1909réf. 53839Cambridge: University Press 1909. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Very good condition. 89/300. Small Folio. 6 543 1 6 493 1pp. Original beige half cloth over light brown paper-covered boards with black lettering on paper label of spines; protected by modern mylar. Engraved emblem on title page. Decorative endpieces. Printed in Cambridge type on handmade paper with 350 copies printed of which three hundred numbered copies are for sale in England and America. This is copye 89. The text here given of Books I to VI of The Faerie Queene is that of the edition of 1596 in two volumes quarto. Of these two volumes the first contains the second edition of Books I to III which had already appeared in 1590. Books IV to VI were printed for the first time in 1596. The fragment of Book VII is from the folio edition of 1609. The Letter to Sir Walter Raleigh and the verses addressed to and by Spenser are from the edition of 1590. A few misprints have been corrected as listed on final tow pages of volume one. Bottom and foredges uncut. Light wear along edges of covers. Paper label of volume one with chips some loss of lettering volume two minor w/o loss of lettering. Two small square dicolorations on front covers of both volumes tape residue. Back cover of volume one with small scuff. Some light damp-staining on free endpapers minimal in volume two. University Press hardcover books
1909réf. 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
1903réf. 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
1751réf. 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
1953réf. 019927Oxford: Limited Editions Club 1953. Hardcover. Near Fine in slightly foxed Very Good dustwrappers with sunned spines and chipping at the tips in a Very Good slipcase. Agnes Miller Parker. Two large quarto volumes 7-3/4" x 11-3/4" bound in gilt-decorated green cloth and illustrated with pen decorations by John Austen and wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker. Copy #323 of 1500 SIGNED by Parker on the colophon page. A nicely printed set retaining Spenser's original English and beautifully illustrated. One of the underrated books of the press. Limited Editions Club hardcover books
1953réf. 017393Oxford: Limited Editions Club 1953. Hardcover. The spines of the dustwrappers slightly darkened with some chipping to the tips and the typical foxing to the side panels. Near Fine in Very Good dustwrappers and a Near Fine intact slipcase with foxing to the paper spine label. Agnes Miller Parker. Two large quarto volumes 7-3/4" x 11-3/4" bound in gilt-decorated green cloth and illustrated with pen decorations by John Austen and wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker. Copy #916 of 1500 SIGNED by Parker on the colophon page. A nicely printed set retaining Spenser's original English and beautifully illustrated. The uncommon dustwrappers are present as is the slipcase. One of the underrated books of the press. Limited Editions Club hardcover books
1953réf. 014490Oxford: Limited Editions Club 1953. Hardcover. Spines of the dustwrappers are a bit darkened but with none of the foxing on the panels usually found with this title. The slipcase is near pristine. Fine in Near Fine dustwrappers and a Fine slipcase. Agnes Miller Parker. Two large quarto volumes 7-3/4" x 11-3/4" bound in gilt-decorated green cloth and illustrated with pen decorations by John Austen and wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker. Copy #325 of 1500 SIGNED by Parker on the colophon page. A nicely printed set retaining Spenser's original English and beautifully illustrated. The uncommon dustwrappers are present as is the slipcase. A lovely set of this one of the underrated books of the press. Monthly Letter laid in. Limited Editions Club hardcover books
1953réf. 102118NY:: Heritage Press. Very Good. 1953. Hardcover. Introduction by John Hayward. Decorations by John Austen and wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker. A reprint edition. Starting to show separation at the rear hinge but still firmly attached else very good in a very good slipcase. . Heritage Press, hardcover books
