It’s thrilling to see this second volume roll out in this exciting series of the lost sermons of Charles Spurgeon from the earliest days of his ministry (1851-1854). I fell in love with the first volume, and this one continues all the interesting features and beauty of the first. I noticed the sermons are little more developed here than those in volume 1 as well.

This Collector’s Edition contains the same content as the regular volume as you will see when comparing each Table of Contents, but is still worthwhile to check out. I suspect many Spurgeon fans will prefer it. ( I do!)  It has the look and feel of those heirloom volumes that existed in Spurgeon’s day and have lasted until ours. It comes in a slipcover box and is a cloth over boards volume with leather spine binding. In addition, there’s genuine gold foil on the spine as well as gilded page edges. I’m a book lover and own many, but this collector’s edition is easily the best I’ve seen published these days. Don’t miss the incredible pictures either that have been added in unnumbered pages at this end of this book–they aren’t found in the other edition.

The forward and editor’s preface are the same as in Volume 1, but the introduction is specific to the sermons in Volume 2. Editor Christian George continues his painstaking research to uncover an incredible amount of detailed information on the sermons. As we saw in Volume 1, he shows that Charles Spurgeon did little borrowing in the early days of his ministry from preachers like John Bunyan, Charles Simeon, and Thomas Manton. To my ear, they still came out sounding like Spurgeon himself. As is always the case when he preaches, they are full of the gospel.

Spurgeon had such an eye for texts. In fact, when I look through this work the idea would often strike me that I should preach on some of these texts someday. (I promise I won’t steal Spurgeon’s sermons!) It’s no understatement to say he was a master preacher.

This volume includes #78-134 of his sermons, including the famous sermon entitled “The Curse and the Blessing” that he preached from Proverbs 3:33 when the horrific accident at the Surrey Garden Music Hall in London happened where seven were killed and others were injured in a stampede. Be sure to read the footnote that describes how Spurgeon was so affected by that tragedy that the mere mention of the text would precipitate a reaction from him. For that matter, all the footnotes in this book are incredible. I can’t fathom the number of hours involved to assemble all this information.

This set will be a treasure when completed. Either set is superb, but the Collector’s Edition is extraordinary. I imagine many are collecting them one at a time as they are released and joyously anticipating the next release. If you have an appreciation for the greatest preaching from history, you can’t overlook Spurgeon or this set. I commend the publisher for undertaking the task of producing this treasure for us. We are all indebted to them. I give this book the highest possible recommendation!

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.