1306 resultados
1929ref. 52344London: The Scholartis Press 1929. Special edition limited to 95 copies signed by the editor 8vo pp. 8 243 1; full tan pigskin gilt title direct on spine t.e.g. marbled endpapers; spine ends worn and tail of spine chipped very good. Edited with commentary by W. L. Renwick. The Scholartis Press unknown books
1751ref. 44948London: printed for J. Brindley 1751. 3 volumes 4to; pp. 4 xxxvii 1 lxv 1 453; 2 450; 2 440 2 errata; 32 engraved plates after William Kent; woodcut head- and tailpieces; volume I bound in recent quarter tan calf antique maroon morocco label on spine; vols. II-III bound in full contemporary calf red and black morocco labels on gilt-decorated spines; joints barely cracked; very neat facsimile restoration in the fore-margin of b4 in vol. I with facsimile lettering touching the beginning or end of a total of 14 words; mild to moderate dampstain enters the foremargins of many pages throughout; textblock is otherwise very good and clean for the most part. One of the most splendid editions of Spenser's masterpiece with useful bibliographical information on the collation of the 1590 and 1596 quartos. The glossary occupies 13 pages of the preliminaries if vol. I. Ebert 21601; Lowndes III 2477. printed for J. Brindley unknown books
1839ref. 35683London: William Pickering 1839. Small 8vo 5 volumes Pickering's vignette anchor & dolphin device on title pages; early 20th century half brown morocco by Riviere gilt paneled spines in 6 compartments gilt lettered in 2 t.e.g.; fine set. Issued as part of the publisher's Aldine British Poets series. Contains a life of Spenser by the Rev. J. Mitford. William Pickering unknown books
1805ref. 23995London: F.C. and J. Rivington et al. 1805. 8 volumes large 8vo ten inches tall - an old penciled note on the endpaper calls this a Large Paper copy engraved frontis portrait in vol. 1 contemporary full polished paneled tan calf neatly rebacked black morocco labels on spine a.e.g.; edges a little worn title-p. and frontis in vol. 1 browned a few minor spots and stains else very good and sound. Lowndes p. 2477. F.C. and J. Rivington [et al.] unknown books
1895ref. 16802London: J. M. Dent & Co 1895. Hardcover. Very good. Hardcover. "Bring with you all the Nymphes that you can heare Both of the rivers and the forrests greene." to this 130-year-old celebration of the lyrical verse of Edmund Spenser. "Epithalamion" "The Shepheardes Calender" "Happy Ye Leaves" hymns in honor of love and beauty and more of Spenser's lyrical poems are collected in this 1895 nearly pocket-size tome gilt-stamped in twining Art Nouveau vines of heart-shaped leaves and butterflies and illustrated in an engraved portrait of the poet a muse-adorned title page and decorative head- and tailpieces throughout. 6 1/8" X 4". xviii 245pp. Bound in sky blue cloth over boards with Art Nouveau vines stamped in gilt to upper board and spine lettered in kind. Mild wear to binding with bumping and rubbing to corners and to head and tail of spine. Blue silk ribbon placemarker detached and laid in. Previous owner's name dated March 1895 to front free endpaper. Binding is firm and sound. Pages show an occasional blemish else unmarked. Illustrated in a tissue-guarded engraved portrait of the poet decorative title page and Art Nouveau head- and tailpieces. J. M. Dent & Co hardcover books
1897ref. 006745London: George Allen 1897. First edition. Three Quarters Crushed Morocco. Marbled pastedown. Near Fine. One of 1000 unnumbered sets printed. 4to. 27.5 by 22 cm. 19 parts bound in 6 volumes. Pictorial pink wrappers bound in. Plates headpieces and tailpieces by Crane. Gilt rose and leaf pattern in four spine compartments lettering in two. George Allen unknown books
1852ref. 008305London: William Pickering 1852. Book. Near Fine. Hardcover. Later Edition. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. Five volumes in contemporary pebbled brown morocco gilt lettering tooled in blind all edges gilt marbled end papers. Near Fine light rubibing light toning at end pages occasional scattered toning. A well-bound set. . William Pickering Hardcover books
1908ref. 46021Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company / Riverside Press 1908. Very Good . Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company / Riverside Press 1908. Cambridge Edition. Octavo 21cm; contemporary three-quarter green calf over marbled paper-covered boards two green gilt-lettered morocco spine labels spine in six compartments ruled in gilt top edge gilt marbled endpapers; 852pp.; portrait frontispiece. Brief scuffing to leather margins spine very slightly sunned ownership inscription dated 1914 to front flyleaf else a Very Good or better example. Forms part of the Cambridge Edition of the Poets. Houghton Mifflin Company / Riverside Press unknown books
