BUNYAN'S BOOKS

The Library section of the Museum is noted for the number of copies of Bunyan's works that it holds. During his lifetime Bunyan wrote some 60 books, the most famous of which is The Pilgrim's Progress. The first part was published in 1678 and the second in 1685. The book has been translated and published throughout the world. Many missionaries have been responsible for its translation and eventual publication by their Societies. It is now said to have been translated into over 200 different languages and dialects, more than any other book apart from the Bible. The Museum has a collection of the book in some 170 different languages. There is also a Braille edition in the collection.

SYNOPSIS OF THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS

The Pilgrim's Progress is the world's most famous allegory of the Christian life. An allegory is a tale in which the characters and happenings have a hidden meaning. It tells the story of the journey through this world to the world to come, and describes the difficulties, dangers - and encouragement - encountered along the way by the men and women of faith. The discerning reader finds it as relevant today as it was when first published.

The allegory takes the form of a dream by the author. In this he sees the hero Christian with a burden on his back reading a book, from which he learns that the city in which he and his family live will be burned with fire. On the advice of Evangelist, Christian flees from the City of Destruction, full of the worldly and irreligious, having failed to persuade his wife and children to accompany him. Part I describes his pilgrimage going towards the Wicket Gate which opens on to the straight narrow path which will lead him in the end to heaven, the Celestial City. It is not long before Christian encounters difficulties going through the miry Slough of Despond and only just manages to struggle out with the aid of a man called Help. Happier times are spent receiving guidance at the Interpreter's House and rest at the House Beautiful, where the maidens Discretion, Prudence, Piety and Charity entertain Christian and lay him to sleep in a room called Peace. He continues on through the Valley of Humiliation, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Vanity Fair where he narrowly escapes death, Doubting Castle, the Delectable Mountains with gardens and orchards, vineyards and fountains from which the pilgrim can see the country of Beulah and the Celestial City. On the way he encounters various allegorical characters among them Mr Worldly Wiseman (who sounds so convincing but is trying to persuade the pilgrim to stray), Faithful (who accompanies Christian on his way but is put to death in Vanity Fair), Hopeful (who next joins Christian), Giant Despair (who captures him and locks him up in the stronghold of Doubting Castle), the foul fiend Apollyon (who breathes fire, has dragon's wings and a mouth like a lion), and many others.

Part II relates how Christian's wife Christiana, moved by a vision, sets out with her children on the same pilgrimage, accompanied by her neighbour Mercy, despite the objections of Mrs Timorous and others. They are escorted by Great-heart, who overcomes Giant Despair and other monsters and brings them to their destination. Other pilgrims they meet are old Mr Honest, Mr Despondency and his daughter Much-Afraid, Mr Standfast and Mr Valiant-for-Truth.

The work is remarkable for the beauty and simplicity of its language (Bunyan was greatly influenced by the English of the Bible, as well as being a master of the colloquial English of his own time). He also had a striking ability to name and describe characters who seem as relevant today as in Bunyan's time. He used the landscape of a journey of his own time - hills and valleys, bogs, muddy roads, encounters with robbers and travelling showmen, the busy doings of fairground and market day - and turned them into an exciting story.

BOOKS THAT INFLUENCED BUNYAN

Returning to Bunyan's early life, there are three small books in the Museum of great interest, because of their profound effect on Bunyan's life. One is entitled Mr Bolton's Last and Learned Works of the Four Last Things - Death Judgment, Hell and Heaven. It was this book that radically changed John Gifford, the church's first minister. Gifford had been a major in the Royalist Army, and when he came to Bedford he was noted for his dissolute ways of life - a gambler and drunkard and blasphemer. This book led to his change of heart. Since Gifford in turn was the main cause of Bunyan's conversion, the significance of Mr Bolton's book cannot be over-emphasised. The two other books are of equal importance. When Bunyan married his first wife she brought with her two books her father had left her when he died - The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven by Arthur Dent, and The Practice of Piety by Lewis Bayly. Bunyan tells us that on winter evenings he and his wife sat together reading these books by the firelight, and they awakened in him the first stirrings of desire to reform his life.

BUNYAN'S OTHER WORKS

Bunyan emerged from this religious crisis with a resolve to convert others and in 1653 joined John Gifford's church in Bedford. It was there that he came into contact with the Quakers against whom he published his first writings, Some Gospel Truths Opened (1656) and A Vindication (1657). In November 1660 he was arrested while preaching in the fields, and because of his refusal to stop preaching he spent the next twelve years in prison. During the first half of this period he wrote nine books, and among them were The Holy City, or the New Jerusalem (1665), inspired by a passage in the book of Revelation, and his most well-known book of this period, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666), his spiritual autobiography. This book concentrated on the development of his inner religious feelings and describes his religious crisis of 1648. It was in the second half of this period that Bunyan began The Pilgrim's Progress mentioned earlier. His other works include A Confession of my Faith, and a Reason of my Practice (1672), The Life and Death of Mr Badman (1680) an allegory which takes the form of a dialogue in which Mr Wiseman relates the life of the recently deceased Mr Badman and upon which Mr Attentive comments, and The Holy War (1682).

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Bedford Borough Council

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