1674 Kings of England Richard Baker Chronicle BIZARRE Dragons Monsters FOLIO

1674 Kings of England Richard Baker Chronicle BIZARRE Dragons Monsters FOLIO

Richard Baker was a 16^th-century English Protestant historian who is best known for his chronicle the royals of England. In 1643, Baker first published ‘A Chronicle of the Kings of England’ – a work that was met with considerable success. Going through a number of editions into the mid-18^th-century, ‘Chronicle’, according to Brownley,

“provides some useful measures of the changes in English historical narratives from the civil wars to the early 18^th-century. Baker thus offers a base for perspectives on an era crucial not only for the development of English historical writing itself, but also for related developments in other genres that occurred partly in reaction to changes in the form and content of narrative histories.”

In other words, Baker’s ‘Chronicle’ was a primary influence in the way historical narratives would be written from the 17^th-century onward.

Curiously, Baker decided to include a plethora of minor incidents that were not included in more high-profile histories. (per Brownley)

• a feast attended by William I where a lord was attacked by mice who followed him until they ate him alive
• Prince Eustace IV, son of Stephen, was upset at the monks of Abbey of Bury for denying him money, so he burned their cornfields – then promptly died by the wrath of God!
• Accounts of floods, fires, frosts, and earthquakes during each reign
• “a dragon of marvelous bigness!”
• “monstrous fish” over 19 yards long
• A carpenter who was struck by lightning whose body burned for three days before being extinguished
• A monster with “a head like an Ass, a belly like a man, and all other parts far differing from any other creature.”
• Descriptions of royal coronations, including Richard I
• And even a description of Henry I’s bowels and brains during his funeral preparation.

Item number: #23764

Price: $750

BAKER, Richard

A chronicle of the kings of England. : From the time of the Romans government, unto the death of King James. Containing all passages of state and church, with all other observations proper for a chronicle

London: Printed for G. Sawbridge, 1674.

Details:

• Collation:
  • [44], 772 (i.e., 748), [40]
    • Wanting last page of index
    • Pagination errors throughout
  • References: Wing B 508; Dibdin 192-194; Martine Brownley, Sir Richard Baker’s ‘Chronicle’
  • Provenance:
    • Armorial bookplate/Handwritten – Sydney Hastings, 1866
      • While this individual has not been identified, this bookplate bears the arms and motto of the Hastings family and the title of Earl of Huntingdon. In English folklore, the title has been associated with Robin Hood, whose true name is often given as “Robert of Huntingdon”, though alternatively Robin is said to be from Locksley or Loxley. Motto: IN VERITATE VICTORIA
    • Handwritten – John Trevenen, 1796
  • Language: English
  • Binding: Leather; tight and secure
  • Size: ~14in X 9.5in (35.5cm x 24cm)

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23764