ref. 4666ROGERS. ROGERS SPENSER Edmund. PROTHALAMION: EPITHALAMION. Boston: Houghton Mifflin and Company 1902. Small folio. Boards. 29 1 pages. One of 419 copies. Warde 32. G.P. Winship's copy with his signature. The book features illustrations in old red on India paper from drawings by Edwin H. Blashfield. Head of spine chipped and minor cover rubbing. unknown books
1902ref. 6313Berkeley: Privately Printed by Thomas Maitland Cleland at The Cornhill Press 1902. 12mo. Oblong booklet in original brown wrappers ties at spine. Eight pages unopened. 75 Copies Only. An early printing by Cleland under the imprint of his newly expanded Cornhill Press in Boston. Fine. Most scarce. Privately Printed by Thomas Maitland Cleland at The Cornhill Press unknown books
1923ref. 33330950Waltham Saint Lawrence Berkshire: Golden Cockerel Press 1923. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. White Ethelbert. One of 350 copies on paper duodecimo size 49 pp. Edmund Spenser 1552/3 to 1599 is probably best known for his epic poem "The Faerie Queene" an ode to Elizabeth I. Even today he is considered one of the greatest poets of the English language. This work "The Wedding Songs" is a publication uniting two works which were published a year apart both dealing with love and romance. According to "Chanticleer" this is the first work of the Press to be illustrated with wood-engravings; however they go on to state that "there is no great feeling of harmony between the engravings and the type" p. 16. We find the three wood-engravings charming; Ethelbert White 1892-1972 was a founding member of the English Wood Engraving Society beginning his career with water colour but being introduced to wood-engraving in 1920. ___DESCRIPTION: Quarter linen white paper spine label with black lettering blue paper sides over boards fore- and bottom edges uncut the frontispiece one of three wood engravings and the only one in three colours rust green and yellow the other two only in rust; Caslon type on hand-made unbleached Arnold paper duodecimo size 7 3/8" by 4 1/2" pagination: 1-8 9-46 47 final wood-engraving 48 colophon 49 publisher's device; no. 329 of the 350 copies on paper per the bibliography; note that the colophon states 320 copies on paper there were an additional 25 copies on Japanese vellum. ___CONDITION: Volume near fine with clean boards perfectly straight corners with a hint of rubbing a strong square text block with solid hinges the interior is clean and bright and entirely free of prior owner markings; some sunning to the margins of the board edges and some offsetting and light foxing to the endpapers. ___CITATION: Chanticleer no. 14. ___POSTAGE: International customers please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details. ___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA ILAB and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have we are here to help. Golden Cockerel Press hardcover books
2020ref. 347591Chicago: Haymarket Books 2020. Paperback. xiv 449p. illustrated wraps b&w illustrated appendix very good condition. "Vicente Lombardo Toledano was the founder of numerous labour union organisations in Mexico and Latin America between the 1920s and the 1960s. He was not only an organiser but also a broker between the unions the government and business leaders-an almost singular figure able to disentangle difficult seemingly irreconcilable conflicts. He cooperated closely with the governments of Mexico and other Latin American nations and worked with the representatives of the Soviet Union when he considered it useful. This willingness to work across ideological divides meant that he was alternately seen as a government stooge or a communist even though he was never a member of the Communist Party nor of any Mexican government administration. Daniela Spenser's rousing new biography of Lombardo Toledano is the first to be based on his extensive private papers. In addition to this unprecedented access Spenser also draws on primary sources from European Mexican and American archives and on extensive personal interviews. Her even-keeled portrayal of the man counters both previous hagiographies and vilifications that have come before it." -back cover. Haymarket Books paperback books
