Abstract
ABSTRACT The past two centuries have witnessed the publication of no fewer than three editions of Oliver Cromwell’s writings and utterances. All have approached the problem of recovering and presenting Cromwell’s words in different ways, reflecting shifting historiographical attitudes, scholarly practices and assumptions about their readerships. The latest edition, published in 2022, meets the needs of modern scholars and students, bringing the reader much closer to the original source material. Yet, it also focuses tightly on records that the editors suggest are repositories of ‘Cromwell’s voice’, omitting many items taken to contain no evidence of authorial intent. This article probes the potential problems latent in isolating an authentic Cromwellian voice in his letters, writings, speeches and conversations. While historians are now accustomed to reading Cromwell’s silences, there is a danger that by fixing and stabilising those texts deemed to contain his voice the edition creates a few silences of its own.
Published Version
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