"Booke, go thy wayes": The Publication, Reading, and Reception of James VI/I's Early Poetic Works.

Sebastiaan Verweij presents an analysis of a survey of surviving copies of James VI/I's Essayes of a Prentise in the Divine Art of Poesie (1584, 1585) and His Maiesties Poeticall Exercises in Vacant Houres (1591) in public collections. His survey has unearthed many more readers and owners of the king's books than were previously known, making it possible to shore up previously tentative proposals about the cultural impact of these collections, not only in Scotland but also in England. He also transcribes and discusses in detail three previously unknown manuscript poems of praise to the king that survive in a copy of the 1584 Essayes now at Lambeth Palace Library, and via these poems offers a potential reassessment of the bibliographical makeup of this book. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]