1568 A CHRONICLE at Large AFFAYRES of ENGLAND GRAFTON

A scarce first edition of Grafton's A Chronicle at Large and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande.

Bound in morocco calf with gilt decoration to the spine.

Rebacked with the original leather.

Possible First edition.

With Black Letter throughout.

The title page and endpapers are missing.
Pages 1271 to 1308, and 1311-1314, are missing, from the end of Henry VIII to the beginnings of Edward VI.
Pages 1357 to 1364 are missing, that relate to Queen Mary.

Richard Grafton,c.1511 – 1573, was an English printer and historian. First known for his part in the successful ‘Matthew Bible of 1537’, Grafton and his partner Whitchurch were later given the task of publishing what became known as the “Great Bible of 1539”. Grafton is most famous, however, for his historical chronicles. The first of these was An Abridgement published in 1562. After writing “scathingly of other previous abridgements of chronicles” in his preface, there ensued a ‘literary quarrel’ between Grafton and historian John Stow that “represents an early (and illuminating) disagreement between scholarly authors, even though it had its origins as much in the commercial concerns of the initial publishers as in the authors' concerns for their literary ‘property’” (DNB). Grafton published at least three separate chronicles of the history of England, the largest and most comprehensive of which being A Chronicle at Large.

CONDITION