The Works of Edmund Spenser, Volume I (page 2/2)

January

January from The Shepheardes Calendar. The shepherd’s boy, Colin Cloute, is shown with a staff (properly called a crook). We also see a distant town with the spires of a cathedral or of churches, and the Zodiac sign for Aquarias. [more...]

January: page image

The page containing the heading for January; I have also scanned the woodcut for January separately. [more...]

A Shepherd Boy (page image)

The start of the first Æglogue (page 11), showing the decorative initial and the page layout.

February

February from The Shepheardes Calendar. An old shepherd, Thenot, speaks to a shepherd boy called Cuddie. We see the zodiac symbols for Pisces (the fish) in the sky. [more...]

March

March from The Shepheardes Calendar. Two shepherd’s boys begin to “make purpos of love and other plesaunce, which to springtime is most agreeable.” We see the two boys standing talking, and also Cupid. In the sky is the zodiac symbol for Aries, the ram. There also appears to be a naked [...] [more...]

April

April from The Shepheardes Calendar, or, as Spenser wrote it, Aprill. This Æglogue was written to honour Queen Elizabeth I. There are two shepherds, Hobbinoll and Thenott; we met Hobbinoll earlier, when he loved Colin. Queen Elizabeth is shown along with various [...] [more...]

May

May from The Shepheardes Calendar, showing two shepherds, Piers and Palinodie, represented as as a Protestant and a Catholic minister. In the sky we see the zodiac sign for Gemini, together with the twins. [more...]

Roundel with roses and thorns

This roundel, or circular wreath illustration, was made as a typographical decoration for the end of one of Spenser’s sonnets. It features flowers with red petals, [...] [more...]

Roundel with stylized blue flowers

This roundel, or circular wreath illustration, was made as a typographical decoration for the end of one of Spenser’s sonnets. It features flowers with blue petals, perhaps meant to be [...] [more...]