england’s greatest prophetess
SOUTHCOTT, Joanna.
Four works.
London, 1808-1812.
4 vols, 8vo; a few creases, spots and marks, some occasional foxing, but good copies; disbound.
A selection of the prolific output of Joanna Southcott (1750-1814), described by E. P. Thompson as England’s ‘greatest prophetess of all’. Southcott’s millenarian visions began in 1792 when a voice started telling her of future events, from war to famine. As her fame grew in her native Devon and beyond, she began publishing her writings, aged fifty-one, which were both prolific and popular. ‘Between 1801 and 1814, Southcott published some sixty-five pamphlets, totalling almost 5000 pages ... By one conservative estimate, a total of 108,000 copies of her various works were published and circulated from 1801 to 1816, making her one of the most popular writers of her time’ (ODNB). The appeal of her writing lay in its mix of ‘apocalyptic optimism with down-to-earth narratives about everyday life’ (ibid.).
Comprises:
1. An answer to a sermon published and preached by Mr. Smith, on Tuesday evening, March 15, 1808, at Beersheba-Chapel, Prospect-Place, St. George’s Fields. London, W. Marchant, [1808]. pp. 83, [1 (ads)].
2. London, November 7th, 1808. From this publication the readers may discern what is hastening upon the land, as they are daily provoking the Lord to anger, by false doctrine, as well as the crying sins of the nation. London, W. Marchant, [1808]. pp. 48.
3. A true picture of the world, and a looking-glass for all men. London, Galabin & Marchant, [1809]. pp. 48.
4. A caution and instruction to the sealed, that they may know for what they are sealed. February 3d, 1807. Second edition. London, Galabin and Marchant, January 1812. pp. 24.
