The Julius and Theodore Cohn Library

MATHER, COTTON

Autograph manuscript of a sermon or devotional essay, headed "Applic." and beginning "Doth there come to pass nothing in time, except was decreed from Eternity?" Likely Boston: n.d. (?1685 to 1723). Housed in a modern cloth case. 6 x 3 3/4 inches (15.5 x 9.5 cm); comprising two bifolia prepared from a folded and cut sheet of paper; 8 pp. in all, penned in dark brown ink, very densely written (as is usual with Mather); two columns, with notes and glosses in the left column, the text in sections I-VIII (the numeral III apparently used twice), several thousand words in all. Scattered small areas of ink erosion noted, and light show-through from text on opposing sides, an unrestored example in generally sound condition.

This is an unusually lengthy manuscript, likely written while Mather was assisting his father, Increase, as the preacher at the Second Church of Boston, 1685–1723. Mather was one of the preeminent American intellectuals of the era. He was not simply a theologian and philosopher, but was deeply interested in the sciences, conducting experiments on inoculation against smallpox, plant breeding, meteorology, and a wide variety of other topics in a broad range of disciplines. He was a member of the Royal Society of London, in large part because of his botanical researches, which were reported in his book Curiosa Americana. His involvement in the Salem Witch Trials has tarnished his reputation today, but he was, in most regards, a remarkably enlightened figure.

The text is, in large part, a theological analysis of the implications of the Doctrine of the Divine Decree, in which Mather speaks out against what he sees as the sophistry of the moral position, "If all is predestined, why should I make any effort for my salvation?" This he refutes in detail in these pages, with much apparatus and inspirational text, ending his argument on the words "Methinks then we should long for heaven! Oh my companions, if you would not long for Heaven, I can foretell that there are more sorrows on earth to come upon you ... Will you long to be where ye weary [are] at rest. But then, Oh Lord, how long, how long, how long!" With this ringing conclusion to the final page, the text ends, apparently complete. Given the small format of the manuscript, it seems likely that it was used in delivering a sermon or homily.

Mather manuscripts are rather rare in commerce. We note a similar example of 4 pp. (on paper of identical dimensions) offered by RR Auction, lot 93, January 14, 2026; another from the same firm, 2 pp., October 12, 2016, lot 241, of roughly similar size; and a dated example at Christie's, 24 Nov 1998, lot 163 (part).

Offered with a complete transcription of the text; with a letter dated September 29, 1937 on New York Public Library stationery signed by the late Victor Paltsits, Keeper of Mss., indicating that he authenticates the manuscript as in Mather's hand; and a note signed by Louis Henry Cohn of House of Books regarding provenance.