Revised: 04/20/2024

The goal of the Spirit's Day Version (SDV) of Jane Lead's writings is to assist the modern reader wherever archaic language might prove difficult in reading and understanding these glorious and wonderful mysteries. The paramount ambition was to remain faithful to the text, while preserving this mystical writer's beautiful writing style, as well as the classical flavor of the time period. The SDV is not a paraphrase, thus Jane's beautiful prose and unique terminology remain intact. And since all paragraphs are numbered, topical studies can be performed with ease.

Authentic Books and Texts

All of Jane’s original writings are in the Public Domain and are readily available on microfilm through the public library system. They are also now available on this website as well.  This Editor obtained copies of those microfilms, which were then scanned and converted into text.

The Word of God

Since these writing contain the very words of God the Father, His Virgin-Wisdom, and His Son Jesus Christ, Jane herself believed that they may be considered Scripture. For, Whatever is purely dictated by the Holy Ghost may be called by that name (Eight Worlds 1:22d, SDV). Therefore they are directed to all God’s Children—and should be studied by those seek to press into the First Resurrection—just as the Bible is studied for the teaching and building up of Christ’s Church. As the consummation of all things draws near, an increased interest in these writings is expected, with various versions and commentaries appearing, for the education and edification of Wisdom’s Children.

Fidelity to the Author

Fidelity to God and Jane Lead has been the paramount ambition as these writings were transcribed and edited. The goal was to remain faithful to both, by preserving the accuracy of the text, and therefore maintaining the precise testimony of the Author. Archaic language has been updated, but the message itself is left untouched. The SDV is a revision and not a paraphrase.

Style & Language

Style reveals the personality of the Author. Thus, at times what written had to give way to what was convenient. It was never the intention of the SDV to polish her writings, but rather to assist the modern reader who may find Early Modern English a bit daunting. Therefore archaic pronouns such as thee and thy were replaced with the modern you and your. Verbs such as giveth and taketh were replaced as well. Archaic spellings have also been corrected. Archaic words were replaced only when the context was clear. However this Editor never sought to alter the text in order to improve a meaning or clarify a thought.

Paragraph Division & Numbering

Jane’s paragraphs can easily span several typewritten pages. Therefore they have been broken them down into manageable portions. Her original paragraph divisions remain identifiable and are preceded by the symbol "§." When no chapter divisions were present, they were divided into such, with paragraph numbering throughout. This was done so that passages could be easily identified and cross-referenced. But as this is a work in progress, the paragraph numbers are not yet static, and may change slightly in future revisions. Abbreviated manuscript titles were inserted before each numbered paragraph for easy identification. Wherever possible Mrs. Lead’s original paragraph numbers (if present) were retained.

Sentence Structure & Capitalization

Some lengthy sentences were also broken down. But it lies beyond the level of this Editor’s ability to rearrange Early Modern English sentence structure. Therefore minor changes were made only when it contributed to smoother reading. Early Modern English writers often capitalized common nouns as well as proper nouns, many of which were reduced to lower case. Caps were added to pronouns that have reference to the Deity.

Digitized Original Books

It has been suggested that the lovers of these divine truths might like to also see them as they originally appeared over 300 years ago, in their purest form. And so this website also presents digitized copies of those originals for the benefit of the devout seeker, the diligent student, and the meticulous researcher. They can also be viewed and downloaded at Archive.org.

Also...

Section Headings: When a Table of Contents was provided by the Author, it was placed in the front matter of the manuscript, and also as section headings within the body of the text. The Editor also added SDV subheadings wherever it would  prove helpful in locating passages.

Poetry reveals the writer’s innermost thoughts and feelings, and also reflects the flavor of the time period. Therefore, with the exception of layout, all poetry is left untouched, and remains as it was in the original.

Margin Notes which appeared in the original manuscript were changed to endnotes.

Typos, Omissions, Transpositions, etc.: Since this is a solitary project, it is possible for something to be missed during the transcribing and editing process--in spite of the numerous editing passes. Thankfully some have brought those typos and other errors to the attention of this Editor. The Spirit's Day Version continues to be a work in progress. Therefore it is requested that they not be posted on any website or published in any form whatsoever other than for private, personal study.

Spelling: The U.S. rather than the U.K. spelling of common words was used.

The Name “Spirit’s Day” is from a poem by Jane Lead that appears in The Eight Worlds:

Shake, shake your earthly dust away,
for now it's the Spirit's Day,
that will admit of no delay.

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