14 Advisor Reviews / The Charleston Advisor / October 2020 www.charlestonco.com
ADVISOR REVIEWS—STANDARD REVIEW
American Sermons, Series 1 & 2, 1652–1819 doi:10.5260/chara.22.2.14
Date of Review: September 9, 2020
Composite Score: HHHH 1/3 Reviewed by: Robert H. Ellison Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia
<ellisonr@marshall.edu>
Larry Sheret Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia
<sheret@marshall.edu>
Abstract American Sermons is one of the latest offerings from Readex, which describes itself as a publisher of “many of the most widely used collections of primary source research materials in academic libraries” (<https://www.readex.com/who-we-are-what-we-do>). This database contains over 8,000 sermons and tools to analyze quickly across multiple original source documents. There are a handful of other sermon indexes and full-text databases, both Open Access and subscription-based; this product offers several robust and unique features that help to set it apart from others of its kind.
Pricing Options Readex states that American Sermons, 1652-1819, is available to institutions of all kinds via a range of purchase models. Pricing is based on multiple factors. Purchase models include perpetual license, rentto-own, and subscription. Contact a Readex representative for pricing by calling 800.762.8182 or e-mail <sales@readex.com>.
Product Overview/Description The company states that this collection—nearly 8,000 works in all— contains “nearly every printed work, including sermons on politics, society, religion, and family life” (<https://www.readex.com/content/ american-sermons-series-1-2-1652-1819>). The database includes every sermon digitized from the authoritative bibliographies by Evans and Shaw-Shoemaker, as well as every additional sermon digitized from the holdings of the American Antiquarian Society, the Library Company of Philadelphia, and many other institutions.
FIGURE 1 American Sermons Home Page
This scope represents a broad definition of the term “American sermons.” The database includes all sermons printed in America, regardless of where they were actually delivered. There are sermons by preachers who spent most or all of their careers in America; by figures such as George Whitefield, who lived elsewhere but spent some time visiting the United States; and even sermons originally preached outside America but re-preached from an American pulpit by a second party. A range of faith traditions is represented as well. The majority of the sermons in the database—some 85% to 90%—are by Protestant preachers: Baptists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Quakers, Unitarians, Universalists, and others. There are no Islamic sermons, but Roman Catholic and Jewish discourses are also included. A few manuscripts are in French or German.
User Interface/Navigation/Searching American Sermons is divided into two parts: Series 1, covering the years 1652-1795, and Series 2, spanning from 1796 to 1819. The parts can be searched separately or as a unit. The collection’s home page presents users with several options. They can consult “How to use this database” for a helpful overview of its scope and features, begin a search of their own, or use an innovative feature called Suggested Searches (see Figure 1). The menu has 15 categories, and each is subdivided. It is a very useful feature, especially for the novice, because it presents a quick orientation to the topics, events, and individuals that are available in the archive. A few of the main categories are Bible; The Church and Its Mission; Historical Events; Indian and White Relations; Politics; Slavery and Abolition; and Women and Children. Each subject category is subdi-
