John Gauden, Eikon Basilike

Joad Raymond (Queen Mary, University of London)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1649

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Pamphlets/ Tracts/ Chapbooks
Religion and Spirituality (any)
- Religious writing

Resources

Eikon Basilike (“The image of the king”) was published within a few days of the execution of Charles I on 30 January 1649. It immediately became one of the great publishing successes of the seventeenth century, with thirty-five London editions in 1649.

It offers, in the voice of the imprisoned king, a sentimental and self-exonerating account of his rule, and particularly of his conflict with the parliament. Interspersed in this narrative are prayers and meditations (a later edition included a prayer taken from Sidney's Arcadia, a plagiarism notoriously exposed in Milton's Eikonoklastes). The story as it is told by Charles – or by the ventriloquist behind him – is a struggle between a devout …

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406 words

Citation: Raymond, Joad. "Eikon Basilike". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 March 2001 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5422, accessed 25 November 2024.]

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