Anne Steele (1717-1778) was one of the most well-known and best-loved hymn riters of the 18h century, and her hymns remained exceedingly popular until late in the 19h century, being reprinted regularly in hymnbooks througout Britain and North America. She was the first major woman hymn writer as well as the most popular Baptist hymn writer in the history of the church. Despite this, she has been largely neglected as a subject of academic enquiry until now. This book aims to elucidate Steele's sprituality and to clarify her unique contribution to 18th-century hymnody. It takes an interdisciplinary approach, setting Steele's literary, and historical contexts, and providing comparison to other 18th-century figures. It uses archival sources to reconstruct her life and work, offers a close reading of her verse, and concludes that Steele made a significant and as yet underrated contribution to 18th-century devotional expression.
