| Copynotes: | SPECIAL COLLECTIONS: Errors in paging. Copy imperfect; t.p. and pages after 589(?) supplied by xerox copy.
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS: Alumni Fund.
Title-page Transcription. Copy lacks title-page, begins with signature A2.
Collation:
4o: A-2O8 [-A1] [$1-4 signed (+A5), pp. [1] 2-78 81 80 81 84-85 84-85 88-89 88-89 92-93 92-93 96 95 96-108 119 110-183 184 185-387 388 389-589 590 [=590]
Title page, all preliminary and concluding poems are absent from this edition. (Photocopies of missing texts are included in a separate envelope, but they appear to be from another copy.)
Contents:
A2r-M5r: “The first Booke of the Faerie Queene.”
M5v: Woodcut of Redcrosse knight slaying the dragon
M6r-2b3r: “The second Booke of the Faerie Queene”
2B3v: Blank
2B4r-2O8r: “The third Booke of the Faerie Queene”
2O8v: Blank
[Additional unsigned leaf at end, attached to read binding]
Typography:
(Note: Type sizes are noted as ascender-descender height/capital height/x-height to the nearest .3 mm.)
Text: Roman (Garamond?); max. 32 ll (A4r), printer’s measure 93; 161 (171) x 91; solid 9-line stanzas=42; face 4.3/3/2
Notes:
I’m absolutely not an expert on binding, but my guess is that this was rebound during the 19th century—seems like a cheap calf binding that was decorated with gilt at some point, although only traces remain. Boards detached. The pages appear to have been cropped for this re-binding, as marginalia is cut away. Many of the pages are poorly aligned, and many running-titles are cut away.
There are gnomic points, underlines, and other readerly markers throughout the book. Most of the hands appear to be 17th century, but there seem to be some more recent markings as well. I note some of the more potentially interesting markings below:
1. Stanza numbered in pen; indicated by numeral in possible 17th-century hand. Numbering stops after III.iiii.20 (2F2r).
2. In left margin of I.xi.45.7-9 (L5v) is the following, in possible 17th century italic hand: “[..]ur po{e}t [mi]staken” (conjectural or missing letters in brackets—the pages have been cut; the “e” in “poet” I’m unsure of.)
3. Following Canto I.xii.12 (M5r), in 17th century Italic hand: “Amen”
“Wisheth Joh: M[.]”
4. Following II.iiii.5 (P6r), vertical writing in margin, mostly obscured by cropping, in ornate italic hand different from markings in previous book.
5. Preceding II.vi.14 (R3v) in left margin, drawing of a left hand, palm facing out, thumb up. Beneath, double quotation marks (“gnomic pointing”, I guess) begin to the left of the first line in stanza 15, another quotation mark to the right of the final line of stanza 16 closes the quote. The ink looks similar to that used in the lines numbers.
6. Gnomic pointing to the right of II.vi.25.4 (R5r)
7. Illegible writing on top right corner of S2r; appears to be italic hand in a dark ink and secretary hand in a faded ink. Cropped.
8. 2C2r: to right of III.i.35.2: “far si…” (5 minims following the “i”, possibly an “ly” at end)
Beneath, to right of 36.1: “Abra: [?]”. Both in formal italic similar to hand on P6r.
9. 2N2r: handwriting in upper right corner (“This is very goo[d]+other illegible markings), looks like a 20th century hand/ink.
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