Description: “Voracious Auditor,” Grieving Sermon, 9 pages. Joshua Moodey (minister) on Jer 5:3-4 Source: [Anonymous,“Voracious auditor”]. Sermons: manuscript, 1689. MS Am 974. Houghton Library, Harvard University. Status: Primary transcription complete. Needs review. . Click here to view side-by-side transcription: Side-by-side … Continue reading
Category Archives: Sermon Notebooks Online
Harvard college student John Chickering did not only keep meticulous notes on individual sermons; he also kept a detailed index of his own notebook. Chickering mastered not only structural and aural auditing but also content auditing, as just a glance … Continue reading
John Chickering kept this meticulous notebook while a student at Harvard College. His training meant that he could paid attention both to structure and to content. Chickering goes beyond most notetakers, however, for the sheer precision of his notes. (We … Continue reading
When I sent the my book off for publication, there was some uncertainty about who exactly this notetaker was. The catalog record at the American Antiquarian Society reads “[Pinch/Pyncheon?, John]. sermon notes; possibly those of John Pinch (1625-??).” Only after … Continue reading
This is not the cover but the outermost remaining page of John Pynchon’s sermon notebook. If it looks familiar, that might be because this is the image that ended up on my book cover. (The cover gets many compliments, by … Continue reading
Inside Michael Metcalfe’s notebook you can see that he recorded different kinds of information at different times. Unlike the outside cover, here Metcalfe also records statements of Doctine. Like Richard Russell (see previous gallery), Metcalfe records in both directions of … Continue reading
Michael Metcalfe’s little handmade notebook offers a great example of how someone might adapt the oblong (steno style) notebook used by Daniel Russell. (See previous gallery.) Thick twine is used to sew the top spine, and there is no cover … Continue reading
Reading 17th-century handwriting can be difficult. Daniel Russell’s handwriting here is quite consistent, even if the shapes of the letters are unfamiliar to the modern reader. In fact, Russell’s notebook contains careful copies of his own sermons, so the handwriting … Continue reading
Although Daniel Russell records copies of his own sermons in this notebook, the style is common for auditor notes. The oblong format (not unlike the modern reporter’s notebook or steno pad) allows the recorder to go all the way to … Continue reading
The inside cover of Daniel Russell’s book shows the sturdy simplicity with which it was constructed. Visible are the two ties that to which the gathered leaves of the text block were sewn and also attached to the boards that … Continue reading