1718 JOHN NEWTON. His Annotated Copy of Halyburton's Memoir "What power but God's could change me!"

A wonderfully provenanced artifact that lived its early days deeply embedded in the spiritual life of former slave-trader turned pastor, hymnist, theologian, and unlikely abolitionist, John Newton [1725-1807]. The Provenance. Not only is the work desirable because it was Newton’s own, but the connection between Newton and the book’s later owners is of interest as well. Originally Newton’s personal copy, he later gifted it to Mr. and Mrs. William Wilson, likely after 1800 when his growing blindness rendered his books all but useless. The Wilsons were friends of Newton’s, earnest Christians, and the financial patrons of, and he the wig-maker to, fellow Olney hymnist, William Cowper. It was then gifted, in advanced age, by Mrs. Wilson to Charles Sabine in remembrance of Sabine’s maternal grandfather, and Newton’s own pastor and mentor, Samuel Brewer. Samuel Brewer was minister at near-by Stepney. After Newton’s initial conversion, Newton did plan to sail again aboard a slave ship. Still