The Revd. Richard Graves, A.M.
1992/338
1750-1800 / Engraving / God & Faith / Paper / Print
Engraving on paper
Late 1700s
Richard Graves (1715-1804) was an English cleric, and a writer and poet.
Graves went to Oxford around the same time (1732) as the Wesley brothers and George Whitefield. There, he spent time with members of the Holy Club but was not convinced by their efforts and his association with early Methodism wasn't lasting. Later, he studied medicine and was ordained as an Anglican cleric. Over his long life, he was appointed to a number of curacies in England, including at Claverton, close to Bath, and he wrote both poetry and prose.
Graves' best-known work is 'The Spiritual Quixote' (1773), a comic romance, in which he satirises John Wesley, George Whitefield and the enthusiasm of the Methodists. The book probably arose out of his own fear of the success of the Methodists, and how they posed a threat to his (Anglican) congregation. 'The Spiritual Quixote' was a popular book and it was published in many editions over the following thirty years.
Late 1700s
Richard Graves (1715-1804) was an English cleric, and a writer and poet.
Graves went to Oxford around the same time (1732) as the Wesley brothers and George Whitefield. There, he spent time with members of the Holy Club but was not convinced by their efforts and his association with early Methodism wasn't lasting. Later, he studied medicine and was ordained as an Anglican cleric. Over his long life, he was appointed to a number of curacies in England, including at Claverton, close to Bath, and he wrote both poetry and prose.
Graves' best-known work is 'The Spiritual Quixote' (1773), a comic romance, in which he satirises John Wesley, George Whitefield and the enthusiasm of the Methodists. The book probably arose out of his own fear of the success of the Methodists, and how they posed a threat to his (Anglican) congregation. 'The Spiritual Quixote' was a popular book and it was published in many editions over the following thirty years.
