Sketch of the Life of Rev. Michael Wigglesworth, A. M., Author of the Day of Doom; to Which Is Appended a Fragment of His Autobiography, Some of His Letters, and a Catalogue of His Library

20 pp. Sabin 19034. One of 100 copies. "Michael Wigglesworth (1631 - 1705) was a Puritan minister, physician, and poet whose poem The Day of Doom was a bestseller in early New England. Wigglesworth believed that he was essentially not worthy of believing in God as a result of his depraved humanity. When he underwent a series of nocturnal emissions in his early life, he was thereafter convinced of his damnation. Through his diaries, he recounts his struggle to remain pure and good, despite continually relapsing into what he viewed as man's natural depravity."