The Character and Death of Mrs. Hester Ann Rogers - The Author

The Author

The Character and Death is a wholly Methodist work; the author(s), printer, subject matter, and rhetorical context are all products of early Wesleyan Methodism. Thomas Coke, the author, was born in Wales in 1747 and died sixty-seven years later on a voyage to India where he had hoped to fund his own Methodist missions. Before Coke met John Wesley and joined the Methodists in 1777, he had been an Anglican. Coke subsequently became the first bishop of the Methodist Church and the founder of its missions. Coke visited the Americas nine times and wrote many accounts about his trips. Coke’s most memorable works include his Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, A History of the West Indies, and the Life of John Wesley; he also published several volumes of his own sermons.

The Character and Death is the only one of Coke’s books published by the Wesleyan Conference Office. His other books were either published by general printers or other Methodist printers. However, all foreign editions of The Character and Death were published by Methodist printers: for example, in 1813 an edition of the book was published in New York by the Methodist Connection in the United States. The Character and Death appears only to have been printed in small format.