A commentary or, exposition upon the divine second epistle generall, written by the blessed apostle St. Peter. 2 vols. - [""THE SHAKESPEARE OF THE PURITANS""]

London, Richard Badger (Vol. 1) & Felix Kyngston (Vol. 2) for Jacom Bloome, 1633. Folio (338 x 230). Two volumes uniformly bound in contemporary full calf with six raised bands. Small paper-label pasted on to top of spines. Soiling to extremities, small wormholes to boards and wear to capitals. Endpapers miscoloured and with tears but internally generally fine and clean. Text within simple lined border. (6), 764 pp."" (2), 801-1634, (28) pp.

-
First edition of Adams' great commentary on the Second Epistle of Peter in which he combines exegesis with pastoral and practical applications. ""Adams published no other sermons after the appearance of his folio Workes until the appearance of Gods Anger and Mans Comfort (1652), his final two sermons. The only intervening work is his Commentary on Second Peter, a massive folio edition of 1634 pages on which Adams worked between 1620 and 1633. A learned and elegant capstone of his career, the Commentary reaches a more sophisticated level of scriptural exegesis and theological analysis than possible in the sermon form. In it, as in his sermons, he uses both the older Euphuistic style, with its sound devices or schemata, and the newer Senecan style, with its emphasis on brevity and point. It is difficult to explain Adams' abrupt disappearance from public view. Much about his ministry would have been distasteful to William Laud, Bishop of London in 1628 and Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633, whose increasingly repressive episcopacy silenced many suspected of Puritan leanings. Adams' staunch defense of the monarchy and ecclesiastical hierarchy notwithstanding, much about his career could have raised suspicions about his conformity. His strongly Calvinist doctrines, his bitter anti-papal sentiments, his wish that matters of ceremony be left ""indifferent"" rather than enforced, his criticism of the popish ""idolatry"" that threatened to creep into the Church, and his popularity as a lecturer: any one of these characteristics could have laid him open to attack by Laud and his followers."" (Dictionary of Literary Biography)Thomas Adams (1583-1653), an English clergyman and preacher - often referred to as ""The Shakespeare of the Puritans"" - known for his eloquent and vivid preaching, and his commentaries reflected his deep engagement with biblical texts. His works, including commentaries on various books of the Bible, were well-regarded in his time for their literary style and spiritual insight.