Abraham Fleming's The diamond of deuotion, cut and squared into sixe seuerall points : a documentary edition

Abstract

This is a documentary edition of Abraham Fleming’s 1581 devotional handbook, The Diamond of Deuotion, Cut and squared into sixe seuerall points. Protestant devotional manuals were an important part of the daily religious practices of the literate Elizabethan laity, though their place in literary history often goes ignored in Renaissance studies today. Few, if any, scholarly editions of early modern devotional handbooks have been produced and while general surveys and studies exist, there remains a tremendous amount of work to be done in this field before a thorough view of their significance can be attained. Despite his many contributions to the Elizabethan printing and bookselling industry, Abraham Fleming, too, has received less than his deserved share of critical attention. Featuring "manie fruitfull lessons, auaileable to the leading of a godlie and reformed life," and drawing on a variety of educational and literary devices, The Diamond of Deuotion is demonstrative of some of the most interesting and prevalent social and spiritual forces of the day. I have included in this edition a general introduction, discussing the genre of devotional handbooks in the early modern era, the life and works of Abraham Fleming, and the social and religious context of The Diamond. I have assembled and transcribed a complete text of the 1581 Diamond and have included explanatory annotation to clarify and describe for the modern reader obscure vocabulary and historical events, and, where possible, have documented sources for the material.