MY OWN TIMES, EMBRACING ALSO, THE HISTORY OF MY LIFE

[Belleville], Il, 1855.. 600,xxiii,[1]pp. Portrait. Thick 12mo. Original publisher's blindstamped brown cloth, spine gilt. Corners and spine ends expertly mended. Light scattered foxing. Very good. A presentation copy of this scarce and important work on early Illinois, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper: "J. M. Peck, Rock Spring, Illinois, A present from the Author - Decbr 12th, 1855." This is almost certainly the prolific Baptist missionary and anti-slavery advocate, John Mason Peck (1789-1858), who spent much of his life on the Missouri and Illinois frontier. Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, Peck arrived in St. Louis in late 1817, and spent the rest of his life preaching and establishing churches in the west. In all, he helped establish some 900 Baptist churches, including the African Church of St. Louis, and he was consequential in assuring that the 1824 constitution of Illinois would not permit slavery. Howes notes that of this first edition of Reynolds's memoir of 400 copies, 300 were destroyed in the Chicago fire of 1857. This work is not only Reynolds' autobiography, but also an essential history of Illinois that deals extensively with social, economic, and political conditions in the pioneer period and with the Black Hawk War. "A good picture of frontier society" - Buck. Howes considered it the "best picture of Illinois pioneer life." Reynolds (1788-1865) spent the early part of his life in Kentucky, travelling to Illinois with his parents in 1800. He became a lawyer, politician, governor of Illinois in 1830, and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for ten years. Three chapters of this work are devoted to Mormonism, including its history, doctrine, and the murder of Joseph Smith and his brother in a Carthage, Illinois jail in 1844. An important and uncommon history of Illinois, this is the first presentation copy we have handled. BYRD 2343. HOWES R236, "b." CLARK II:57. BUCK 57. GRAFF 3479. STREETER SALE 1510. FLAKE 7122. SABIN 70420. (Inventory #: WRCAM62885)