Richard II

This history play, printed in 1597 and probably first staged a few years earlier, follows King Richard II of England from his seizure of John of Gaunt's estate through the return of Henry Bolingbroke from exile. Richard's court, the quarrel between Bolingbroke and Mowbray, the Irish expedition, and the king's surrender at Flint lead to deposition and imprisonment. Bolingbroke takes the crown as Henry IV. Gardeners, favorites, and the dying Gaunt comment on the realm as a garden and a wasted inheritance. The play is a political tragedy of divine-right kingship meeting armed deposition, not a full Wars of the Roses chronicle.

Quarter bound in blue Nigerian goatskin leather with marbled papers. Oxford University Press commentary volume. Blue solander box with leather label.