Wotton, Sir Henry
The State of Christendom or, A most Exact and Curious Discovery of many Secret Passages, and Hidden Mysteries of the Times. Printed for Henry Moseley, and are to sold at his Shop at the Prince's Arms in St Paul's Church-yard, 1657. 4to, full early calf; lacking port. frontis. Scarce first ed.
The State of Christendom, published in 1657, is an almost forgotten Elizabethan treatise, and a significant but neglected work of late Elizabethan scholarship and political thought. It is argued that the treatise was authored by members of the circle of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (specifically Sir Henry Wotton) in the mid fifteen-nineties, and that it reflects the political and scholarly concerns of Essex and his followers, especially Anthony Bacon, and their engagement with Catholic politics and polemic. The author displays a scholarly methodology and a particular interest in tyranny and the remedies for restraining tyrants. It sheds a fascinating light on the context that shaped the discussion of political idea in late Elizabethan England - and the way it affected the actions of the Essex circle.

Sir Henry Wotton was an Elizabethan diplomat and poet who was part of the Earl of Essex's household up until Essex's aborted rebellion. Unlike his fellow knightly secretaries, Wotton seems not to have been involved with the Earl's mad scheme, but he fled England anyway in the aftermath and was not welcome back whilst Elizabeth lived. He settled at Venice, where he wrote this work, a survey of contemporary politics which left nothing to the imagination. So controversial was the book that it remained unpublished until 18 years after his death. According to the introduction, he considered murdering 'some notable traitor to his prince and country' in order to win back favour and return home but thought better of the plan. He went on to Florence and joined the court of Ferdinand, Duke of Tuscany. It was Ferdinand who sent him to Scotland in 1602, bearing letters which revealed an attempt on the life of James VI of Scotland (later James I of England), and taking 'such Italian antidotes against poison as the Scots till then had been strangers to'. This service to James paid off when James ascended to the throne of England. Wotton was recalled via his brother - Lord Wotton - knighted and offered three ambassadorial posts. Wotton chose Venice as it was the least financially ruinous. This precaution was not entirely successful. Wotton's career from then resembled a rollercoaster - being at one point arrested for debt - but he ended his days as a respected Provost of Eton under Charles I.

This copy displays an interesting bibliographic point. The rear endpapers are formed from binder's waste, leftover parts of other books used in the binding process. In this case they are from a printed edition of Gerardus Vossius' letters. The letter in this case being addressed 'Serenissimae et Sapientissimae Christinae'. Vossius was a scholar and theologian who, despite moderate views, still managed to be accused of heresy over his history of the Pelagian controversies.