Roger Ascham, Toxophilus (1545)

Roger Ascham's Toxophilus (1545) is the first critical edition of Ascham's treatise--on the virtues of the English longbow--based on the modern principles of textual editing. It rests on a complete collation of 20 of the known 21 copies of the first edition as well as a full historical collation of all subsequent editions. The present volume includes a critical introduction, a textual introduction, the text in old-spelling, notes and commentary to explain Ascham's allusions and references, and a glossary to explain unfamiliar words. This is a major text for scholars of English Renaissance literature, history, language, and cultural studies.