The Letter from Prison

Letters from prison testifying to deeply felt ethical principles have a long history, extending from antiquity to the present day. In the early modern era, the rise of printing houses helped turn these letters into a powerful form of political and religious resistance. W. Clark Gilpin’s fascinating book examines how letter writers in England—ranging from archbishops to Quaker women—consolidated the prison letter as a literary form.

Drawing from a large collection of printed prison letters written from the reign of Henry VIII to the closing decades of the seventeenth century, Gilpin explores the genre's many facets within evolving contexts of reformation and revolution. The writers of these letters portrayed the prisoner of conscience as a distinct persona and the prison as a place of redemptive suffering where bearing witness had the power to change society.

The Letter from Prison features a diverse cast of characters and a literary genre that combines drama and inspiration. It is sure to appeal to those interested in early modern England, prison literature, and cultural forms of resistance.

“Thanks to Gilpin, with his rigorous analysis, we follow the path of messages and claims written within prison walls going beyond the prison cell.”—Michaela Valente, Renaissance and Reformation

W. Clark Gilpin is Margaret E. Burton Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is the author of Religion Around Emily Dickinson, also published by Penn State University Press.

Preface

Acknowledgments

1. Witnesses

Part 1: Solidarity

2. Inscribing Communities

3. Farewell

Part 2: Politics

4. The Eyewitness

5. Experiencing Defeat

Part 3: Discipline

6. Transfiguring Space

7. “The Dungeon of Thyself ”

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Download a PDF sample chapter here: Chapter 1

Literary Studies

Medieval and Early Modern Studies

           Early Modern