Anthony Munday’s Palmendos (1589) in the Early Modern English Book Trade: Print and Reception
Abstract
Anthony Munday’s The Honorable, Pleasant and Rare Conceited Historie of Palmendos is based on the first book of the Spanish romance Primaleón de Grecia (Salamanca, 1512), which was in its turn a sequel to Palmerín de Olivia (Salamanca, 1511). Primaleón was such a big hit in the Spanish book trade that ten editions were published between 1512 and 1588. This work was translated into Dutch, Italian and French, thus enjoying an extraordinary reception abroad. In 1589, Anthony Munday issued his English translation of the first thirty-two chapters of the French edition, which focused on the adventures of Palmendos, Primaleon’s eldest brother. The fact that a different English translation of these same passages was published by William Barley in 1596 illustrates the positive reception this story had among contemporary readers. Its popularity would also account for the publication of a second edition, now lost, in the mid-late 1620s, and of two further editions in 1653 and 1663. This article studies the printing history of Anthony Munday’s Palmendos and examines Munday’s position as a professional author/translator in the Early Modern English book trade. The role of Hispanic chivalric literature in the late sixteenth and seventeenth century London book market is also analyzed.
Keywords: chivalric literature; Early Modern English; translations; book trade; Anthony Munday; Palmendos
Downloads
References
Ames, Joseph. 1749. Typographical Antiquities. London: Printed by W. Faden and Sold by J. Robinson.
Arber, Edward, ed. 1950. A Transcript of the Registers of the Company of Stationers of London: 1554-1640. 2 vols. New York: P. Smith.
Armstrong, Guyda. 2013. “Print, Paratext, and a Seventeenth-Century Sammelband: Boccaccio’s Ninfale Fiesolano in English Translation.” In Renaissance CulturalCrossroads. Translation, Print and Culture in Britain, 1473-1640, edited by S. K. Barker and Brenda Hosington, 79-99. Leiden and Boston: Brill.
Bennett, Henry. S. 1965. English Books and Readers. Vol. 2: 1558-1603. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
[BBTI] British Book Trade Index. 2004. [Accessed online on March 30, 2016].
Bibliotheca Curiosa. 1697. Bibliotheca curiosa, or, A choice collection of books in English, Latin, French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, and Hebrew in all volumes. London: s.n. Copy in Cambridge University Library obtained from Early English Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016].
Bibliotheca Heberiana. 1837. Bibliotheca Heberiana. Catalogue of the Library of the Late Richard Heber, vol. 6. London.
Bodleian Library. 1840. Catalogue of the Printed Books and Manuscripts Bequeathed by Francis Douce, Esq. to the Bodleian Library. Oxford: Oxford UP.
Braden, Gordon, Robert Cummings and Stuart Gillespie, eds. 2010. The Oxford History of Literary Translation in English. Vol. 2. 1550-1660. Oxford: Oxford UP.
Brault, Gerard J. 1960. “English Translations of the Celestina in the Sixteenth Century.” Hispanic Review 28 (4): 301-312.
Brown, Philip A. H. 1982. London Publishers and Printers: A Tentative List c. 1800-1870. London: The British Museum.
Catalogue Containing Variety of English Books. 1686. A Catalogue containing variety of English books in divinity, history, travels, romances, poetry &c. which will be exposed to sale by way of auction at Mr. Bridges Coffee-house in Popes-Head Alley in Cornhill, on Monday the 20th of this instant December, 1686. London: s.n. Copy in Oxford, Christ Church Library obtained from Early English Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016].
Catalogue of Choice Books.1687. A Catalogue of choice English books: consisting of divinity, physick, history, travels, romances, vol. of tracts, &c. Which will be sold by auction, on Monday the 6th.of August, 1688. London: s.n. Copy in Oxford, Bodleian Library obtained from Early English Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016].
Catalogue of Vendible Books. 1689. A Catalogue of vendible and useful English and Latin books on most subjects and in all volumes will be sold by auction, on Monday next the 18th instant, 1688/9 at the Three Half Moons in St. Pauls Church-yard among the woollen drapers. London: s.n. Copy in Oxford, Bodleian Library obtained from Early English Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016].
