Browne, William

2 works in one volume, folio (11 x 6 7/8 in.; 280 x 175 mm). First part with engraved title by William Hole and two pages of text engraved in emblematic style, separate title page for Second Booke, woodcut initials, typographic headpieces and other ornaments; first four leaves with repaired marginal rusthole, light narrow edge stain in leaf C1, some light soiling and staining, a very few rust stains. Contemporary blind-ruled calf; rebacked, edges and corners mended.

Delamere House Library (bookplate) — Colonel C.H. Wilkinson (bookplate, Sotheby's, 24 October 1960, lot 60) — H. Bradley Martin (in these rooms, 30 April 1990, lot 2668). acquisition: Purchased at the foregoing sale through Bernard Quaritch

STC 3915 & 3915.5; ESTC S107097 & S107098; Grolier/Wither to Prior 27; Hayward 60 (this copy)

first four leaves with repaired marginal rusthole, light narrow edge stain in leaf C1, some light soiling and staining, a very few ruststains. Contemporary blind-ruled calf; rebacked, edges and corners mended.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Second edition of the first book, first edition of the second. "With his first major work, Britannia's Pastorals, Browne set himself the ambitious task of composing a pastoral epic on a national theme. The poem's title recalls William Camden's Britannia (1586) and announces its affinities with the antiquarian impulse to map the land. Browne's pastoral epic found a companion in this enterprise in Michael Drayton's long chorographical poem, Poly-Olbion (1612). Like Poly-Olbion, Britannia's Pastorals is an experimental poem that mixes literary genres in the effort to find a form to represent the nation. Browne followed the first book with a second published in 1616. These two books are very different in form and tone. The first combines Italianate pastoral tragicomedy with Spenserian allegory to give the poem an English flavour. ... The second book, published three years later, is much darker in tone and satire and elegy dominate" (ONDB). A third book remained unpublished during his lifetime.