The Sermons of John Donne, Volume I

The Sermons of John Donne, edited by George R. Potter and Evelyn M. Simpson, is a comprehensive scholarly edition of Donne's prose works that established him as one of the foremost preachers of seventeenth-century England. It collates his one hundred and sixty extant sermons, examines extant manuscripts, and documents the fraught transmission of his texts. The edition emphasizes the literary brilliance, theological rigor, and responsiveness of Donne's sermons, highlighting their blending of theological rigor with imaginative conceit and their responsiveness to occasions ranging from court preaching to civic addresses. The critical apparatus provides variant readings, textual notes, and commentary on sources, while the introductions offer detailed accounts of printing history, manuscript provenance, and Donne's position among contemporary divines. The edition is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates the university's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact.

Format: Hardback
Length: 368 pages
Publication date: 29 April 2022
Publisher: University of California Press

The Sermons of John Donne, edited by George R. Potter and Evelyn M. Simpson, is a comprehensive scholarly edition of Donne's prose works that established him as one of the foremost preachers of seventeenth-century England. Issued in ten volumes, the series collates Donne's one hundred and sixty extant sermons, which had previously circulated in seventeenth-century folios or as separately printed quartos. Potter and Simpson reconstruct the bibliographical history of these printings, examine extant manuscripts, and document the fraught transmission of Donne's texts, particularly the interventions of his son, John Donne Jr., whose careless editing shaped the folios. Their editorial introductions situate Donne's preaching within the political and ecclesiastical contexts of Jacobean and Caroline England, highlighting both the textual corruption and the survival of a rich homiletic corpus that might otherwise have been lost. The edition underscores Donne's sermons as literary achievements equal in stature to his poetry and devotional prose. The editors analyze their rhetorical brilliance, their blending of theological rigor with imaginative conceit, and their responsiveness to occasions ranging from court preaching at Whitehall to civic addresses at Pauls Cross. Donne emerges as a preacher attuned to Scripture, controversy, and the performance of eloquence before audiences of power and piety. The critical apparatus provides variant readings, textual notes, and commentary on sources, while the introductions offer detailed accounts of printing history, manuscript provenance, and Donne's position among contemporary divines. By assembling these materials, the edition offers a comprehensive understanding of Donne's sermons and their significance in the history of English literature and religion.

Weight: 704g
Dimension: 159 x 235 x 31 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780520372900