Godly Reading

This innovative study explores the history of Puritanism and the history of reading in the long seventeenth century. Drawing on a wide range of significant but understudied source materials, it seeks to advance our understanding of Puritan or 'godly' culture by examining the place of reading within that culture between c.1580 and 1720. In contrast to long-standing claims about the connections between advanced Protestantism and emergent individualism and interiority, the book demonstrates the importance of communal and public forms of reading in the practice of godly piety. Andrew Cambers employs a novel framework, based around the spaces and places of early modern reading, to offer a revised understanding of the nature of Puritanism and of the practice and representation of reading during the period. Moving beyond existing interpretations, Godly Reading opens up fresh discussions and debates about the nature of early modern reading and religion. 'Andrew Cambers's scholarly study of English Puritan reading is very welcome. And it is a relief to find it a practical, down-to-earth account ... The depth and breadth of [his] research ... really pays off: he knows an impressive range of materials dauntingly well ... This book shows us how Puritans read, and it does so in an erudite and fascinating way.' Alec Ryrie, Church Times 'Andrew Cambers's Godly Reading: Print, Manuscript and Puritanism in England, 1580-1720 is more interested in the psychological than the political aspects of Puritanism, but it also challenges some tenacious popular assumptions.' David Hawkes, The Times Literary Supplement 'A stunningly original study of the intersections between the reading and using of books and religious practice among Puritans ... a striking work that deepens our understanding of early modern England's religious culture.' R. C. Richardson, The Times Higher Education Supplement '... a vivid account of this neglected side of puritanism.' Journal of British Studies1. Reading and Puritanism in the long seventeenth century; 2. Domestic spaces and private reading; 3. Reading the family; 4. Reading the library; 5. Reading in the parish and the town; 6. Reading in prison; 7. Conclusion; Bibliography.