1839réf. 24247London: William Pickering 1839. leather_bound. Decorated full polished green calf. Top edges gilt. Near fine. 5 Vols. 282 295 296 303 317 pages 16.5 x 10.5 cm. The Aldine Edition. One of the great poets of the English Renaissance. Spenser was well-read in classical literature scholars have noted that his poetry does not rehash tradition but rather is distinctly his. Walter Raleigh wrote a commendatory poem to The Faerie Queene in 1590 in which he claims to admire and value Spenser's work more so than any other in the English language. Bright fresh set with the memorable gilt Aldine anchor front covers and bound by Bartlett. Raised bands panels decorated in gilt brown spine labels gilt lettered marbled endpapers gilt turn-ins. One volume with slight sunning front cover head. William Pickering unknown books
1859réf. 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
1839réf. 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
1825réf. 9006102London: William Pickering; Nattali and Combe; Talboys and Wheeler 1825. Hardcover. Fine Condition. Bound in half brown leather and light green marlbed boards with the covers and spines stamped in gilt. Beautiful floral leaf pattern on the spines. Four raised bands on the spines. Top edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. William Pickering; Nattali and Combe; Talboys and Wheeler hardcover books
1839réf. 244700London: William Pickering 1839. First edition and part of the Aldine Poets series. With Portrait Frontispiece. Printed by Charles Whittingham. 5 vols. 8vo. Bound in contemporary pebbled morocco and marbled boards edges marbled. Very good. First edition and part of the Aldine Poets series. With Portrait Frontispiece. Printed by Charles Whittingham. 5 vols. 8vo. Keynes p. 48 William Pickering unknown books
1930réf. 369955London: The Cresset Press 1930. One of 350 copies. With frontispiece and twelve chapter headings by John Nash all hand-stencilled in color at the Curwen Press. 1 vols. Tall 4to. Original cream silk-covered boards vellum spine t.e.g. others uncut. Fine fresh copy. Nash John. One of 350 copies. With frontispiece and twelve chapter headings by John Nash all hand-stencilled in color at the Curwen Press. 1 vols. Tall 4to. A lovely book printed on handmade paper in Granjon Old Face used here for the first time it was designed by the printer of the book George W. Jones. Ransom Check Lists 20 The Cresset Press unknown books
1956réf. 172340London/New York: J.M. Dent & Sons/E.P. Dutton 1956. Hardcover. Fine/Good. Reprint. Fine in a good dust jacket with deep tears to the corners. Everyman's Library No. 879. J.M. Dent & Sons/E.P. Dutton hardcover books
1932réf. 7046Oxford: Printed at the Shakespeare Head Press.and Published for the Press by Basil Blackwell 1932. First Thus. Very Good. One of 375 numbered copies on Batchelor's Shakespeare Head handmade paper this copy being number 134 out of a total edition of 386 copies. Eight volumes large octavo 11 3/16 x 7 1/8 inches; 285 x 194 mm. Bound in the original quarter green calf over marbled boards by Douglas Cockerell. Vellum tips. Spines lettered and dated in gilt. Edges untrimmed. With 111 woodcut illustrations decorations and title vignettes after and by Hilda Quick all hand-colored except for five that are printed in red and black. A Vewe of the Present State of Ireland with pictorial woodcut title-page border and woodcut frontispiece map of Ireland by Macdonald Gill both hand-colored. Lettering for half-titles title-pages headings and initials printed in red black and blue after designs by Joscelyne Gaskin some shoulder notes printed in red with occasional text printed in red and black. Some scuffing to boards and rubbing to spines. Mid-twentieth-century ink ownership inscriptions in first two volumes. Bright and fresh throughout. A Very Good set. "The text of the present edition of Spenser's Works has been prepared by Professor W.L. Renwick. It follows in every case the first editions.The decorations have been designed and engraved on wood by Hilda Quick those in The Shepheardes Calender being based on the cuts in the original editions. The initial letters and the letterings for the title- page and headings have been engraved by her from designs by Joscelyne Gaskin.The eight volumes of Spenser 1930 are equally good-different as the character of the author is but in merita nothing to choose between them. Perhaps the small devices below Spenser's sonnets printed in black and in the vellum copies beautifully laid with gold are the most discreet and opulent form of decoration fitting and in flawless taste" Franklin. Franklin 150 236. Ransom 17:67. Very Good. Printed at the Shakespeare Head Press...and Published for the Press by Basil Blackwell unknown books
1805réf. 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
1897réf. 105320London: Macmillan 1897. LV, 736 Seiten. 8° (17,5-22,5 cm). Orig.-Leinenband mit Goldprägung. [Hardcover / fest gebunden].