Catalogus Librorum. 1692. Catalogus librorum tam antiquorum quam recentium in omni facultate insignium, quorum auctio (in gratiam & commodum celeberrimae academiae Oxoniensis) Oxoniae habenda est Novemb. 9, 1692 apud (The Auction House) prope ecclesiam B. Mariae. Oxford: Distributed by G. West, Joh. Crosley and Joh. Howell. Copy in the British Library obtained from Early Modern Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016].
Clericuzio, Antonio. 2004. “Webster, John (1611-1682).” In Lawrence Goldman, ed. [Accessed online on March 30, 2016].
Collier, John Payne. 1837. Catalogue, Bibliographical and Critical, of Early English Literature Forming a Portion of the Library at Bridgewater House, the Property of the Rt. Hon. Lord Francis Egerton. London.
—. 1851. John a Kent and John a Cumber. A Comedy by Anthony Munday. Printed from the Original Manuscript. London: Shakespeare Society.
Crane, Ronald Salmon 1919. The Vogue of Medieval Chivalric Romance during the English Renaissance. Wisconsin: George Banta Press.
EDIT16. Il Censimento Nazionale delle Edizioni Italiane del XVI Secolo. Roma: Istituto Centrale per il catalogo único delle biblioteche italiane e per le informazioni bibliografiche. [Accessed online on March 30, 2016].
Elmer, Peter. 1986. “The Library of John Webster.” Medical History 6. Supplement: 15-43.
Espinasse, Francis. 2007. “Egerton, John, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater (1623-1686), rev. Louis A. Knafla.” In Lawrence Goldman, ed. [Accessed online on March 30, 2016].
Fehrenbach, Robert J. and E.S. Leedham-Green, eds. 1992-2014. Private Libraries in Renaissance England. A Collection and Catalogue of Tudor and Early Stuart Book-Lists. 8 vols. Binghamton: Medieval & Renaissance Texts and Studies.
Goldman, Lawrence, ed. 2004. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online Edition. Oxford: Oxford UP.
Greville, Robert. 1678. Catalogus librorum ex bibliotheca nobilis cujus dam Angli qui ante paucos annos in humanis essedesiit access erunt libri eximii theologi D. Gabrielis Sangar, adjectis theology alterius magni, dum vixt, nominis libris selectioribus: quorum omnium auction habebitur. London: s.n. Copy in the British Library obtained from Early English Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016].
Hamilton, Donna B. 2005. Anthony Munday and the Catholics. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Hayes, Gerald. R. 1925. “Anthony Munday’s Romances of Chivalry.” The Library 4th ser. 6: 57-81.
Henderson, Frances. 2008. “Clarke, Sir William (1623/4-1666).” In Lawrence Goldman, ed. [Accessed online on March 30, 2016].
Johnson, Francis. R. 1950. “Notes on English Retail Book-Prices, 1550-1640.” The Library 5th ser. 6 (2): 83-112.
Kathman, David. 2006. “Roberts, James (b. in or before 1540, d. 1618?).” In Lawrence Goldman ed. [Accessed online on March 30, 2016].
Kidner, Thomas. 1677. Catalogus variorum & insignium librorum selectissimae bibliothecae Revendi Viri D. Thomas Kidner, A.M. et olim Rectoris Ecclesiae de Hitchin in Comitatu Hertfordiensi quorum auction habebitur Londini ad insigne capitis regii in vico vulgarit er dicto Little-Britain, Februarii 6th. London: William Cooper. Copy in San Marino (CA), Huntington Library obtained from Early English Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016].
[LCEBS] List of Catalogues of English Book Sales 1676-1900. 1915. Now in the British Museum. London: The British Museum.
Meres, Francis. 1598. Palladis Tamia. Wits Treasury being the Second Part of Wits Common Wealth. London: Printed by P. Short, for Cuthbert Burbie, and are to be solde at his shop at the Royall Exchange. Copy in San Marino (CA), Huntington Library obtained from Early English Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016].
