In this Book
- The Divorce Tracts of John Milton: Texts and Contexts
- Book
- 2010
- Published by: Duquesne University Press
Van den Berg and Howard also present Milton’s work in the context of his contemporaries by including four other publications that represent the first wave of engagement with Milton’s divorce tracts: the anonymously written An Answer to a Book, intituled, The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (1644); William Prynne’s Twelve Considerable Serious Questions (1644); Herbert Palmer’s The Glasse of God’s Providence (1644); and Daniel Featley’s The Dippers Dipt (1645). The current volume is unique in that it is the first in the field to showcase Milton’s writings on divorce side by side with these related documents, and it provides the first modern transcription of An Answer.
Milton’s argument that divorce could be “to the good of both sexes” makes this often intimidating writer and his era accessible and compelling to contemporary readers. Indeed, his claim for divorce on the basis of mutual incompatibility established the groundwork for the justification of divorce in late twentieth century Anglo-American law. Milton’s rhetorical methods—from cogent advocacy to speculative commentary and poignant vignettes, from citation of authorities and carefully reasoned biblical exegesis to defensive vituperation—demonstrate the range of debate in seventeenth century pamphlet warfare.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- pp. vii-viii
- A Note on the Texts
- pp. ix-xi
- Milton’s Tracts, 1643–45
- The Judgement of Martin Bucer (1644)
- pp. 195-238
- Tetrachordon (1645)
- pp. 239-360
- Colasterion (1645)
- pp. 361-389
- Contemporary Pamphlets, 1644–45
- Daniel Featley, The Dippers Dipt (1645)
- pp. 449-450
- Appendix: A Legacy of Reform, 1643-1973
- pp. 451-452
- Selected Bibliography
- pp. 497-508
- Index [Includes Back Cover]
- pp. 509-513