2 books regarding the beginnings of the Shaker religion, detailing the group of revivals held in the early 19th Century that led to the expansion of Shaker ideology. 1st Item: Scarce, early printing of Richard M'Nemar's (McNemar) THE KENTUCKY REVIVAL … Albany (NY), E. and E. Hosford, 1808. 12mo, 119pp, sewn through the fold binding, paper covered boards with unadorned leather spine, contains sections "The Kentucky Revival, &c." and "A Brief Account of Shakerism"; another, separately bound publication "Observations on Church Government…" was originally laid in at the rear of the book, but is absent, evidenced only by the ink ghosting on the page opposite. 6 3/4" H x 4 1/4" W. 2nd Item: THE KENTUCKY REVIVAL… by Richard M'Nemar, New York, Edward O. Jenkins, 1846. 12mo, 132pp, sewn binding, paper boards with leather corners, leather spine absent; inscription on ffep reads "Samuel Jenkins presented by Henry Watson Shaker Village"; absent is separate laid-in publication "Observations on Church Government". 7 1/4" H x 4 1/2" W. Note (from the Shaker Museum): This book and its author, Elder Richard McNemar, are significant to the history of the Shakers. Four or five editions of the book were published by the Shakers prior to the Civil War…McNemar wrote his history of the Great Kentucky Revival during his first two years as a Shaker. Richard McNemar was born in 1770 in Tuscarora, Pennsylvania… [and] by age 18 he became a teacher. His quest for more education put him in association with ministers in the Presbyterian Church. McNemar and several other Presbyterian ministers ran afoul of the church by endorsing a free will doctrine in opposition to church teachings. A new movement, a revival, was taking place in the area, largely initiated by the Reverend John Rankin. Too large for meetinghouses, these gatherings were held outside in large camp meetings. The first significant camp meeting was held under the direction of McNemar at Cabin Creek, Kentucky. It lasted four days. [The Shakers] determined to send three missionaries from New Lebanon to investigate and see if there might not be an opening for them. When the missionaries arrived in the neighborhood of the revivals, they knew that in order to have a chance of establishing Shaker communities in that area they must make converts of the most influential of the revival preachers. In the early spring of 1805, they found [McNemar] at Turtle Creek, Ohio (what eventually became the Shakers' Union Village) and were successful in their effort. In fact, McNemar brought nearly his entire congregation with him into the Shaker Church. https://shakerml.wordpress.com/tag/library/) Full title: THE KENTUCKY REVIVAL, OR, A SHORT HISTORY OF THE LATE EXTRAORDINARY OUT-POURING OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD, IN THE WESTERN STATES OF AMERICA, AGREEABLY TO SCRIPTURE PROMISES, AND PROPHECIES CON-CERNING THE LATTER DAY: WITH A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE ENTRANCE AND PROGRESS OF WHAT THE WORLD CALL SHAKERISM, AMONG THE SUBJECTS OF THE LATE REVIVAL IN OHIO AND KENTUCKY. PRESENTED TO THE TRUE ZION-TRAVELLER, AS A MEMORIAL OF THE WILDERNESS JOURNEY.

PROVENANCE: A Nashville, Tennessee Estate.

CONDITION: 1st Item (1808): binding string partially remains, covers and pages not completely loose but tenuous, 2nd Item: loose covers and page bundles, foxing throughout, spine cover missing