The Brethren's Encyclopedia, Containing The United Counsels and Conclusions of the Brethren, at Their Annual Meetings, Carefully Collected, Translated (From the Original German in Part) and Arranged in Alphabetical and Chronological Order, Accompanied with Necessary and Explanatory Notes, &c, by Elder Henry Kurtz, Published by the author, Columbiana, 1867, 148pp, half leather, 5.5 x 9", 8vo

Fair condition.  Wear and scuffing to front and rear boards.  Tips are bumped with exposed boards.  Edges are scuffed.  Minor chipping and cracking to spine, but still legible.  Library catalog sticker on tail.  Marbling on front and rear pastedowns and flyleafs.  Bookplate of Zug Memorial Library on front pastedown.  Stamp for Zug Memorial Library on title page.  Toning, foxing, age-staining, tea-staining, and finger-staining throughout textblock.  Scattered marginalia throughout textblock.  Library catalog card on rear pastedown.  Please see photos.

The Brethren are a group of Protestant churches that trace their origin to Schwarzenau, Hesse, where, in 1708, a group of seven persons under the leadership of Alexander Mack (1679 - 1735) formed a brotherhood dedicated to following the commandments of Jesus Christ.  The brotherhood was shaped by three influences - the Protestant faith in which its organizers had been raised, the Pietist reform movement, and the Anabaptist teachings from the 16th century.