Life Writings, II: Printed Writings 1641û1700: Series II, Part One, Volume 2

by Skerpan-Wheeler,Elizabeth

• ISBN13: 9780754602095
• ISBN10: 0754602095
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-05-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Early modern men and women represented their lives very differently from twentieth-century autobiographers, sharing none of the current preoccupation with individuality and the unique self. The writers represented in this two-volume collection sought connections between particular events in their lives and the larger pattern of Christian salvation. The texts reproduced here are united in the way they interconnect personal experiences and feelings with scriptural passages in an attempt to understand daily life in spiritual terms.Almost all the women whose works appear in these volumes would have been considered religious radicals by their contemporaries. Living through the turbulent times of the English Revolution (1642-1660) it is unsurprising that their life writings are marked by a sense of persecution. Many of them spent time in prison: Katherine Evans, Sarah Cheevers and Barbara Blaugdane were all imprisoned for preaching the faith of The Society of Friends, while Mary Rowlandson spent several months as a captive of North American Indians.In her introduction to these writings, Elizabeth Skerpan-Wheeler provides brief biographical sketches of these writers, together with details of the publication history of each text. With the exception of Rowlandson's works, the writings in these volumes are the first complete, unabridged editions in modern times.

Table of Contents

Preface by the General Editors

Introductory Note

`A Full Narrative' (in The Life and Death of Mr. Joseph Alleine [1671])

Theodosia Alleine

Anne Wentworth

A True Account

A Vindication

`Mary Penington her Testimony' (in Works of the Long-Mournful and Sorely Distressed Isaac Penington)

Mary Penington

A True History (London, 1682)

Mary Rowlandson

A Narrative of God's Gracious Dealings

Hannah Allen

An Account of the Travels

Barbara Blaugdone

A Small Account

Susannah Blandford