John Bunyan (1628-1688) British, Complete Works Volume I Published 1860. Illustrations throughout, in great shape for its age. Includes a facsimile of the will of John Bunyan. 

Size: 7 x 10 x 3 in. 

#3098 #6 . 

John Bunyan was born in 1628 in the village of Elstow, England. At the age of sixteen he lost both his mother and sister to plague, before joining the Parliamentary Army at nearby Newport Pagnell during the English Civil War. His army service provided him with a knowledge of military language which he later used in his book “The Holy War,” and also exposed him to various religious sects and radical groups in the more diverse city. After three years he returned to Elstow and became a tinker, like his father. The following year he married, and Bunyan credited this with his religious conversion, as well as exposure to two works critical to his future writing: Arthur Dent’s “Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven” and Lewis Bayly’s “Practice of Piety.” They had four children, the eldest of which, Mary, was born blind, another experience that deeply affected his writing and his spiritual outlook. After a terrifying experience of hearing voices and questioning their origin, he had a chance meeting with the founding members of the Bedford Free Church (also known as Bedford Meeting), and joined the nonconformist group at St. John’s church under John Gifford. Possessing a natural proclamatory gift, Bunyan began to preach, both in the church and to groups of people in the surrounding countryside. In 1656, having by this time moved his family to St. Cuthbert’s Street in Bedford, he published his first book, “Gospel Truths Opened,” which was inspired by a dispute with Ranters and Quakers. Two years later his wife died, and he remarried shortly thereafter, unable to care for his four children on his own. In 1660 the monarchy of England was restored, and the religious freedom that had previously flourished was violently curtailed. Bunyan was arrested and willingly turned himself in, standing trial in 1661. During this time he began writing in earnest, and his refusal to give up preaching after his first sentence of three months led to a new sentence of twelve years. Throughout his time in the Bedford County Gaol, he became a martyr to many other preachers, and wrote two pivotal works, “Grace Abounding” and the first half of “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” a Christian allegory which became an influential literary model to many writers throughout England and earned much support for his cause. It even contributed to King Charles II declaring an Act of Indulgence in 1672, which suspended penal laws for nonconformists and granted Bunyan his freedom. Bunyan devoted himself solely to preaching and writing from that time on, traveling throughout the countryside preaching on horseback to anyone who would listen, earning the nickname “Bishop Bunyan.” In 1674 he was embroiled in a scandal for allowing a woman to ride on his horse with him while he preached, and in 1676, after a plot on his life was uncovered, Charles II withdrew his Act of Indulgence, leading the Bunyan being arrested once more. He completed “The Pilgrim’s Progress” while imprisoned for just six months, and continued to preach on horseback until 1688, when he was caught in a storm and fell ill, dying on August 31st. “The Pilgrim’s Progress” became one of the most published books in the English language, with 1,300 editions printed by 1938 and several editions still in print today. Bunyan is immortalized in numerous statues around Britain, and remembered in the Church of England with a Lesser Festival on August 30th. Authors who have been influenced by Bunyan include C. S. Lewis, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Charles Dickens, and Mark Twain.