Cleaver and Dod; A briefe explanation of the whole booke of the Prouerbs of Salomon. 1615

CLEAVER, Robert; DOD, John. A briefe explanation of the whole booke of the Prouerbs of Salomon. By Robert Cleaver.  London: Felix Kingston for Thomas Man and Robert Jackson, 1615 

First complete edition of Cleaver and Dod’s dissection of the Book of Proverbs, following the 1614 briefe explanation of the first and second chapters. An abridgement with the remaining chapters added.
12mo (190mm x 145mm) Rebound by Salon Peuser S.A., in Buenos Aires (c. 1849) with original spine laid down in full calf, spine in five compartments separated by raised bands, gilt lettering on black labels in two compartments, gilt tooling in remainder, double gilt borders on boards, grey pastedowns. Sometime rebacked. Previous owner’s name in neat hand on first preliminary blank page (W. Thornton, Brockhall, 1836), light foxing on a few pages, some pages browned with vestige of old stains.
Robert Cleaver (d. 1613) and John Dod (1550-1645) were educated at Cambridge, Dod converting to puritanism while still studying at the University. He became one of a handful of seventeenth-century puritan leaders with national standing, living in a precarious situation as a preacher after being ejected from his parish. This did not deter him, however, as this was the time when he joined forces with Cleaver, evangelizing and preaching in Northamptonshire as well as focusing on publishing sermons and commentaries. In a partnership that lasted 15 years, Cleaver and Dod produced one of the most prolific early bodies of popular Puritanic publications. The most famous of their works, A Plaine and Familiar Exposition of the Ten Commandements, was re-edited nineteen times between 1603 and 1635, and many others followed, such as A Godly Forme of Householde Government and The Patrimony of Christian Children. These works constitute some of the most persuasive explanations not only of the religious observances of the community of the saints but of the distinctly godly code of ethics pervading every aspect of Puritan life: marriage, the household, the calling, dealings with the unregenerate mass. The same is achieved through this work, the detailed explanation of the Proverbs of Solomon, which takes apart each verse of each chapter, offering thorough and simple explanations as to their meaning. As a parallel to a preacher, this book’s reader is guided to their personal experience of salvation through Christ, strict moral discipline, and an impetus to societal reform, to convert the world to the way of Christ.
USTC 3006605; ESTC S117512; Pollard 5378.1