The radical German Pietist Johannes Kelpius traveled to Philadelphia in 1694 with a group of early German immigrants to America. He settled on the banks of Wissahickon Creek, where he led a small separatist religious community based in esotericism and mysticism, inspired by the teachings of Johann Jacob Zimmerman.

The aura of mystery surrounding Kelpius is heightened by the scarcity of his written record, of which his Diarium remains one of the few surviving texts. The Diarium provides a detailed account of his ten-week Atlantic voyage, relating stories of the...

First published by the author in 1895, The German Pietists of Provincial Pennsylvania narrates the history of the early Germans of various sects and congregations who settled in Pennsylvania starting at the end of the seventeenth century, with a particular focus on a group of German Pietist mystics who emigrated to America in 1694 to pursue the freedom to practice their religion. The book details Pietism's origins in Europe, Pietists' beliefs and practices, and the Pietists' relationships with other religious groups, like the Quakers, Lutherans, and Jansenites. The book is a...