1923ref. ST21078Chelsea: Ashendene Press 1923. ST JOHN HORNBY'S WORKSHOP COPY there were 180 paper copies 150 of them for sale and 12 vellum copies of this edition. 440 x 307 mm. 17 1/4 x 12". 2 p.l. 406 2 pp. Original holland-backed blue paper boards flat spine with paper title label identifying this as a workshop copy. Housed in a fine modern drop-back box of blue cloth backed with holland paper labels on spine. Printer's device in colophon. Printed in red black and blue. Front pastedown with bookplate of St John Hornby and ex-libris of David Godine. Hornby 32; Franklin pp. 144-46 240-41. Covers with fading along the top a bit of foxing and extensive though light gray discoloration ends of spine lightly bumped and lower edges of bottom corners slightly rubbed both as expected but the volume completely solid and miles away from what one would imagine for a hefty book like this that would have been expected to incur uncareful use. Isolated very pale foxing and the most trivial signs of use internally. A REMARKABLE COPY the text in beautiful condition soundly protected in its unique binding. With its companion volume "Minor Poems" by Spenser this in Franklin's eyes is the "masterpiece" among the Ashendene folios; and the present distinctive--and presumably unique--copy comes from Charles Harry St John Hornby's own printer's workshop. Unlike most other copies which are typically found in the publisher's calf-backed vellum binding this copy is in the inexpensive and less substantial holland-backed boards that are now less and less commonly seen in large part because they have not stood up well over the years. The present copy somehow has done quite the opposite. In addition to the original Ashendene "Workshop Copy" designation on the spine label scattered finger smudges--perhaps those of Hornby himself--suggest its use in the printer's studio. In our experience this particular designation is extremely rare in connection with private press books in general and certainly for Ashendene volumes. Founded in 1895 by Hornby 1867-1946 the Ashendene Press issued 40 books plus additional minor pieces for four decades. Less elaborate in appearance and design than William Morris' Kelmscott volumes but more ornamental than the products of Cobden-Sanderson's Doves Press the Ashendene volumes have long been considered the most satisfying of English private press books. This volume was formerly in the collection of David R. Godine who founded the Godine Press in 1970 after training with printmaker Leonard Baskin and master printer Harold McGrath. Ashendene Press unknown books
1903ref. ST20957London: John & E. Bumpus 1903. 211 x 140 mm. 8 1/2 x 5 1/2". 86 pp. LOVELY GREEN MOROCCO GILT AND INLAID FOR J. & E. BUMPUS stamped in gilt on rear turn-in LIKELY BY RIVIERE & SON upper cover with gilt fillet frame central panel with densely blind-stamped leafy vines on a gilt pointillé background accented with onlaid red morocco dots large oval at center and four smaller ovals all framed by gilt beads the central oval adorned with four gilt and onlaid red and white morocco Tudor roses 10 more such roses at corners and along the sides of outer frame lower cover with gilt fillet frame raised bands spine compartments with blind-stamped leafy sprig on pointillé ground with onlaid black ivory and red morocco dots gilt lettering turn-ins with gilt border gilt trio of leaves at corners all edges gilt. With engraved frontispiece portrait title page vignette two headpieces and two tailpieces. Upper cover and spine evenly faded to olive green likely from being displayed just a hint of bowing to boards but A VERY FINE COPY the text entirely clean fresh and bright and the binding unworn. This lovely printing of Spenserian poetry comes in an unusual and skillfully executed binding likely by Riviere & Son which was producing some of its very best work at the time of publication. The poems here were inspired by Spenser's courtship of and 1594 marriage to his second wife Elizabeth Boyle. Day calls "Amoretti" "a unique sonnet sequence in Renaissance England" and he is unreserved in his praise for "Epithalamion" calling it "the most beautiful nuptial poem in English and perhaps in any language." Spenser 1552 - 99 was the first modern English poet to achieve major stature and Day points out that those "influenced by Spenser are virtually a roster of the great English poets since his time" among them Milton Wordsworth Keats Rossetti and Tennyson. Bumpus bindings were done for the bookselling firm of John and Edward Bumpus founded in 1780. The firm long enjoyed a reputation as purveyors of fine and beautiful bindings without ever operating a bindery. Instead they outsourced the work to the best binders of the day including Riviere and Morrell the former being a likely choice here. The combination of swirling blind-stamped vines a densely stippled background and onlaid blossoms demonstrates creativity in design proficiency in a range of finishing techniques and meticulous execution. The