Commonplace book of prose extracts and sermons 1672-1694.

Format:

Book

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religious literature--Authorship.

Religious literature.

Essay.

Peterborough (England).

Stamford (England).

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Summary:

Fols 64r-180v (those folios written by Jane Truesdale) were probably written in Stamford, Lincolnshire, where Truesdale apparently lived with her husband (according to the printed notice tipped into a flyleaf, item 1.6). This is supported by the presence of the notes in item 12.2 that were apparently taken down from a sermon given at Stamford in 1694.

Notes:

AMDigital Reference:Osborn MS b.188

The items written in the first section of the manuscript, fols 1r-63r (by Hand A, Jane Truesdale's father), consist of a sermon by John Tillotson of 1672 (msItem 2), a note explaining what Dr. Tillotson said to a lady who converted to Roman Catholicism (allegedly told to the compiler by Dr. Burton when he paid the compiler a visit on 7 September 1672) (msItem 4), and two letters from Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon to the Duke of York and his wife the Duchess respectively, on her conversion to Roman Catholicism (these were printed in 1680) (msItem 5). Edward Hyde, Anne's father, was very distressed at the news. The second section of the manuscript, probably written by Jane Truesdale (fols 64r-180v), Hand B, consists of prose extracts, many of them religious, and three sermons (plus extracts from two further sermons). A number of these extracts have been taken from John Wilkins' Of the principles and duties of natural religion, first published in 1675 (most of item 6). Another set of passages were extracted from Francis Bacon's "Essays" (see item 7). The (more or less) complete sermons are by John Tillotson (msItems 8, 10, and 15). Jane Truesdale has also included notes from a sermon by Richard Cumberland which was preached at Stamford on 8 July 1694 (msItem 12) and an extract from William Sherlock's sermon on the death of Queen Mary II on 27 December 1694 (msItem 14). 1672-1694 are the dates of origin given in the Beinecke Library catalogue. The first item in the manuscript is a sermon dated 1672. The last item in the manuscript is the last sermon of John Tillotson, who died in 1694. Hand C claims in the table of contents that Jane Truesdale compiled her portions of the manuscript between 1692 and 1696. Jane Truesdale died in 1704. The portion compiled by Jane Truesdale was likely written at Stamford, where she and her husband lived. It is uncertain where the portion compiled by her father was written.