Second edition (but first London edition) of this fascinating assemblage of antiquarian anecdote, history and lore, ranging from Saxon history to accounts of werewolves and what has been claimed to be the first printed English account of the legend of the Piper of Hamelin (here the term 'Pied' is applied for what seems to be the first time among early accounts). Robert Browning used this rendition to write a poem of the Pied Piper in 1842. The seventh chapter of this work regards 'Our Antient English Tongue' and presents a catalogue of English and Anglo-Saxon words. This precedes William Somner's comprehensive 'Dictionarium Saconico-Latino-Anglicum' which appeared some decades later. Rowlands (ca. 1549 - 1640) restored his ancestral name, Verstegan, after he was forced to flee Britain after secretly printing Thomas Alfield's account of Edmund Campion's execution. He settled in Antwerp in 1587 and entered into an active career as an agent for the publication and smuggling of Catholic texts, as well as editor, translator and polemicist. The first London printing of this work, which the DNB describes as a "seminal work of Anglo-Saxon scholarship," did not appear until 1628, but several new editions followed thereafter.
Near contemporary blind-stamped, re-backed calf boards with some restoration to the front cover. Internally VG. A charming copy of an uncommon and fascinating book.
