Outward details of the Rev. Edward Taylor's life remain fragmentary, though his writings (unpublished until the twentieth century) have established him among colonial New England's principal poets. His father was William Taylor, a yeoman of Sketchley, Leicestershire. Little is known about Edward Taylor's life in his native country beyond his studying with a nonconformist schoolmaster, teaching briefly, and sailing to Massachusetts Bay in 1668. Like other reform-minded Protestants, he apparently anticipated a brighter future in that Puritan-dominated colony than in Restoration England where ministers were required to follow the 1662 Act of Uniformity. Taylor's admission to Harvard College at a somewhat advanced level suggests that he may have studied at Cambridge University. While still in…
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Citation: D. Eberwein, Jane. "Edward Taylor". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 December 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4325, accessed 23 November 2024.]
