The original manuscript of Rev. William Kinsey's sermon at the ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone at Holy Trinity Church. 4to. 17pp. Housed in contemporary ivory silk moire wrappers.Bound with, or tipped into the manuscript are:An advertisement for the ceremony, dated May 10th 1847 and signed by Kinsey.The 4pp. printed order of service for the ceremony, with Kinsey's holograph marginal additions and amendments.A 2pp. ALS from the church's architect Benjamin Ferrey to Kinsey, enclosing the proposed inscription to used on the ceremonial trowel.Three subscription forms from donors funding the construction of the church.A 4pp. ALS from antiquary and vicar James Ingram to Kinsey, returning the MS of Kinsey's sermon and complimenting his former pupil on it.A broadside issued by the Henley Town Clerks Office, offering a reward for information leading to the capture of vandals who damaged a pillar in the new church and stole from it a bottle containing parchment.Contemporary newspaper clippings mentioning the ceremony and the vandals. Two frontispieces; the first a mounted lithograph of the church after a drawing by the architect Benjamin Ferrey; the second a pencil drawing of the trowel used to lay the cornerstone, further decorated with a calligraphic inscription and a drawing of the church, also by Benjamin Ferrey. The contents are very-well preserved indeed. One of the subscription slips is pasted onto the broadside. There is a short closed tear to the lower wrapper, affecting also the blank final leaf.

An exceptional and highly personal sammelband of manuscript and printed material relating to the foundation and construction of Holy Trinity Church, Church Street, Henley-on-Thames, collated by Rev. William Kinsey, the Rector of Rotherfield Greys.
The majority of the sammelband comprises Kinsey's personal manuscript of the sermon he gave at the ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone for the new church. Into this he has tipped-in correspondence regarding the ceremony, a pencil drawing of the ceremonial trowel that laid the cornerstone, and much contemporary printed ephemera, occasionally with his annotations, providing a broader historical context for the foundation of the church.

PROVENANCE: Rev. William Morgan Kinsey (1788-1851).

Stock ID: 40281