The Journal and Major Essays of John Woolman (Paperback)

~ (Author), Phillips P. Moulton (Editor) "IN 1797 SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE COMMENTED: "I should almost despair of that man who could peruse the life of John Woolman without an amelioration of..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The only American book I ever read twice was the Journal of John Woolman, a Quaker preacher and tailor . . ." -- Charles Lamb

Product Description

In the latter part of the eighteenth century the Quaker minister John Woolman journeyed and preached throughout the American colonies. His Journal, a recognized American classic, portrays an ethical sensitivity comparable to St. Francis of Albert Schweitzer; and his keen sense of social injustice speaks directly to our affluent and increasingly divided mass society. Woolman's essays widely influenced social thought in the United States, and in England as well, where he was esteemed by Lamb and Coleridge.

Professor Moulton's edition of Woolman's major works - based on a thorough examination of all relevant manuscripts in America and Britain - is the first to reflect Woolman's final intentions with fidelity and scholarly accuracy.

Only this edition of the Journal includes Woolman's whole discussion of tax refusal as a form of anti-war protest and civil disobedience. Also included are "A Plea for the Poor" and "Considerations on Keeping Negroes" one of the earliest attacks on slavery.

The present volume includes an introduction by the editor, a chronology and glossary, biographical notes, an annotated bibliography, detailed notes on the text, appendices, and an index.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Friends United Press; Friends United Press edition (August 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0944350100
• ISBN-13: 978-0944350102
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #111,569 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The definitive John Woolman, accessible at various levels, October 27, 2001

By	Kirk Wattles (Philadelphia, Penna.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A classic in Christian engagement with the world, by a Quaker minister best known for his role in convincing others in the Society of Friends - as individuals and as a group - to withdraw from the slave trade and stop holding slaves. Woolman also contributed insights into the nature of war and conflict, wealth and simplicity, right livelihood and spiritual humility.

This is the definitive edition - as in, this is the one that scholars and serious readers want, with a solid introduction, explanatory footnotes, and notes on which passages were changed along the way. Woolman based his Journal on personal diaries, rewriting and editing it with his Quaker audience foremost in mind. His essays apparently were aimed for a wider audience; they show his familiarity with Enlightenment trends that many Friends ignored. The essays "On Keeping Negroes" and "A Plea for the Poor" are included in this edition.

After his death in 1772, the Journal has passed through the hands of a succession of editors, including Quaker poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier, whose edition can be found on the web. From one generation to the next, Friends and others have rediscovered John Woolman and cherished his sweet reflections on human relations and Divine leading.