1583 - Miscellaneous Tracts - The Anatomie of the Abuses

Author:Phillip Stubbes
Reproduction: John Payne Collier

Philip Stubbes (Stubbs) was born about 1555. He was an English "Pamphleteer". A pamphleteer is a historical term for someone who creates or distributes pamphlets. He was the brother of John Stubbs, also a pamphleteer and political commentator during the Elizabethan era. John Stubbs opposed the negotiations for a marriage between Queen Elizabeth and the French Roman Catholic duc d'Anjou, Duke of Alecon, the brother of the French king. In 1579 he wrote his opinions in a pamphlet. Elizabeth's court was displeased by the publication. Stubbs and his publisher were tried at Westminster, found guilty of "seditious writing", and sentenced to have their right hands cut off. He was subsequently imprisoned for eighteen months. On being released he continued to write, publishing other pamphlets. Later he served in the House of Commons. Phillip was also a pamphleteer. He was educated at Cambridge and Oxford and started writing in 1581. He is famous for his virulent attack on the manners, customs, entertainments and fashions of his period. He died about 1610.

A side note on John Payne Collier, the man who made the reproduction. He was born in 1789. He was an English writer and following his father’s footsteps, was lead writer and reporter at the Morning Chronicle. His leisure was devoted to the works of Shakespeare and early English tragedy. He published books about them. Collier died in 188.

Book: Digitalized by Google

The book was originally writtten by Phillip Stubbes. The pages shown here are from a reproduction made by Payne Collier. In his introduction he wrote, "We have here exactly reproduced the first edition...” He also wrote that only two copies of the original work are known. One of them was never completed. Also notable is his declaration that every word and letter has been preserved.





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