Best of
17th-Century

1986

Looking Unto Jesus


Isaac Ambrose - 1986
    The full title of this long-beloved work was "Looking Unto Jesus: The Soul's Eyeing of Jesus as Carrying on the Great Work of Man's Salvation." Its focus on Christ provides a refreshing contrast to some of the more introspective works of other Puritans."Christ alone is the treasury, storehouse, magazine, of the free goodness and mercy of the Godhead," Ambrose exclaims. "In him we are justified, sanctified, saved. He is the way, the truth, and the life; he is honour, riches, beauty, health, peace, and salvation; all the spiritual blessings wherewith we are enriched, are in and by Christ: God hears our prayers by Christ; God forgives our iniquities through Christ; all we have, and all we expect to have, hangs only on Christ; he is the golden hinge, upon which all our salvation turns."

Plymouth Colony: Its History & People, 1620-1691


Eugene Aubrey Stratton - 1986
    It includes a concise history of the colony, both chronologically and topically, and more than 300 biographical sketches of its inhabitants. Richly documented and illustrated with maps and photographs, the three-dimensional Plymouth Colony: Its History & People, 1620-1691 was written for historians and genealogists alike and provides and in-depth view of this important epoch in American history. The researcher will find the verbatim transcriptions of important contemporary documents in the eleven appendices invaluable, and the annotated bibliography clearly describes the abundance of primary and secondary literature on Plymouth Colony. Mr. Stratton's work set a new standard worthy of emulation by all serious scholars.

The Shaping of America: A Geographical Perspective on 500 Years of History, Volume 1: Atlantic America 1492-1800


D.W. Meinig - 1986
    Meinig here focuses on colonial America, examining how an immense diversity of ethnic and religious groups—Europeans, Africans, American Indians—ultimately created a set of distinct regional societies. Richly illustrated with more then forty specially prepared maps and contemporary illustrations, this volume prompts us to rethink the settling of North America. “A standard work in its field. . . . For readers seeking a bird’s-eye view of early American geography. . . there is no better guide available.”—William Cronon, New York Times Book Review “Simply the best book in the English language by a contemporary geographer I have read over the past forty-odd years, and one of the most important. . . . A magisterial achievement, a grand shaking up and reassembling of fact and ideas.”—Wilbur Zelinsky, Journal of Geography “All historians of the American experience should read and come to terms with this book.”—Malcolm J. Rohrbough, Georgia Historical Quarterly “This book is a masterpiece in the best and old sense of the word.”—Alfred W. Crosby, Southwestern Historical Quarterly

The English Housewife


Gervase Markham - 1986
    As a housewife was also responsible for the health and "soundness of body" of her family, he includes advice on the prevention of everything from the plague to baldness and bad breath. No other source from this period provides the same richness of information in such a readable style. Michael Best's introduction and his abundant notes make The English Housewife readily accessible to the contemporary reader.

Patrons, Brokers, and Clients in Seventeenth-Century France


Sharon Kettering - 1986
    During this period, the royal government of Paris gradually extended its sphere of control by taking power away from the powerful and potentially disloyal provincial governors and nobility and instead putting it in the hands of provincial power brokers--regional notables who cooperated with the Paris ministers in exchange for their patronage. The new alliances between the Crown's ministers and loyal provincial elites functioned as political machines on behalf of the Crown, leading to smoother regional-national cooperation and foreshadowing the bureaucratic state that was to follow.

Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book


Hilary Spurling - 1986
    'Hilary Spurling has done brilliantly ...Being both a scholar and a cook seems to be a rare combination than one might have expected' - Jane Grigson. 'Few cookery books are as important or as fascinating as this ...(Hilary Spurling's) scholarly and practical skills combined make the book much more than an antiquarian curiosity. It is a cookery book to use' - Victoria Glendinning, "The Times".'Hilary Spurling's research into Lady Fettiplace's family and background is stunning. She and her household do really come to life ...Hilary Spurling's pinpointing of her precise social standing and that of her intimates and acquaintances, of the kind of lives they led, consequently the kind of food they ate, the way it was prepared, preserved and so on, are all subjects of the greatest interest' - Elizabeth David.

British and American Poets: Chaucer to the Present


Walter Jackson Bate - 1986