A wonderful piece of Baptist  and American Sunday School Union history . William B. Tappan [1794-1849] was a clockmaker by trade, but over the course of life moved toward full-time engagement in the work of the ministry. By 1822 he was the Superintendent of the American Sunday School Union and was Ordained to the ministry in 1840. 

His hymns, which be began writing before 1820, were well-received, including in Asahel Nettleton's Village Hymns and others. His most enduring include 'Tis Midnight and on Olive's Brow and There is an Hour of Peaceful Rest. 

This book, quite rare in any state, and nicely preserved, has been presented by Tappan to his friend, Daniel Sharp [1783-1853]. Sharp was the Pastor of Charles Street Baptist Church in Boston for four decades and one of the founders of Newton Theological Seminary. He was one of the ablest of early 19th century American Baptist preachers. His library was one of the foundational gifts to Newton in the formation of its institution. This volume is from that original gift.

Tappan, William B. The Sunday School and Other Poems. Boston and Cambridge. James Munroe and Company. 1848. 

Original gilt cloth, some ex library stamps, but discrete and not unattractive. Very solid and clean generally; nicely chromolithographed blank title. 

Includes poems on the New England Pilgrims. the Mission of God in the Westward Expansion, the Origin of Evil, Patriotism, the Millennium, Papists, the Dignity of the Christian Ministry, etc.