Leighton Library has modern facsimile of 1842 edition of “An Appeal to Parliament, or, Zion’s Plea Against Prelacy”
Added at 14:14 on 02 December 2025
The Leighton Library has a modern facsimile copy of the 1842 edition of “An Appeal to Parliament, or, Zion’s Plea Against Prelacy” by Alexander Leighton, father of Robert Leighton. The Leighton Library acknowledges with gratitude the gift, by Volunteer Guide David Kirk, of this modern edition of the book. David Kirk has kindly provided the following information about this.
Bruce Fummey, of Scotland History Tours, created a video, filmed in the Leighton Library, with this book at its centre (you can click on this link to link to the video).
David Kirk, Volunteer Guide at the Leighton Library, writes:
Although talking about a book written in the 17th century, he was holding not an old leather bound copy but a modern paperback: the source of much of his information. This was a modern facsimile, not of Leighton’s own book, but of a version published in 1842. How did this all come about? We can assume that, having brutally punished its author, the authorities would have sought to suppress the actual book. This must have been successful as two hundred years later, John Lawson, who describes himself as “Portioner in Penicook” tells us “… for several years (I) have been in an unsuccessful search for a copy”.
In fact, suppression was not complete, as copies of Leighton’s original are listed in the catalogues, among others perhaps, of the British Library and the National Library of Scotland. Lawson was finally able to purchase a copy for 18s.11d. As the modern equivalent in value is £185, this must have been an important quest. Lawson was clearly in sympathy with Leighton – “I have got 1000 copies of the book printed, hoping God will bless the reading of it, and enable the reader to see that Prelacy is a plant which God hath not planted but part of the wicked which is now revealed”.
The cost of production was intended to be covered by subscription but “… the Volume has extended to nearly thirty pages beyond the number calculated in the Prospectus (and) it has been found necessary to make a small addition to the price originally stated”. Sadly we don’t know that price, as it is not given in the book itself. Three of the four principal subscribers named by Lawson were clergymen.
Where have these 1000 copies gone? One is known to be in the Bodleian Library in Oxford but it is likely that there are others surviving. What the Leighton Library has is a modern paperback facsimile. Another conundrum? In 2022 I was preparing a lecture on Robert Leighton and was keen for more information about his father and the book, with its relevance to Robert’s early life and his ecumenical views. As one does, I started with Google. To my surprise, at the top of my search was an advertisement from Amazon, offering me a new paperback version of the book for £12: the very book that was in Bruce Lammey’s hands. Some accounts describe the work as a “pamphlet” but what I received was a book of over 240 pages. After completing my lecture, it seemed the right home for the book was the Library. So, why is this book still being published? The publishers, Legare Street Press (an imprint of Creative Media Partners) is a rather nebulous international publishing company that reproduces what it describes as “public domain works.”
Uniform with Leighton’s book are well known works such as War and Peace and Jane Eyre but also numerous publications which seem to be more obscure: some like Leighton’s have been brought back to life: Henry Martyn’s Twenty Sermons, published in 1822 for one example. They suggest that Zion’s Plea “… has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilisation as we know it,… (and) that this work is important enough to be preserved … and made generally available to the public.” Thanks to them we can now have access to Alexander Leighton’s actual words and, as Library Volunteers, can discuss it more authoritatively with visitors to the Library.
The good news, if you are interested, is that Amazon still sell it. The bad is it will now cost you £17! Failing that, you will find it on the table in the Leighton Library. Ideally. the Library ought to have an original, at least of Lawson’s 1842 printing. A research opportunity for someone?