Spenser, Edmund

4to (7 1/4 x 5 3/8 in.; 183 x 136 mm). Roman letter (with italic). The general title and three divisional titles (E1r and L1r dated 1591, T1r dated 1590) printed within a woodcut border (McKerrow and Ferguson 117), woodcut initials and head- and tailpieces; title-page a little browned at edges and with a few tiny chips and one early repair, some scattered light dampstaining, chiefly marginal but most prominent in quires D, G, and S, lacking blank Z4. Modern green morocco gilt.

acquisition: John Fleming, 1963

STC 23078; ESTC S111266; Grolier/Langland to Wither 235; Hayward 23; Johnson, Spenser 14; Pforzheimer 968

4to (7 1/4 x 5 3/8 in.; 183 x 136 mm). Roman letter (with italic). The general title and three divisional titles (E1r and L1r dated 1591, T1r dated 1590) printed within a woodcut border (McKerrow and Ferguson 117), woodcut initials and head- and tailpieces; title-page a little browned at edges and with a few tiny chips and one early repair, some scattered light dampstaining, chiefly marginal but most prominent in guires D, G, and S, lacking blank Z4. Modern green morocco gilt.
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.

First edition, comprising six original poems (all previously unpublished) and three translations (one unpublished and two revised; Spenser's translations of Petrarch and Ronsard had previously been published in Jan van der Noot's Theatre, 1569). These verses were collected by the publisher William Ponsonby, who evidently hoped to trade on the success gained by the Fairie Queene the year before. While it was long thought that Spenser himself prepared this edition, Jean Brink has published a number of persuasive arguments that it was Ponsonby who collected the poems and saw them through the press ("Who Fashioned Edmund Spenser? The Textual History of Complaints," Studies in Philology 88 [1991], 153—168).

Section-titles are provided for Teares of the Muses; Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale; and Muiopotmos, or The Fate of the Butterflie, and they carry independent dedications but continuous signatures. A few copies survive of one or more of these separable parts, but most copies include the entire collection. A considerable number of variant readings are known from in-press corrections, but both the backing-up of formes and the gathering of sheets were carried out indifferently, without distinction of issue.