The University Press of New England
So Dreadfull a
Judgment: Puritan Responses to King Philip’s War,
1676—1677
Richard Slotkin and James K. Folsom, editors
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A classic collection of materials on King Philip’s
War.
For the newly established New England colonies, the war with the
Indians of 1675—77 was a catastrophe that pushed the
settlements perilously close to worldly
ruin. Moreover, it seemed to call into question the religious
mission and spiritual status of a group that considered itself a
Chosen People, carrying out a divinely
inspired “errand into the wilderness.” Seven texts
reprinted here reveal efforts of Puritan writers to make sense of
King Philip’s War. Largely unavailable since the
19th century, they represent the various divisions of Puritan
society and literary forms typical of Puritan writing, from which
emerged some of the most vital genres
of American popular writing. Thoroughly annotated, the book
contains a general introduction and introductions to each text.
“A major and permanent contribution to the study of American
culture, equally valuable for the fullness of its selections and
for the
incisive, comprehensive, and enormously suggestive commentaries
by the editors.”
—Sacvan Bercovitch
“The editorial apparatus in its entirety becomes a masterful
essay in cultural studies. I dare say that no other Puritan texts
have been
edited in so interesting a manner . . . This is a splendid book,
a whole that is greater than its parts.”
—David D. Hall, Catholic Historical Review
RICHARD SLOTKIN is Olin Professor of English at Wesleyan
University. He wrote two books originally published by Wesleyan:
Regeneration through Violence (1973), winner of the American
Historical Association’s Beveridge Award, and The Fatal
Environment (1985), which won the Little Big Horn Association
Award. He also wrote Gunfighter Nation (1992) and three
historical novels.
JAMES K. FOLSOM was Professor of English at University of
Colorado, Boulder, and author of The Western (1979), Timothy
Flint (1965), and Man’s Accidents and God’s Purposes
(1963).
Wesleyan University Press /
University Press of New England
October 1999
501 pp. 7 facsimiles. 3 figs. Map. 6 x 9"
Paper, 0-8195-6058-8. $24.95s
Connecticut Historical
Collections
John Warner Barber
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Containing a General Collection of Interesting Facts,
Traditions, Biographical Sketches, Anecdotes, etc. Relating to
the History and Antiquities of Every Town in Connecticut with
Geographical Descriptions
John Warner Barber, an amateur historian, engraver, and printer,
traveled around Connecticut sketching town greens, hotels,
schools, churches, and harbors. He also collected local history
and immersed himself in the works of such noted historians as Dr.
Trumbull. From these labors he produced Connecticut Historical
Collections, a book of fine wood engravings and lively history.
In its first year, 1837, it sold 7000 copies. Reissued later, it
again sold well.
Today, though his wood engravings are well known, few copies of
the book remain. Antique dealers unfortunately do a brisk
business selling the woodcuts from volumes they have
"broken," and many a Connecticut citizen has
unwittingly hung one of these charming pictures on a wall without
realizing that in the process, an important book was cut up and
destroyed. Now readers can again enjoy Barber's beautiful
engravings as well as his delightfully entertaining history of
the towns then in existence.
Distributed for Bibliopola Press
June 1998
584 pp. 200 engravings. 6 x 9"
Paper, 0-939883-05-8. $24.95
New England History
October 2, 2000