Miller, Edwin. H. 1959. The Professional Writer in Elizabethan England. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard UP.
Millington, Edward. 1687. Appendix to Mr. Charles Mearne’s catalogue of English books, chiefly of history, miscellany, and law, to be sold by auction at Richard’s Coffee-House near the Middle-Temple-Gate, on Tuesday February 22d. 1686/7. London: s.n. Copy in the British Library obtained from Early Modern Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016].
Moore, Helen. 2010. “Ancient and Modern Romances.” In The Oxford History of Literary Translation in English. Vol. 2: 1550-1660, edited by Gordon Braden, Robert Cummings and Stuart Gillespie, 333-46. Oxford: Oxford UP.
Munday, Anthony. 1588. Palmerin d’Oliua The mirrour of nobilitie, mappe of honor, anotamie of rare fortunes, heroycall president of Loue: VVonder for chiualrie, and most accomplished knight in all perfections. London: Printed by I. Charlewood, for William Wright. Copy in Washington, Folger Shakespeare Library obtained from Early English Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016]. STC 19157.
—. 1589. The Honorable, Pleasant and Rare Conceited Historie of Palmendos Sonne to the Famous and Fortunate Prince Palmerin d’Oliua, Emperour of Constantinople and the Queene of Tharsus. London: Printed by I[ohn] C[harlewood] for Simon Watersonne, & are to be sold in Church-yarde [sic] at the signe of the Crowne. Copy in San Marino (CA), Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery obtained from Early English Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016]. STC 18064.
—. 1653. The Famous History of Palmendos, Son to the Most Renowned Palmerin D’Oliva, Emperour of Constantinople, and the Heroick Queen of Tharsus wherein is likewise a Most Pleasant Discourse of Prince Rifarano, the Son of Trineus, Emperour of Almain and Aurecinda, Sister to the Soldane of Persia. London: Printed by E. Alsop. Copy in San Marino (CA), Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery obtained from Early English Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016].
—. 1663. The Famous History of Palmendos, Son to the Most Renowned Palmerin D’Oliva, Emperour of Constantinople, and the Heroick Queen of Tharsus wherein is likewise a Most Pleasant Discourse of Prince Rifarano, the Son of Trineus, Emperour of Almain and Aurecinda, Sister to the Soldane of Persia. London: Printed by T. Fawcet, and are to be sold by Fr. Coles. Copy in San Marino (CA), Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery obtained from Early English Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016].
Murray, James A. H., Henry Bradley, William A. Craigie and Charles T. Onions, eds. 1884-1928. The Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. Online edition. Edited by John A. Simpson, Michael Proffitt et al., 3rd ed. 2000. Oxford: Oxford UP. [Accessed online on July 24, 2015].
Patchell, Mary. 1966. The Palmerin Romances in Elizabethan Prose Fiction. New York: AMS Press.
Penney, Clara. L. 1954. The Book Called Celestina. New York: The Hispanic Society of America.
Pettegree, Andrew, Malcolm Walsby and Alexander S. Wilkinson, eds. 2007. French Vernacular Books: Books Published in the French Language before 1601. Leiden and Boston: Brill.
Phillips, Joshua. 2013. English Fictions of Communal Identity, 1485-1603. Farnham and Burlington: Ashgate.
Plomer, Henry R. 1907. Dictionary of the Booksellers and Printers who were at Work in England, Scotland and Ireland from 1641 to 1667. London.
—. 1916. “Some Elizabethan Book Sales.” The Library 3rd ser. 7: 318-329.
—. 1924. English Printers’ Ornaments. London: Grafton & Co. Coptic House.
Sánchez-Martí, Jordi. 2014. “The Publication History of Palmerin d’Oliva.” Gutenberg-Jahrbuch 17: 190-207.
