The Parker Society was the London-based Anglican society that printed in fifty-four volumes the works of the leading English Reformers of the sixteenth century. It was formed in 1840 and disbanded in 1855 when its work was completed. Named after Matthew Parker--the first Elizabethan Archbishop of Canterbury, who was known as a great collector of books--the stimulus for the foundation of the society was provided by the Tractarian movement, led by John Henry Newman and Edward B. Pusey. Some members of this movement spoke disparagingly of the English Reformation, and so some members of the Church of England felt the need to make available in an attractive form the works of the leaders of that Reformation.

The English religious martyr JOHN BRADFORD (1510-1555) was an Anglican who spent the last several years of his life in the Tower of London, imprisoned by the newly ascended Catholic queen Mary Tudor. Bradford spent his years in the Tower, before he was burned at the stake as a heretic, sharing his thoughts on God with anyone who would read them. In Volume II of Bradford's collected writings-some composed before his incarceration, and some during-discover his letters, treatises, and other assorted works, including: . treatise on the old man and the now . treatise on the flesh and the spirit . declaration concerning religion . letter to the Queen and Parliament . admonition to lovers of the Gospel . farewell to the city of London . and much more.