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 336 of 454
The Fourth Century · Meditation IV.22
Centuries of Meditations
p. 33622
He generally held, that whosoever would enjoy the happiness of Paradise must put on the charity of Paradise, And that nothing was his Felicity but his Duty. He called his house the house of Paradise: not only because it was the place wherein he enjoyed the whole world, but because it was every one’s house in the whole world. For observing the methods and studying the nature of charity in Paradise, he found that all men would be brothers and sisters throughout the whole world, and evermore love one another as their own selves, though they had never seen each other before. From whence it would proceed that every man approaching him, would be as welcome as an Angel, and the coming of a stranger as delightful as the Sun; all things in his house being as much the foreigner’s as they were his own: Especially if he could infuse any knowledge or grace into him.
Socrates
Reading Centuries of Meditations · The Fourth Century · Meditation IV.22
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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.