five blank ovals on the upper cover bring to mind the layout of Cosway bindings a specialty of the Riviere firm in which those ovals would be filled with miniature paintings on ivory under glass. Cosway bindings could sometimes be ornate to the point of being overwhelming so the blank ovals here are a welcome moment of restraint amid the animation of the cover design. Apparently an earlier owner enjoyed displaying this binding--as who would not--and the leather has mellowed to an olive green--which may actually be a more pleasing foundation for the decoration than the original brighter green. Certainly the book saw no other use as the contents are as fresh as the day the volume left the printer. John & E. Bumpus unknown books
1902ref. 10167Boston: Houghton Mifflin and Co 1902. boards dust jacket. Rogers Bruce. 4to. boards dust jacket. 30 pages. Limited to 419 numbered copies. Warde No.31. Lacking the original box. Jacket lightly soiled else a fine copy. Scarce with the dust jacket. Done in Brimmer Italic type with 2 sepia engravings on handmade paper after design by Edwin Howland Blashfield. A very attractive work. The typography is by the notable American book designer Bruce Rogers 1870-1957 who "was appreciated in his lifetime. In addition to several honorary degrees in 1948 he was awarded a gold medal from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for distinction in the graphic arts. Over decades of accomplishment in which he designed approximately 500 books. Rogers literally defined the profession of book designing in the United States" ANB. Francis Meynell stated that Rogers was."the greatest artificer of the book who ever lived Houghton Mifflin and Co unknown books
1809ref. 212561Dublin: Hibernia Press 1809. Hardcover. G: The front and back covers are detached but laid on and below. The free end pages are detached but laid in. The leather of the spine is missing. The board remains and all body pages are well-bound. The headbands have falled off. Plate on the front pasted end page. Foxing to the pages. Some tanning to the pages. A light brown leather halfbound book with color marbled boards. 204 pages. Volume one ONLY. Contents are as follows: Spencer's View of the state of Ireland and Campion's Historie of Ireland. Hibernia Press hardcover books
1909ref. 199448Cambridge England: University Press 1909. Copies 173 of 350. Hardcover. Good Boards are edgeworn/scuffed/smudged; inner hinges are cracked; textblock edges are toned/scuffed/smudged; interior is clean with the occasional smudging and foxing; inner hinges of volume one has been reinforced with tape that is coming loose; textblocks appear solid. Half-bound beige boards; 2 volumes; 544 494 pp. unopened. "Of this edition printed in the Cambridge type upon hand-made paper three hundred & fifty coies have been printed of which three hundred numbered -- are for sale in England and America and the type has been distributed." The text of Books I to VI is that of the edition of 1596; the fragment of Book VII is from the folio edition of 1609. The letter to Sir Walter Raleigh and the prefatory verses are from the edition of 1590. -- inside book. University Press hardcover books
1902ref. 186419Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin and Co 1902. Hardcover. VG- light shelfwear to boards and block. Pages are clean and clear. Tan boards with orange lettering; 28 untrimmed pages; illustrations with protective tissue guard sheets. "Edition consists of four hundred and nineteen copies four hundred are numbered and for sale" This is number 138.- Colophon. Houghton Mifflin and Co hardcover books
1901ref. 122168New York: The Laurel Press 1901. Hardcover. VG- Light wear to extremities. Brown paper over boards; Off-white cloth at spine; 88 pp.; Illustrated initial letters at each page but otherwise no illustrations. A late-sixteenth-century sonnet cycle written by Edmunde Edmund Spenser about his courtship and marriage to Elizabeth Boyle; Hand-numbered no. 330 of 450 copies in this edition. The Laurel Press hardcover books
