[VAILL, Joseph (1751-1838).] An Address to a Deist. A Poem. New London, CT: James Springer, 1796.

Extremely rare first edition of a verse attack on Deism. The author, a Congregational minister from Connecticut, writes in the preface that his aim is to reach an audience less likely to engage with the "prolix productions" of some other defenders of the faith. Deism, a religious philosophy which acknowledges a creator god but otherwise rejects many other tenets of revealed religions, gained popularity during the Enlightenment and was very influential in the early United States—the author specifically calls out Thomas Paine. RBH records only two copies: one at Anderson Galleries in 1922 and one in the Brinley sale. Stoddard 557; Evans 29951. See Clarence Brigham's Bibliographical Note in PBSA 36 (1942), p. 64 for more on the attribution.

Quarto (166 x 102mm). 12pp. (A few stains.) Stab sewn; modern cloth case.