Inscribed by Charles Wesley

John Wesley (1703–1791). Reasons Against a Separation from the Church of England.
Bristol: Elizabeth Farley, 1758. (05012)

This publication is the last of thirteen pamphlets issued together as A Preservative against Unsettled Notions in Religion by John Wesley’s printer in Bristol, Elizabeth Farley. The final page of Bridwell Library’s copy was inscribed by the author’s brother Charles Wesley (1707–1788), who added a lengthy note of praise and support. The final words of the incomplete inscription, “...Methodists preachers were, in this respect, like-minded with Charles Wesley,” written on a now-missing blank leaf, are only known today because Charles arranged to have the passage printed in the introduction to the second edition of 1760. Thus, Bridwell Library’s copy contains a rare autograph draft of a text published by one of the co-founders of Methodism.