John Reynolds (c.1588–c.1655) was an English

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

and writer from

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. He produced a series of violent stories around marriage, adultery and murder, as well as some political writings that caused him to be imprisoned.

Life

Reynolds travelled in France on business, and was probably resident there from 1619. His pamphlets caused him to be extradited from France and imprisoned by

James I of England James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland as James I from the Union of the Crowns, union of the Scottish and Eng ...

in 1624. He married in 1626, again in 1644, and is recorded in 1655 but not later.

Works

Reynolds wrote moral tales, poetry, political pamphlets around the time of the

Spanish match The Spanish match was a proposed marriage between Charles I of England, Prince Charles, the son of James I of England, King James I of Great Britain, and Infante, Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, the daughter of Philip III of Spain. Negotiations too ...

, and also translated works from the French.

Stories

He published in 1621 a first instalment of moralistic but sensational stories; he feigned that these were translations from the French, but in fact they were of his own composition. The collective title of what became a series of publications was ''The Triumphs of God's Revenge against the crying and execrable Sinne of Murther''. Five other similar collections followed the first one, in separate volumes. These tales had a long subsequent publishing history; and in their own period they formed source material for the stage plays '' The Changeling'' and ''

The Maid's Revenge ''The Maid's Revenge'' is an early Caroline era stage the play, the earliest extant tragedy by James Shirley. It was first published in 1639. ''The Maid's Revenge'' was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, o ...

''.From History VII of Book ii: In 1635 the six parts were collected in a single volume, but with each book still having separate titles and dedications. This collection was reissued in 1639 and in 1640 (the 'second edition'). A Dutch translation appeared at Amsterdam in 1667. A later edition, dated 1669 and illustrated by woodcuts, was edited by

Samuel Pordage Samuel Pordage (1633 – c. 1691) was a 17th-century English poet. He is best known by his '' Azaria and Hushai'' (1682), a reply to John Dryden's ''Absalom and Achitophel''. Life Samuel was the eldest son of John Pordage, a clergyman from Bradfi ...

, who dedicated it to Lord Shaftesbury, and added an unpublished piece assigned to Reynolds, ''God's Revenge against the abominable Sin of Adultery, containing ten several Histories''; further editions appeared in 1708 and 1779

Poetry

''Dolarnys Primrose'' was an early work, published in 1606. In 1650 Reynolds published an imitation of the ''

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

'', with interspersed verse, entitled ''The Flower of Fidelitie: displaying, in a continuate historie, the various adventures of three foreign princes'' (London, 1650); a seventh edition, with alterations, bore the alternative title of the ''Garden of Love'' (London, 1721). Reynolds dedicated his romance, which may also have been written in early life, to William Waltham, his father-in-law. He is credited with another poem that remained unpublished, entitled ''Love's Laurel Garland''.

Political pamphlets

''Vox coeli'' and ''Votivae Angliae'' (around 1624, and often attributed to

Thomas Scott Thomas Scott may refer to: Australia * Thomas Hobbes Scott (1783–1860), Anglican clergyman and first Archdeacon of New South Wales * Thomas Scott (Australian politician) (1865–1946), member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Thomas Sco ...

) concern respectively the Spanish match and the politics of the

Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...

, bound up with the outbreak of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

Translations

Reynolds also translated works by French authors: *''A Treatise of the Court'' (1622), from the French of

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, dedicated to

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

; *''The Judgment of Humane Actions'' (1629), from the French of Leonard Marrauld; *''The Divine Pourtrait'' (1631), from the French of Jean Mestrezat.

References

* (As subarticle.)