"For the first time full authoritative texts of Darwin's are made available, edited according to modern textual editorial principles and practice. Letter-writing was of crucial importance to Darwin's work, not only because his poor health isolated him from direct personal communication with his scientific colleagues but also because the nature of his investigations required communication with naturalists in many fields and in all quarters of the globe. Thus the letters are a mine of information about the work in progress of a creative genius who produced an intellectual revolution." --

In his introduction Michael Hunter draws on these studies to propound a new theory of intellectual change in this key period. Traditionally it has been seen in terms of simple polarisations - modernity against obfuscation, orthodoxy against subversion. Here, it is argued that such polarisations represent influential but idealised extremes, to which thinkers individually responded; scholars must in future have due regard to the balance between ideal types and individual complexities thus revealed.

How did Christians in early modern Western Europe express their sense of community? This book explores the various ways in which religious identities were defined, developed and defended - within both Protestant and Roman Catholic contexts, in England and on the Continent - over a period vital for the history of Christianity. As such it will be of interest not only to historians of religion but also to students of social and cultural history in general.

Includes subject section, name section, and 1968-1970, technical reports.