author
Nathaniel Ingelo
d. 1683
Best known for the lively allegorical romance Bentivolio and Urania, this 17th-century English writer moved between the worlds of religion, literature, and music. His work gives a glimpse of how moral storytelling and learned prose came together in Restoration-era England.
1 Audiobook
Prefaces to Four Seventeenth-Century Romances Roger Boyle, Lord Broghill, preface to Parthenissa (1655) Sir George Mackenzie, "Apologie for romances," prefixed to Aretina, the serious romance (1660) Nathaniel Ingelo, preface to Bentivolio and Urania (1660) Robert Boyle, preface to Theodora and Didymus (1687)
by Earl of Orrery Roger Boyle, Nathaniel Ingelo, George Mackenzie
About the author
Nathaniel Ingelo, who died in 1683, was an English clergyman, writer, and musician. Sources describe him as probably a native of Bristol, educated at Edinburgh, and later connected with Queens' College, Cambridge, where he became a fellow in the 1640s.
He is remembered chiefly for Bentivolio and Urania, a long religious and allegorical romance first published in 1660 and expanded in 1664. The book mixes fiction, moral reflection, and spiritual themes, making it an unusual and revealing example of early English prose fiction.
Ingelo also published sermons and a later work on repentance, showing the close link in his career between preaching and writing. Although he is not widely read today, he remains of interest to readers exploring the history of devotional literature, early novels, and the literary culture of 17th-century England.