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A shepherd’s calendar like no other, Fantasticks by Nicholas Breton was first published in London in 1626, the year of Breton’s death. Fantasticks is the capstone to the work of a prolific early modern master whose other prose works include A Mad World my Masters and A Poste with a Packet of Mad Letters. Structured in sections corresponding to the months of the year, hours of the day, and the principal Christian holidays, this brief work is a captivating record of early modern customs and natural history. To quote Alexander B. Grosart, who edited Breton’s complete works in 1879: to experience Fantasticks is to be “carried captive away back to ‘Merry England’ of the ‘Olden Time’ […]. Carry it to the greenwood with you, Reader, and if thou art not charmed, I dub thee—soulless.” This edition has been established in consultation with photographs of the original 1626 edition and contains typographical ornaments modeled on those appearing in it.
A shepherd’s calendar like no other, Fantasticks by Nicholas Breton was first published in London in 1626, the year of Breton’s death. Fantasticks is the capstone to the work of a prolific early modern master whose other prose works include A Mad World my Masters and A Poste with a Packet of Mad Letters. Structured in sections corresponding to the months of the year, hours of the day, and the principal Christian holidays, this brief work is a captivating record of early modern customs and natural history. To quote Alexander B. Grosart, who edited Breton’s complete works in 1879: to experience Fantasticks is to be “carried captive away back to ‘Merry England’ of the ‘Olden Time’ […]. Carry it to the greenwood with you, Reader, and if thou art not charmed, I dub thee—soulless.” This edition has been established in consultation with photographs of the original 1626 edition and contains typographical ornaments modeled on those appearing in it.