Keeping the Ancient Way

Robert Wilcher is an Honorary Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon. Prior to his retirement, he was Reader in Early Modern Studies in the English department at the University of Birmingham. He is one of the editors of the three-volume 'Works of Henry Vaughan', published in 2018.

• IntroductionPart One: Biographical and Historical Contexts1. Henry Vaughan and Breconshire 2. Henry Vaughan and Thomas Vaughan 3. Henry Vaughan and the Civil Wars 4. Henry Vaughan and the Interregnum 5. Henry Vaughan and the Church Part Two: Literary Practices6. Henry Vaughan and the Art of Allusion 7. Henry Vaughan and George Herbert 8. Henry Vaughan and the Scriptures 9. Henry Vaughan and the Book of Nature 10. Henry Vaughan and the Practice of PoetryEpilogue

'Keeping the Ancient Way is the first book-length study of Henry Vaughan in nearly two decades and will take its place among the finest studies of the poet. [...] The book’s strength is its focus on biography and intellectual and political history in the first part and poetic craftsmanship in the second. This context provides the framework for critical readings that will be of interest to specialists in the literature and history of the Civil War and Interregnum and will be invaluable to students of Henry and Thomas Vaughan alike. Keeping the Ancient Way is a great achievement.'Donald R. Dickson, Seventeenth-Century News