Details
LANGLAND, William (ca 1330-1400)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, newlye imprynted after the authours olde copy, with a brefe summary of the principall matters set before every part called Passus. Whereunto is also annexed the Crede of Pierce Plowman, never imprinted with the booke before. London: Owen Rogers, 1561.
4o (175 x 132 mm). Without the Crede. Black letter. Three- and four-line woodcut initials. (Some soiling and staining, some headlines cropped.) 19th-century limp vellum. Provenance: Robert Doughty (contemporary inscription dated 1561 on verso of title, some marginalia throughout).
Fourth edition, lacking the Crede as often. The Vision of Piers Plowman is considered the most important work in Middle English with the exception of Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales,' and attributed to William Langland. It is thought to have been written between 1360 to 1399, and describes the vision of the poet set in the Vale of Berkeley and the adjacent Malvern Hills. It reflects, among other things, the author's concern with the corruption of the Church, the merits of poverty, and the supreme virtue of love. The rarity of the Crede is "probably due to contemporary proscription because of its Wycliffite doctrine... Of the first edition only four copies are known" (Pforzheimer, p. 823). See Grolier English 5; Hayward 12; Pforzheimer 799 (without the Crede); STC 19908.
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Fourth edition, lacking the Crede as often. The Vision of Piers Plowman is considered the most important work in Middle English with the exception of Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales,' and attributed to William Langland. It is thought to have been written between 1360 to 1399, and describes the vision of the poet set in the Vale of Berkeley and the adjacent Malvern Hills. It reflects, among other things, the author's concern with the corruption of the Church, the merits of poverty, and the supreme virtue of love. The rarity of the Crede is "probably due to contemporary proscription because of its Wycliffite doctrine... Of the first edition only four copies are known" (Pforzheimer, p. 823). See Grolier English 5; Hayward 12; Pforzheimer 799 (without the Crede); STC 19908.