The book of martyrs – john fox 1760

Description

Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (full original title: Actes and Monuments of These Latter and Perillous Dayes) is a famous Protestant martyrology by English historian and clergyman John Foxe (also spelled Fox, 1516–1587). First published in Latin in 1554 and in English in 1563, it documents the persecution and deaths of Christian martyrs, with a strong focus on Protestant sufferers under Catholic rulers, especially Queen Mary I (“Bloody Mary”) in England.

It became hugely influential in shaping anti-Catholic sentiment in England and was often placed in churches for public reading. The book is graphic, polemical, and illustrated in many editions with engravings of executions and tortures.

The 1760 Edition

The 1760 London edition (sometimes dated 1760/1761) published by John Fuller:

• Title: The Book of Martyrs, Containing an Account of the Sufferings and Death of the Protestants in the Reign of Queen Mary the First…
• Editor: Revised and corrected by the Rev. Martin Madan (a Calvinistic Methodist preacher), with a recommendatory preface by him. He modernized the language for 18th-century readers and added reflections.
• Format: Thick folio, often illustrated with an engraved title page, frontispiece, and around 54 full-page copper engravings depicting martyrdoms (especially under Mary I and the Spanish Inquisition).
• This was one of several 18th-century reprints/abridgements that kept the work popular.

A later expanded version is Paul Wright’s The New and Complete Book of Martyrs (1784 and later), which updated it further.

Content Overview

The book covers:

• Early Christian martyrs (from the Apostles onward, including the Ten Primitive Persecutions under Roman emperors).
• Medieval and Reformation-era figures (e.g., John Wycliffe, Jan Hus).
• Detailed accounts of English Protestant martyrs under Mary I (1553–1558), such as bishops Latimer, Ridley, and Cranmer.
• Sufferings under the Inquisition and other persecutions.

It emphasizes themes of faith, courage, and Protestant resistance. Many editions are abridged; full versions are very long (hundreds to thousands of pages in original folio form).