1856 Rare Book - The FAERIE QUEENE by Edmund SPENSER Illustrated by Corbould.
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Author: SPENSER, Edmund.
Title: THE FAERIE QUEENE: Disposed into Twelve Books fashioning XII Moral Virtues. To which is added his Epithalamion. Fourth edition with a Glossary.
Publisher: London, G. Routledge & Co., 1856.
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7 "X 4.5 ".
Pages: xii-820 pages.
Binding: Attractive and near fine Victorian full morocco leather binding finely bound with sides elaborately tooled in gilt, spine with raised bands and gilt-decorated compartments, inner dentelles gilt (hinges fine, overall slightly scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. All edges gilt.
Content: Very good content (bright and tight, some light foxing or staining - as shown, name of a previous 1868 owner on the first endpaper).
Illustrations: Beautifully illustrated by Edward Henry Corbould,
The book: Superb copy in a particularly lovely binding mid-19th century illustrated edition of the Faerie Queene. The Faerie Queene is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books I–III were first published in 1590, and then republished in 1596 together with books IV–VI. The Faerie Queene is notable for its form: it is one of the longest poems in the English language as well as the work in which Spenser invented the verse form known as the Spenserian stanza. On a literal level, the poem follows several knights as a means to examine different virtues, and though the text is primarily an allegorical work, it can be read on several levels of allegory, including as praise (or, later, criticism) of Queen Elizabeth I. In Spenser's "Letter of the Authors", he states that the entire epic poem is "cloudily enwrapped in Allegorical devices", and the aim of publishing The Faerie Queene was to "fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline".
The author: Edmund Spenser (1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of nascent Modern English verse, and is often considered one of the greatest poets in the English language.