A Dialogue Concerning Witches and Witchcraftes — George Gifford's 1593 dialogue on witchcraft — a remarkable Elizabethan text in which a village skeptic, a frightened farmer, his superstitious wife, a schoolmaster, and a 'good wife' debate whether witches really have power, whether cunning folk help or harm, and whether fear of witchcraft is itself the Devil's greatest trick.
Daemonologie — King James VI of Scotland's philosophical dialogue on witchcraft, sorcery, and demonic spirits, written in response to Reginald Scot's skeptical Discoverie of Witchcraft. Published in Edinburgh, 1597.
Fair Rosamond — Fair Rosamond — the tragic ballad of Rosamond Clifford, beloved of King Henry II and destroyed by Queen Eleanor's jealousy.
Flodden Field — Flodden Field — a ballad commemorating the Battle of Flodden (1513) and the death of King James IV of Scotland.
Helen of Kirkconnell — Helen of Kirkconnell — a Scottish ballad of devoted love and violent death.
King Cophetua and the Beggar-Maid — King Cophetua and the Beggar-Maid — the tale of an African king who falls in love with a beggar-maid, a perennial theme of love that transcends station.
King Leir and his Three Daughters — King Leir and his Three Daughters — the ballad source of Shakespeare's King Lear, telling the old story of a king who tests his daughters' love.
Newes from Scotland — A 1591 pamphlet recounting the North Berwick witch trials, in which King James VI of Scotland personally interrogated the accused.
Of Ghostes and Spirites Walking by Night — Ludwig Lavater's foundational 1572 treatise on ghosts, spirits, and apparitions — the root of English ghost theology, examining whether the dead return, why strange sights appear, and how Christians should respond.
Phillida and Corydon — Phillida and Corydon — a pastoral love dialogue in the Elizabethan tradition.
The Discoverie of Witchcraft — Reginald Scot's groundbreaking 1584 treatise against witch persecution — the first English book to argue systematically that witchcraft is superstition, and that accused witches are victims of ignorance and cruelty.
The Discovery of Guiana — Sir Walter Raleigh's account of his 1595 expedition up the Orinoco River in search of El Dorado and the golden city of Manoa — one of the foundational documents of English encounter with South America.
The Imitation of Christ — The most widely read Christian devotional work after the Bible, in its first English translation by William Atkinson (1517), printed by Richard Pynson for Lady Margaret Beaufort.
The Lament of the Border Widow — The Lament of the Border Widow — a Scottish ballad of a wife whose husband is slain by the king's men.
The Scholemaster — Roger Ascham's treatise on the education of young gentlemen — a defence of gentle teaching, a celebration of the English language, and a portrait of the Elizabethan court. The most influential Tudor text on pedagogy.
The Second Report of Doctor John Faustus — The 1594 sequel to the English Faust Book, following the adventures of Wagner, Faustus's servant, who inherits his master's powers and travels to the court of the Duke of Austria.
The Terrors of the Night — Thomas Nashe's wild pamphlet on dreams, spirits, night fears, and the supernatural — the most vivid piece of Elizabethan prose about the terrors that visit men in darkness.
The Vnfortvnate Traveller — Thomas Nashe's picaresque masterpiece — a page's wild journey through Renaissance Europe, from the siege of Tournai to the horrors of Rome. The first English novel of adventure, in full Elizabethan voice.
Toxophilus — Roger Ascham's dialogue on archery and the virtues of recreation — the first book about sport in the English language, and a Platonic debate on whether study or pastime better serves the Commonwealth.
Works of King Henry VIII — Songs, poems, and letters of the Tudor king — courtly love, companionship, and the pleasures of youth from a Renaissance monarch.
Young Waters — Young Waters — a Scottish ballad of jealousy and betrayal at court.