GORDON, William (1728-1807). The Separation of the Jewish Tribes After the Death of Solomon, Accounted for and Applied to the Present Day in a Sermon Preached Before the General Court, on Friday, July the 4th, 1777. Being the Anniversary of the Declaration of Independency. Boston: J. Gill, 1777.

"Perhaps the first oration commemorating the Declaration of Independence" (Sabin). Gordon, the chaplain of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, chose an apt subject for his Independence Day Sermon, the first to be held in Boston since Congress had issued the Declaration the previous year. According to newspaper accounts, Gordon preached his "excellent Discourse" in the late morning, after which the General Court invited General Heath and other Continental officers to drink toasts as naval and land guns in the harbor fired salutes. The evening was given over to fireworks on Boston Common (Boston Gazette, 7 July 1777, p. 3). Sabin 28009.

Octavo (204 x 125mm). Half-title; occasional ink and penciled marginalia (mild dampstains and dustsoiling, light scattered foxing, minor marginal chips to half title). Formerly bound. Provenance: Samuel M. (ownership inscription on half-title).