Synopsis
“The late William C. Braithwaite’s standard history of the early days (to 1660) of the Quaker movement, based largely on the writings of the first Friends. This second edition is prepared by Henry J. Cadbury, with a preface by L. Hugh Doncaster.”
This is an exhaustive account, from the original sources, of the early history of Quakerism, founded in England at the time of the Puritan revolution and the struggle for religious liberty. It is in part an account of its founder, George Fox, son of a weaver and apprentice to a shoemaker, whose learning extended little further than the pages of the Bible, but whose complete possession by this fresh truth transcended limitations of birth, health, education, or occupation. It is also the account of Fox’s disciples: James Naylor, William Dewsbury, Richard Farnsworth, Margaret Fell, and others who carried the word on as the movement gained force – of their conversion, their strength of conviction, and the punishments they were frequently forced to endure by those whom their faith outraged.
Followed by The Second Period of Quakerism, republished in 1961.
