The First and second volumes of Chronicles ....[with] The Third volume of Chronicles, beginning at duke William the Norman, commonly called the Conqueror; and descending by degrees of yeeres to all the kings and queens of England in their orderlie successions: ... by Raphael Holinshed, William Harrison, now augmented by John Hooker [alias Vowell Gent] and others - 1587

At London printed in Aldergate Street at the signe of the Starre: John Harrison, George Bishop, Rafe Newberie, Henrie Denham and Thomas Woodcocke, 1587 A good copy of the 2nd edition of Holinshed's Chronicles. This edition lacks the extensive woodcuts found in the 1st edition but has beautiful initial capitals and head and tailpieces. Volumes I and II are bound together; Volume III is a single volume. All have been rebound in half calf with gilt lining and title label to spine and marbled boards. Bookplates from the Skipworth family of Newbold-Revel in Warwickshire dating from 1704 through to 1884, have been relaid on the front endpapers of both volumes. Vol I/II has worming. The animals in question have gone vertically through the text block and so little text has been lost, apart from a solitary sideways saunter in the Irish section from p 41 through to p 1 of the Irish History where there loss of some words. Vols I/II are complete apart from lacking the title page to the Description of Ireland and pp 421-4 in the Scottish section - this text is supplied separately in facsimile. Vol III has professional paper repair to the bottom corner of a number of leaves not affecting text. Parts of this volume have strange pagination following the work of censorship in February 1587, when the Archbishop of Canterbury was required by the Privy Council (acting on the Queen's displeasure with some of the contents) to recall the work and reform it - excising some pages. All copies of Vol III are affected but to different degrees with some having Cancel pages or later reprints (from 1723) added. 74 pp were affected in all. In this volume there are several cases where the recto and verso of the same leaf have different pagination and the ties do not work. There is obvious missing text from p 1327-1332 which is supplied separately in text form. There is staining to some leaves in both volumes and the odd corner tip is missing, but overall the text to both is clean and readable. Contents - Vol I/II: title and prelims [viii]; text 250 pp; Historie of England; [iv]; 202 pp; blank - lacks title to Description of Ireland [iv]; pp 9-61, blank verso; title Irish Historie, [xii]; 183 pp with blank verso; title - Description of Scotland [2]; text pp 3-23 blank verso; title Historie of Scotland [2]; text 29-464 lacking 421-4 and with pagination fault at p 430 (430 should go to text on p 436 to 438 to 431 to 432 to 433 and then continue 439 on); table alphabeticall First to Fourth 53 pp; Colophon January 1597 1p. Vol III: title and prelims [viii]; text 1-1267; continuation [2]; text 1270-1592 finis; [blank]; third table 57pp; Colophon Jan 1587 to verso of final leaf. There is considerable mispagination - please enquire if you would like to see the full listing - in some cases ties work, in others they do not. There is a stub between pp 1554 and 1555 but the tie works. The paper to the title page is much less toned than the rest but it is not new - so perhaps taken from another volume? There are old paper repairs and some ink notes - particularly one before the section with obvious missing text (pp between 1327 and 1332 - which reads 'the next leafe not right'. The Colophon has a lot of old ink doodling on it. Please enquire if you would like to see further images or the detailed pagination listing for Vol III.