A Directory of the Parochial Libraries of the Church of England and the Church in Wales
A Directory of the Parochial Libraries of the Church of England and the Church in Wales

Author: Neil Ripley Ker

Publisher: OUP/The Bibliographical Society of London

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 502

ISBN-13: 9780948170133

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Because of the unauthorized sale, loss, or deteriorating condition of parochial libraries in the 1930s and 1940s, a postal survey of surviving collections was undertaken which resulted in a detailed report and directory finally published under the general editorship of Neil Ker as The Parochial Libraries of the Church of England: Report of a Committee appointed by the Central Council for the Care of Churches to Investigate the Number and Condition of Parochial Libraries belonging to the Church of England, with a Historical Introduction, Notes on Early Printed Books and their Care and an Alphabetical List of Parochial Libraries Past and Present, by Faith Press in 1959. This book is a thorough revision of that work and incorporates much of its apparatus while reflecting new discoveries and recent research. The Directory in particular has been greatly expanded to include libraries established up to c. 1900, and, especially, a broad sample of what have come to be known as desk-libraries, with one or more pre-1700 prescribed books. Many of the reports, documents, and tables, including the historical introduction, have been reprinted in this new edition, edited and modified to take account of new developments and findings. A Postscript, 2000 briefly outlines research in this field over the last 50 years or so, and there are a number of new lists and tables, one including statistical information. The index is a key to the whole book and should be especially consulted for references to former owners and donors and subject strengths.

Susanna Wesley
Susanna Wesley

Author: Susanna Wesley

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 1997-06-26

Total Pages: 529

ISBN-13: 0199879451

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Susanna Wesley, long celebrated in Methodist mythology as mother of the movement's founders, now takes place as a practical theologian in her own right. This collection of her letters, spiritual diary, and longer treatises (only one of which was published in her lifetime) shows her to be more than the nurturing mother of Wesleyan legend. It also reveals her to be a well-educated woman in conversation with contemporary theological, philosophical, and literary works. Her quotations and allusions include Locke, Pascal, and Herbert, as well as a number of now forgotten theologians. In some of her work, one can distinguish doctrinal and spiritual leanings, such as Arminianism and Christian perfection, that would later find wide expression in the spread of Methodism. Further, her writings demonstrate her readiness, for conscience's sake, to stand up to the men in her life--father, husband, and sons---and the three incarnations of English Protestantism they represented: respectively, Puritanism, the Established Church, and the new Methodist movement. Tracing these incidents in her letters and diaries, a reader can begin to understand how spirituality, even an otherwise conservative one in rather restrictive times, can serve to empower the voice of women.