"The Faustian Century. German Literature and Culture in the Age of Luther and Faustus". Laan, J.M. van der and Weeks, Andrew, eds. Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2013 [Book Review]

Book review

Gerrard Winstanley in translation

As far as I am aware, it has not previously been noted that a text by the Digger leader Gerrard Winstanley (1609–1676) was translated from English into a foreign language during the seventeenth century. This brief communication is intended to alert readers to a Dutch manuscript version of Winstanley’s The New Law of Righteousnes (London: Giles Calvert, 1649). Entitled ‘Nieuwe Wet der Gerechtigheyt’ and described as being in octavo, the work was listed in the library catalogue of Petrus Serrarius (1600–1669). Most likely this was a unique manuscript since I have yet to find reference to a copy elsewhere. Furthermore, because – to the best of my knowledge – this Dutch version has never come to light, it may no longer be extant. But as we shall see, it does appear that the translator was probably Serrarius himself. For although Serrarius’s ownership of Winstanley’s New Law of Righteousnes is unrecorded there is no reason to doubt either that he had once possessed a copy or else had borrowed it. Indeed, Serrarius’s interest in Winstanley’s writings is confirmed by another entry in his library catalogue: Winstanley’s The Mysterie of God (London: Giles Calvert, 1649)

Christopher Duston, Judith Maltby, eds. Religion in Revolutionary England. Manchester: Manchester University Press [Book Review]

Book review

François Soyer, The Persecution of the Jews and Muslims of Portugal. King Manuel I and the End of Religious Tolerance (1496–7) [The Medieval Mediterranean. Peoples, Economies and Cultures, 400–1500. Volume 69] (Leiden, Brill, 2007) [Book Review]

Book review

Kate Peters, Print Culture and the Early Quakers. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2005 [Book Review]

Book review

A Radical History of Britain. Visionaries, Rebels and Revolutionaries: the Men and Women who Fought for Our Freedoms. London: Little, Brown and Company, 2009 [Book Review]

Book review

Ann Hughes, Gangraena and the Struggle for the English Revolution. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2004 [Book Review]

Book review

‘Teutonicus': Knowledge of Boehme among English Speakers before the English Civil War’

This chapter focusses on knowledge of Boehme and his work, particularly among English speakers, before his writings had been translated into English. Accordingly, it covers the period from 1624 to 1641. Unsurprisingly, the people under discussion here – with one known exception – were foreigners, emigrants or those who had travelled abroad. Moreover, as might be expected, they were not monolingual but usually had command of Latin and sometimes German and Dutch as well. Motivations for learning about and engaging with Boehme’s texts varied widely. For some the goal was evidently to achieve Protestant church unity, or at least to be forewarned about the nature of potential sectarian dissent. For others the impulse derived from a new spirit of prophecy that had sprung forth during the Thirty Years’ War – especially following the initial victories of Gustavus Adolphus. For others still, their concern was to accommodate Boehme within Paracelsian, alchemical-medical and Rosicrucian frameworks

The Complete Works of Gerrard Winstanley edited by: Thomas N. Corns, Ann Hughes, David Loewenstein (2 volumes), Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2009 [Book Review]

Book review

Eliane Glaser, Judaism without Jews: Philosemitism and Christian Polemic in Early Modern England. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007 [Book Review]

Book review