Primatt and John Wesley, and throughout the nineteenth century other Christian writers such as Joseph Hamilton, George Hawkins Pember, George N. H. Peters, Joseph Seiss, and James Macauley developed the arguments in more detail in the context of the debates about animal welfare, animal rights and vivisection.

There is a popular story most hymnologists do not believe about the origin of this hymn text that started 122 years after publication of the hymn text by a letter published in the Times of London, 3 June 1898 from Dean Lefroy of Norwich, together with one from Sir W. H. Wills on the same matter.[2] The burden of Lefroy’s correspondence is based on a claim made by Sir W. H. Wills regarding the origin of this hymn. Wills' claim asserted that Toplady drew his inspiration from an incident in the gorge of Burrington Combe in the Mendip Hills in England. Toplady, then a curate (assistant Church of England preacher) in the nearby village of Blagdon, was travelling along the gorge when he was caught in a storm. Finding shelter in a gap in the gorge, he was struck by the title and scribbled down the initial lyrics.” - From Wikipedia

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