Farewell Sermons

Where can we find the farewell sermons? David Appleby highlights

1. The 77 printed sermons by 50 men mentioned elsewhere

2. The 8 sermons by Moseley preacher Joseph Cooper amalgamated and printed together

3. The valedictory addresses written of in various contemporary diaries and other similar accounts

4. Five sermons in manuscript form. The same hand transcribed sermons by Thomas Ford, Lewis Stucley and Thomas Powel delivered in Exeter. These are preserved in the Rawlinson MS at the Bodleian.

5. Two sermons by Matthew Newcomen given at Dedham that can be found in Dr Williams' Library. The latter was published though in revised form.

The overwhelming majority of printed sermons appeared 1662-1664. At least 19 pamphlets of various sizes circulated (from one or two sermons to Richard Fairclough's 14 sermon series). Compilations soon began to appear as well, first by London men then from elsewhere. At least 16 compilations appeared August 1662-March 1663 some containing as many as 42 sermons. There was at least one translation - into Dutch.

A unique and anonymous East Midlands collection England's Remembrancer was published in 1663. Calamy revealed their names in 1713. Unlike other publications, it contained only farewell sermons.

We must remember that, all told, this is still only a small fraction of the hundreds of farewell sermons preached at the time.