Thomas Traherne and Seventeenth-Century Thought

Thomas Traherne has all too often been defined and studied as a solitary thinker out of his time and not as a participant in the complex intellectual currents of the period. The essays collected here take issue with this reading placing Traherne firmly in his historical context and situating his work within broader issues in seventeenth-century studies and the history of ideas. They draw on recently published textual discoveries alongside manuscripts which will soon be published for the first time. They address major themes in Traherne studies including Traherne's understanding of matter and spirit his attitude towards happiness and holiness his response to solitude and society and his Anglican identity. As a whole the volume aims to re-ignite discussion on settled readings of Traherne's work to reconsider issues in Traherne scholarship which have long lain dormant and to supplement our picture of the man and his writings through new discoveries and insights. Elizabeth S. Dodd is programme leader for the MA in theology ministry and mission and lecturer in theology imagination and culture at Sarum College Salisbury; Cassandra Gorman is lecturer in English at Trinity College Cambridge. Contributors: Jacob Blevins Warren Chernaik Phoebe Dickerson Elizabeth S. Dodd Ana Elena Gonzalez-Trevino Cassandra Gorman Carol Ann Johnston Alison Kershaw Kathryn Murphy