Featured on PDR in the collection Elizabeth I’s Manuscript Copy of Pierre Boaistuau’s Histoires Prodigieuses (1559)

In 1559, a French humanist named Pierre Boaistuau arrived in England. His goal was to win an endorsement from the recently crowned Elizabeth I of England for his catalogue of the marvels, wonders, and monstrosities of the world. He had reason to be confident: Boaistuau was fresh off the success of his Théâtre du monde (1588), and had just published his Histoires tragiques (1559), the third story of which would, some thirty-five years later, become the source for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. To win the queen over, he had prepared a lavish illuminated manuscript, from which an English publisher would then be able to create a printed version.