Washington Theological Repertory. Conducted by clergymen of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

Rare early Washington, D.C. Episcopal journal addressing colonization and missionary efforts…

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A rare collection of ten original issues of the Washington Theological Repertory (1819–1820), a journal featuring articles on missionary work, African colonization, and other significant topics of the era.

Co-founded and edited by William Holland Wilmer (1782–1827)—a Virginian Episcopal clergyman and future president of the College of William and Mary—the Repertory reflects his intellectual and theological leadership. (DAB)

The journal’s articles cover a wide range of engaging topics, including a report on the “Anglo-Chinese College” (“furnished with an extensive Chinese library, and a collection of all such European books as bear upon its object…”); reprints of The Second and Third Annual Reports of the American Colonization Society—serialized across six issues; updates on missionary efforts in Denmark, Russia, and West Africa; a brief report on an “African Expedition” describing American ships sent to West Africa (Liberia) “for permission to land and provide for recaptured or liberated Africans; and to build houses and cultivate land for their use”; “Letters from a State-Prisoner”; a “Mission among the Osage Indians,” and more.

Each of the ten journals, beginning with the inaugural August 1819 issue, retains its original printed wrappers—untrimmed, largely unopened, and thus rare. The front wrap bears a unique imprint (“Published by J. Ashmun, Pennsylvania Avenue, to whom the pecuniary responsibility of the work is entrusted”) distinct from the title page. The rear wrap, printed on both sides, includes detailed advertisements for Davis & Force’s National Calendar, described as “to be embellished with an elegant map of the City of Washington Georgetown.”

One issue also contains a rare reader slip, often discarded in bound volumes, announcing improvements in print quality with new type and paper, as well as other updates for subscribers. Sales proceeds from these publications supported the Society for the Education of Pious Young Men for the Ministry and the American Colonization Society, underscoring the journal’s broader mission to advance education and colonization efforts.

Price: $650.00