The History of the World.

RALEIGH, Sir Walter.

Published by London: Printed by William Stansby for Walter Burre, 1614

First edition of Raleigh's best-known and most extensive book, a landmark work of Jacobean scholarship. The History includes the first appearance of an (anonymous) 18-line poem by Ben Jonson, titled "The Minde of the Front" and printed opposite the frontispiece. The map of Arabia is thought to have influenced Milton's description of Paradise. The History was written as Raleigh languished in the Tower of London, accused of plotting to dethrone James I. The Tower, with a library of 500 volumes, held several scholar-prisoners, including Henry Percy (1564-1632), known as the Wizard Earl for his alchemical interests. The History project appears to have been at least partially collaborative: Jonson, who met Raleigh when tutoring his son, boasted of contributing an uncredited section on the Punic Wars to the fifth book. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Raleigh was actively involved in supervising the printing of his book by Stansby and Burre. The work was entered in the Stationer's Register in 1611: when it finally appeared in 1614 it was swiftly (if briefly) suppressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The History is divided into five books, the first two broadly focussing on biblical history, the remaining three examining the story of Greece and Rome up to the conquest of Macedon in 146 BCE. Raleigh's overriding theme is the tyranny of monarchical rule, and the terrible divine vengeance that such tyranny brought. As a result, "the History proved an arsenal of political ammunition to the Englishmen who overthrew the absolutism of the Stewarts" (PMM). The eight plates depict a series of locations in Arabia and the Mediterranean, as well as Roman military encampments. The Pforzheimer catalogue notes that Milton was familiar with the History, and that his depiction of Paradise very closely resembles Raleigh's map of Arabia at pp. 64-5. This copy includes the anonymous 36-page "Life of Sir Walter Raleigh", known to have been issued with the 1652 editions of the History. Here, it is bound after the contents. The initial leaf of the work bears the inscription "liber Henrici Bromley" in a contemporary hand. This is almost certainly Sir Henry Bromley (d. 1615), a landowner and local administrator. Bromley may well have known and collaborated with Raleigh: both men are named in parliamentary committees on weaponry and monopolies in the 1597 session, while they were also returned in the parliaments of 1584, 86, and 93. This first edition remains the only one with substantial authorial oversight: the second of 1617, the last of Raleigh's lifetime, was a page-for-page reprint of the first except for an inserted leaf in the preliminaries and some altered catchwords. At the time, Raleigh was fully engaged in preparations for his ill-fated voyage to Orinoco, with no time for authorial revisions. The old assertion that there were two issues of the first edition, with uncorrected and corrected errata, has been disproven by John Racin Jr., who identifies a single issue in numerous variant states (p. 205). ESTC S116300; Pforzheimer 820; Printing and the Mind of Man 117. John Racin Jr., "The Early Editions of Sir Walter Ralegh's "The History of the World", Studies in Bibliography vol. 17, no. 1, 1964. Folio (321 x 208 mm), pp. [84], 36, 651 [= 653, numbers 491-2 repeated], [3], 776, [62]; lacking final blank (sig. 6A6). Engraved title page, 8 double-page plates, woodcut tables, initials, head- and tailpieces. Recent calf, spine dated in gilt and with twin red morocco labels lettered and panelled in gilt, covers with floral panel and cornerpieces blocked in blind, edges sprinkled red. Late 17th-century signature of "Joseph Jackson" to head of title page. Paper repairs to title page and lower margin of 4X4. Light rubbing, minor browning and soiling to contents, short tears, chips and losses to several leaves, tear of c.113mm to 6C3, touching text, holes to 5B2, just touching signature, and 2nd and 6th plates, loss to M5, affecting pagination: a very goo. Seller Inventory # 176975

Bibliographic Details

Title: The History of the World.
Publisher: London: Printed by William Stansby for Walter Burre, 1614
Edition: 1st Edition