Spenser’s First Folio: The Build-It-Yourself Edition

The first folio of Spenser’s works appears to play the traditional role of the literary folio and serve as a monument to its author. A thorough examination, however, reveals a cheaply produced and bibliographically unstable folio, which was printed in sections over the course of more than a decade. Further investigation of the folio’s print history suggests that its instability was a part of an intentional strategy by its publisher, Matthew Lownes, to create a publication that accommodated both bookseller and book buyer. The result was a “build-it-yourself” folio that was more cost-effective for the publisher and provided more buying options for consumers.