Spreading the Gospel in Colonial Virginia ─ Sermons and Devotional Writings

A Virginia native and a specialist in religious history, Bond (history, Alabama A&M U.) presents an anthology of primary documents to demonstrate the wide variety of extant materials on religion in colonial Virginia during the 17th and 18th centuries, from the private musings of lay people to the sermons of dissenting and established ministers. He has generally selected manuscript sources over published materials, and sources less available over sources more available to researchers. He also focuses on James Maury as exemplary of the life and work of a colonial parson, and so includes his Dissertation on Education though it does not strictly fall within the parameters of the collection, and chooses his version of various types of texts for example a funeral sermon over those of others. Footnotes explains references and phrases not obsolete. There is no index. Annotation c2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Edward L. Bond is currently an associate professor of history at Alabama A&M University in Huntsville, Alabama.