403

Raphael Holinshed (1529-1580)

The Chronicles.

London: Printed at the expenses of John Harison, George Bishop, Rafe Newberie, Henrie Denham & Thomas Woodcocke, 1587.
Four folio volumes; volume IV with a clever facsimile title constructed of a period title page from another work with original woodcut compartment that is used elsewhere in this set, with the central panel trimmed out and letterpress printed facsimile title tacked into the window; lacking terminal blanks; cancelled leaves in volume two replaced with 18th century reprints (for general descriptions of these reprints, see The Library, series 5, XII (1958), pages 120-124); this set bound in full uniform later (18th century?) speckled calf with gilt-tooled spine (bindings worn with loss); contents subject to occasional stains, slight losses and repairs; overall, an attractive set in somewhat worn bindings; 13 3/4 x 8 3/4 in.

STC 13569; ESTC S122178.

More of a collaborative work, these Chronicles were originally the brain-child of London printer Reginald Wolfe, and they are virtually all that remains known of Holinshed. Recommended for their voluminous content concerning Great Britain, their historical import has been eclipsed, in the eyes of collectors and scholars at least, by their role as a source for Shakespeare's celebrated historical plays King Lear, Macbeth and Richard III.

  • Condition: I: A2-6 (lacking A1), B-Y6, A-Q6, R5 (lacking R6). II: A-E6, A1, A-Q6, R2; A-U6, Aa-Nn6, Oo4, Pp-Tt6, A6, B8, *6, ¶7 (lacking ¶8). III: A2-4, (second) A2-4 (this leaves signed and bound erratically, the same leaves recorded in ESTC collation as A6; six leaves present in this copy as well), B-U6, Aa-Uu6, Aaa-Uuu6, 4A-4G6, 4H1. IV: 4H2-6, 4I-4U6, 5A-5U6, 6A-6U6, 7A-7N6, 7O4 (7O4 blank & present), C-F6, G5 (lacking G6).

    Please contact us to request a condition report:
    Devon Eastland, Senior Specialist: [email protected]
    Grace Meschery-McCormack, Cataloguer: [email protected]


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April 23, 2026 10:30 AM EDT
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