Introduction

This, the first book to focus solely on Donne's religious writing, also places his work in a literary context and attempts to reach a more realistic assessment of its originality than has been possible hitherto. The prose works that are examined in detail include the controversial treatises Bianthanatos and Pseudo-Martyr, the satirical Ignatius His Conclave, the much-quoted Essays and Devotions and, of course, Donne's sermons.