A buyer's guide
Puritan Sets & Collected Works
There are three ways to collect the Puritans: accessible starter sets, the collected Works of individual authors, and multi-author anthologies. Here is every major set worth buying, compared in one place, with a recommendation for whichever kind of reader you are.
How to choose a Puritan set
- New to the Puritans? Start with a few individual Puritan Paperbacks or the Puritan Classics Box Set. Do not begin with a sixteen-volume set.
- Want one author in full? Buy their collected Works (Owen, Manton, Goodwin, Sibbes).
- Want a daily habit? Voices from the Past gives you a year of Puritan devotions.
- Building a reference library? Pair Meet the Puritans and A Puritan Theology with any of the sets below.
Every major Puritan set, compared
| Set | Author | Publisher | Volumes | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puritan Paperbacks (Complete Set) | Various | Banner of Truth | 60+ | The best all-round starting point |
| Pocket Puritans Series | Various | Banner of Truth | 16 | Gifts and first tastes |
| Puritan Classics Box Set | Various | Banner of Truth | 10 vols / 15 titles | A beautiful starter shelf |
| Treasures of John Owen Box Set | John Owen | Banner of Truth | 5 | Owen, made accessible |
| The Works of John Owen | John Owen | Banner of Truth | 16 | The complete Owen |
| The Works of Thomas Manton | Thomas Manton | Banner of Truth | 22 | The largest single-author set |
| The Works of Thomas Goodwin | Thomas Goodwin | Reformation Heritage Books | 12 | Christ and assurance |
| The Works of Richard Sibbes | Richard Sibbes | Banner of Truth | 7 | The heavenly Doctor in full |
| The Works of Jonathan Edwards | Jonathan Edwards | Banner of Truth | 2 | Affordable complete Edwards |
| Puritan Papers (Vols. 1–5) | ed. J. I. Packer | P&R Publishing | 5 | The Puritan revival era |
| Voices from the Past | compiled by Richard Rushing | Banner of Truth | 2 | Daily Puritan devotions |
| A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life | Joel Beeke & Mark Jones | Reformation Heritage Books | 1 | What the Puritans believed |
| Reformed Systematic Theology | Joel Beeke & Paul Smalley | Crossway | 4 | A modern systematic in the Puritan stream |
| Meet the Puritans | Joel Beeke & Randall Pederson | Reformation Heritage Books | 1 | The collector's map |
Starter & accessible sets
Puritan Paperbacks (Complete Set)
60+ volumes · Banner of Truth
Various
The flagship series this whole site is built on: dozens of the greatest Puritan works in affordable, modernized, pocket-sized editions, from Sibbes's Bruised Reed to Owen's Mortification of Sin.
Pocket Puritans Series
16 volumes · Banner of Truth
Various
Small hardback selections on single subjects like heaven, contentment, and love for Christ. The gentlest possible introduction and ideal for gifts.
Puritan Classics Box Set
10 vols / 15 titles volumes · Banner of Truth
Various
A cloth-bound, foil-stamped box of fifteen Puritan classics (Perkins, Sibbes, Rutherford, Bridge, Burroughs, Brooks, Baxter, Watson, Flavel, Alleine, Bunyan) with an introduction by Sinclair Ferguson.
Treasures of John Owen Box Set
5 volumes · Banner of Truth
John Owen
Five hardbacks gathering ten of Owen's best works in modernized, abridged editions. The easiest way to build an Owen shelf.
Collected Works of individual Puritans
The Works of John Owen
16 volumes · Banner of Truth
John Owen
The standard scholarly set, edited by William H. Goold. The complete works of the greatest Puritan theologian.
The Works of Thomas Manton
22 volumes · Banner of Truth
Thomas Manton
Warm, applicatory exposition across twenty-two volumes, with an introduction by J. C. Ryle. The biggest collected works in the Puritan catalog.
The Works of Thomas Goodwin
12 volumes · Reformation Heritage Books
Thomas Goodwin
The complete Goodwin, the “Atlas of Independency,” rich on the person of Christ and the believer's assurance.
The Works of Richard Sibbes
7 volumes · Banner of Truth
Richard Sibbes
The complete works of the great Cambridge preacher known for his tenderness toward struggling believers.
The Works of Jonathan Edwards
2 volumes · Banner of Truth
Jonathan Edwards
The complete Edwards in two large volumes (the Hickman edition), the most affordable way to own all of America's greatest theologian.
Multi-author collections
Puritan Papers (Vols. 1–5)
5 volumes · P&R Publishing
ed. J. I. Packer
Seventy-six papers from the Puritan and Westminster Conferences (Packer, Lloyd-Jones, and others) on Puritan theology and history.
Voices from the Past
2 volumes · Banner of Truth
compiled by Richard Rushing
Two volumes of 365-day devotional readings drawn from dozens of Puritans. The easiest daily on-ramp.
Puritan theology & reference sets
A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life
1 volume · Reformation Heritage Books
Joel Beeke & Mark Jones
A single large volume systematizing Puritan teaching across every major doctrine. The best reference on Puritan theology.
Reformed Systematic Theology
4 volumes · Crossway
Joel Beeke & Paul Smalley
A four-volume systematic theology written in the experiential, Puritan-shaped tradition.
Meet the Puritans
1 volume · Reformation Heritage Books
Joel Beeke & Randall Pederson
Short biographies of the Puritans with a guide to their modern reprints. The essential companion for anyone collecting the sets above.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the complete Puritan Paperbacks set?
The Banner of Truth Puritan Paperbacks series runs to more than sixty volumes and continues to grow as new titles are added. You can browse the full current list on our Puritan Paperbacks page.
What is the difference between the Puritan Paperbacks and the Pocket Puritans?
The Puritan Paperbacks are full (though modernized and sometimes lightly abridged) treatises, usually 100 to 300 pages. The Pocket Puritans are much shorter hardback selections on a single subject, often under 100 pages, designed as gifts and first tastes.
What is included in the Puritan Classics Box Set?
The Puritan Classics Box Set gathers fifteen Puritan classics in ten cloth-bound volumes, including works by Perkins, Sibbes, Rutherford, Bridge, Burroughs, Brooks, Baxter, Watson, Flavel, Alleine, and Bunyan, with an introduction by Sinclair Ferguson.
What is the best Puritan set for a beginner?
For most beginners the best value is a handful of individual Puritan Paperbacks or the Puritan Classics Box Set, with Voices from the Past for daily reading. Save the multi-volume collected Works for once you are hooked.
How many volumes are in the Works of John Owen?
The complete Works of John Owen runs to sixteen volumes (edited by William H. Goold, Banner of Truth). If that is too much, the five-volume Treasures of John Owen box set gathers his best works in modernized editions.
Which Puritan has the largest collected works?
Thomas Manton, whose collected works fill twenty-two volumes, the largest single-author set in the Puritan catalog.
Start your collection
Browse the complete Puritan Paperbacks and Pocket Puritans, or see the best books for beginners.