Religion and the Book in Early Modern England: The Making of John Foxe's 'Book of Martyrs'

John Foxe's Acts and Monuments - popularly known as the 'Book of Martyrs' - is a milestone in the history of the English book. An essential history of the English Reformation and a seminal product of it, no English printed book before it had been as long or as lavishly illustrated. Examining the research behind the work and also its financing, printing and dissemination, Elizabeth Evenden and Thomas S. Freeman argue that, apart from Foxe's zeal and industry, the book was only made possible by extensive cooperation between its printer, John Day, and the Elizabethan government. Government patronage, rather than market forces, lay behind the book's success and ensured the triumph of a Protestant interpretation of the Reformation for centuries to come. Based on little-used manuscript sources, this book offers a unique insight not only into the 'Book of Martyrs' and the history of the English book, but into English history itself.

Elizabeth Evenden is a lecturer in the Department of English at Brunel University. Her recent publications include Patents, Pictures and Patronage: John Day and the Tudor Book Trade (2008). Thomas S. Freeman is affiliated to the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge and is a Visiting Fellow at Magdalene College. His recent publications include Martyrs and Martyrdom in England, c.1400-1700 (with Thomas F. Mayer, 2007).