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 453 of 454
Sources · Part 1
Centuries of Meditations
p. 453Sources
The text. Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations, ed. Bertram Dobell (London, 1908), scan of the University of Toronto copy; Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations, transcription of the 1908 edition, Christian Classics Ethereal Library; Centuries of Meditations, P. J. and A. E. Dobell printing of 1934 (Northrop Frye’s copy); The Poetical Works of Thomas Traherne, ed. Bertram Dobell (London, 1903; issue of 1906).
The manuscript. Bodleian Library, Archives and Manuscripts, catalogue of MS Eng. th. e. 50; Peter Beal et al., Catalogue of English Literary Manuscripts 1450-1700, Thomas Traherne, manuscript entries; CELM, Bodleian Library, MSS Eng. th.; CELM, Bodleian Library, MSS Eng. poet.; CELM, British Library manuscripts; The Oxford Traherne, Traherne’s manuscripts.
Life and discovery. Julia J. Smith, “Traherne, Thomas (c. 1637-1674)”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; Peter Beal, CELM introduction, “Thomas Traherne”; The Oxford Traherne, About Thomas Traherne; Anthony Wood, Athenae Oxonienses, vol. II (1692), EEBO-TCP text; A Serious and Pathetical Contemplation of the Mercies of God (1699), EEBO-TCP text; Roman Forgeries (1673), Oxford Text Archive; Brooke’s account of the discovery of Thomas Traherne’s manuscripts, in The Works of Thomas Traherne IV; Jan Ross (ed.), The Works of Thomas Traherne V; Introduction to The Works of Thomas Traherne V; Thomas Traherne Association, Who was Traherne?; Thomas Traherne Association, Major writings; Thomas Traherne Association, Reading list; Brasenose College Library, Discovering Traherne; Victorian Web, Bertram Dobell and Traherne; Bertram Dobell, Wikipedia; Jeremy Maule, Wikipedia; St Mary with St Alban, Teddington, Thomas Traherne; The Oxford Traherne, volume plan.
Sources and context. Pico della Mirandola, Oratio, Latin text, The Latin Library; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Giovanni Pico della Mirandola”; M. V. Dougherty, Pico in English; John Everard (trans.), The Divine Pymander, the tenth book; Plotinus, Enneads I.6, trans. Stephen MacKenna; Plotinus, Enneads V.8, trans. Stephen MacKenna; Ralph Cudworth, A Sermon Preached before the House of Commons (1647), Cambridge Platonism Sourcebook; John Smith, Select Discourses (1660), Cambridge Platonism Sourcebook; Alexandre Koyré, From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe, chapter VI; Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, chapter 3; Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, chapter 14; René Descartes, Meditations, trans. John Veitch; Augustine, Confessions I, The Latin Library; Augustine, Confessions XIII, The Latin Library; Augustine, City of God XIX, New Advent; Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 38, New Advent; Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job II; Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus III, New Advent; Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae I q.104, New Advent; Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae I-II q.1, New Advent; Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae III q.15, New Advent; Thomas à Kempis, Imitatio Christi III, The Latin Library; Disticha Catonis, The Latin Library; Plutarch, De superstitione, LacusCurtius; Plutarch, Sayings of Kings and Commanders, Attalus; Philippe de Mornay, A Woorke concerning the Trewnesse of the Christian Religion (1587), EEBO; The Thirty-Nine Articles, in Schaff, Creeds of Christendom; The Catechism of the Book of Common Prayer, in Schaff, Creeds of Christendom; The Westminster Shorter Catechism, in Schaff, Creeds of Christendom; Denise Inge, “On Becoming Anglican”, Journal of Anglican Studies 14.1 (2016); John Earle, Microcosmography; Sir Thomas Browne, Religio Medici; Henry Vaughan, “The Retreate”, Representative Poetry Online; William Wordsworth, “Ode: Intimations of Immortality”, Poetry Foundation; Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature, Project Gutenberg; Book of the Twenty-Four Philosophers, Wikipedia; Peter Sterry, Wikipedia; Theophilus Gale, Wikipedia.
Socrates
Reading Centuries of Meditations · Sources · Sources · Part 1
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.