Book Traces: Civil War Era Readers and Their Books in Virginia Libraries

"Jeremy Taylor's imagination was truly imperial; and one cannot open his pages without coming into the presence of new and resplendant forms of a fresh opulent creation; of a super abundance indeed of imagery, but so genuine, and the healthy product of such sound and substantial thought, that it resembles beautiful clusters of grapes, whcih we feed upon while we enjoy the beauty that is so varied and rich a growth of gener[???]" [???] pg 26[?] [???]

2.50 L. R. Ga[??lt?] 75 c

June 1867. Taylor was a splendid scholar, a consummate theologian, and a man of wonderful literary genius. Called the Chrysostum of Eng. Theology for his golden eloquence. He has no equal in the whole series of ecclesiastical writers for richness of fancy. Col. Cyc.

The rhythm of his sentences flows like music, and captivates the taste, when his reasoning does not satisfy the judgmnet.

Bis[h?]. Ru[st?] in his funeral sermon on the illustrious divine said of him, "This great prelate had the good-humor of a gentleman, the eloquence of an orator, the fancy of a poet, the acuteness of a schoolman, the profoundness of a philosopher, the wisdom of a chancellor, the sagacity of a prophet the reason of an angel, and the piety of a saint. He had devotion enough for a cloister, learning enough for a university and wit enough for a college of virtuosi; and had his parts and endowments been parcelled out among his poor clergy that he left behind him it would perhaps have made ^one of the best dioceses in the world."