ABSTRACT

Among the radical sects which flourished during the tumultuous years of the English Revolution, the early Quakers were particularly aware of the power of the written word to promote their prophetic visions?and unorthodox beliefs.

This collection of new essays by literary scholars and historians looks at the diversity of seventeenth-century Quaker writing, examining its rhetoric, its polemical strategies, its purposeful use of the print medium, and the heroism and vehemence of its world vision.

chapter |5 pages

Introduction: The Emergence of Quaker Writing

ByThomas N. Corns, David Loewenstein

chapter |19 pages

Patterns of Quaker Authorship, 1652–1656 1

ByKate Peters

chapter |18 pages

From Seeker to Finder: The Singular Experiences of Mary Penington

ByNorman T. Burns

chapter |13 pages

“No Man’s Copy”: The Critical Problem of Fox’s Journal

ByThomas N. Corns

chapter |16 pages

Joseph Besse and the Quaker Culture of Suffering

ByJohn R. Knott

chapter |7 pages

Early Quakerism: A Historian’s Afterword

ByAnn Hughes