SYKES, ARTHUR ASHLEY, 1683 or 4-1756.
Papers, [1730?]-1752.

MANUSCRIPT NUMBER 021

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REPRODUCTION: All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

COPYRIGHT: Information on copyright (literary rights) available from repository.

CITATION: Arthur Ashley Sykes Papers, MSS 021, Archives and Manuscripts Dept., Pitts Theology Library, Emory University. 

Author and theologian Arthur Ashley Sykes was born in London, England about 1684 and educated at St. Paul's School. In 1701 he was admitted to Corpus Christi College at Cambridge and elected to a scholarship the following year. Sykes received his B.A. in 1705, his M.A. in 1708 and his D.D. in 1726. He was presented to the vicarage of Godmersham, Kent in 1713 and to the rectory of Dry Drayton, Kent in 1714. On being presented to the rectory of Rayleigh in Essex in 1718 he resigned Dry Drayton and remained in the position until his death in 1756. A latitudinarian, Sykes was a voluminous writer of the school of Bishop Hoadley. According to The Dictionary of National Biography, "the catalogue of his works, chiefly pamphlets, fills fourteen octavo pages, and there are over eighty entries in the British Museum Catalogue".

The collection consists of two series, Correspondence and Literary Works. The first series includes several letters to Sykes from Thomas Bott, 1744-1746; John Clarke, 1743; Caleb Fleming, 1746; and John Jackson, 1744. In the second series, Literary Works, are five works by Sykes including part of a commentary on a sermon by the theologian Daniel Waterland, ca 1730; three complete sermons and a fragment of one sermon; ca. 1752; a paraphrase of I Corinthians, n.d.; and miscellaneous notes on various subjects; n.d.

The collection provides evidence that Sykes was indeed a serious scholar and kept company with some of the noted English theologians of his time. It reveals to the scholar some of the issues facing the Church of England in the 18th century and the approach taken to solve these questions.

BOX/FOLDER          DESCRIPTION

                          I. Correspondence
1/1                     Thomas Bott to Sykes; 1744-1746. Seventeen letters concerning their work.

1/2                     Correspondence to Sykes; 1743-1746. Letters from John clarke mentioning
                           Isaac Newton, Caleb Fleming concerning his books on Demoniacs, and John
                           Jackson expressing criticism of Sykes work.

                        II.  Literary Works
1/3                     Sykes commentary on a sermon by Daniel Waterland; ca. 1730.

1/4                     Sermons; 1752.  [preservation copies]  Three complete sermons and one fragment.

1/5                     Paraphrase of I Corinthians; n.d.

1/6                     Miscellaneous notes; n.d.

1/7                     Sermons; 1752. [originals - closed due to preservation concerns]