When it was first published in 1891, this edition of Sir Philip Sidney's Apologie for Poetrie (or the Defense of Poetry) represented a clear departure from previous editions. The Cambridge Fellow and classical scholar Evelyn S. Shuckburgh set to the task of correcting the numerous errors and alterations which had accumulated over the course of many previous editions, beginning with the folio version of 1598. Shuckburgh's text draws from the collation of seven earlier editions, giving precedence to the first printing of 1595 for which he consulted the copy held in the British Museum. The result is a precise and thorough text, complete with notes, a glossarial index and an introductory description of Sidney's life and works.

An Apology for Poetry (or The Defence of Poesy), by the celebrated soldier-poet Sir Philip Sidney, is the most important work of literary theory published in the Renaissance. The new introduction and notes include a wealth of new information and new readings drawing on recent developments in Renassance Studies. Unfamiliar words and phrases are glossed, classical and other references explained, and difficult passages analysed in detail. The first separate edition of Sidney's seminal text to be published for more than a decade. Since 1965 Geoffrey Shepherd's edition of the Apology has been the standard, and this revision of Shepherd's edition, with a new introduction and extensive notes, is designed to introduce Sidney's best-known work to a new generation of readers at the beginning.