St John's College MS O.62 (James 545)

Thomas Balguy, A system of morality. English, 1753.

 

'A system of morality being the substance of a course of lectures read by the Revd Mr Balguy B.D. in St John's Coll. Cambridge. Collected per Dr Sl. Griffith D.P. 1753.' Thomas Balguy (1716-95) graduated BA from St John's College in 1738, took his MA in 1741, and was a Platt Fellow 1741-8. 'From the early 1740s to 1760 Balguy was active in Cambridge … and for 16 years he read lectures in moral philosophy and the evidences of natural and revealed religion in St John's' (see ODNB). Samuel Giffith was admitted to St John's in 1753, became a scholar in 1756, and proceeded to the degrees of BA (1757), MA (1760), and DD (1773). The titles Dr and D.P. have been added to his name on the title page. The lectures are divided into parts, sections and chapters, and a list of contents is provided at the beginning.

Manuscript extra information

180 x 160mm. [10], 329 pages. Paper. Single neat hand throughout, with headings written in imitation of print. Binding: 18th-century quarter leather and blue paper over pasteboard; black leather label on spine with gilt lettering 'Balguy's morality'.

Provenance unknown. College bookplate (mid-19th century?) inside front board.