The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia

[1590] Sidney, Sir Philip (1554-86). The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia. London: William Ponsonbie. While this is the standard, often reprinted text, it is deeply flawed. See The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia (The Old Arcadia). Ed. Jean Robertson. Oxford, Eng.: Clarendon Press, 1973, with a “General Introduction” (xv-xli) and a “Textual Introduction” (xlii-lxxii); Ed. Katherine Duncan-Jones. Oxford, Eng.: Oxford University Press, 1985, with an editor’s “Introduction” (vii-xxiv); Reissued with a new bibliography, 1994; and The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia (The New Arcadia). Ed. Victor Skretowicz. Oxford, Eng.: Clarendon Press, 1987, with “Textual Introduction” (liii-lxxxii) and “Commentary” (507-82). HRC, L, O

Arcadian, sentimental eutopia with the emphasis on romance and knightly virtue. Continuations by others can be found in Continuations to Sidney’s Arcadia, 1607-1867. Ed. Marea Mitchell. 4 vols. London: Pickering & Chatto, 2014 and ^Mris A[nna] [Weamys] (b. app. 1630). A Continuation of Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia: Wherein is handled The Loves of Amphialus and Helena Queen of Corinth, Prince Plangus and Erona. With the Historie of the Loves of Old Claius and Young Strephon to Urania. Written by a Young Gentlewoman. London: Ptd. William Bentley, 1651. Rpt. (107-96) together with “A Modernized Edition” (3-105) as A Continuation of Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia. Ed. Patrick Colborn Cullen. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994, with a “Textual Introduction” (lxiii-lxxiii) and “Appendices” (197-212).