Category Archives: This Just In

Recent books in Restoration history

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Several recent publications suggest interest in Stone-Campbell history thought, and theology is by no means dormant.  The sample listed below reflects a wide scope of interest.  Some focus intently on local or regional history, while others are thematic, anecdotal, or institutional.  Some are designed to be immediately accessible to any reader, while others require varying degrees of prior knowledge.  Below are just a few, I intend to regularly post updates as new material is published.

Robert W. Steffer. Saving Cane Ridge. Paris: Cane Ridge Shrine, Inc. 2015. 378 pages.

Robert W. Steffer, Saving Cane Ridge

Libby Weed, A Cloud of Witnesses: Centennial History of Austin Graduate School of Theology. Austin: Christian Studies Press, 2018. 202 pages.

Libby Weed, A Cloud of Witnesses: Centennial History of Austin Graduate School of Theology.

Larry C. Jackson, Choosing Sides: A History of the Churches of Christ in Austin 1847-2018. LaGrange, TX: Larry C. Jackson, 2018. 198 pages.

Larry C. Jackson, Choosing Sides: A History of the Churches of Christ in Austin 1847-2018.

John Young, Visions of Restoration: The History of Churches of Christ. Florence: Cypress Publications, 2019.

John Young, Visions of Restoration: The History of Churches of Christ.

John Young, Visions of Restoration: The History of Churches of Christ.

Edward J. Robinson, Hard Fighting Soldiers: A History of African American Churches of Christ. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2019. 224 pages.

Edward J. Robinson, Hard Fighting Soldiers: A History of African American Churches of Christ.

 

J. Caleb Clanton, editor. Restoration and Philosophy: New Philosophical Engagements with the Stone-Campbell Tradition. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2019. 389 pages.

J. Caleb Clanton, editor. Restoration and Philosophy: New Philosophical Engagements with the Stone-Campbell Tradition.

 

Perry C. Cotham,  Please Don’t Revive Us Again!: The Human Side of the Church of Christ. Bloomington: Archway Publishing, 2020. 390 pages.

Perry C. Cotham,  Please Don’t Revive Us Again!: The Human Side of the Church of Christ.

John Mark Hicks, editor. Resisting Babel: Allegiance to God and the Problem of Government. Abilene: Abilene Christian University Press, 2020

John Mark Hicks, editor. Resisting Babel: Allegiance to God and the Problem of Government.

John Mark Hicks, editor. Resisting Babel: Allegiance to God and the Problem of Government.

Greg Massey, By the Grace of God: The Story of Freed-Hardeman University. Abilene: Abilene Christian University Press, 2020.

Greg Massey, By the Grace of God: The Story of Freed-Hardeman University.

 

 

This just in: Millennial Harbinger issues owned by James Shannon

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In late summer we acquired a half-dozen single issues of Millennial Harbinger owned by and addressed to James Shannon.  Three issues are from 1849, one from 1856, and two from 1857 and are in fine condition.  In 1849 Shannon was President of Bacon College in Harrodsburg, Kentucky and from 1856-1859 he was President at Christian University in Canton, Missouri.  Throughout these years he was an ardent defender of slavery and a frequent contributor to church papers such as Alexander Campbell’s Harbinger.

Each issue bears Shannon’s name at the top of the front cover. It is unlikely that Alexander Campbell was involved personally in the hand-addressing of each issue of the Harbinger.  A print shop employee probably penned the names, then bundled issues for each post office, and sent them on their way.  At their destination the postmaster split the bundle and distributed them accordingly.  At year’s end subscribers often had their issues bound to make preservation and reference easier.  Regrettably the covers were almost always stripped off in this process, thereby losing information such as news items, advertisements, or lists of agents who handled subscriptions for the paper.

Front cover, Millennial Harbinger, March 1849, owned by James Shannon

Front cover, Millennial Harbinger, May 1849, owned by James Shannon

Front cover, Millennial Harbinger, June 1849, owned by James Shannon

Back cover, Millennial Harbinger, June 1849, owned by James Shannon

Front cover, Millennial Harbinger, May 1857, owned by James Shannon

Front cover, Millennial Harbinger, July 1857, owned by James Shannon

In bookish terms, these issues are variations of ‘association copies.’ In this case, an association copy is a item owned by “someone of interest in his own right.”*  For this reason, plus the fine condition of the original covers, I sought them for our collection.  In historical terms, these items belonged to a truly significant figure in Stone-Campbell history.  Historian David Edwin Harrell described him as

“the unchallenged leader among Disciples proslavery advocates…probably no other man in the first-generation history of the Disciples came as close to rivaling Alexander Campbell in education, intellectual capacity, and sheer force of personality as Shannon…[He} was also active as a preacher and was regarded by Campbell and many other Disciples leaders as the most brilliant speaker in the brotherhood.”**

How significant it will be to interpret these issues in a museum exhibit or in a class of students.  They forcefully convey the ‘realness’ of the past and the positions Shannon advocated. The January 1856 issues carries an article describing a disturbance at Bethany College among the student body over slavery.

Front cover, Millennial Harbinger, January 1856, owned by James Shannon

Article about a disturbance at Bethany College over slavery, Millennial Harbinger, January 1856, owned by James Shannon

Article about a disturbance at Bethany College over slavery, Millennial Harbinger, January 1856, owned by James Shannon

Article about a disturbance at Bethany College over slavery, Millennial Harbinger, January 1856, owned by James Shannon

Article about a disturbance at Bethany College over slavery, Millennial Harbinger, January 1856, owned by James Shannon

Back cover, Millennial Harbinger, January 1856, owned by James Shannon

The January 1856 issue also bears a pencilled notation concerning the ordination of J. W. McGarvey.  There is also a faint pencil notation on the front cover (see above) calling attention to an article in the issue by C. L. Loos.  Presumably these notations are in Shannon’s hand.

Title page, Millennial Harbinger, January 1856, owned by James Shannon. Notations very likely in Shannon’s hand.

Title page, Millennial Harbinger, January 1856, owned by James Shannon. Notations very likely in Shannon’s hand.

Our normal course of accessioning calls for single issues of periodicals to be foldered,  boxed, and catalogued with other issues of the same journal.  In this case I will accession them as a manuscript collection in Shannon’s name.  What sets these issues apart is Shannon’s ownership and having them in a discrete manuscripts collection will ensure their preservation and visibility to our students and faculty, to the scholarly community, and to the church.

February 2020 update: see the finding aid for the James Shannon Papers, 1849-1857.

*John Carter, ABC for Book Collectors. New York: Knopf, 1991, 25.

**David Edwin Harrell, Jr. Quest for A Christian America: The Disciples of Christ and American Society to 1866. Nashville: DIsciples of Christ Historical Society, 1966, 122.

This just in: First edition, first printing of Biography and Sermons of Marshall Keeble, Evangelist (1931)

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A few weeks ago we acquired a first edition, first printing of one of the best-selling books among Churches of Christ in the twentieth century.  Biography and Sermons of Marshall Keeble, Evangelist debuted in the fall of 1931 and sold out of its first printing within weeks.

Goodpasture, B. C., ed. “Biography and Sermons of Marshall Keeble, Evangelist.” (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1931).

The new-to-us copy is in much better condition than our existing copy.  We will keep both, reserving the worn copy for use by researchers and preserving the better one.  I had been looking for a nice copy of a first edition for some time now and I’m grateful that now we have one.  Ideally we will have a copy of each of the several dozen printings…I am always looking to improve the scope and quality of the collection.

We detailed briefly the remarkable publishing history of this book in an on-site exhibit on the main level of the ACU Library.  Though the exhibit has now come down from public display, you can still see it here.