Nimphidia: The Court of Fayrie by Michael Drayton, unique copy, signed by the artist

$3,000.00

161. () Nimphidia: The Court of Fayrie. Circa 1625. By . Illustrated by Nicholas Parry. [Market Drayton. 2004.] 52(2)p. 13″ x 9.25″. Original watercolors scanned and printed digitally by North Shropshire Printers. Text in Caslon on Magnani. Brown leather spine and edges, leaf-print pattern in brown and tan paper boards. A special copy which includes a folder of the sixteen original watercolors laid in at the bottom of a green cloth dropback box; cream paper trim and leather title label on spine. Separate handwritten colophon page laid in giving details of the binder and signed by the artist. A unique copy in an edition of 50 copies. Fine.

Nimphidia is a narrative poem (published in 1627) about fairies, with King Oberon having many adventures when he goes in pursuit of his queen.

Very little is known of the personal life of (1563-1631). He died in comparative poverty, but was buried in Westminster Abbey. He was an extremely prolific writer, producing historical, topographical, and religious verse, and well as odes, sonnets, and satires. His The Ballad of Agincourt opens with the famous lines: “fayre stood the winde for France When we our sailes advaunce.”

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