This book discusses a central chapter in the history of free speech in the western world. The nature and limits of freedom of speech prompted sophisticated debate in a wide range of areas in the early seventeenth century; it was one of the 'liberties of the subject' fought for by individuals and groups across the political landscape. David Colclough argues that freedom of speech was considered to be a significant civic virtue during this period. Discussions of free speech raised serious questions about what it meant to live in a free state, and how far England was from being such a state. Examining a wide range of sources, from rhetorical handbooks to Parliamentary speeches and manuscript miscellanies, Dr Colclough demonstrates how freedom of speech was conceived positively in the period c. 1603-1628, rather than being defined in opposition to acts of censorship.

This book discusses a central chapter in the history of free speech in the Western world. The nature and limits of freedom of speech prompted sophisticated debate in a wide range of areas in the early seventeenth century; it was one of the 'liberties of the subject' fought for by individuals and groups across the political landscape. David Colclough argues that freedom of speech was considered to be a significant civic virtue during this period. Discussions of free speech raised serious questions about what it meant to live in a free state, and how far England was from being such a state. Examining a wide range of sources, from rhetorical handbooks to Parliamentary speeches and manuscript miscellanies, Dr Colclough demonstrates how freedom of speech was conceived positively in the period c. 1603 1628, rather than being defined in opposition to acts of censorship.

This book is the first volume to be published in The Oxford Edition of the Sermons of John Donne, which presents the largest prose output of one of the most celebrated poets and preachers of the seventeenth century. The edition provides freshly edited texts arranged by place of delivery instead of (often speculative) chronology, and offers a wealth of explanatory material for specialist and non-specialist readers alike. Volume III contains the fourteen sermons preached by Donne at the court of Charles I, between the king's accession in 1625 and Donne's death in 1631. It includes the first sermon preached before Charles as king, and Donne's final sermon, known as Deaths Dvell. In each case an authoritative text has been established by freshly collating multiple copies of the seventeenth-century print editions. The introduction describes the institutional and physical context of Donne's Caroline court sermons and analyses his style of preaching and doctrinal positions. For the first time, the sermons appear with a full critical apparatus: headnotes to each sermon describe its textual state and supply local historical context and suggestions for further reading, while extensive commentaries trace Donne's use of his sources, translate passages in foreign languages, and gloss important and unfamiliar words.