English Recusant Literature, 1558-1640

The English Recusant Literature series, published by the Scolar Press between 1968 and 1978, was a monumental scholarly project intended to preserve rare Catholic texts produced in England between the accession of Elizabeth I and the outbreak of the Civil War. Edited and curated by David McGregor Rogers, the series consists of over 600 facsimile volumes of works written by English Catholics who refused to conform to the state-mandated Anglican Church. These works, often printed in secret or on the continent to avoid censorship and persecution, were historically fragile and geographically dispersed.

The editorial intent behind the collection was to make these primary source materials accessible to a global academic audience, providing scholars with exact photographic reproductions of original manuscripts and early printed books. By gathering these disparate, often contraband publications into a systematic series, Rogers and the Scolar Press provided a vital resource for studying the theological, political, and social dynamics of religious minority life in early modern England. The series is widely regarded by bibliographers and historians as a cornerstone of Reformation-era research.