Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · English Edition
Centuries of Meditations
Annotated Edition · With an Introduction, Notes and an Outline.
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English Edition · Branch 242 of 454
The Third Century · Meditation III.28
Centuries of Meditations
p. 24228
Had some Angel brought it miraculously from heaven, and left it at my foot, it had been a present meet for Seraphims. Yet had it been a dream in comparison of the glorious way wherein God prepared it. I must, have spent time in studying it, and with great diligence have read it daily to drink in the precepts and instructions it contained. It had in a narrow, obscure manner come unto me, and all the world had been ignorant of felicity but I. Whereas now there are thousands in the world, of whom I, being a poor child, was ignorant, that in temples, universities, and secret closets; enjoy felicity, whom I saw not in shops, or schools, or trades; whom I found not in streets or at feasts, or taverns, and therefore thought not to be in the world, who enjoy communion with God, and have fellowship with the Angels every day. And these I discerned to be a great help unto me.
Socrates
Reading Centuries of Meditations · The Third Century · Meditation III.28
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Thomas Traherne’s Centuries explore felicity, childhood vision, love, and the soul’s capacity to enjoy the world. This annotated English edition presents all 410 meditations across five Centuries, with an introduction, explanatory notes, an outline, and textual apparatus.
Historical Text
The Centuries survive in Traherne’s manuscript and were first published by Bertram Dobell in London in 1908. The supplied edition follows the corrected Dobell text, with manuscript readings documented in its Note on the Text and Textual Notes. The four complete Centuries contain one hundred meditations each; the unfinished Fifth contains ten.
About This Edition
Diotimos Editions prepared the introduction, explanatory notes, glossary, reading guide, outline, and textual apparatus for this English original. Century and meditation numbers preserve the work’s structure, while verse line breaks, italics, and struck-through manuscript cancellations remain visible. Notes accompany their passages in the reader and Book Mode.
Rights
Thomas Traherne’s historical text and Bertram Dobell’s 1908 printing are in the public domain. The introduction, notes, and apparatus are © 2026 Diotimos Editions. Historical printing and transcription links identify the edition’s copy-text; manuscript corrections and unresolved readings are documented in the supplied editorial apparatus.