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  • Jonathan Edwards in American Literature
  • Philip F. Gura (bio)
The Works of Jonathan Edwards. Perry Miller, John E. Smith, and Harry S. Stout, General Editors. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1959–. 22 vols. to date.
Vol. 1. Freedom of the Will. Ed. Paul Ramsey. 1957.
Vol. 2. The Religious Affections. Ed. John E. Smith. 1959.
Vol. 3. Original Sin. Ed. Clyde A. Holbrook. 1970.
Vol. 4. The Great Awakening. Ed. C. C. Goen. 1972.
Vol. 5. Apocalyptical Writings. Ed. Stephen J. Stein. 1977.
Vol. 6. Scientific and Philosophical Writings. Ed. Wallace E. Anderson. 1980.
Vol. 7. The Life of David Brainerd. Ed. Norman Petit. 1985.
Vol. 8. Ethical Writings. Ed. Paul Ramsey. 1989.
Vol. 9. A History of the Work of Redemption. Ed. John F. Wilson. 1989.
Vol. 10. Sermons and Discourses, 1720–1723. Ed. Wilson H. Kimnach. 1992.
Vol. 11. Typological Writings. Ed. Wallace E. Anderson and Mason I. Lowance, Jr., with David Watters. 1993.
Vol. 12. Ecclesiastical Writings. Ed. David D. Hall. 1994.
Vol. 13. The "Miscellanies," a-500. Ed. Thomas A. Schafer. 1994.
Vol. 14. Sermons and Discourses, 1723–1729. Ed. Kenneth P. Minkema. 1997.
Vol. 15. Notes on Scripture. Ed. Stephen J. Stein. 1998.
Vol. 16. Letters and Personal Writings. Ed. George S. Claghorn. 1998.
Vol. 17. Sermons and Discourses, 1730–1733. Ed. Mark Valeri. 1999.
Vol. 18. The "Miscellanies," 501–832. Ed. Ava Chamberlain. 2000.
Vol. 19. Sermons and Discourses, 1734–1738. Ed. M. X. Lesser. 2001.
Vol. 20. The "Miscellanies," 833–1152. Ed. Amy Plantinga Pauw. 2002.
Vol. 21. Writings on the Trinity, Grace, and Faith. Ed. Sang Hyun Lee. 2003.
Vol. 22. Sermons and Discourses, 1739–1742. Ed. Harry S. Stout and Nathan O. Hatch, with Kyle P. Farley. 2003.

Under the general editorship of Perry Miller, the first volume of the Yale University Press edition of the Works of Jonathan Edwards, his Freedom of the Will, appeared in 1957 and was followed two years later by The Religious Affections. After Miller's untimely death in 1963, the work slowed, with volume 3, Original Sin, issued in 1970 and volume 4, devoted to several of Edwards's books that treated the religious revivals subsequently known as the Great Awakening, in 1972. The 1980s saw four volumes appear, including important manuscript material, some of it hitherto unavailable, as well as less widely available works like The History of the Work of Redemption. In the 1990s, under the leadership of Harry S. Stout as general editor and Kenneth Minkema as executive editor, and with the generous support of the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Lilly Foundation, and the Henry F. Luce Foundation, the pace of publication accelerated. As I write in the summer of 2003, 22 volumes have appeared, including three volumes of Edwards's notebook "Miscellanies" and four more of his sermons, from the 1720s through the early 1740s, many of them hitherto unpublished. Each volume contains a rich and lengthy historical introduction and, particularly in the case of volumes that treat manuscript material, sophisticated textual apparatus.

The first volume of the Yale Works that I owned was the Religious Affections, procured for Alan Heimert's seminar in early American literature. I treasured it as my first introduction to Edwards; and after I became editor of Early American Literature, I grew more fond of it, for its bright yellow cover with a facsimile of the book's original title page always reminded me of the long run of EAL that similarly featured bright yellow covers with facsimile title pages or illustrations keyed to the essays therein. (I regret never having asked the late Everett Emerson if he got the idea for that aspect of the journal's design from this source.) I also particularly liked the cover of Original Sin, which featured a snake bent in a circle chasing its tail, prepared by the well-known book designer John O. McCrillis. When one day in the early 1970s I met him at Old Sturbridge Village, I asked him to send me an autographed copy of the jacket, and he kindly obliged. Beginning [End Page 148] with volume 8, however, the edition has used a standard design in blue with a portrait of Edwards prominently featured...

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