The Correspondence of Roger Williams

by Roger Williams

This two-volume set, published in 1988, contains the correspondence of Roger Williams (1603?-1683), edited by historian Glenn W. LaFantasie and revised from an unpublished manuscript edited by Bradford W. Swan. It is based on photocopies of original manuscripts (when available) rather than on previously printed versions. It includes all of Williams's known letters as of the date of publication as well as some letters addressed to Williams. The set includes copious editorial notes regarding the historical background of Williams's correspondence.

974 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Roger Williams (c. 1603 – between January and March 1683) was an English Puritan theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. He was expelled by the Puritan Leaders because they thought he was spreading "new and dangerous ideas", so in 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams was a member of the first Baptist church in America, the First Baptist Church of Providence.

Williams was also a student of Native American languages, an early advocate for fair dealings with Native Americans, and arguably the first abolitionist in North America, having organized the first attempt to prohibit slavery in any of the British American colonies.

Reviews

[Alan Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

These two volumes, edited by Glenn W. LaFantasie and his staff of assistant editors (revised from an unpublished manuscript edited by Bradford F. Swan), constitute the definitive scholarly edition of Roger Williams's correspondence (letters both from and to Williams). Although many of Williams's letters have been lost over the centuries, this edition includes all the letters that were available at the time of its publication in 1988. Additionally, to the extent photocopies of the original letters existed in 1988, the letters reproduced in these volumes were based on those photocopies and not on previously printed versions of the letters. In contrast, volume 6 (Letters of Roger Williams) of the nineteenth-century Narragansett Edition of The Complete Writings of Roger Williams (available today in various reprints) lacked many of the letters reproduced in this edition and was mostly based upon previously printed versions of the letters, some of which were inaccurate. These and other defects of volume 6 of the Narragansett Edition are discussed in pages lxi-lxvii of the first volume of the edition that is the subject of the present review.

The editorial work in this LaFantasie edition is exemplary. Meticulous care was taken to preserve the original spelling, punctuation, and other features of the originals. Excellent editorial front matter, interspersed editorial essays, and editorial notes provide important methodological, bibliographical, and historical information and context. Although I do not agree with all of the editorial interpretations, the overall editorial effort is impressive and commendable. The index (which is more than seventy-five pages) is itself a remarkable achievement that is of considerable use to scholars.

The letters begin in 1629, a couple of years before Williams emigrated from England to New England, and end with a letter written by Williams in Providence (Rhode Island) less than a year before his 1683 death. The many letters between these dates discuss his early life in England (including his association with Sir Edward Coke), his last few months in England, his arrival in Boston, his rejection of a church position in Boston on religious grounds, his temporary residences in Salem and Plymouth, his friendship with Native Americans during this period (including learning the Algonquian language), his disputes with the Massachusetts Bays theocracy regarding separation of church and state and related issues, Massachusetts Bay's order of banishment against Williams, his consequent wandering through the New England wilderness during the winter of 1636, his rescue by Native Americans, his founding of Providence, his diplomacy with the Narragansett tribe before and during the Pequot War (keeping them on the side of the English colonists rather than joining the Pequots), the many governmental challenges facing the Town of Providence and the subsequent colonies of Providence Plantations and Rhode Island, Williams's continuing (and not always successful) efforts to keep peace between American Indians and the English colonists, attempts by other colonies and individuals to take over Providence and Rhode Island territory and subvert Williams's founding commitment to liberty of conscience, Williams's return visits to England during the first English Civil War (1643-44) and later Interregnum (1652-54), his religious debates with Quakers (Friends), and many other episodes during those eventful years.

This work is a significant scholarly achievement. Unfortunately, at the time of the present review, it appears to be out of print. One can only hope that it will return to print and once again be readily accessible to scholars of seventeenth-century New England and Rhode Island.

My book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience frequently cites and quotes from the letters set forth in this edition as well as from other primary-source materials contained in other collections.

(Originally published 4/26/14; as revised 8/20/2015)

[Susan]

This is a tough book to rate. It was fascinating in that it mentioned several people who are direct ancestors of mine. On the other hand, it was quite frustrating to read this from the standpoint of how little people have changed. Despite fleeing the Massachusetts Bay Colony in search of religious freedom and setting up the settlement in Rhode Island to give people the freedoms they were being denied in Massachusetts, the town leaders in Rhode Island still deemed death the appropriate punishment for Quakers. The casualness with which they wrote about prisoners of war being enslaved was infuriating. Politicians and men of wealth and power had only their own interests at heart. It was aggravating reading the lengths they went to cheat natives out of their land, to write faulty contracts, to lie, and to advance their holdings to the detriment of their neighbors. It could have been written about 21st century events rather than things that were happening in 1650, and I just found it depressing.