By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Published in 1678 and begun while its author John Bunyan was in prison, The Pilgrim’s Progress is one of the most influential books in the English language. After the Bible (in various English translations), it’s thought to be the biggest-selling book in English: one count, from 1692, just fourteen years after the book’s first publication put the number of copies sold at 100,000: a huge number by seventeenth-century standards.
Fun facts about John Bunyan’s classic book
1. John Bunyan’s most famous book has a claim to being the first English novel. Others have argued that The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), Bunyan’s masterpiece, is less a ‘novel’ and more a religious allegory – which it certainly is. Bunyan the book while imprisoned in Bedford gaol (for preaching without a licence and refusing to attend the Anglican church service).
Fun facts about the Christian writer
1. He was nearly shot in the head while on guard duty one night – but fortunately, another soldier had taken his place. This narrow brush with death helped to convince John Bunyan (1628-88) that he was one of the ‘Elect’ – the chosen few – and to start spreading the word. He most famously did this in The Pilgrim’s Progress, which brings us on to our second John Bunyan fact…
2. His most famous book has a claim to being the first English novel. Others have argued that The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), Bunyan’s masterpiece, is less a ‘novel’ and more a religious allegory – which it certainly is. Bunyan the book while imprisoned in Bedford gaol (for preaching without a licence and refusing to attend the Anglican church service).
The most significant events in the history of books on the 28th of November
1582: William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway pay a £40 bond for their marriage licence.
1628: John Bunyan is born. He wrote much of his defining work, The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678), while imprisoned in Bedford Jail. As well as the famous allegory of The Pilgrim’s Progress – which, as well as arguably being an early English novel, also gave us the name of another classic novel, Vanity Fair – Bunyan also wrote a sort of spiritual memoir, Grace Abounding (1666), and The Life and Death of Mr Badman (1680), a sort of follow-up book to The Pilgrim’s Progress.