Mr. Henry R. Plomer says of the book in an interesting article on our printer: "The preliminary matter is printed in a very regular fount of Roman, the text in his ordinary fount of Black Letter, and the whole book is distinguished for its clear, regular, and clean appearance."
On July 24, 1579, the stationer Cawood entered for license a second part of _Euphues_, which he had promised at the end of this volume in the following words:
"I Haue finiſhed the firſt part of Euphues whome now I lefte readye to croſſe the Seas to Englande, if the winde send him a ſhorte cutte you ſhall in the ſeconde part heare what newes he bringeth and I hope to haue him retourned within one Summer...."
The book appeared the next year with the title: ¶_Euphues and his England. | Containing | his voyages and adventures, myxed with | ſundry pretie diſcourſes of honeſt Loue ... ¶ By Iohn Lyly, Maiſter | of Arte. | Commend it, or amend it. | By Imprinted at London for Gabriell Cawood, dwelling in | Paules Church-yard._ | 1580.
Edward Blount, the stationer, who published Shakespeare's folio works, tells us in a preface to Lyly's _Sixe Court Comedies_, which he collected and William Stansby printed in 1632, of the sensation _Euphues_ created when it appeared. "Our Nation," he wrote, "are in his (i.e. Lyly's) debt, for a new Engliſh which hee taught them. Euphues and his England began firſt, that language: All our Ladies were then his Scollers; And that Beautie in court, which could not Parley Euphueiſme, was as little regarded, as ſhee which, now there, ſpeakes not French."
Quarto. Black letter and Roman. The fifth edition.
11. The | Countesse | Of Pembrokes | Arcadia, | Written By Sir Philippe | Sidnei. | [Coat-of-arms of the Sidney family] London | Printed for William Ponſonbie. | Anno Domini, 1590.
The _Arcadia_ was begun in 1580, and when finished, probably before 1583, was circulated in manuscript copies amongst the author's friends. That he did not wish to have it printed is evident from his affectionate dedication to his sister, where he says:
"HEre now haue you (moſt deare, and moſt worthy to be moſt deare Lady) this idle worke of mine: which I fear (like the Spiders webbe) will be thought fitter to be ſwept away, than worn to any other purpoſe. For my part, in very trueth (as the cruell fathers among the Greekes, were woont to doo to the babes they would not foſter) I could well find in my harte, to caſt out in ſome deſert of forgetfulnes this child, which I am loath to father. But you deſired me to doo it, and your deſire, to my hart is an abſolute commandement. Now, it is done onelie for you, onely to you: if you keepe it to yourſelfe, or to ſuch friendes, who will weigh errors in the ballaunce of good will, I hope, for the fathers ſake, it will be pardoned, perchance made much of, though in itſelfe it haue deformities. For indeede, for ſeuerer eyes it is not, being but a trifle, and that triflinglie handled. Your deare ſelfe can best witnes the maner, being done in looſe ſheetes of paper, moſt of it in your preſence, the reſt, by ſheetes ſent vnto you, as faſt as they were done.... But his chiefe ſafetie ſhal be the not walking abroad; & his chiefe protection, the bearing the liuerye of your name; which (if much good will do not deceaue me) is worthy to be a ſanctuary for a greater offender."