The Most Delectable History of Reynard the Fox. Newly corrected and purged, from all grossness in phrase and matter. Augmented and Enlarged with sundry Excellenct Morals and Expositions upon every several Chapter. To which may now be added a Second Part o

by Shirley, John

Price: $8,500.00
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Book desription: London, Printed by T. Ilive, for Edward Brewster, at the Sign of the Crane in St. Pauls Church Yard [1701]-1681-1684.. Quarto, 5.5 x 7.5 inches . I: A-U4; II: A-O4; III: A-X4. Seventy-five woodcut illustrations are printed in text of 39 subjects, many signed ÔEB.Õ This volume is printed in black letter throughout. The title to part I is cropped at lower margin with loss to date and touching imprint. Some browning and light dampstaining occurs in the text. This book is bound in eighteenth century sheep, which shows the wear of its age. . The Reynard tales were first printed in England by Caxton in 1481 and continued to enjoy enormous popularity in the following centuries. As the seventeenth century progressed, they appeared in increasingly moralized form. The Reynard fables were also looked to as sources of political allegory. In particular, the History of Reynard the Fox is described as 'an old English Book, which now passes through the hands of old women and children only' and is suggested to be 'an Enigmatical History of the Earl of Leicester and his family. ÕThough many editions were printed of the Reynard tales, relatively few survive perfect outside institutional collections. One of the most fascinating aspects of the Aesopic fable genre in the Middle Ages is the emergence of the beast epic. In these "beast epic" stories a strain of satire emerges, mocking the Court of the Lion King and also making fun of the Church and its pretensions. Reynard the Fox was medieval Europe's trickster figure, a nasty but charismatic character who was always in trouble but always able to talk his way out of any retribution. In the story, Reynard has been summoned to the court of king Noble, or Leo, the Lion, to answer charges brought against him by Isengrim the Wolf. Other anthropomorphic animals, including Bruin the Bear, Baldwin the Ass, Tibert (Tybalt) the Cat, and Hirsent the She-wolf, appear to give testimony against him, which Reynard always proves false by one stratagem or another. The stories typically involve satire whose usual butts are the aristocracy and the clergy, making Reynard a peasant-hero character. Some of the tales feature Reynard's funeral, where his enemies gather to deliver maudlin elegies full of insincere piety, and which features Reynard's posthumous revenge. In medieval art, he (or a more general fox) is often depicted as a member of the clergy, wooing his audience of sheep so he may eat them. Collected editions with two or three parts were only published between 1672 and 1701 in various combinations as all parts were published separately as well. 

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