The First Booke of the Christian Exercise Manuscript

Collection — Volume: 1

Identifier: GTM-20081001

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Scope and Contents

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A small (roughly 12mo) bound manuscript on paper containing a handwritten copy of the 1584 printed edition of The First Booke of the Christian Exercise by Jesuit leader Robert Persons. The date 1654 is included at the bottom of the title page and at the end of the volume, likely indicating the year in which the copy was made.

The 1584 edition copied here is scarce in print, with only two copies listed on the English Short Title Catalog: one at the British Library and one at the Folger. Following the printed edition, the volume here has an advertisement, contents, preface, and an introduction preceding the main text. The text is written in brown ink in a neat secretary hand with running titles, marginal notation, and catchwords also present. The copyist stays true to the text as printed, though they occasionally use an abbreviation or alternate spelling that is not found in the 1584 edition. An inscription (possibly 18th century) on first front flyleaf reads "Js Wilkinson," likely a previous owner.

The volume retains the original brown calfskin panelled binding, rebacked some time in the late 20th or early 21st century with red and green spine labels featuring title, author, and date stamped in gilt lettering. Green and red headbands also added at the time of rebinding. The new binding is quite tight, making it somewhat difficult to read text in the inner margins. Original red edges. The original front and rear pastedowns were retained at the time of rebacking: vellum fragments from a 15th-century Latin prayerbook with two sizes of alternating red and blue initials visible.

Extent: xxii + 468 pages.

Dates

Creation: circa 1654

Conditions Governing Access

Most manuscripts collections at the Georgetown University Booth Family Center for Special Collections are open to researchers; however, restrictions may apply to some collections. Collections stored off site require a minimum of three days for retrieval. For use of all manuscripts collections, researchers are advised to contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections in advance of any visit.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers are solely responsible for determining the copyright status of the materials being used, establishing who the copyright owner is, locating the copyright owner, and obtaining permission for intended use.

Biographical Note

Robert Persons (1546-1610), later styled Robert Parsons, was an English Jesuit leader. Born in Somerset, he studied at St. Mary's Hall, Oxford and subsequently became a fellow and tutor at Balliol College. After being forced to resign for his Catholic leanings in 1574 he left England for Rome and entered the Jesuit Order. He was a major player in the disasterous "English Mission" of 1580-1581, which saw the arrest and martyrdom of Persons' companion Edmund Campion. Persons dedicated his life to the restoration of England to the Roman church and published widely on it. He died in Rome on April 15th, 1610.

Historical Note

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The First Booke of the Christian Exercise is a major work of the English recusant tradition. It was written during and in the immediate aftermath of the so-called "English Mission" of 1580-1581, a failed effort to bring Jesuit thinking to bear on the Anglican church that ultimately resulted in the capture and martyrdom of Persons' companion Edmund Campion (1540-1581). The text was first printed anonymously by Persons himself in Rouen in 1582, while the second edition copied here was published in Rome two years later. Anglican Edmund Bunny (1540-1619) repurposed the text for the Protestant tradition in 1584, and Persons responded via an expanded version of the work, the highly influential The Christian Dictory (1585). As a guide to salvation and a model of recusant spirituality and life in the service of God, Persons' work is one of the most influential English devotional works ever published. It retained its popularity, even in predominentaly Protestant communities, and was expanded and republished as late as the mid-19th century.