The revised and expanded Fourth Edition extends and improves the strengths of the previous three editions. All selections are based on early and established texts, are fully linguistically introductory, and are carefully annotated. An Editor's Note follows each section. This new edition addresses changes in academic and critical interests in the study of Spenser since 1993, as well as accessibility provided by new technology. The annotations reflect the information that the best readers of Spenser would have at their fingertips without spoiling the pleasure of reading Spenser for the first time. Included is the Mother Hubberds Tale from the 1591 Complaints, as well as the Ruines of Rome, Spenser's translation of Joachim Du Bellay's Antiquitez, to give readers the opportunity to see Spenser at work as a translator and to understand the English perspective on Rome. Sixteen critical essays have been added to complement fourteen previous comments. Among the new approaches in the Fourth Edition are those of C. S Lewis, Martha Craig, Gordon Teskey, Jeff Dolven, David Wilson-Okamura, and Jennifer Summit. In line with the latest edition, critical pieces on the House of Busyrane, Spenser's poetic work, Muiopotmos, and the Amoretti have been grouped to facilitate classroom discussion. New selections from Jane Grogan, Andrew D. Hadfield, Colin Burrow, Lynn Staley, Lauren Silberman, and A. E. B. Coldiron are added to the readings of the House of Busyrane, and the “Amoretti” is expanded with selections from A. Leigh DeNeef and Helena Mennie Shire. Included are also a Chronology of Spenser's life and an extensive Bibliography.
