This final volume in The Works of Jonathan Edwards publishes for the first time Edwards’ “Catalogue,” a notebook he kept of books of interest, especially titles he hoped to acquire, and entries from his “Account Book,” a ledger in which he noted books loaned to family, parishioners, and fellow clergy. These two records, along with several shorter documents presented in the volume, illuminate Edwards’ own mental universe while also providing a remarkable window into the wider intellectual and print cultures of the eighteenth-century British Atlantic. An extensive critical introduction places Edwards’ book lists in the contexts that shaped his reading agenda, and the result is the most comprehensive treatment yet of his reading and of the fascinating peculiarities of his time and place.

For the settlers who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, singing psalms in praise of God was a fundamental part of worship. Unsatisfied with existing translations (which they felt put more stake in poetry than piety) the pilgrims elected a panel of 30 clergymen, including well-known ministers Richard Mather, John Eliot, and Thomas Weld, to put together a new translation. In 1640, they produced The Bay Psalm Book-the first book ever published in the American Colonies. The authentic prose remains lyrical and lovely as it carries the Puritans' simple message of God's grace.