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In 1842, George Bourne engaged in gathering support for the publication of an American edition of the London Christian Observer. His prospectus includes 175 pages of signatures and brief comments from his supporters.

In 1842, George Bourne engaged in gathering support for the publication of an American edition of the London Christian Observer. This volume includes 175 pages of signatures and brief comments from his supporters. The list of signatories reads like a Who's Who of evangelical clergy along the east coast. The volume is something more than a de facto autograph book, though, in that many of the signers write brief sentiments or words of encouragement.

The following denominations are represented among the subscribers: Baptist (General Association Baptist Missions), Episcopal/Protestant Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian (Associate Presbyterian, Associate Reformed Presbyterian, Reformed Presbyterian, Scottish Presbyterian), Reformed (German Reformed, Reformed Dutch), and Wesleyan. Several colleges, including Marshall College, Pennsylvania College (Gettysburg), Rutgers University, and Union College are represented, as well as Princeton Theological Seminary, and the subscribers were located in various towns in the mid-Atlantic states and Ohio.