The easiest way to find out what book by Beveridge your ancestor may have
owned would be to find a library that has access to the English Short Title
Catalog.  I believe this is on a cd-rom.  In the search engine, type in
"au=Beveridge," for author, Beveridge.  That should pull up all Beveridge's
various works.  The record for each volume will indicte the various archives
that hold that item as well as any microfilm collections in which the
particular item has been included.

      I suspect that, as Jon suggested, your ancestor owned a volume that
included "A Sermon concerning the Excellency and Usefulness of the Common
Prayer," (London, 1682).  If I rememember correctly, this discourse was in its
30th edition by 1779.  Rhys Isaac quoted portions of this important sermon in
THE TRANSFORMATION OF VIRGINIA.

     Lay Virginians, at least those in the established church, often owned
collections of sermons written by popular English preachers of the period.
John Tillotson's works were far and away the most popular.  Ministers in
Virginia often cribbed heavily from Tillotson when they crafted their own
sermons.  Some of the extant sermons, in fact, are nothing more than portions
of Tillotson's discourses written out in long hand.

Edward Bond
Assistant Professor of History
Alabama A&M University


>===== Original Message From Discussion of research and writing about Virginia
history              <[log in to unmask]> =====
>My ancestor's 1740 era Orange County, Virginia, will mentions a "book of
>sermons" by the Rev. William Beveridge (apparently Beveridge was bishop of
>St. Asaph in Wales). There are some writings of his at
>http://justus.anglican.org/resources/pc/tracts/.
>
>Does anyone have any idea of which of his works would have been this "book
>of sermons" that a layperson would have had at this time?
>
>Thanks.
>
>Michael Neill
>
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