12. The Faerie " Queene. " Di?po?ed into twelue books, " Fa?hioning " XII. Morall vertues. " [Printer's mark] London " Printed for William Pon?onbie. " 1590.

On December 1, 1589, "Ma?ter Pon?onbye. Entered for his Copye, a booke intytuled the fayrye Queene dyspo?ed into xij. bookes. &c. Aucthoryzed vnder thandes of the Archbishop of Canterbery, and bothe the wardens ... vj^d."

Spenser's name not being mentioned and not being printed on the title-page, it would almost seem as if he had wished his book to be anonymous; but that was probably not the case, because the dedication on the verso of the title, "To the Most Mightie And Magnificent Empresse Elizabeth ..." is signed by "Her mo?t humble Seruant, Ed. Spen?er." The "Letter of the Authors Expounding his whole intention in the Cour?e of the worke.... To the Right Noble, and Valorous Sir Walter Raleigh ..." is also signed "Ed. Spen?er," and the last two of his poems addressed to various personages are signed "E. S."

It will be observed that the license to print the book, as well as the title-page, refers to the whole work, only three books of which, treating of the virtues Holiness, Temperance, and Chastity, had been completed by the author at this time.

Ponsonby may be regarded as a fortunate man to have had the handling of the works of such authors as Greene, Sidney, and Spenser. If his attempts to exploit the first great English prose romance were not always successful, his relations with Spenser were more satisfactory, and this work finding "a favorable passage," no less than ten other of the poet's productions were issued over his imprint.

The printer's name does not appear, but the device on the title-page is the mark of John Wolfe, son of Reyner Wolfe, a printer to the City of London, and one of the busiest members of the Stationers' Company. It was he who printed The Shepheard's Calendar, for John Harrison the younger, in 1586. His use of the Florentine lily is probably not without significance. The first Italian book printed in England (Petruccio Ubaldino La vita di Carlo Magno Imperadore, 1581), came from his press, as well as numerous translations of books in that tongue; and it is easy to believe that he may have received his idea for a mark of a fleur-de-lis "seeding," as Herbert calls it, from the Florentine lily of an Italian printer seen in some of the Italian books so numerous in England at this time.

A frame of printer's ornaments surrounds a verse at the beginning of each chapter, and there is a rather clumsy woodcut, representing Saint George and the Dragon, at the end of the first Book, but these are the chief ornaments in the volume. This book, like the Arcadia, is in the Roman type, and of remarkably good press-work.

The Second " Part Of The " Faerie Queene. " Containing " The Fourth, " Fifth, " And Sixth Bookes. " By Ed. Spen?er " [Printer's mark] Imprented at London for VVilliam " Pon?onby. 1596. was licensed January 20, 1595-6, and was published with a second edition of the first part, which it was meant to accompany. The remaining six books never appeared.

The device on the title-page of the second volume is that of Thomas Vautrollier, a foreigner settled in London, whose stock passed, at his death, to his son-in-law, Richard Field. It seems clear that Field printed the volume (Vautrollier did no work after 1588), although Herbert ascribes it to the master-printer Thomas Creed.

In some early copies of the first volume there are blank spaces on page 332, which had been left by the printer to be filled later with Welsh words and then forgotten. Other copies have this omission corrected.

Quarto. Roman and Italic.

Collation: A-Qq4, in eights.