"The diuiſion and ſumming up of the Chapters was not of Sir Philip Sidneis dooing, but aduentured by the ouerſeer of the print, for the more eaſe of the Readers. He therfore ſubmits himſelfe to their judgement, and if his labour anſwere not the worthines of the booke, deſireth pardon for it. As alſo if any defect be found in the Eclogues, which although they were of Sir Phillip Sidneis writing, yet were not peruſed by him, but left till the worke had bene finiſhed, that then choiſe ſhould haue bene made, which ſhould haue bene taken, and in what manner brought in. At this time they haue bene choſen and diſposed as the ouer-ſeer thought beſt." Whoever the overseer may have been, whether in the employment of Ponsonby, Windet, or Field, and however unfortunate the result of his literary judgment, he produced a book which for beauty may take its place with the best of the period. The Roman type and excellent press-work distinguish it amongst the mass of inferior productions. Large ornamental initial letters, more or less related, are used at the beginning of all the Books, while Book I begins with an especially fine allegorical woodcut initial representing a crowned Tudor rose, Justice with her foot on Medusa's head, and Peace. Head- and tail-pieces, some of type metal and some woodcuts, are used at the beginning of the Books to give added effect. At the end of the sixteenth chapter of Book III is a panel made of type-metal ornaments, intended to hold the lines referred to in the words: "Vpon which, Baſilius himself cauſed this Epitaph to be written." These, however, owing to the printer's oversight, were never added. In setting up the title-page, it may be that Ponsonby followed Sidney's hint, and so sought "the chief protection" of the name of the Countess, and, not content with the name alone, added the coat-of-arms of the Sidney family. Quarto. Roman. COLLATION: _A-Zz, in eights_. EDMUND SPENSER (1552?-1599) 12. The Faerie | Queene. | Diſpoſed into twelue books, | Faſhioning | XII. Morall vertues. | [Printer's mark] London | Printed for William Ponſonbie. | 1590. On December 1, 1589, "Maſter Ponſonbye. Entered for his Copye, a booke intytuled _the fayrye Queene dyspoſed into xij. bookes. &c._ Aucthoryzed vnder thandes of the Archbishop of Canterbery, and bothe the wardens ... vj^{d}."