Chronicle.- Holinshed (Raphael) The firste volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande, vol. 1 part 1 only, title within ornate woodcut border and arms to verso, woodcut illustrations throughout, title with portion at upper corner and other smaller marginal defects all supplied in paper (some loss to border), lacking the following 5ff. ([par]2-6 & [cross] 1), lacking errata leaf following Q6 at end of The Description (r1 'Faultes escaped'), but with 2ff. errata 'Faultes and oversightes escaped' at end following t1 (sometimes bound at end of vol. 2, [)(1-2]), a few ff. silked edges (A1-4 [A4 losses to sidenotes] & n4-5), D1 small hole to text (loss of letters), h4 closed central tear (no loss), modern calf, [STC 13586b], for John Hunne, 1577; and a defective copy of vol. 2 'The Laste volume of the Chronicles', that is lacking several ff. at beginning and end, but otherwise the vast majority present (therein some ff. loose or silked, some fraying and staining), small folio (2)

⁂ Holinshed's Chronicles of the British Isles is recognised as the single most important chronicle written in English in the 16th century; here present are both parts relating to England, being divided across two volumes (vol. 1 part 1, and vol. 2) on a chronological basis. Now viewed as a secular counterpart to Foxe's Actes and Monuments (1563), the Chronicle was conceived as part of a 'deliberate movement to elevate the status of England, English letters, and English language through writing and publishing maps, histories, national epics, and theoretical works on English poetry' (ODNB). The chronicle is also known as the principal source for Shakespeare's history plays.