GEMMS IDGEMMS-SERMON-017565
Sermon TitleA SWEETE SAVOR, FOR WOMAN
In ManuscriptA SWEETE SAVOR, FOR WOMAN: Egerton MS 1043
Extentff. 28v–66v
Autographyes
Composition Dateca. 1606 - 1606
Primary LanguageEnglish
Text TypeSermon
Sermon Type(s)
Bible TextsColossians 4:5 - 4: 5
Associated Peoplededicatee - Stuart (Anne of Denmark), Annepreacher - Walker, Annascribe - Walker, Anna
Associated Sermons
Preachings (old) - England - New Year's Day;
Additional MaterialThere is a title page (f. 3r); an opening poem (f. 4r); an epistle dedicated ‘To my gratious good quine anna, by the grace of god quine of England, etz’ (ff. 5r–11v); and an epistle addressed ‘To the reader, in ienerall’ (ff. 12r–13v). This additional material is followed by a section entitled ‘from woman to woman’, with running heads. This particular section includes an interpretation of two passages from the Book of Revelations, a watercolour emblem with accompanying verse, and some anti-Catholic poetry (ff. 14r–23r). It is most likely that the illustrations were not executed by the author (see Trill (2002), p. 213 n. 21). After the sermon (ff. 28v–66v), there is a return to the ‘initial subject matter […] the definition of the true church’ (ff. 67r–70r; see Trill (2000), p. 472). Finally, there are three more watercolour emblems, a series of verses, and a request for patronage (ff. 71r–79r).
Print Editions / Witnesses
DescriptionIn 2000, Suzanne Trill argued that this volume contains ‘the first (and only?) attempt by a woman writer to construct a sermon in English in the early seventeenth century’ (p. 471). The author of this manuscript is ‘anna Walker, Daughter off george busch, born in Kopenhagen vpon the holm, in peter munckst house, now ri[e]sch amrall in denmarck’ (f. 79r). Trill notes that Walker’s choice of text puns on her surname. See Suzanne Trill, ‘A Feminist Critic in the Archives: reading Anna Walker’s A Sweete Savor for Woman (c. 1606)’, Women’s Writing, 9.2 (2002), pp. 199–214 for a full analysis of the sermon.
Source of DataSuzanne Trill, ‘The First Sermon in English by a Woman Writer?’, Notes and Queries, 47.4 (2000), pp. 470–73; Suzanne Trill, ‘A Feminist Critic in the Archives: reading Anna Walker’s A Sweete Savor for Woman (c. 1606)’, Women’s Writing, 9.2 (2002), pp. 199–214; Christina Luckyj, '"A Womans Logicke": Puritan women writers and the rejection of education', in The Routledge Companion to Women, Sex, and Gender in the Early British Colonial World, ed. by Kimberly Anne Coles and Eve Keller (Abingdon and New York, NY: Routledge, 2019), pp. 154-169 (pp. 156-159); Hannah Yip.
Other NoteThe sermon is written in a secretary hand, with catchwords at the bottom of every page. There are some marginal annotations. There are also some annotations and underlinings in a different hand. This sermon was most likely intended to be read rather than preached.
GEMMS record createdJune 25, 2019
GEMMS record last editedFebruary 25, 2020