1591ref. ST18266London: Imprinted for William Ponsonbie dwelling in Paules Churchyard at the signe of the Bishops head 1591. FIRST EDITION. 182 x 130 mm. 7 1/4 x 5 1/4". 91 leaves lacking blank Z4. Late 19th century green crushed morocco by Riviere & Son stamp-signed on front turn-in covers with decorative gilt lozenge centerpiece raised bands gilt lettering gilt-ruled turn-ins. Housed in a modern brown buckram chemise and attractive morocco-backed slipcase. Main title page with woodcut border McKerrow & Ferguson 117 section titles for three of the poems with woodcut frame woodcut initials head- and tailpieces. Front pastedown with engraved armorial bookplate of Charles Lilburn and ex-libris of Kenneth Rapoport see below. Langland to Wither 235; Hayward 23; Johnson 14; Pforzheimer 968; STC 23078; ESTC S111266. The Rosenbach Company catalogue 45 #690 this copy. Spine sunned to olive brown faint fading and soiling to covers just a hint of rubbing to corners and spine ends contents lightly washed and pressed in keeping with bibliophilic fashion at the time of binding occasional small spot or other trivial imperfection but an excellent copy clean and fresh internally in a perfectly pleasant binding. This is an appealing copy with star-studded provenance of one of the less frequently encountered first editions of Edmund Spenser ca. 1552-99 the first modern English poet to achieve major stature during his lifetime. It comprises a collection of six poems and three translations assembled by publisher William Ponsonby in order to capitalize on the recently experienced success of "The Faerie Queene." In the preface Ponsonby describes these poems as "complaints and meditations of the worlds vanitie very grave and profitable." The included works some dating back to Spenser's college days are: "The Ruines of Time" "The Teares of the Muses" "Virgils Gnat" "Proposia Or Mother Hubberds Tale" "Ruines of Rome" "Muiopotmos or the Fate of the Butterflie" "Visions of the Worlds Vanitie" "Bellayes Visions" and "Petrarches Visions." Six of these are original poems all previously unpublished and three are translations one unpublished and two revised. Unfortunately "Proposia" was a political satire on the attempts to arrange a marriage between Elizabeth I and the Duc d'Alençon that resulted in the entire volume being banned. That poem was omitted from early editions of the collected minor poems. Day says Spenser demonstrated "with his fluency in many meters and stanzaic forms . . . that English was at least the equal to any other language as a vehicle of great poetry." Although his poetry particularly "The Faerie Queene" looks backward--as the culmination of the allegorical verse tradition of the Pearl Poet Langland and Chaucer--Spenser has influenced with "his fertile imagination and especially his sensuous imagery and melodic language" nearly every important English poet who followed him. Our volume has distinguished provenance four times over. The first known owner here Charles Lilburn Esq. 1842-91 was an antiquary businessman Justice of the Peace and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. George Neasham in "North-Country Sketches" 1893 calls Lilburn "bibliomaniacal" but also "one of nature’s gentlemen." In 1888 the "Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne" claimed that Lilburn’s library "would have charmed the heart of Dibdin himself." The present copy then apparently became the subsequent property of Sir Israel Gollancz 1863-1930 distinguished Shakespearian scholar and editor of early English literature at least he is named as a previous owner when this copy was sold by Swann Galleries in May of 2022 at the Rapoport sale. The book appeared later in the inventory of the rare book firm of A. S. W. Rosenbach 1876-1952 of Philadelphia where it was listed in the 1941 catalogue as item #690 priced at $300. Finally it became part of the library of Ken Rapoport who amassed an outstanding collection over 50 years with special emphasis on works of drama and poetry by English and Spanish authors among them Shakespeare Spenser and Cervantes. "Complaints" is scarce is virtually never found except in a modern binding and is usually seen in unappealing internal condition. Imprinted for William Ponsonbie, dwelling in Paules Churchyard at the signe of the Bishops head unknown books
1936ref. 175720Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company / The Riverside Press 1936. Hardcover. Very Good. Cambridge edition twelfth printing. 852pp. A few pages with minor ink writing and a few words circled owner name and date on front fly binding lightly worn very good lacking the dust jacket. Houghton Mifflin Company / The Riverside Press hardcover books
