The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer (The Workes of Geffrey Chaucer)

London: John Kyngston for John Wight, 1561. Fifth. hardcover. Very good.. First issue of the 1561 Stowe edition. Very good in contemporary covers and recent leather spine with gold lettering. Probable first issue of the Stowe Edition with Chaucer's arms dated 1560 and before woodcut additions. As for the differences between the Stowe issues, David R. Carlson ("The Woodcut Illustrations in Early Printed Editions of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales," in Chaucer Illustrated: Five Hundred Years of The Canterbury Tales in Pictures [British Library, 2003]) states "the most plausible explanation seems to be that the printer and publisher of the [Stowe] edition, came into possession of the woodcuts belatedly after most of the press work for the edition had been done. After obtaining the blocks, they ran up a new issue of the beginning of the book, incorporating a "General Prologue" illustrated with woodcut. In all documented cases, the unillustrated [i.e. first]"General Prologue" occurs with a title page showing the Chaucer arms, dated 1560 at the top of the shield. A different title-page, dated 1561, is found in copies incorporating the [woodcut] illustrated General Prologue." A handsome complete copy without loss of text, beautifully printed in fifty-six line, two-column black-letter Gothic. The 1561 Stowe edition is probably the one known to William Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser. Folio. More photos available upon request.