1577 | The | Laſte volume of the | Chronicles of England, Scot- | lande, and Irelande, with | their deſcriptions. | Conteyning, | The Chronicles of Englande from William Con- | querour vntill this preſent tyme. | Faithfully gathered and compiled | by Raphaell Holinſhed. | At London, | Imprinted for George | Biſhop. | [Printer's mark] God ſaue the Queene. The first edition is known as the Shakespeare edition, because it was used by the great poet, in common with all the Elizabethan dramatists, in the preparation of his historical plays. That Holinshed used the adjective _faithfully_ in its true sense may be seen by a reference to the dedication of the book to Sir William Cecil, Baron of Burleigh, whose coat-of-arms appears on the back of the title-page. Here he gives an interesting account of the inception and fortunes of the work, with an incidental side-light upon the relations of printer and professional writer: "Where as therefore, that worthie Citizen Reginald Wolfe late Printer to the Queenes Maiestie, a man well knowen and beholden to your Honour, meant in his life time to publiſh an vniuerſall Coſmographie of the whole worlde, and therewith alſo certaine perticular Histories of euery knowen nation, amongſt other whome he purpoſed to vſe for performance of his entent in that behalfe, he procured me to take in hande the collection of thoſe Histories, and hauing proceeded ſo far in the ſame, as little wanted to the accompliſhment of that long promiſed worke, it pleased God to call him to his mercie, after .xxv yeares trauell ſpent therein, so that by his vntimely deceaſſe, no hope remayned to ſee that performed, which we had so long trauayled aboute: thoſe yet whom he left in trust to diſpoſe his things after his departure hence, wiſhing to the benefite of others, that ſome fruite might follow of that whereabout he had imployed ſo long time, willed me to continue mine endeuour for their furtherance in the ſame, whiche although I was ready to do, ſo farre as mine abilitie would reach, and the rather to anſwere that trust which the deceaſſed repoſed in me, to ſee it brought to ſome perfection: yet when the volume grewe ſo great, as they that were to defray the charges for the Impreſsion, were not willing to go through with the whole, they reſolued first to publiſhe the Histories of Englande, Scotlande, and Irelande, with their deſcriptions, whiche deſriptions, becauſe they were not in ſuch readineſſe, as thoſe of forreyn countreys, they were enforced to uſe the helpe of other better able to do it than I."