ref. 4531London: Various printers details below. 1591- 1596. A remarkable volume containing 3 separately-printed works including the first editions of the second part Cantos 4-6 of The Faerie Queene 1596 and Colin Clouts Come Home Againe 1595. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in 17th c. calf the boards gilt-ruled in compartments with ornamental tools at the corners and a large stamp of the Tudor arms at the center of each board hinges and endcaps restored corners bumped later label lacking ties. Inscriptions: In the Shepheards Calender 1. Contemporary signature of Roger Collings on p. 1; 2. Inscription in Latin on title page “To the library of Lord John Bond as a gift by Monsieur Bloncq i.e. Blanc A.D. 1627”. 3. Also on t.p. “Lady Carew” and “June 27 1669” perhaps Mary Morice of Wirrington d. 1698 Lady Carew. 4. Unidentified armorial stamp on verso of t.p. For condition of contents see individual entries below. 5. Another -and quite marvelous- contemporary inscription on the third preliminary leaf of the Shepheards Calender: “This is Robard Batmans Booke and he that steale et shall be hanged vpon A Roke as Hy as he cane loke.”. I. THE SHEPHEARDS CALENDER. London: Printed by Iohn Windet for Iohn Harrison the yonger dwelling in Pater-noster roe at the signe of the Anger 1591. Quarto: 4 52 lvs. Collation: 4 A-N4 3 preliminary leaves supplied and genuine. FOURTH EDITION. 1st ed. pub. 1579. Title within woodcut border McKerrow & Ferguson 198. The text is illustrated with 12 woodcut vignettes one for each month. Restorations to inner margin of title with some loss to the lefthand portion of the woodcut border small repair to upper outer corner no loss 3 preliminary leaves following title supplied from a shorter copy blank lower margin restored. The woodcut for April shows Queen Elizabeth and her entourage. “This and the edition of 1586 are counterparts of each other… The illustrations are printed from the same blocks; the type however was reset there being slight differences in spelling etc. and the printer’s ornaments at the foot of the eclogues are different.” Langland to Wither No. 229 p. 199-200 “Published in 1579 a decade before ‘The Faerie Queene’ this book of pastorals established Spenser as the leading poet of his generation. Its editor one "E.K." never identified but clearly someone associated with Spenser heralded the work as a major literary event and its author as ‘our new poet.’ It was reprinted four times in Spenser's lifetime and evoked imitations and admiring comments almost from the date of its publication. Spenserians and traditional literary historians still take ‘The Shepheardes Calender’ at E.K.'s valuation and treat it not without reason as inaugurating the great age of Elizabethan poetry… It was the first set of English pastorals in the European tradition and in emulating Virgil's Eclogues it self-consciously inaugurated a poetic career on the model of Virgil's-one that would move from a book of eclogues to a national epic.”Alpers Pastoral and the Domain of Lyric in Spenser's Shepheardes Calender “’The Shepheardes Calender’ was entered into the Stationers' register on 5 December 1579 and was published by the protestant publisher Hugh Singleton soon after that date as the poem bears the imprint 1579 indicating that it must have appeared before the end of February. The ‘Calender’ was a popular work and was reprinted in 1581 1586 1591 and 1597 demonstrating that Spenser did make an impact as 'our new poet'. It contains twelve poems complete with prefatory comments and notes by E. K. which may or may not have been written by Spenser himself and Gabriel Harvey and a series of emblematic woodcuts of allegorical significance. The poems describe events in the lives of a series of fictional shepherds and vary from apparently personal laments on the nature of loss and unrequited love to stringent ecclesiastical satire and attacks on corruption and court patronage. They comment on the nature of love and devotion the pains of exile praise for the queen forms of worship the duties of church ministers forms of poetry the merits of protestantism and Catholicism and impending death. Equally important is the showy technical proficiency of the works and the ways in which the poems and commentary serve to announce the arrival of a major new English poet.”Hadfield Oxford DNB ESTC S111267; STC 23092; Langland to Wither 229; Johnson Edmund Spenser 4; Luborsky & Ingram. Engl. illustrated books 1536-1603 23092 II. THE FAERIE QUEENE Disposed into twelue bookes fashioning XII. morall vertues First and Second Parts. London: Printed by Richard Field for William Ponsonbie 1596 Quarto: 2 590; 518 p. Collation: Part 1: A-Z8 Aa-Oo8; Part 2: A-Z8 signature Z supplied from another smaller copy Aa-Ii8 Kk4. SECOND EDITION OF THE FIRST PART 1st ed. pub. 1590 FIRST EDITION OF THE SECOND PART. With a full-page woodcut at the beginning of book two p. 184 depicting the Red Cross Knight slaying the dragon. Ornamental metal-cut cartouches frame the argument at the opening of each canto. Light dampstain to lower margin of scattered gatherings in second part a bit stronger in gathering Cc. The supplied gathering Z is shorter and lightly damp-stained and yellowed. Short worm-trail in lower margin of Dd-Ff in second part not intruding on the text. A