The Latin Poems of Christian Wedsted : A Moravian in 18th-Century Pennsylvania

An edition, with translation and commentary, of the transatlantic Latin poetry of Christian Wedsted (1727-1757).

Christian Wedsted (1720-1757) was a Moravian missionary, scribe and
translator. Alongside his formal duties, he also composed a significant
amount of Latin poetry. Here presented together for the first time alongside
English translations are the 40 Latin poems that Wedsted composed during
his time with the Moravians in Germany, England and Pennsylvania.
A critical introduction and commentary provide historical, literary and
religious context for Wedsted''s oeuvre, which contains birthday poems,
impassioned religious verses and personal anecdotes about life in colonial
Pennsylvania. At about 1200 lines, the poems make up one of the largest
extant collections of original 18th-century Latin poetry from the Americas.

Wedsted''s poems demonstrate how central Moravian piety was to his
identity. Almost all his poems double as letters, and many are addressed
to important Moravian personalities like Ludwig von Zinzendorf, August
Spangenberg and Matthew Hehl. Wedsted''s poems weave together classical
material and Christian material to create an original and unique project
in colonial America. Many of the poems are experiments in genre that put
ancient models and meters to work in new contexts. Wedsted''s Latin poetry
thus offers readers the chance to witness first-hand a peculiar life lived
during some dramatic moments in Moravian history.