Selected Letters: John Donne

Whether sharing his anxieties about writing, consoling bereaved friends, complaining about the meanness of a patron, or defending himself against malicious gossip, John Donne reveals himself in these letters with a directness that can be found nowhere else in his writings. The 95 included letters, dating from the late 1590s until a short time before Donne's death, constitute approximately half of his surviving correspondence and are addressed to a variety of recipients, revealing his role as not only a poet but as a father, son, husband, friend, suitor, courtier, and pastor. Although what the letters reveal is far from edifying, they corroborate the impression created by Donne's better-known writings that he was one of the most remarkable figures the English Renaissance produced.