The Mind of the Book by Fowler Alastair;

Author:Fowler, Alastair; [Fowler, Alastair]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2017-01-10T00:00:00+00:00

(Poly-Olbion, Song XX, lines 104–9)

Title

The upper cartouche frames the title, poly-olbion. Olbion is a variant of Albion, the ancient Greek name for Britain. Poly- suggests ‘Variety’ or ‘Profusion Britain’. But the title may also suggest Greek Polyolbos, ‘Rich in belongings’; and may even play on ‘all be one’.4 In short, wordplay conflates the name of Britain with description of the abundant resources emblemized in Albion’s cornucopia. Behind these suggestions is Camden’s section on ‘The Name of Britain’, where he cites ‘the Coins of Antoninus Pius and Severus [where] Britain is figured sitting upon Rocks, in a womans habit’.5 Drayton’s frontispieces of 1612 and 1622, like that of Camden’s 1607 Britannia, were engraved by William Hole.

At some time between 1628 and 1633, a change to the title Poly-Olbion may have been considered. In a unique copy of the third issue of part I bound with part II, on the recto of the first leaf (normally blank), has been printed, in large capitals, the title the | faerie | land, within a frame of printer’s ornaments which belonged to John Litchfield, printer to the University of Oxford 1605–35. On the verso of this first leaf of part I, above the first line (‘Vpon the Frontispice’), has been printed ‘The faerie land’. This variant may have been planned as part of an attempt to make more attractive a book that was not selling well.6

On the frontispiece of Poly-Olbion, below the figure of Albion, is a second inscription, great britaine, overprinted on the rocks. The lower cartouche frames a third inscription: ‘By Michaell Drayton Esqur.’ Finally, on the ground below the plinth is the imprint: ‘London printed for M. Lownes, I. Browne, I. Helme, I. Busbie. Ingraven by W. Hole.’

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