[LANGLAND, William (c.1330-c.1386)] - photo 1
[LANGLAND, William (c.1330-c.1386)] - photo 2

[LANGLAND, William (c.1330-c.1386)]

Lot 106
13.07.2022 10:30UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 12 600
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 794370
Lot 106 | [LANGLAND, William (c.1330-c.1386)]
Estimate value
£ 12 000 – 16 000
[LANGLAND, William (c.1330-c.1386)]

The Vision of Pierce Plowman, newlye imprynted after the authors olde copy. London: Owen Rogers, February 1561.

Fourth edition of The Vision of Piers Plowman. Attributed to William Langland, The Vision is considered the most important work in Middle English with the exception of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. It is thought to have been written between 1360 to 1399, and describes the vision of the poet set in the Vale of Berkeley and the adjacent Malvern Hills. It reflects on, among other things, the corruption of the Church, the merits of poverty, and the supreme virtue of love. It was first published in 1550 during the reign of Edward VI in twenty parts, which this edition copies. ‘What is truly exceptional about Langland is the kind, and the degree, of his poetic imagination’ (C.S. Lewis. The Allegory of Love). ‘The crede .. is as usual lacking. Its rarity, about half a dozen copies have survived, is probably due to contemporary proscription because of its Wyclifite doctrine. .. Except as linked in the title, the Crede has no connection with the Vision’ (Pforzheimer). ESTC S114908; STC 19908; Hayward 12; Lowndes V 1888: ‘The Crede .. is very seldom found in the volume, though mentioned in the title page’; Ames IV 2845; Pforzheimer, 799.



Quarto (184 x 139mm). Title with small woodcut ornament, criblé initials (lacking Crede as usual, quires Ff-Gg reversed, browning in Gg, small dampstain in upper margin, small worm-track in margin of Dd). 17th-century speckled calf, sides blind-ruled to a panel design, blind fleurons at corners (rebacked c. 1900, a little rubbed at joints). Provenance: ’S. Sanders ex dono D. Shermedine 1681’ (inscription on fly-leaf, shelf marks above) – (bibliographical notes on front free endpapers and marginal notes, translations from old English, in two 19th-century hands) – Waldo C Bryant (1863-1930 engraved bookplate).





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Place of origin:Northern Europe, Europe, United Kingdom
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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13.07.2022 – 13.07.2022
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