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Estimate: $ 700 - $ 900
Armin, Robert [attributed author] (c. 1568-1615) The Valiant Welshman.
London: Imprinted by George Purslowe for Robert Lownes, 1615.
First edition, quarto, lacking frontispiece and title page, both provided in photostat facsimile, A3 (to the reader) with toning, ragged edges, marginal repairs; some faint water staining towards the end of the text, verso of last leaf toned, bound in modern half green morocco by Sangorski and Sutcliffe, purchased from Seven Gables in 1974; 7 1/8 x 4 7/8 in.
STC 16; ESTC S104360; Greg I 327 (a); ESTC lists five copies in American libraries; rare at auction.
Because the author of the Valiant Welshman is only identified on the title page by the initials R.A., the text has been variously attributed to Robert Armin, Robert Anton, and Robert Aylett. Armin was an actor who belonged to the Lord Chamberlain's Men playing company. He performed on stage at the Globe in 1600, and is positively identified as writing four comic plays. He portrayed the iconic Shakespearean fools in As You Like It, Twelfth Night, King Lear, and other plays. Shakespeare almost certainly wrote the character Feste, in Twelfth Night specifically for Armin. Other scholars have proposed that Armin may also have originated the role of Iago in Othello. He certainly made important contributions to Shakespeare's philosopher-fool characters in both comic and tragic works. It seems Armin's performances inspired Shakespeare's writing, and the writing fueled the performance.
![Armin, Robert [attributed author] (c. 1568-1615) The Valiant Welshman.](https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/full//833\802833.jpg)