few small rust marks. “’The Faerie Queene’ was a new departure in the history of English poetry being a combination of Italian romance classical epic and native English styles principally derived from Chaucer. Spenser signalled this by inventing a new stanza which has come to be known as the Spenserian stanza a hybrid form adopted from the Scots poetry of James I ‘rhyme royal’ and Italian ‘ottava rima’. It contained nine lines the first eight being pentameters and the last line an alexandrine and employed the rhyme scheme ababbcbcc. It was accompanied by seventeen dedicatory sonnets to a variety of figures… addressed to a range of important courtiers among them: Sir Christopher Hatton; Robert Devereux second earl of Essex; Sir William Cecil Lord Burghley; Edward de Vere seventeenth earl of Oxford; Sir Francis Walsingham; Sir Walter Ralegh; Mary Sidney countess of Pembroke; Lady Carew; and 'all the gratious and beautifull Ladies of the Court'… “The poem has survived as a long fragment of six completed books each of twelve cantos of lengths varying from forty to eighty stanzas. A further fragment of a seventh book published after Spenser's death consisted of two complete cantos and two stanzas from a third. There was also a letter appended from the author to Ralegh dated 23 January 1589 explaining the allegorical method of the 'Poet historical'. Scholars are divided on the question of the extant nature of the poem some concluding that Spenser never really intended to complete it others that had he lived longer all twelve books would have emerged… “’The Faerie Queene’ tells a series of discrete but interrelated stories based around the quests of six knights who each represent a particular virtue. Its allegory is flexible and moves easily from the historically specific to deal with theological philosophical and ethical questions many based on readings of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics a stated source of the poem. Book 1 tells the story of the redcross knight eventually revealed to be the patron saint of England St George who has to destroy the dragon who holds captive the parents of his lady Una. As with all romances the narrative moves sideways as much as forwards a process known as dilation and a whole series of episodes represent events and problems precipitated by the Reformation. The lovers are united but significantly the knight is recalled to his service to Gloriana the faerie queen before they can get married. Book 2 charts the progress of the knight of temperance Sir Guyon culminating in the famous description of his destruction of the Bower of Bliss an episode which has inspired commentators artists and writers ever since. Guyon's undoubted virtue is shown to be limited when he is defeated by the knight of chastity Britomart the heroine of book 3. While Guyon can only refuse and oppose bodily temptation Britomart is able to experience corporeal ecstasies and agonies and so point to a way beyond the limits of temperance for those who have to live in the ordinary world. Britomart in pointed contrast to the real queen of England the virginal Elizabeth sees her husband-to-be Artegall in Merlin's magic mirror and the dynasty that she will found stretching into the future. The first edition of The Faerie Queene concluded with the striking image of the hermaphrodite created through the passionate embrace of the rescued lovers Amoret and Scudamore a sign that human experience could be equal and satisfying through the institution of marriage. “The second edition of the poem 1596 is generally agreed to be a darker and more diffuse work. Book 4 the legend of Friendship has two central figures Cambel and Telamond who occupy only a small section of the narrative. Many commentators argue that the original version of the poem that circulated in manuscript in the early 1580s consisted of portions of books 3 and 4 later worked into the printed version with varying success. The book contains the famous description of the marriage of the Thames and the Medway—again probably adapted from an earlier work or version of the poem. Book 5 the legend of Justice follows the adventures of Artegall Britomart's future spouse. This has generally been the least popular section of the poem because of its disturbing defence of English policy in Ireland and more overtly its historical allegory but it has recently received far more attention for the very reason that it was previously ignored. Artegall abandoned by his tutor Astrea has to resolve a number of difficult disputes foolishly falls prey to the Amazon Radigund and has to be rescued by Britomart before his violent suppression of rebellion in Ireland is prematurely truncated