Edward Caswall

Satirist, humorist, Church of England vicar, and convert to Roman
Catholicism, Edward Caswall (1814-1878) was one of the nineteenth
century's most important hymnologists - posterity is indebted to him
for both his original and translated hymns, including 'See, amid the
winter's snow', 'Jesu, the very thought of thee', and 'At the Cross'. He
was, moreover, the faithful financial and administrative mainstay of
Newman's Oratory in Birmingham from the time of his conversion in
1847 until his death some thirty years later.
This new biography of Edward Caswall is the first systematic investigation
of the life and work of a man whose spiritual journey, from
Anglicanism via Tractarianism to Roman Catholicism, exemplifies the
personal and theological dilemmas experienced by many during that
era. Based on extensive archival research, it will be welcomed by
readers interested in Newman, nineteenth-century hymnody and
poetry, and Victorian history.
An important contribution to Newman studies.
GERARD TRACEY, late archivist of the Birmingham Oratory
Nancy de Flon steers the reader through the fascinating family background
and Oxford years of her subject and does much to explain Caswall's own
distinctive path to Rome before treating his fruitful Oratorian years . . . the
particular strength of de Flon's study, however, is the extent to which she
focuses on and draws out Caswall's outstanding literary, poetical, and
devotional genius. PETER NOCKLES
Nancy de Flon earned her Ph.D. in Church History from Union
Theological Seminary in New York. Now an editor for Paulist Press,
Nancy de Flon was formerly Visiting Professor of Church History at
Union Seminary and Adjunct Professor of Church History at Long
Island's Immaculate Conception Seminary. She has also taught at the
Centre for Marian Studies at Lampeter in mid-Wales.