Éditions Ionas is a non-profit publishing house offering french and foreign texts in french and other foreign languages. Whether it be texts that have already been published, or previously unpublished ones, all our books come with new critical material. Often, our exclusive translations are accompanied by the source text, in the form of a bilingual edition. We strive for a certain coherence in our catalogue, and we take utmost care to prepare our books with the highest requirements of objectivity in mind. All the works can be freely downloaded here or on Internet Archive in various formats, and are protected by a Creative Commons Licence Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
Richard Frethorne
These key documents of early american history, testifying to a time when Virginia was still a plantation, are finally available to the francophone reader. Their author was Richard Frethorne, an indentured youth of english origin, born in the outskirts of London, Saint Dunstan in the East.
Richard Frethorne
These key documents of early american history, testifying to a time when Virginia was still a plantation, are finally available to the francophone reader. Their author was Richard Frethorne, an indentured youth of english origin, born in the outskirts of London, Saint Dunstan in the East. During the winter of 1622-1623 he was sent to Virginia, where he wrote four letters (three of them to his parents), collected and ultimately filed in the papers of Nathaniel Rich, shareholder of the Virginia Company. In them he describes hunger, disease and the frequent raids of the natives which were raging across the colony, ravaging servants, planters and company administrators. In his letters he expresses, vehemently and pressingly, his wish to be redeemed and returned to England.
Parallel to the translation, this edition contains the english text collated from the manuscript by Susan Myra Kingsbury, carefully respecting the sometimes queer orthography and syntax of the original. The reader will also find in this book : an editorial note, endnotes, and a postface. The latter succinctly recounts, through contemporary documents, the history of the deportations of english children to Virginia by the London Company, between 1618 and 1623, as well as the events related to the 1623 hunger.
Claude Brousson
Claude Brousson (1647-1698), initially a lawyer, was one of the most important protestant preachers and authors of later 17th century France. Following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, he fought, in his preachings and tracts, through clandestinity, against the royal-catholic repression. On the 4th of November, 1698, he was finally executed in Montpellier, by order of the Intendant of Languedoc, Lamoignon de Bâville.
Claude Brousson
Claude Brousson (1647-1698), initially a lawyer, was one of the most important protestant preachers and authors of later 17th century France. Following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, he fought, in his preachings and tracts, through clandestinity, against the royal-catholic repression. On the 4th of November, 1698, he was finally executed in Montpellier, by order of the Intendant of Languedoc, Lamoignon de Bâville.
Among his various works left to us, the Relation Sommaire is probably the most remarkable. In a style of utmost sobriety, which he calls “evangelic”, he briefly narrates the trajectories of each of the protestant preachers he met, and at the same time, still in the third person, offers an account of his own course. This text, not published since 1694, is undoubtedly one of the most important literary works of the second half of the 17th century in France.
In this edition, the text is followed by an Abrégé de la vie de Monsieur Brousson, letters written during clandestinity (one of which published here for the first time), as well as the Prière Générale des Fidéles persécutez et massacrez en France pour le service de Dieu, a lament for the religious persecuted.
Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) is one of the most prominent theologians in north-American history. Primarily known for his writings relating the 1733-34 Great Awakening in Northampton, he was also the author of many sermons and theological oeuvres about free will, religious affections and signs of conversion, besides many other topics.
Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) is one of the most prominent theologians in north-American history. Primarily known for his writings relating the 1733-34 Great Awakening in Northampton, he was also the author of many sermons and theological oeuvres about free will, religious affections and signs of conversion, besides many other topics.
From his youth, apart from writings of a more scientific inclination, we have various private manuscripts: a Diary, a list of Resolutions, and a portrait of his future wife, Sarah Pierpont ; constituting a set of autobiographical texts written during his younger years. In the first two are sketched the reflexions, doubts, reproaches and mortifications of a spirit thirsting for truth, searching with all his might for what could be the most perfect way of living in conformity with the ministry that was calling him. In the third one is represented an almost mystical intimacy between a woman and her God.
Twenty years later, probably 1740, these first intimate musings will be used in the writing of another text, which could be considered of major interest. Edwards’ Personal Narrative is an autobiographical account, made specifically to relate the operations of divine grace upon its author’s soul. This text belongs to a short-lasting literary genre which flourished between the 17th and 18th century in “puritan” America, a practice which basically consisted in the personal account, oral or written, of one’s decisive religious experiences. If the subject, upon interrogation by the assembly, proved to be effectively and profoundly “reborn”, he was then considered truly converted, a saint for all eternity, authorized to join the ecclesiastical community. An exemplary representation of this rite, controversial at the time and rarely continued, Edward’s Personal Narrative is recognized as one of the most important autobiographical accounts of religious conversion ever written in the english language.
This bilingual edition brings to the public the first french translations of the Diary, the Resolutions, On Sarah Pierpont, and the Personal Narrative.
It includes a preface, a postface and notes, as well as bibliographic and biographic information on the author.
