Epitome of Cronicles Conteyninge the Whole discourse of the histories as well of this realme of England as al other cou[n]treys, with the succession of their kinges, the time of their reigne, and what notable actes they did: much profitable to be redde, namelye of Magistrates

London: In ædibus Thomæ Marshe, 1559. COOPER, Thomas. CROWLEY, Robert. An Epitome of Cronicles. Conteyninge the Whole discourse of the histories as well of this realme of England as al other cou[n]treys, with the succession of their kinges, the time of their reigne, and what notable actes they did: much profitable to be redde, namelye of Magistrates, and such as have auctoritee in commo[n] weales, gathered out of most porbable auctours. Firste by Thomas Lanquet, from the beginning of the worlde to the incarnacion of Christe, Secondely to the reigne of our soveraigne lard king Edward the firt by Thomas Cooper, and thirdly to the reigne of our soveraigne (truncated) Ladye Quene Elizabeth, by Robert Crowley. London: In ædibus Thomæ Marshe, 1559.

Full Description:

LANQUET, Thomas. COOPER, Thomas. CROWLEY, Robert. An Epitome of Cronicles. Conteyninge the Whole discourse of the histories as well of this realme of England as al other cou[n]treys, with the succession of their kinges, the time of their reigne, and what notable actes they did: much profitable to be redde, namelye of Magistrates, and such as have auctoritee in commo[n] weales, gathered out of most porbable auctours. Firste by Thomas Lanquet, from the beginning of the worlde to the incarnacion of Christe, Secondely to the reigne of our soveraigne lard king Edward the firt by Thomas Cooper, and thirdly to the reigne of our soveraigne Ladye Quene Elizabeth, by Robert Crowley. London: In ædibus Thomæ Marshe, 1559.

First full edition. A pirated edition repudiated by Cooper whose authorized edition was issued a year later. Incomplete, as in most copies. This lacks less than most. Small quarto (7 x 5 3/8 inches; 180 x 137 mm). [28], 280, [30] leaves. Printed in black letter and with historiated woodcut initials. Many pages misnumbered. With the extra leaf in 2R, and the duplicate of leaf 181. With two signatures of 4G at the end, however two leaves are lacking. The last signature should be in six rather than four, but ours is only in 4 so there are only 8 4G leaves and there should be 10.

Colophon reads: Imprinted at London by VVilliam Seres at the weste ende of Poules towarde Ludgate at the signe of the Hedgehogge and are there to be solde. 1559. The. v. day of Apryll.

With the morocco armorial bookplate of William Foyle.

Nineteenth-century full tan calf. Rebacked to style.Boards tooled in blind. Spine with two brown morocco bookplates, lettered in gilt. Spine stamped in blind. Drab gray endpapers. Small bookseller description and a small bookplate to front pastedown. Foyle bookplate to front free endpaper. Boards a bit rubbed. Previous owner's old ink notes to title-page. A few other instances of old ink marginalia. Some marginal dampstaining throughout. The final signature with some repairs along the fore-edge margin, not affecting text. Overall a very handsome copy of this early English chronicle usually known as "Coopers Chronicle".

"Lanquet is known for having undertaken a history of the known world in which the fortunes of nations and peoples are summarized together year by year... Lanquet proposed to divide his history into three sections, from the creation (dated to 3962 BC) to Abraham, from Abraham to the birth of Christ, and finally down to his own time. But he died in London in 1545, aged twenty-four, having reached only the accession of Tiberius (AD 17)...Lanquet's work was completed by Thomas Cooper, later successively bishop of Lincoln and of Winchester, and it was published in 1549 as An Epitome of Chronicles, with a dedication to the duke of Somerset... In 1559 Robert Crowley reissued the Epitome with a continuation to the accession of Elizabeth, virulently anti-Catholic in its account of recent events. But in 1560 Cooper in turn brought out another edition, repudiating Crowley's and in its continuation much less violent against Rome." (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).

ESTC S108255. STC 15217.5 (a pirated edition repudiated by Cooper whose authorized edition was issued a year later).

HBS 69315.

$2,750. (Inventory #: 69315)