Editing George Fox (section)

==Works==
===''Book of Miracles''===
George Fox performed hundreds of healings throughout his preaching ministry, the records of which were collected in a notable but now lost book titled ''Book of Miracles''. This book was listed in the catalogue of George Fox's work maintained by the Library of the Society of Friends at Friends House, London. In 1932, Henry Cadbury found a reference to ''Book of Miracles'' in the catalogue, which included the beginning and ending of each account of a miraculous cure. The book was then reconstructed based on this resource and journal accounts. According to Rufus M. Jones, the Book of Miracles "makes it possible for us to follow George Fox as he went about his seventeenth-century world, not only preaching his fresh messages of life and power, but as a remarkable healer of disease with the undoubted reputation of miracle-worker." The ''Book of Miracles'' was deliberately suppressed in favour of printing Fox's ''Journal'' and other writings.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cadbury|first=Henry J.|title=George Fox's 'Book of Miracles'|publisher=Quakers Uniting in Publications|year=2000|pages=v}}</ref>

A sample from ''Book of Miracles'': "And a young woman her mother&nbsp;... had made her well. And another young woman was&nbsp;... small pox&nbsp;... of God was made well."<ref>{{Cite book |title=George Fox's 'Book of Miracles' |isbn=1-888305-16-9 |pages=102|last1=Fox |first1=George |year=2000 |publisher=Friends General Conference }}</ref>

===Journal===
Fox's journal was first published in 1694, after editing by [[Thomas Ellwood]] – a friend and associate of [[John Milton]] – with a preface by [[William Penn]]. Like most similar works of its time the journal was not written contemporaneously to the events it describes, but rather compiled many years later, much of it dictated. Parts of the journal were not in fact by Fox at all, but constructed by its editors from diverse sources and written as if by him.<ref>See for example, Nickalls, pp. 536, 580 and 594.</ref> The dissent within the movement and the contributions of others to the development of Quakerism are largely excluded from the narrative. Fox portrays himself as always in the right and always vindicated by God's interventions on his behalf.<ref name=ingle/> As a religious autobiography, [[Rufus Jones (writer)|Rufus Jones]] compared it to such works as [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine's]] ''[[Confessions (St. Augustine)|Confessions]]'' and [[John Bunyan]]'s ''[[Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners]]''. It is, though, an intensely personal work with little dramatic power that only succeeds in appealing to readers after substantial editing. Historians have used it as a primary source because of its wealth of detail on ordinary life in the 17th century, and the many towns and villages which Fox visited.<ref>[[Rufus Jones (writer)|Jones, Rufus M.]] (1908) "Preface" in Jones's version of Fox's journal.</ref> A notable edition was published in 1852 by Quaker abolitionist [[Wilson Armistead]] annotated with historical and biographical footnotes<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The Journal of George Fox {{!}} Friends Library |url=https://www.friendslibrary.com/george-fox/journal |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=friendslibrary.com}}</ref> which, according to Armistead, "must materially increase its interest".<ref name=":0" />
===Epistles===
Hundreds of Fox's letters – mostly intended for wide circulation, along with a few private communications – were also published. Written from the 1650s onwards, with such titles as ''Friends, seek the peace of all men'' or ''To Friends, to know one another in the light'', they give enormous insight into the detail of Fox's beliefs and show his determination to spread them. These writings, in the words of [[Henry Cadbury]], Professor of Divinity at [[Harvard University]] and a prominent Quaker, "contain a few fresh phrases of his own, [but] are generally characterized by an excess of scriptural language and today they seem dull and repetitious".<ref>Cadbury, Henry J. (1967), "Fox, George". ''Collier's Encyclopedia''. Crowell Collier and Macmillan, Inc. Vol. 10, p. 243.</ref> Others point out that "Fox's sermons, rich in biblical metaphor and common speech, brought hope in a dark time."<ref>George Fox University (19 March 2008). [http://www.georgefox.edu/about/georgefox/leadership.html "Spiritual Leadership of George Fox"]. Retrieved 12 May 2008.</ref> Fox's aphorisms found an audience beyond the Quakers, with many other church groups using them to illustrate principles of Christianity.

Fox is described by Ellwood as "graceful in countenance, manly in personage, grave in gesture, courteous in conversation". Penn says he was "civil beyond all forms of breeding". We are told that he was "plain and powerful in preaching, fervent in prayer", "a discerner of other men's spirits, and very much master of his own", skilful to "speak a word in due season to the conditions and capacities of most, especially to them that were weary, and wanted soul's rest"; "valiant in asserting the truth, bold in defending it, patient in suffering for it, immovable as a rock".<ref>1694 Journal front matter</ref>