ABSTRACT

In 1566 John Foxe had written to William Cecil, asking him to lift the restrictions on the number of foreign workmen Day could hire.1 Over the coming months Day would hire new skilled staff to assist in the production of a number different books. Many of these texts would be new titles and many would include illustrations. One, however, would be a new edition of an earlier work, which would be more heavily illustrated than its first edition. It was also the book that had the leverage to get Day his new staff: the second edition of Foxe’s great martyrology. Preparations for the book began as early as 1566. Clearly, this was going to be no mere reprint.