On New Year’s Day 1575/6 the poet George Gascoigne presented Queen Elizabeth I with a translation of the anonymous Tale of Hemetes the Heremyte. The original manuscript (British Library, Royal MS 18. A. XLVIII) includes a drawing which represents the translator offering his work to the sovereign (fol. 1—see FIG. 1). This is accompanied by a sonnet beginning “Beholde (good Quene) A poett with a Speare,” a characteristic reworking of Gascoigne’s motto “Tam Marti quam Mercurio” (fol. 2—see below, 4.2, FIG. 3). The picture has been reproduced many times and it is probably one of best known visual images of a poet presenting his work to the Queen.1 In a sense, this manuscript—dedicated to Elizabeth, offered to her in a convenient form by the author, and even portraying the action of donating—could be said to be an excellent example of presentation copy.2 But can it be regarded as descriptive of most documents of this kind? As the pages that follow will show, this question is not as simple to answer as it may seem.

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page