A Journal or Historical Account of the Life, Travels, Sufferings, Christian Experiences, and Labour of Love in the Work of the Ministry: of That Ancient, Eminent and Faithful Servant of Jesus Christ, George Fox

Leeds: Printed by A. Pickard, 1836. 6th ed. In two octavo volumes, bound in polished brown silk(?); 556, 564p, 20 cm. Edge-wear and a few minor bumps and dings; else very good to very good(-). Text block is cleaning anf binding is tight. Hardcover.

Originally published posthumously in 1694, this work is the founding spiritual autobiography of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). In it George Fox (1624–1691), the shoemaker’s apprentice turned itinerant preacher, recounts his search for religious truth, his conviction of the “Inner Light,” and decades of preaching across England, Ireland, the West Indies, and America, along with repeated imprisonments for his faith. A committee of the Quaker Second Day Morning Meeting oversaw publication. The text was assembled and edited by Thomas Ellwood, Milton’s friend and former pupil, from Fox’s papers and journal books. Ellwood smoothed Fox’s vigorous oral style into more literary prose and cut passages that might cause scandal or confusion. William Penn supplied the long preface, which admits that Fox’s style was “uncouth and unfashionable to nice ears.” It was later issued separately as A Brief Account of the Rise and Progress of the People Called Quakers, and the volume also includes Margaret Fox’s testimony to her husband.