The Faerie Queene (1590/1596)

For other versions of this work, see The Faerie Queene.

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The Faerie Queene (1590/1596)
by Edmund Spenser

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The Faerie Queene is an unfinished English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. The title page declares it to be 'disposed into twelue bookes, fashioning XII. morall vertues.' The first three books were published in 1590; Books 4 to 6 followed in 1596. Spenser died in 1599. Posthumous editions include some cantos 'on mutabilitie' thought to have been intended to form part of Book 7.

This transcription consists of the first edition of Books 1 to 3, printed in 1590 and the first edition of Books 4 to 6, printed in 1596. Books 1 to 3 were reprinted, with amendments, in 1596. The first 'collected edition' appeared in 1609. [Based on A Critical Bibliography of the Works of Edmund Spenser printed before 1700 (1933), by Francis Rarick Johnson, pp. 11-23.]

The Faerie Queene is notable for its form: it was the first work written in Spenserian stanza. It is an allegorical work, written in praise of Queen Elizabeth I. Largely symbolic, the poem follows several knights in an examination of several virtues."The Faerie Queene," in Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia

40667The Faerie Queene1590/1596Edmund Spenser

Volumes (not listed in original)

First part: Books I to III (1590)
Second part: Books IV to VI (1596)

This work was published before January 1, 1931, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

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