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First edition of Nichols splendid history of the reign of Elizabeth I, a magnificent two-volume chronicle of Englands greatest queen, featuring 30 full-page engraved illustrations (three folding and frontispiece in Vol. I), three folding genealogical charts, numerous in-text engravings and facsimile signatures and a large folding map of London circa 1558. numerous illustrations, plates & fold-outs all checked & free from markings. Bindings are tight with no cracks. 3/4 leather with marbled brown cloth boards show some edge wear. Spines have gilt titles and decorations divided by raised bands with some flaking and edge wear at the hinges. Text and plates fresh and clean with only light scattered foxing, expert archival repair to verso of folding plate (I:113), small closed tears to a few text leaves. A highly desirable two-volume history in near-fine condition. Armorial bookplates of Ireland's Fitzpatrick of Grantstown Manor. John Nichols's The Progresses of Queen Elizabeth has long been an indispensable reference tool for scholars working on Elizabethan court and culture. Includes accounts of the dramatic performances, orations, and poems written for the Queen, supplemented by eye-witness accounts of the Queen and her progresses, contemporary correspondence, details of the day-to-day running of the Court. Elizabeth I was the last of the Tudors and the greatest of queens The daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn came into her inheritance on 17 November 1558, a day to be marked by celebrations even after the close of her long reign some 44 years later (Fraser, Lives 198-211). As Queen, she survived fierce religious turmoil, dangerous court intrigue and victory over the Spanish Armada. Elizabeth I cultivated a glittering culture highlighted by the plays of Shakespeare, Marlowe and Jonson, and the brilliant architecture of Inigo Jones, oversaw the rise of the British empire in vast voyages of discovery, agonized over the execution of Mary Queen of Scots and that of her beloved Earl of Essex, and presided over one of Englands most splendid courts. In these two large volumes, richly illustrated with over 30 engraved plates, many in-text illustrations, genealogical plates and an impressive folding map of London, the splendor and magnificence of Elizabeths reign is nowhere more strongly painted nor could a more acceptable present be given to the world. (Percys Reliques III:64). No library should be without these volumes, [which] afford a living picture of the manners of England, its pursuits and its amusements. (Allibone, 1425). Volume I with frontispiece, 15 plates (2 folding) and large folding map of London circa 1558. Volume II with 14 plates (1 folding), three folding genealogical charts, and numerous in-text engraved illustrations and facsimile signatures. Both volumes with separate title pages and half titles; ornamental engraved head- and tail pieces throughout. Sequential pagination as issued. Nichols later published a third volume of this work in 1805 and part of a fourth in 1821. Lowndes, 1685. Armorial bookplates of Irelands Fitzpatrick of Grantstown Manor. John Nichols was an English printer, author and antiquary. He is remembered as an influential editor of the Gentleman's Magazine for nearly 40 years; author of a monumental county history of Leicestershire; author of two compendia of biographical material relating to his literary contemporaries; and as one of the agents behind the first complete publication of Domesday Book in 1783. Armorial crest pastedown inside front of both volumes - "FitzPatrick, Grantstown Manor, Queens County". John Fitzpatrick succeeded to the Irish estates of the Earl of Upper Ossory. He was sworn of the Privy Council in Ireland in 1848." His grandson Baron Bernard FitzPatrick, who served in the House of Parliament, died in 1937. The manor was finally sold out of the Fitzpatrick family in 1947. Seldom available in the original edition. Seller Inventory # 025616
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