HEYWOOD, Thomas

by Thomas Heywood

£5,750 · Offered by Sokol Books

First edition, extremely rare complete with the folding engraved plate, of Heywood s description, in prose and verse, of The Sovereign of the Seas , the most famous warship of her day, and until then the largest and most expensive ship built in England. Thomas Heywood (c. 1574-1641) was a prolific author of plays, poetry, pageants, and pamphlets. During the early 1630s, he collaborated with members of the Christmas family of tomb sculptors in producing a series of Lord Mayor s Day pageants. In 1637, the same team created the elaborate decorative carvings for the biggest, most expensive, and most heavily-armed ship the world had ever seen, King Charles I s Sovereign of the Seas. Heywood had a hand in the decorative design and also wrote a commentary on the finished product. His A True Description of His Majesty s Royall Ship described the mythological, legendary, and allegorical subject-matter of the most prominent carvings and inscriptions. It also provided a descriptive chronicle of ships and navigators to serve as background to the portrait of the ship. The Sovereign of the Seas was an incredible architectural and engineering feat but also one of Charles I s greatest follies. Heywood s little-known book is of particular value to the history of Renaissance pageantry, sculpture, and iconography, and gives a unique account of a massive experiment in naval architecture by one closely involved. Not only was the massive ship an extravagant exercise in royal and national propagand

• Binding: Hardcover

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