Description
Book SynopsisOne of the most significant British foreign missionaries of the nineteenth century, Henry Martyn (1781-1812) is a central figure in the history of the East India Company. Henry Martyn (1781-1812) was one of the most significant British foreign missionaries of the nineteenth century. An Anglican Evangelical, active in India and Persia, he translated the New Testament into Urdu and Persian, pioneeredengagement between Protestant Christianity and Islam, and inspired a generation of British and American evangelical missionary efforts. He is a central figure for the history of the East India Company and its relationship to themissionary movement. This book provides a fully annotated transcription of all Martyn's surviving 327 letters, together with a very substantial introduction covering Martyn's biography, missiology and churchmanship, circle of correspondents, philological contribution, and experience in India and Persia. The letters themselves are rich in detail about East India Company governance in India and the importance of the religious issue at the highest levels. Thebook will be of great interest to historians of India and the East India Company, historians of Anglo-Persian relations and of Evangelical Anglicanism and the broader Protestant missionary movement, and those interested in the emergence and shape of modern Christian-Islamic discourse. SCOTT D. AYLER spent 24 years as an English-language instructor in the Middle East and South Asia, most recently at the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. He completed his doctorate in History at the University of Wales, Lampeter.
Trade ReviewThe volume is well- presented and, importantly, well arranged and thoroughly annotated. This is a work of scholarly perseverance and acumen that is a gift to scholars of Martyn's life, but will also provide deepened insight into the context of Anglican chaplaincy and mission in the early Nineteenth century. * RELIGIOUS STUDIES REVIEW *
This excellent volume provides new insights into Martyn and directly complements the chapter on the East India Company in Gareth Atkin's recent volume from the same publisher, Converting Britannia: Evangelicals and British Public Life, 1770-1840 (Suffolk Boydell, 2019). * ANGLICAN AND EPISCOPAL HISTORY *
Table of ContentsIntroduction Text and Annotations List of Abbreviations Glossary of Non-English Terms Letter Recipients Preparation and Journey (Letters 1-67) Calcutta and Early Ministry at Dinapore (Letters 68-135) Dinapore with Sabat (Letters 136-222) Cawnpore (Letters 223-292) Departure from India and Residence in Persia (Letters 293-327) Manuscript Source Locations Cited in Notes Bibliography
