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 of him, 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 still have yet to be published. They address major themes in Traherne studies, including Traherne's interpretation of spirit and his understanding of matter, his attitude towards happiness and holiness, his response to solitude and society, and his Anglican identity. As a wholle, the volume aims to re-ignite discussion on settled readings of Traherne's work, reconsider issues in Traherne scholarship which have long lain dormant, and supplement our picture of the man and his writings through new discoveries and insights.BR> Elizabeth S. Dodd lectures in theology, ministry, imagination and culture at Sarum College in Salisbury; Cassandra Gorman is lecturer in English at Trinity College, Cambridge. Contributors: Jacob Blevins, Warren Chernaik, Phoebe Dickerson, Elizabeth S. Dodd, Ana Elena González-Treviño, Cassandra Gorman, Carol Ann Johnston, Alison Kershaw, Kathryn Murphy