Hamilton's edition is a masterpiece of scholarship and close reading. The entire work is revised, and the text of The Faerie Queene itself has been freshly edited, the first such edition since the 1930s. The text has been produced by Hiroshi Yamashita and Toshiyuki Suzuki and is now considered the new standard text of the poem.

Hamilton's edition is a masterpiece of scholarship and close reading. The entire work is revised, and the text of The Faerie Queene itself has been freshly edited, the first such edition since the 1930s. The text, itself a milestone in academic achievement, has been produced by Hiroshi Yamashita and Toshiyuki Suzuki and is now considered the new standard text of the poem.

This edition continues the excellent scholarship of the first edition; Hamilton provides exceptionally full and careful annotation of the text, detailed guidance to critical comment, and a wealth of introductory material setting the poem in its historical and literary context. This edition also includes additional original material which includes a chronology, a letter to Raleigh, commendatory verses, and dedicatory sonnets. A list of characters and their appearances has also been compiled by Shohachi Fukuda, listing their place in the poem and commentary on the names. As a sign of its enduring appeal, this edition was, in 2005, awarded the Isobel MacAffery Award by the International Spenser Society for its outstanding contribution to Spenser studies.

A. C. Hamilton is the retired Cappon Professor Emeritus at Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. He is the General Editor of Spenser Encyclopedia.

The Faerie Queene is a scholarly masterpiece that has influenced, inspired, and challenged generations of writers, readers and scholars since its completion in 1596. Hamilton's edition is itself, a masterpiece of scholarship and close reading. It is now the standard edition for all readers of Spenser. The entire work is revised, and the text of The Faerie Queene itself has been freshly edited, the first such edition since the 1930s.

This volume also contains additional original material, including a letter to Raleigh, commendatory verses and dedicatory sonnets, chronology of Spenser's life and works and provides a compilation of list of characters and their appearances in The Faerie Queene.