WARNER, William

by William Warner

£12,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

A remarkable, completely unsophisticated copy, of the very rare second edition of Warner s poem, with the addition of two books added from the first; stab bound as originally issued, probably never with the woodcut plate. William Warner is best remembered for his Albions England (1586), a verse history of Britain, covering in its final edition events from Noah to the reign of James I. .. Little is know of Warner s biography. Born about 1558 probably in London Warner worked as an attorney of the Court of Common Pleas in the same city, where he developed his reputation as an author and most likely associated with other men of letters.. The episodic history, Albions England, written in fourteen-sylable lines, incorporates much fictional and mythical material; its structure is influenced by Ovid. This popular work went through several editions during Warner s lifetime, each adding material to the narrative. The first, consisting of four books, was published in 1586 and relates events through the Norman Conquest. The second (1589), consisting of six books, covers events to the accession of Henry VII. Tudor England: An Encyclopedia. Warner fills his account with many picturesque details many of which he elaborates on from the original source material.One such example is his account of Robin Hood. Warner dates the historical Robin Hood to the reign of King Richard I, but he tells the story out of sequence, under the reign of King Edward II, as an inset to another tale. The narrator

• Binding: Hardcover

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