réf. 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
1613réf. 4533London: By Humphrey Lownes for Mathew Lownes 1611- 1613. FIRST COLLECTED EDITION second issue see below for issue points. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in 19th c. sprinkled calfskin gilt hinges discreetly repaired mild wear to corners and extremities. The boards are ruled in gold with shell ornaments at the corners and a gilt arabesque at the center. The text itself is in very nice condition lightly pressed with a few trivial blemishes and small rust holes to four leaves F3 X1-2 C6. The main title page is framed by a fine ornamental woodcut border McKerrow & Ferguson 212. Every canto of the “Faerie Queene” is introduced by an elaborate four-part woodcut frame and concludes with a historiated tail-piece. The “Shepheard's Calendar” is illustrated with twelve woodcut vignettes one for each month. The first issue of Spenser’s collected works appeared in 1611. In the earliest copies the publisher Mathew Lownes used the remaining sheets from his 1609 folio edition of the “Faerie Queene” together with a new title page and dedicatory leaf. Spenser’s other works were then printed in the same format to complete the collected edition. In 1612 the 1609 “Faerie Queene” sheets having run out the poem was re-set and printed anew with the t.p. to the second part dated 1612 and its colophon dated "16012" as in this copy. This issue also includes “Mother Hubberd’s Tale” which had been omitted in the first issue in order not to offend William Cecil whose father Lord Burghley Spenser had satirized in that poem. “Since Cecil died in 1612 the last objection to the republication of that work was removed and so copies of it were separately printed and inserted in those copies of the 1611 works that remained on hand.”Pforzheimer 972 The Omission of ‘Mother Hubberd’s Tale” from the 1611 Collected Works of Spenser: “Two years after Matthew Lownes had issued the first folio edition of the ‘Faerie Queen’ he decided to issue a collected edition of Spenser’s works. Having a number of unsold copies of the 1609 ‘Faerie Queen’ still on hand he determined to use those copies by including them in the collected edition in lieu of a 1611 reprint of the same. In order to effect this end he printed a general title and dedicatory leaf on a single sheet unsigned and so was enabled thus to make-up copies of a collected edition by cancelling the title of the 1609 edition and adding a 1611 edition of the remaining parts. “The 1591 edition of Spenser’s ‘Complaints’ having been officially suppressed on account of the attack on lord Burghley contained in the ‘Mother Hubberd’s Tale’ and in certain passages of the ‘Ruines of Time’ Lownes was not free to include the contents of that volume in this collected edition without obtaining official permission. By 1611 the matter had long blown over and Burghley the object of the satire was now dead but in deference to Sir Robert Cecil his son it was considered advisable to omit the offending satire and to revise the objectionable passages in the ‘Ruines of Time’. Therefore some copies e.g. the present of the 161 edition that were sold soon after publication did not contain the ‘Mother Hubberd’s Tale’ but since Cecil died in 1612 the last objection to the re-publication of that work was removed and so copies of it were separately printed and inserted in those copies that remained on hand.”Pforzheimer 972. By H[umphrey] L[ownes] for Mathew Lownes, 1611- hardcover books
1897réf. 2945London: J.M. Dent 1897. Chivers bindings. Fine. STUNNING CHIVERS VELLUCENT BINDINGS. One of 100 large-paper copies illustrated by Louis Fairfax Muckley. The three thick quarto volumes are elegantly printed on handmade paper and illustrated throughout with images and designs by the British artist and illustrator Louis Fairfax Muckley. The illustrations are magnificent and feature the plates in two states red and black. The bindings by Chivers however are the star of the show and perfectly complement the text. For the front boards Muckley has created an intricate design featuring a knight and lady on galloping horses surrounded by decorative borders and gilt titling. Each spine depicts a lady emerging from a colorful background while each rear board has a stylized dragon seemingly jumping out from the binding. While the outlines of the designs are the same on each volume they are each painted with different colors creating a unique look and mood for each. On Cedric Chivers’s “vellucent” bindings: Chivers created a masterful binding technique in the late 19th century he called “vellucent” – a portmanteau combining “vellum” and “translucent”. The process was arduous but the results were stunning with artwork seeming to glow under a layer of thin protective vellum. His process began with a decorative design—in the case of these volumes artwork by Louis Fairfax Murray – created on paper or thin parchment. The artwork was then placed underneath a sheet of vellum that was extremely thin and specially treated to be translucent allowing the colors to almost shine like a stained glass window. The final step was particularly tricky – since vellum is not particularly flexible it required expert craftsmanship to lay it smoothly over the book's boards and spine without wrinkles or bubbles. The result is a binding that doubles as a work of fine art. The bindings are stamped “Bound by Cedric Chivers” in gilt on the rear dentelles and decoratively written on the rear endpaper of volume 1 likely by Chivers is the note: “THIS BOOK IS BOUND BY / CEDRIC CHIVERS BATH / 2 COPIES ONLY WITH THIS DESIGN / THIS IS NO 1”. Anecdotally however we are aware of three copies that have been bound with this design although without the written limitation. Provenance: There is a note in pencil in the first volume that these are from the Robert Hoe collection but we have not been able to confirm this. London: J.M. Dent 1897. Thick octavos 258 x 197 mm vellucent bindings by Chivers. Text nearly pristine. A touch of bowing to bindings. AN OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF CHIVERS BINDINGS IN UNUSUALLY FINE CONDITION. J.M. Dent unknown books
1902réf. 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
1936réf. 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
1957réf. 538389London: Oxford University Press 1957. Hardcover. Good/Good. Reprint. 736pp. Pen and pencil underlining throughout spine slightly cocked about very good in a good only dust jacket with spine and edges tanned one inch chip on top corner on rear panel tears on spine ends. Oxford University Press hardcover books
1897réf. 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
