Introduction
Elizabeth Bury (née Lawrence), 1644?-1720) kept a spiritual and meditative diary, initially in shorthand, from 1664 until her death. Her original manuscript is not known to survive, but parts of it, from the legible longhand section, were extrapolated, rearranged and edited immediately after her death by her husband, Samuel Bury, in his An account of the life and death of Mrs Elizabeth Bury (London, 1720). He also included various of her other papers, among them her letters of advice on various subjects, none of which is now known to survive.
Peter Beal