[Bolton, Rhoda]; Jay, William. The Lighted Valley; or The Closing Scenes in the Life of a Beloved Sister; With a Preface by the Rev. William Jay. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1850.
Red cloth, spine with elaborate gilt, boards stamped in blind, 4 3/4 x 7 inches. The binding is quite worn with rounded corners and the front outer hinge cloth split but not detached. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Miss Bolton with tissue guard, foxed. Full page woodcut of Pelham Priory. 236 pp., pages have foxing and some marginal tidemarks, book is tight. 4 pp. publisher's catalogue at end. Fair. Hardcover. [5276]
"...this memorial is designed, that having seen how she lived, they may learn how she died. The will see in these pages that there is 'A reality in religion' - in a religion derived alone from the Spirit of God by means of his blessed Word renewing the heart into the image of Christ, and sanctifying the life and death of his servants in glory." - from the Advertisement, by R. B.
The book is attributed to Abby's sister, Rhoda Bolton.
An account of Abby Bolton (1827-1849), b. Henley-upon-Thames, England; d. Pelham Priority, near NYC. She was the granddaughter of the Rev. William Jay, famous for his Morning and Evening Exercises, and the author of the Preface here. Her mother was Rev. Jay's daughter, Anne, and her father was the Rev. Robert Bolton, Rector of Christ Church, Pelham, NY.
The family operated a female academy on their estate, with 50 or 60 students each year, many from the NYC area but also a substantial number from southern States. "By the mid-1850s, the Priory School for Girls was quite a success. But, the Bolton Family suffered a tragedy with the death of one of their daughters, Abby. Abby's death reportedly affected Robert and Anne Bolton profoundly and, shortly thereafter, they left for England where Robert Bolton died in 1857 followed by his wife two years later." - Blake A. Bell, Historic Pelham online. The School continued under the leadership of Anne "Nanette" Bolton, Abby's sister, until 1881.
Some of Abby's siblings (there were 13 children in all) became famous as artists, including her sister Adelaide and brothers John and William Jay Bolton.
There is a woodcut illustration of Bolton's home, Pelham Priory, which was designed by Rev. Bolton and famous for Romantic Movement architecture, now in the US National Register of Historic Places.