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The Reformation · 1649
Eikon Basilike
Attributed to Charles I and John Gauden
Read elsewhere
What it is
Meditations and prayers presented as the king's own, published within days of his execution and showing him at prayer amid his troubles.
Why it lasted
It ran through thirty-five editions in a year and made Charles a martyr in the popular mind; Milton was commissioned to answer it.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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