Shelton, Joseph. 1692. Catalogue of Greek, Latine and English books both antient and modern, on variety of subjects consisting [of] divinity, history, law, mathematicks, travels, voyages, poetry, romances. London: Catalogues are distributed Gratis, at Mr. Wades, under the Piazza of the Royal-Exchange; at Mr. William [M]illers at the Acorn, in St. Paul’s Church-Yard; At Mr. Collins near Temple-Bar; at Mr. Hartles over against Grays-Inn-Gate, in Holbourn, and at the place of sale. Copy in the British Library obtained from Early English Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016].
[STC] Short Title Catalogue of Books Printed in Italy and of Italian Books Printed in other Countries from 1465 to 1600. 1958. London: Trustees of the British Museum.
Thomas, Henry. 1916. The Palmerin Romances. Extract from Transactions of the Bibliographical Society 13. London: The Bibliographical Society.
—. 1920. Spanish and Portuguese Romances of Chivalry. The Revival of the Romance of Chivalry in the Spanish Peninsula, and its Extension and Influence Abroad. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
[USTC] Universal Short Title Catalogue. [Accessed online on March 30, 2016].
Wilkinson, Alexander S., ed. 2010. Iberian Books. Books Published in Spanish or Portuguese or on the Iberian Peninsula before 1601. Leiden and Boston: Brill.
Willes, Margaret. 2011. The Making of the English Gardener: Plants, Books and Inspiration, 1550-1660. New Haven and London: Yale UP.
Wilson, Louise. 2009. “Writing Romance Readers in Early Modern Paratexts.” Swiss Papers in English Language and Literature 22: 111-123.
—. 2013a. “‘I marvell who the Divell is this Printer’: Fictions of Book Production in Anthony Munday and Henry Chettle’s Paratexts.” In The Book Trade in Early Modern England: Practices, Perceptions, Connections, edited by John Hinks and Victoria Gardener, 1-17. London, Newcastle: Oak Knoll Press and The British Library.
—. 2013b. “Serial Publication and Romance.” In The Elizabethan Top Ten: Defining Print Popularity in Early Modern England, edited by Andy Kesson and Emma Smith, 213-221. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Winstanley, William. 1690? The Essex champion, or, The famous history of Sir Billy of Billerecay and his squire Ricardo. London: Printed for J. Blare. Copy in Oxford, Bodleain Library obtained from Early English Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016].
Wright, Celeste Turner. 1928. Anthony Munday: An Elizabethan Man of Letters. Berkeley: U of California P.
Wroth, Mary. 1621. The Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania. London: Printed by Augustine Mathewes for Iohn Marriott and Iohn Grismand. Copy in Folger Shakespeare Library obtained from Early English Books Online (EEBO). [Accessed on March 30, 2016].
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
The authors retain copyright of articles. They authorise AEDEAN to publish them in its journal Atlantis and to include them in the indexing and abstracting services, academic databases and repositories the journal participates in.
Under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), for non-commercial (i.e., personal or academic) purposes only, users are free to share (i.e., copy and redistribute in any medium or format) and adapt (i.e., remix, transform and build upon) articles published in Atlantis, free of charge and without obtaining prior permission from the publisher or the author(s), as long as they give appropriate credit to the author, the journal (Atlantis) and the publisher (AEDEAN), provide the relevant URL link to the original publication and indicate if changes were made. Such attribution may be done in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the journal endorses the user or their use of the material published therein. Users who adapt (i.e., remix, transform or build upon the material) must distribute their contributions under the same licence as the original.
Self-archiving is also permitted, so that authors are allowed to deposit the published PDF version of their articles in academic and/or institutional repositories, without fee or embargo. Authors may also post their individual articles on their personal websites, again on condition that the original link to the online edition is provided.
Authors are expected to know and heed basic ground rules that preclude simultaneous submission and/or duplicate publication. Prospective contributors to Atlantis commit themselves to the following when they submit a manuscript:
- That no concurrent consideration of the same, or almost identical, work by any other journal and/or publisher is taking place.
- That the potential contribution has not appeared previously, in any form whatsoever, in another journal, electronic format or as a chapter/section of a book.
Seeking permission for the use of copyright material is the responsibility of the author.
