ith initial capital
{AE} = fully capitalized ae diphthong
etc.

In this way all the characters of the 1596 edition have been shown
except the long "s", which has been throughout converted to its modern
equivalent. In Roman type, the long "s" most closely resembles a
lower-case "f" lacking part of the crossbar. It is used in the copy-text
in nearly all places where this edition has an ordinary lower-case "s",
except at the ends of words and when preceding the letter "k". Using
the oblique character in place of the long "s", then, the first lines of
the poem read:

Lo I the man, who/e Mu/e whilome did maske,
As time her taught in lowly Shepheards weeds,
Am now enfor/t a far vnfitter taske,
For trumpets /terne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds ...

These rules are on occasion broken, apparently by mistake. The long
"s" does nothing to aid comprehension, and indeed causes problems, noted
in the Textual Appendix: e.g. confusion between "besit" and "befit".

Special characters contained in the list of printers' contractions
are noted in the preamble to that list.

Regions of text printed, or intended to be shown, in italic type are
defined by underscores, thus: the _second_ word is in italics.

Spenser's original text of _The Faerie Queene_ is here described as
"Spenser's Text" and is in the public domain. The biography by
John W. Hales has passed out of copyright and was published by Messrs
Macmillan. Copyright in all other parts of this edition, including
editorial treatment of Spenser's Text, is reserved. You may not sell the
whole or any part of this edition in any form whatsoever, nor may you
supply it as an inducement to any party to purchase any product. Except
for private study, you may not alter the text in any way.

WARRANTY

This edition is supplied as is. No warranty of any description is given
in relation to the edition. Time and care have gone into its preparation,
but no guarantee of accuracy is implied or made.

In such a large work, despite the stringent and repeated manual and
electronic checking that has been carried out, some errors are bound to
have slipped through. Please tell me about any that you find. All readers'
emendations will be gratefully acknowledged in future releases.

-- Jonathan Barnes

jonathan.barnes[at]conexil.co.uk
20 August 2004

Main components:

Editor's Introduction
Abbreviations Used
List of Proper Nouns
Table of Contents of Volume I
Introductory