This electronic quasi-facsimile edition of Thomas Gataker's Marriage Duties Briefly Couched Togither is the project of a collaborative senior undergraduate seminar at the University of Saskatchewan. The student editors are Lindsay Cochrane, Rea Gosine, Terri McGratten, Jennifer McVittie, and Chris Philips. The web edition was designed and prepared by the supervising editor, Ronald W. Cooley. The edition consists of an annotated transcription of the Huntington Library's copy of the 1620 first (and only) edition (included in the UMI Early English Books Microfilm collection), along with a biographical introduction, a comprehensive bibliography of Gataker's works, and extensive primary and secondary bibliographies on early modern marriage and family life.

The two primary goals for this edition operate in some tension. The first is to provide a readable and accessible text of a valuable resource about early modern marriage and patriarchy. The second is to preserve, as much as possible, the character of the early printed book. Our transcription is very lightly emended. The letters i, j, u, v, and s have been silently modernized, for the convenience of modern readers; printer's abbreviations in the main text have been silently expanded, and printer's catchwords omitted. In other respects, we have attempted to reproduce the information contained on each page of the printed book, subject to the limitations of html markup and some considerations of readability. Graphic presentation of Gataker's copious marginalia has been slightly simplified, though abbreviations that appear in the marginal notes have been retained. Obvious typographical errors are transcribed as printed, with conjectural readings supplied in the notes. The marginalia are particularly difficult to read, owing to the small print, and wear in the outer margins of the pages. The editors wish to thank Professors Michael Cichon, Angela Kalinowski, Frank Klassen, and John Porter for generous assistance with identification and translation of many classical, medieval and patristic sources referred to in Gataker's marginal notes. Unfortunately, the editors found it necessary to omit most of the Greek passages appearing in the marginal notes, since no reliable transcription of the faded Greek characters could be produced, given the time and expertise available. These omissions are indicated in the text. Sources remain unidentified for a number of cryptic citations, and we welcome corrections and contributions of newinformation.

Thomas Gataker's Marriage Duties Briefly Couched Togither was published in 1620, and dedicated to Robert and Dorothy Cooke, Son and Daughter-in-Law of Sir William Cooke, of Highnam Court, Berkeley, Gloucestershire. Gataker had served as a tutor in the Cooke household some twenty years earlier. The author describes the book as the "raw notes of a Sermon" delivered on the occasion of a different wedding, "revised and prepared . . . for the presse" as a tribute to the newlywed couple. In form, the book is clearly derived from a sermon text, proceeding analytically from St Paul's injunction in Colossians 3:18-19, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your Husbands; as it is comely in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives: and bee not bitter to them."

The book is poorly printed, a fact that may lend credence to the dedication's account of its genesis as a belated and perhaps hasty wedding gift. Nevertheless it is ambitiously designed, with generous use of brackets for tree-like presentation of key concepts. Unfortunately, the elaborate textual apparatus, with Biblical citations keyed to italicized letters inserted in the text, and classical sources keyed to asterisks, is inconsistently presented. In parts of the book the key letters are enclosed in parentheses; in other places they are not. Occasionally key letters are omitted or run together with the text, set off only by their italic font. In the latter case the editors have inserted spaces to facilitate reading. Extra space has also been inserted between marginal notes compressed into limited space on the original printed page. Sometimes, lettering of citations begins afresh on a new page; sometimes at the end of the alphabet. The editors have retained the original lettering throughout. Despite obvious faults of presentation, Gataker's Marriage Duties offers rich insight into the patriarchal ideology of the early seventeenth century, and the elaborate foundation of Biblical and Classical learning on which that ideology was built.

Our edition is intended as a resource for students and scholars. We welcome reproduction for educational and research purposes, provided that the work of the editors is appropriately acknowledged.

Ronald W. Cooley, Supervising Editor