While pre-moderns lacked anonymity, they had a very real distinction between private and public. For example, John Owen, chaplain to Oliver Cromwell and one of

While pre-moderns lacked anonymity, they had a very real distinction between private and public. For example, John Owen, chaplain to Oliver Cromwell and one of the most influential Oxford academics of his day, lost 11 children some of whom were in adulthood. Yet despite his voluminous writings, there is absolutely no mention of these personal events. And while one individual isn't enough to prove a point, it is illustrative of the pre-modern distinction between private and public life. One may even suggest our lack of privacy is the result of our general willingness to erode the boundaries of public and private.