by Gloriana. Book 6 the legend of Courtesy depicts the adventures of Sir Calidore a confused and misdirected knight who tries to give up his elusive quest for the Blatant Beast when he stumbles across a pastoral world at odds with the courtly world he is less than keen to defend. The book like its predecessor is replete with disturbing images of violent disruption principally of disguised rebels ambushing small peasant communities undoubtedly an echo of Spenser's experience in Ireland. It ends when Calidore finally manages to capture the Blatant Beast but it escapes to terrorize the world with its awful slanders which include attacks on the poet himself.”Hadfield Oxford DNB ESTC S117748; STC 23082; Langland to Wither 233; Pforzheimer 970; Johnson Edmund Spenser 11; Luborsky & Ingram. Engl. illustrated books 1536-1603 23082 III. COLIN CLOUTS COME HOME AGAINE. London: Ponsonbie 1595 Quarto: 80 p. Signatures: A-K4 FIRST EDITION. The colophon reads: “London Printed by T.C. for William Ponsonbie. 1595.” With a woodcut printer’s device McKerrow 299 and decorative border to the title page and numerous head- and tailpieces throughout. With "worthylie" on leaf C1 recto line 24. Moderated dampstain to first two gatherings a little light staining thereafter fraying to a few margins small worm-trail in lower margin final leaf soiled on verso. With a dedicatory epistle to “The Right worthy and noble Knight Sir Walter Raleigh” dated “from my house of Kilcolman the 27. Of December. 1591.” In addition to “Colin Clout” this volume also includes Spenser’s “Astrophel: A pastorall Elegie upon the death of the most Noble and valorous Knight Sir Phillip Sidney” dedicated to Sidney’s widow who had by then become the Countess of Essex; An untitled poem beginning “Ay me to whom shall I complaine…” often referred to as “The dolefull lay of Corinda”; “The mourning Muse of Thestylis” by Ludowick Bryskett; “A pastorall Aeglogue upon the death of Sir Phillip Sidney Knight” signed L.B. Ludowick Bryskett; “An Elegie or friends passion for his Astrophill” by Matthew Roydon; “An Epitaph upon the right honourable sir Phillip Sidney Knight: Lord governor of Flushing” by Walter Raleigh; “Another of the Same” almost certainly by Sir Edward Dyer. “Spenser’s “Colin Clout’s Come Home Again’ a pastoral poem in the tradition of Petrarch was inspired by the poet’s visit to England from 1590 to 1591 a journey undertaken at the urging of Walter Raleigh. Spenser wrote the poem dedicated to Raleigh upon his return to Kilcolman castle in Ireland –the ‘Home’ referred to in the poem’s title. “Spenser's adoption of an Anglo-Irish identity was publicly expressed in the title poem where the 'home' that Colin refers to rather bitterly in the poem is Ireland not England. At the same time the elegies on Sidney as the English nation's poet imply Spenser's claim to be his successor. “The poem has been called Spenser’s most biographical and indeed it includes not only the visit from Raleigh to Spenser’s home in Ireland in 1589 but also an account of Spenser’s sea voyage and his time in England during which he presented the first three books of his ‘Faerie Queen’ to Queen Elizabeth. “The poem fits neatly into a tradition of advice literature that exempts the monarch from the general failings of his or her courtiers and includes strong criticisms of the court as well as attacks on the vanity ignorance and greed of courtiers in general. It is possible that Colin Clout was intended as a criticism of Elizabeth's regime in the 1590s especially if we bear in mind Spenser's own lack of preferment in England and his posthumous criticisms of the queen in 'Two cantos of Mutabilitie'.”Hadfield Edmund Spenser's Irish Experience 1997 chap. 6 ESTC S111281; STC 23077; Langland to Wither 236; Pforzheimer 967; Johnson Edmund Spenser 16. Various printers (details below). 1591- hardcover books
1859ref. 320589Edinburgh: James Nichol 1859. hardcover. near fine. 5 volumes. slim 8vo 3/4 decorative green morocco evenly faded to brown top edges gilt light scattered foxing. Edinburgh: James Nichol 1859. A very handsome set. James Nichol unknown books
1908ref. 295486Boston: Houghton Mifflin 1908. hardcover. fine. 852 pages handsomely rebound in full black morocco ornately gilt spine and covers a. edges gilt. Boston: Houghton Mifflin 1908. Fine. Houghton Mifflin unknown books
1903ref. 364712New York: Thomas Y. Crowell 1903. Hardcover. Near Fine/Near Fine. The Gladstone Edition. Introduction by William P. Trent. Award of merit label on front pastedown fine i about very good printed dustwrapper with a chip on the front panel and tears along a couple of the folds. Scarce in jacket. Thomas Y. Crowell hardcover books