Penny Dreadful Cover

# Museum Catalog Entry

Albions England, William Warner's revised and enlarged 1602 edition, presents a legendary history of Britain from its founding through Queen Elizabeth's reign. The work combines classical mythology with Arthurian and English chronicles, narrated in verse with occasional prose interludes. Book One covers Jupiter, Hercules, and related classical figures; Book Two continues Hercules's exploits and introduces the tragic stories of Queen Daphnes and Doracles, and Jupiter and Callisto. Book Three begins with Brute's naming of Britain, then traces legendary kings—Locrine's defeat of Humber and his affair with Estrild; King Lear and his daughters; and progresses through Julius Caesar's invasion and King Arthur. Book Four covers Saxon settlement under Vortigern and subsequent Danish conflicts, including Kings Alfred and Aethelred. Book Five chronicles the Norman Conquest and medieval English kings through Richard II's deposition, incorporating interspersed moral tales and anecdotes alongside dynastic and military narrative.