‎GRIFFITH, WILLIAM.‎
‎Several sermons on solemn occasions, and treatises, expressed in the next page. By the right reverend father in God, Griffith Lord Bishop of Ossory.‎

‎London, Printed for the Author, 1665. 4to. In contemporary full calf with four raised bands and richly gilt spine. Small paper-label pasted on to top of spine. Light wear to extremities. Wormtract to lower outer margin of first 20 ff. occassionally touching text, otherwise a good copy. (8), 128, (16), 225, (3), 43, (3), 56, (8), 19, (3), 44, (2), 67 pp. ‎

Reference : 61284

‎Rare first edition of Griffith’s sermons. William Griffith (1587 – 1673) born at Treflan near Caernarvon, had a notable ecclesiastical career marked by education and controversy. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford and Jesus College, Cambridge he was ordained as a priest in 1607. He served as rector in Foscott, Buckinghamshire and held positions in London, where his anti-Puritan sermons caused conflict. Griffith preached notable funeral sermons, including those of Sir Richard Bulkeley in 1621 and Katherine Lewis in 1644, and participated in the burial of Archbishop John Williams in 1650. He became rector of Trefdraeth (1626), dean of Bangor (1634), and faced allegations of neglecting his wife in 1635. Appointed as the king's chaplain and later Bishop of Ossory, Ireland his tenure was disrupted by the Civil War, leading him to flee Ireland. He resumed his bishopric after the Restoration in 1661, becoming the first to pray publicly for King Charles II in Ireland. (see Dictionary of Welsh Biography)‎