Temple Classics

One of the world’s most celebrated and tragic love affairs. Through the letters between Abelard and Heloise, we follow the path of their 12th-century romance, from its reckless and ecstatic beginnings when Heloise became Abelard’s pupil, through the suffering of public scandal and enforced secret marriage, to their eventual separation.

As well as being two of the most famous prose works of English literature, Jeremy Taylor's 'Holy Living' and 'Holy Dying' are among the greatest examples of Anglican spirituality. This is the first critical and fully annotated edition since the Oxford Movement began, over 150 years ago. The texts are based on the first editions of 1650 and 1651, collated with those editions published during Taylor's lifetime.

A pioneer in the creation of a Christian literature, Prudentius is generally regarded as the greatest of the Christian Latin poets, and his legacy informed the work of future poets, among them George Herbert and John Donne. Prudentius wrote two collections of hymns: the Cathemerinon Liber and the Peristephanon. The former, a collection of twelve songs - in English, "The Daily Round" - is translated here by David Slavitt. Essentially literary in nature, the hymns replaced mythology of the classical mode with stories from the Scriptures and enjoyed immense popularity and success for centuries in the liturgy of the church.