Penny Dreadfuls, 1602 · page 14 of 400
Penny Dreadful Cover — page 14: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This is a **prefatory page** ("To the Reader"), not running narrative prose. It's an address to readers written in early modern English (likely 17th century, not Victorian as the prompt suggests). The author—signed "W.W."—asks pardon from readers, distinguishing between those who worship books like pagan gods (wooden Jupiter, golden Jupiter, oxen, cats, etc.) versus those devoted to the Sun, Stars, or Venus. The text acknowledges that "devotion and disaffection" are "senseless in detraction," offering pardon to both patient and impatient readers alike. The page appears aged and contains some faded text below the main message.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
shadeein #hacbaniies hein Chall? Greri- fing, ws sp rs to 4 woinden Tupite ter, ato a ‘golies Tupi- ter, 1040 Oxe, 4 Cat, or varie uerent Priapus , a to the a Sunne, the Starres, or anh Venus: deuotion and difere- . tion being euevimore fenceleffe ia detrattion, Of the latter Sort therefore I crane pardon , prefuppofing thetr pati- ence; tothe former , pre{uppofi ing impatience, : € en ~ a 1 offer pardon : refting to either and - toyonallin good willfuch as Jiould, 4% Yours VV. Ww j - ‘ae ~~ ae PS