The Faerie Queene - photo 1
The Faerie Queene - photo 2
The Faerie Queene - photo 3

The Faerie Queene

Lot 122
02.02.2024 10:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 60 480
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1129740
Lot 122 | The Faerie Queene
Estimate value
$ 30 000 – 50 000
SPENSER, Edmund (c.1552-1599). The Faerie Queene. Disposed into twelve books, fashioning XII. Morall Vertues. London: [John Wolf] for William Ponsonbie, 1590. –. The Second Part of the Faerie Queene, containing the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Bookes. London: [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, 1596.

Bradley Martin copy of the first edition of both parts of Spenser's great Tudor epic, first state of the title. The Faerie Queene, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth and written in a new poetic form now known as the Spenserian stanza, is a sprawling and surreal allegorical poem populated by robot squires, lady knights, evil sorceresses, and sundry figures from both Classical mythology and English legend. Spenser's stanza, appropriate for a poem which combines the Italian and British cultural imaginations, is a hybrid adaptation of Scots rhyme royal and Italian ottava rima, consisting of eight lines of pentameter and a final alexandrine.

In this copy, volume one closes with the original final gathering Pp, which contains sonnets (but scandalously omitting one to Lord Burghley) and the errata. The cancellans gathering Gg, intended to replace leaves Pp6 and 7, is bound after it. The Welsh words in lines 4 and 5 of p. 332 are not printed, spaces having been left for them to be filled in by hand should any person actually able to spell the Welsh language be found. Pforzheimer 969 and 970; STC S123180 and S117748; Grolier Langland to Wither 231 and 233.

Two volumes, quarto (186 x 135mm). Woodcut devices on titles in both vols, full-page woodcut of Saint George, woodcut initials and typographic ornaments (toned; vol 1 title a little soiled with some neat repairs, including to woodcut ornament; vol 2 title repaired at gutter, a few small repairs to blank margins throughout, small burn hole affecting a few letters). 19th-century crushed red morocco by Bedford, fully-gilt green morocco doublures, edges gilt. Provenance: a few faded early marginal notes – red armorial stamp of rampant lion – Frank Brewer Bemis (bookplate) – Harold Greenhill (bookplate) – H. Bradley Martin (bookplate, his sale, Sotheby's New York, 1 May 1990, lot 3220).
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
26.01.2024 10:00 – 17:00
27.01.2024 10:00 – 17:00
28.01.2024 13:00 – 17:00
29.01.2024 10:00 – 17:00
30.01.2024 10:00 – 17:00
31.01.2024 10:00 – 17:00
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase
Shipping Postal service
Courier service
pickup by yourself
Payment methods Wire Transfer
Business hoursBusiness hours
Mo 09:30 – 17:00   
Tu 09:30 – 17:00   
We 09:30 – 17:00   
Th 09:30 – 17:00   
Fr 09:30 – 17:00   
Sa closed
Su closed

More from Creator

The Faerie Queene
The Faerie Queene
$24 000
Colins Clouts Come home againe
Colins Clouts Come home againe
$100
The Faerie Queene: The Shepheard's Calendar: together with the other works of England's Arch-Poët
The Faerie Queene: The Shepheard's Calendar: together with the other works of England's Arch-Poët
$100
Colins Clouts Come home againe
Colins Clouts Come home againe
$6 500
Spenser, E.
Spenser, E.
€100
Spenser,E.
Spenser,E.
€120
The Works of that Famous Poet, Mr. Edmond Spenser ... with other new Additions Never before in Print
The Works of that Famous Poet, Mr. Edmond Spenser ... with other new Additions Never before in Print
$100

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.