Beschreibung:

Autograph letter signed by the Shaker theologian to David Benedict, apologizing for the delay in submitting a description of the Millenial Church for Bendict's A History of All Religions, writing that his own work has occupied his time and sending him unbound sheets of a portion .
Watervliet, 27 February 1823. 2 pages, with the integral address leaf (7 ¾ x 6 ¼ inches, 195x160 mm). With a manuscript addition below Green's signature, presumably by Benedict, identifying Green as “An Elder among the Shakers at New Lebanon NY.” Condition: Usual folds, small hole to the address leaf from opening. rare letter by the prominent shaker discussing the publication of his a summary view of the millennial church . Green here writes to David Benedict, who was working on his work, a description of the various world religions. He had evidently written to Green asking for a congtruibution about the Shakers. Green begins the letter apologizing for the delay in submitting the information, writing: “ Since the receipt of your last letter we have been so pressingly engaged in our work (which is now in the press) together with other duties, that we have not found sufficient time to comply with your request. You stated that any time this winter would answer your purpose. But the winter is now nearly gone, and we still find it difficult to attend to the matter. If however you are in a strait for it, we will endeavor to attend to it immediately, but if it would not be inconvenient for you to wait till the last of April or first of May, when we expect our work will be finished, so that we could then prepare and forward it without difficulty, it would suit us better. ” Green continues by agreeing to send him unbound sheets from the important work still at press: “To compensate in some measure for our delay this far, we shall forward you 120 pages of our work in the sheet. As they comprise all the historical matter contained in the book, it may afford you some satisfaction as far as it goes, and if you wish it, we will send the remainder as soon as the printing is completed.” … He concludes the letter with an insistence that his name not be used in Benedict's book (and his anonymous publication of A Summary View ), explaining the tenets of modesty and community in the religious sect. “As we do not wish to make any unnecessary display of ourselves we choose not to have our names published any further than duty requires and even then, we want no prefixes, nor additions, but merely the simple name by which we are known among ourselves. We can however assure you that whatever we communicate to you, whether for publication or not, is done in behalf of the Society and in union with the leading characters. Benedict's book, published the year following this letter, did include a section on the Shakers. Based on this letter, it seems likely that it was authored by Green himself. Indeed, the text of the contribution includes passages strikingly similar to those found in Green's A Summary View . Letters by the famous Shaker are extremely rare, with none appearing at auction in the last quarter century.