Early Preachers Collection
Date range: 1737-1831.
The Early Preachers Collection, which is part of the Methodist Archives, comprises two folio volumes or scrapbooks containing approximately 160 letters and associated papers.
The first volume consists of over 100 letters written mainly to Charles Wesley, while the second is more general in nature.
A wide range of correspondents is represented in the collection. There are papers of important Anglican evangelicals such as George Whitefield and William Grimshaw, as well as letters from preachers and lay people of every social class. The letters illuminate the lives and activities of John and Charles Wesley, and the development of the Methodist Church.
There are also some items relating to early American Methodism and the Episcopalian Church.
The subject range of the collection is extremely wide, as the correspondents write of official as well as personal matters.
Researchers from several different historical disciplines will find the collection valuable.
Finding aids
Catalogue available online via ELGAR.
Location
Using the reading rooms in the John Rylands Library 