Coleridge's Aids to Reflection was written at a time when new
movements in thought were starting to unsettle belief. It was read with
admiration by early Victorians such as John Sterling, F. D. Maurice, and
Thomas Arnold, contributing to the formation of the Broad Church
Movement, and with respect by members of the High Church Movement,
including John Henry Newman. Coleridge had intended simply to produce a
selection from the writings of the seventeenth-century Archbishop Robert
Leighton with comments of his own, but as he worked at the book he found
the commentary expanding to take in the fruits of his religious thinking
over the years, so that the second, and more important, part of the
volume was totally dominated by his thought. In this, the first major
edition of Aids to Reflection, the intricate story of Coleridge's
changing conception is unfolded by way of an introduction and detailed
notes, the surviving materials for the volume being printed in
appendixes. The introduction also traces the subsequent influence of the
work in England and America; further appendixes include James Marsh's
influential preface to the first American edition, which is reproduced
in full.
Originally published in 1993.
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