[The first-[laste] volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande faithfully gathered and set forth by Raphaell Holinshed]

These illustrations pack a punch. Amidst notations and names, soldiers with arrows sticking out of their chests stand out to the eye. These are some of the largest marginalia illustrations exhibited here, in a substantial volume on the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande by Raphaell Holinshed. The formerly blank first leaves of this large book provided much more space to draw than its margins. 

Such marginalia have changes the way we understand this book, prefacing the printed text in a way unique to this copy. Death is a common occurrence within this ecclesiastical history that is full of wars, and the relationship between what is drawn here and the text invites us to notice what this unnamed illustrator found interesting or exciting. Additionally, the drawing gestures towards a potential anxiety that this artist may have felt: “Death knocks, wise up”, written above these drawings, is a potent reminder of our own mortality.