The Secret Textual History of Pamela, Methodist

Abstract

Chapter Three explores how the manuscript practices of early Methodism, and particularly the writing and circulation of familiar and spiritual letters can be mapped onto the discourse culture that brought about the publication of Samuel Richardson’s Pamela and the media storm it engendered. In particular, it focuses on a collection of letters that were sent to Charles Wesley by female converts during the early years of the revival. Analysis of the form, content, and circulation of these types of spiritual letters helps make clear some of the links between the discourse of evangelicalism and the discourse of the early novel, most notably in the shared textual histories and similar protocols of mediation that define early works in each field.