first edition
1615 · London
by Niccholes, Alexander [Cromwell, Elizabeth]
London: Printed by N[icholas] O[akes] for Leonard Becket, 1615. First edition. Good +. Small quarto, attractively rebound in later brown morocco ruled in gilt. [8], 55 pp. Pages 42, 43, 46, and 47 misprinted as 5, 05, 44, and 51. One leaf, C2 (pp. 11-12), in facsimile, otherwise complete. With the ink ownership signature of "[E]lizabeth Cromwell; Upwood; [1]630" to verso of title-page. Paper repair to margin of title-page (not affecting printed text but affecting a letter and number in the signature). Two small old ink ownership inscriptions to margin of title-page. Yellow edges. A Good+ copy, overall clean and fresh throughout aside from some dustsoiling and foxing to first and last couple leaves.
The ownership signature likely belongs to Oliver Cromwell's cousin, Elizabeth St. John, nèe Cromwell, who was baptized on December 12, 1616 at Upwood (making her about thirteen or fourteen when she signed her name). Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry Cromwell (c. 1566 - 1630) and the second wife of Oliver St. John (1598 - 1673), whom she married in January of 1638. A kind letter from Oliver Cromwell to Elizabeth (addressed to "Mrs. St. John") in October of 1638 indicates that the two cousins had a close, friendly relationship: Cromwell warmly thanks Elizabeth for her praise of his writing; wishes her the best in her recent marriage; and asks her to urge her husband to write him back, as Cromwell had been expecting a response that he had not yet received. Unfortunately, we could not locate any more information about Elizabeth, and there are no known surviving deeds that would provide a comparison for her signature.
The present work, partially written in verse and with an often satirical tone, offers important historical context into the view of marriage in early modern England, particularly discussing gender dynamics, sexuality, and economics in married life. As Lloyd Davis writes in Sexuality and Gender in the English Renaissance (1998), Niccholes "adopts a satirist's role as detached observer...Niccholes' 'humorous' tone reflects a distinctive stylistic trait of Renaissance attacks on women through which comical allusions diffuse apparently violent attitudes without actually contradicting them" (pp. 212-213). Though the title-page states that the work is "pertinent to both sexes," it is clearly written for men, with much of the work devoted to discussing what factors to consider in choosing a wife. Niccholes is also very concerned with widows throughout the work: citing Hamlet, Niccholes questions the social and legal standing of widows and even accuses them of killing their second husbands to accrue more wealth ("In second husband let me be accurst, None wed the second but who killed the first"). Niccholes' discussion of widows seems to be an expression of his broader anxieties about how power is transferred between men and women as they enter and exit marriage and of his concerns about the economic status of unmarried women in general.
The Elizabeth Cromwell signature indicates that, though this book was clearly written for men and repeatedly disparages women as tricksters, it did hold some interest for the aristocratic women of the period. We do not know whether Elizabeth received the book as a gift or sought it out for herself, but she did take the time to interact with it and mark it as her own. We also know that she signed her name here when she was a teenager and about eight years before she married Oliver St. John, suggesting considerations about her own future married life and, potentially, an early interest in the social dynamics of marriage more broadly. The signature also ties the present work into the hugely influential Cromwell family by way of Elizabeth, her father, and, of course, her cousin Oliver Cromwell.
This edition is scarce, with fewer than a dozen copies held institutionally. ESTC records seven copies of this edition: the Bodleian (three copies), the Huntington, the Folger, the Newberry, and Harvard. OCLC adds physical copies at Princeton, the British Library of Political Science, Simon Fraser, and the University of Birmingham (physical copies appear on OCLC at a few other UK universities, but cross-checking reveals these are actually digital copies). This edition has only appeared at auction once (Maggs in 1966).
STC (new edition), 18514.
Carlyle, Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, vol. 1 (1850), pp. 140-142. Good +. (Inventory #: 6757)
The ownership signature likely belongs to Oliver Cromwell's cousin, Elizabeth St. John, nèe Cromwell, who was baptized on December 12, 1616 at Upwood (making her about thirteen or fourteen when she signed her name). Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry Cromwell (c. 1566 - 1630) and the second wife of Oliver St. John (1598 - 1673), whom she married in January of 1638. A kind letter from Oliver Cromwell to Elizabeth (addressed to "Mrs. St. John") in October of 1638 indicates that the two cousins had a close, friendly relationship: Cromwell warmly thanks Elizabeth for her praise of his writing; wishes her the best in her recent marriage; and asks her to urge her husband to write him back, as Cromwell had been expecting a response that he had not yet received. Unfortunately, we could not locate any more information about Elizabeth, and there are no known surviving deeds that would provide a comparison for her signature.
The present work, partially written in verse and with an often satirical tone, offers important historical context into the view of marriage in early modern England, particularly discussing gender dynamics, sexuality, and economics in married life. As Lloyd Davis writes in Sexuality and Gender in the English Renaissance (1998), Niccholes "adopts a satirist's role as detached observer...Niccholes' 'humorous' tone reflects a distinctive stylistic trait of Renaissance attacks on women through which comical allusions diffuse apparently violent attitudes without actually contradicting them" (pp. 212-213). Though the title-page states that the work is "pertinent to both sexes," it is clearly written for men, with much of the work devoted to discussing what factors to consider in choosing a wife. Niccholes is also very concerned with widows throughout the work: citing Hamlet, Niccholes questions the social and legal standing of widows and even accuses them of killing their second husbands to accrue more wealth ("In second husband let me be accurst, None wed the second but who killed the first"). Niccholes' discussion of widows seems to be an expression of his broader anxieties about how power is transferred between men and women as they enter and exit marriage and of his concerns about the economic status of unmarried women in general.
The Elizabeth Cromwell signature indicates that, though this book was clearly written for men and repeatedly disparages women as tricksters, it did hold some interest for the aristocratic women of the period. We do not know whether Elizabeth received the book as a gift or sought it out for herself, but she did take the time to interact with it and mark it as her own. We also know that she signed her name here when she was a teenager and about eight years before she married Oliver St. John, suggesting considerations about her own future married life and, potentially, an early interest in the social dynamics of marriage more broadly. The signature also ties the present work into the hugely influential Cromwell family by way of Elizabeth, her father, and, of course, her cousin Oliver Cromwell.
This edition is scarce, with fewer than a dozen copies held institutionally. ESTC records seven copies of this edition: the Bodleian (three copies), the Huntington, the Folger, the Newberry, and Harvard. OCLC adds physical copies at Princeton, the British Library of Political Science, Simon Fraser, and the University of Birmingham (physical copies appear on OCLC at a few other UK universities, but cross-checking reveals these are actually digital copies). This edition has only appeared at auction once (Maggs in 1966).
STC (new edition), 18514.
Carlyle, Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, vol. 1 (1850), pp. 140-142. Good +. (Inventory #: 6757)
(626) 714-7720
