Books

SPENSER, Edmund. The Faerie Queene. London: Printed for J. Brindley, in New Bond-Street, and S. Wright, Clerk of his Majesty's Works, at Hampton-Court, 1751. Complete in 3 volumes. Original boards with deckle edges. Quarto. Illustrated with 27 (5 missing from the original 32) double-page copper-engraved plates by William Kent, each mounted onto a tab to allow for the plate to be viewed flat, plus several head and tail pieces throughout. Binding is worn and darkened reflecting an unsophisticated state with the exception of a repair to Volume 1. Mixed issue. Pages intact. From Professor J. W. Hales - "The composition of The Faerie Queene extends over some fifteen years, from 1579 to 1594; and with the English history of this time, it very closely associates itself. England becomes to Spenser a land of fairy, wrapped in a golden mist of chivalry and romance, with knights errant of divine purpose and indomitable prowess. Under one form or another Queen Elizabeth is almost omnipresent throughout. It is his inexhaustible freshness and abundance of fancy, combined with his astonishing dominion over language and over rhyme and rhythm, that has won for Spenser his distinguishing title of 'the poet's Poet.'" Size: 4to - over 9½ - 12" tall.

The Faerie Queene is a celebrated epic poem by Edmund Spenser, first published in 1590. The poem is an allegory praising Queen Elizabeth I and reflecting the values and ideologies of Elizabethan England. It is one of the longest poems in the English language and is renowned for its richly imaginative narrative and moral allegory.