1616 The Workes of the Most High and Mighty Prince, James (King James, England)

King James I (of England) was a great lover of literature, and author; upon assuming the throne of the United Kingdom he had the King's printer, Robert Barker, print his Workes, edited for his newly expanded role. This is the first edition of King James' Workes, printed in 1616, with the celebrated portrait of James and the extra allegorical title page.

This copy has a fun treat at the rear; a 16th century English manuscript fragment was used to strengthen the binding, but as the endpapers were removed/cracked, the text has become visible (see below for more description).

About the Workes -

"(James) had an indomitable faith in the significance of the printed word, which carried him as far as the act of deliberate self-canonization represented by the publication of his Workes (prepared by James Montague, bishop of Winchester). Many of the writings presented in the Workes had been printed before, years earlier and in completely different contexts."

Basilikon Doron is separated into three books, serving as general guidelines to follow to be an efficient monarch. The first describes a king's duty towards God as a Christian. The second focuses on the roles and responsibilities in office. The third concerns proper behaviour in daily life.

It has been noted that the themes taken from Daemonologie and King James' involvement in the North Berwick witch trials may have directly contributed to Shakespeare's work Macbeth. Evidence of this exists in the three witches' use of ritual magic and direct quotes that directly relate to the testimony given from the witch trials described in the Newes of Scotland pamphlet. Macbeth had come into public enjoyment a few years after the publication of Daemonologie and retains many of the same Scottish themes and settings.

Daemonologie assisted in the creation of witchcraft reform, heavily inspiring Richard Bernard in writing a manual on witch-finding in 1629 titled A Guide to Grand-Jury Men, which advised judicial trial procedure to take a stronger investigative approach to acquiring and analyzing evidence and obtaining witnesses to be present during witch-craft trials. There was also an influence on Matthew Hopkins in his work as a witch-finder between 1644 and 1646 in which an estimated 300 witches were tried and executed. In the year of Hopkins' death, 1647, he published The Discovery of Witches which directly cited Daemonologie as a source for creating methods in discovering a witch.

Table of Contents-

A paraphrase upon the Revelation

Two meditations

Daemonologie

Basilicon-doron

The trew law of free monarchies

A counter-blast to tobacco

A discourse of the powder treason

An apologie for the oath of allegiance

A praemonition to all Christian monarches, free princes and states

A declaration against Vorstius

A defence of the right of kings, against Cardinall Perron

Five speaches

About the llustrations -

Simon Van de Passe's portrait of James depicts the king seated in majesty with the symbols of his rule. "Knowledge makes the King most like his maker" is found under James portrait. Renold Elstrack's title page includes a number of allegorical devices, imbuing the combined Kingdom with the peace and religion that emanated from James' reign; religion trampling on death and peace trampling on the arms of war.

Bibliographic Details -

Universal Short Title Catalogue reference number 3007088. Not rare, found in many of the world's best libraries.

English Short Title Catalogue reference number S122229.

This copy in the state with page 130 numbered correctly.

The errata slip is missing from the verso of leaf A6r, but present on A6v.

Leaf e3 was a duplicate, and either e3 or e4 were extracted from all copies.

Some bibliographies note M3 being out-of-order, but in this copy the M gathering is put together appropriately.

About the Manuscript document -

Based on the manuscript's "dai of Apryll", an exact phrase search reveals that term was in use, with that spelling, during the mid-16th century. See The Publications of the Yorkshire Parish, Rothwell Registers 1540-2, George Bekk baptism, for an example.

Here's what I read in the manuscript:

... (extends to you?) said... and... of the said John... (moste?)...

... the said message and offer the...(hande?) and possession of one ... of one... (Bastardo?) by (colour?)...

... (l?) and... by (entered?) into & .... the... dai of Apryll laste (paste?)(beyond piece of the plays set) and expelled...

(have comytetyd) and (Gio?)

Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. 34 x 22 x 5 cm, folio. Leather binding. Boards have an edge roll of gilt and are framed in double blind fillet. Spine with six raised bands; one compartment with the title in gilt on faded red morocco. Text block edges with a blue wash.

Pages - 21 leaves of prefatory material, 1-569, (1)

Collation - portrait, engraved title page, a-d4, e1-2, e4, A-Z6, Aa-Zz6, Aaa6, Bbb3.

Condition -

See pictures. Older leather binding; cracks along joints, worn edges and corners, some rubbing etc., spine with some cracking. Endpapers removed (likely looking for valuable binding materials). Hinges cracked; boards held on by cords.

Fore-edge damaged to 1st two leaves, engravings affected (portrait of James and allegorical title page); 1 cm hole at gutter of 1st leaf. Pages toned throughout, with some rust spots.

Occasional thumb, dog-eared corner, candle ember spot, errant ink spot, etc. Several small holes in 3rd and 4th leaf (title and coat-of-arms). Dampstain line from fore-edge and bottom-edge occasional throughout book; mostly marginal but does sometimes extend into text. Inky thumb fore-edge of c3. 1 cm hole in top-edge margin of A6. Moisture mark at gutter of H2 and H5 leaf. Ink smudge bottom R1v/R2r. .5 cm hole in V6. 3" tear from bottom of X6. 2cm (dust?) spot Cc2v/Cc3r. Spot fore-edge margin 485. Some damage to last two blank endpapers at rear.