1688 RICHARD BAXTER. An Unpublished Manuscript Hymne Written Shortly before His Death.

A truly wonderful artifact. We have handled but three or four Richard Baxter autographs or inscriptions over the years. All of them, as I recall, were deaccessioned from the same source, Zion Research Library. This is by far the most significant we have handled. The others included volumes that were the gift of the author, and so inscribed by Baxter, and one partial letter.  The Zion Research Library opened in 1922. The collection began as the private collection of Mary Beecher Longyear. She had a daughter healed through the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy, and in 1910 received a gift of Eddy’s original spinning wheel. Well, it sent the wheels spinning alright, and set Mary Beecher Longyear on a 12-year buying spree of important documents, artifacts, and theology from all of Church history. She then opened her collection to the public under the name Zion Research Library in 1922. It was at the time perhaps the finest private collection of Bibles, religious manuscripts, and theological wor