Dunn And Yeandle, Eds., The Journal Of John Winthrop, 1630-1649

Abstract

Rather than a collection of daily introspections, John Winthrop consciously wrote his Journal as a history, with entries that sometimes follow a daily course, and others that omit large periods of time. Some occurrences are more fully treated than others, based on the importance accorded them by Winthrop. As a central character in the political events of the Massachusetts Bay colony, he often offered accounts that either defended or justified his position. Nonetheless, the journal does offer an intriguing view of the society of early Massachusetts.

Winthrop's journal often fails to provide a full account of the events it refers to. The fact that this is an abridged edition, representing approximately forty percent of the original journal, undoubtedly magnifies this effect. The reader is aided in contextualizing the material by Dunn and Yeandle's excellent informational footnotes. Most students, unless they possess an intimate knowledge of Puritan New England, would quickly get lost in the plethora of names and places introduced by Winthrop. The notes, however, cannot fix the rather disjointed nature of Winthrop's narrative. The editors' updating of the language has made it fairly user-friendly, but the content tends to jump from one subject to the next, and a number of episodes that Winthrop raises are never satisfactorily concluded. This flaw, of course, belongs to Winthrop, but if one is looking for continuity of narrative, it is difficult to find here.