| Copynotes: | St Andrews copy imperfect: vol. 2 lacks title page.
19th or 20th century pencil annotations in vol. 4 (The Shepherd's calendar)
Vol. 1-2: Bound in 20th century cloth case binding, with spine lettered in gold.
Vol. 3-6: Bound in contemporary mottled calf with gilt double fillet on both boards; board edges tooled in blind; five raised bands on spine, edged with double gilt fillet; brown leather spine label (Spenser's works) in second compartment; vol. number stamped in gold in third compartment; all edges of text block sprinkled red; endbands worked in red and undyed thread.
Condition notes:
Vol. 1: Some foxing to the leaves at the beginning and end of the text.
Vol. 2: Bookworm damage p. 277-300; repair to leaf U11; fore-edges of leaves Bb1 and Bb2 have been repaired; some foxing to textblock, mainly at the beginning and end; some of the pages are fragile and torn at the edges.
Vol. 3: Calf is dry and flaking; joints are rubbed; upper joint split at head, lower joint beginning to split in lower half; fore-edge of lower board very rubbed, so that the calf has split; corners rubbed and bending inwards; lacks headcap; bookworm damage at margin of gathering Bb.
Vol. 4: Calf is dry and flaking; lower joints rubbed and splitting at top; upper joint split; corners rubbed and bending inwards; tail edge of upper board rubbed at corner so that calf has been removed; lacks headcap; middle raised band on spine rubbed to reveal cord beneath; rectangular mark on upper board as if something has been attached and removed; title page detached; crease in lower corners of gatherings Rr and Ss.
Vol. 5: Calf is dry and flaking; both joints have split; corners rubbed and bending inwards; lacks headcap; most of spine label has come away; calf coming away from right side of first spine compartment.
Vol. 6: Calf is dry and flaking; both joints rubbed and beginning to split; corners rubbed and bending inwards; lacks headcap; most of spine label has come away.
The copy of this work is on ordinary paper, and so does not contain the list of subscribers in vol. 1.
|
| Editionnotes: | Issued on ordinary and fine paper, with the latter containing an additional gathering in vol. 1 (*a⁶, pp. ix-xviii) comprising a list of subscribers.
Signatures: Vol. 1: A⁴ *a⁶ a-e¹² f¹⁰ B-H¹² I⁸; vol. 2: K-Z¹² Aa¹² (-Aa12) Bb²; vol. 3: Bb-Oo¹²; vol. 4: Pp-Zz¹² Aaa-Ddd¹²; vol. 5: [pi]1 Eee-Qqq¹². Vol. 6: [pi]1 Rrr-Zzz¹² Aaaa-Eeee¹² Ffff⁸.
With continuous pagination and signatures.
Final leaves of vol. 3 (Oo12) and vol. 6 (Ffff8) are blank.
With engraved frontispiece in each vol.
Plates engraved by Lud. Du Guernier.
Glossary in vol. 1, p. cxv-cxl.
In vol. 1 p. 24 misprinted as 518.
St Andrews copy on ordinary paper, without the list of subscribers.
Printed by John Darby. For the identification of Darby as printer, see Hazel Wilkinson, "Printers' flowers as evidence in the identification of unknown printers: two examples from 1715," The Library, ser. 7, v. 14, no. 1 (March 2013), 70-79.
Contents:Vol. 1: Life of Edmund Spenser -- An essay on allegorical poetry -- Remarks on the Fairy queen -- Remarks on The shepherd's calendar, &c. -- A glossary explaining the old and obscure words in Spenser's works -- A Letter of the author, explaining his design, in the poem of the Faity-queen -- Verses to the author if the Fairy-queen -- The first book of the Fairy-queen ; vol. 2: The second book of the Fairy-queen -- The third book of the Fairy-queen ; vol. 3: The fourth book of the Fairy-queen -- The fifth book of the Fairy-queen ; vol. 4: The sixth book of the Fairy-queen -- Two cantos of mutability -- The Shepherd's calendar -- Colin Clout's come home again -- Virgil's gnat ; vol. 5: Prosopopoia: or, Mother Hubbard's tale -- Amoretti, or sonnets -- Prothalamion; or a spousal verse -- Four hymns -- Daphnaida: an elegy upon the death of the noble and vertuous Douglas Howard -- Muiopotmos: or, the fate of the butterfly -- The tears of the muses -- The visions of Petrarch -- The visions of Bellay -- The ruines of Rome -- Visions of the world's vanity -- Astrophel: a pastoral elegy upon the death of the most noble and valorous knight, Sir Philip Sidney -- The mourning muse of Thestylis -- A pastoral aeglogue upon the death of Sir Philip Sidney Kt. &c. -- An elegy; or, friend's passion for his astrophel -- An epitaph upon the Right Honourable Sir Philip Sidney Knight, Lord Governour of Flushing ; vol. 6: The ruines of time -- Britain's Ida -- A view of the state of Ireland -- Calendarium pastolate, sive aeglogaw duodecim, totidem anni mensibus accommodatae -- Letter between Mr. Spenser and Mr. Gabriel Harvey.
Most of the works are in English, but some are in Latin.
|
