SPENSER, Edmund (c.1522-1599). The Faerie Queen: The Shepheard’s Calendar; together with the Other Works of England’s Arch-Poët. London: H[umphrey] L[ownes] for Matthew Lownes, 1611 [1615?].

SPENSER, Edmund (c.1522-1599). The Faerie Queen: The Shepheard’s Calendar; together with the Other Works of England’s Arch-Poët. London: H[umphrey] L[ownes] for Matthew Lownes, 1611 [1615?].

The first collected edition of Spenser’s poetry, third issue. Spenser described his epic romance as a poem “cloudily enwrapped in Allegorical devises.” It earned him a pension from Queen Elizabeth and fame as one of the greatest English poets of his age. Combining Italian influences such as Ludovico Ariosto and Torquato Tasso with native British myths and legends, he produced the paradigmatic poem of the English Renaissance. Its multi-layered and often enigmatic symbolism has captivated and puzzled readers for centuries. Regarding the collected works, according to Johnson, “in no case were these editions printed as a unit. Instead, they were made up by issuing as a single volume a number of separate sections.” Johnson, F.R., Critical Bibliography of the Works of Edmund Spenser, 19; STC (2nd ed.), 23084, 23093.5, 23087, 23077.3, 23086.3.

Folio (282 x 187mm). General title with decorated woodcut border, "The Shepheard’s Calendar" with woodcut illustrations, numerous woodcut titles, initials, and other decorations throughout (some occasional spots and browning, some dampstaining). Contemporary calf, with central gilt lozenge device (rebacked). Provenance: D. Baldwin (signature on title) – J. Cockshutt (signature on title) – Charles Arthur Wynne Finch (1847-1903; bookplate).