PUTTENHAM, GEORGE (d. 159o), the reputed author of The Arte of English Poesie (1589). The book was entered at Stationers' Hall in 1588, and published in the following year. The writer of The Arte of English Poesie was educated at Oxford, and at the age of 18 he addressed an eclogue entitled Elpine to Edward VI. In his youth he had visited Spain, France and Italy, and was better acquainted with foreign courts than with his own. In 1579 he presented to Queen Elizabeth his Partheniades (printed in a collection of ms. Ballads by F. J. Furnivall), and he wrote the treatise in question especially for the delectation of the queen and her ladies. He mentions nine other works of his, none of which are extant. There is no direct evidence beyond Bolton's ascription to identify the author with George or Richard Putten ham, the sons of Robert Puttenham and his wife Margaret, the sister of Sir Thomas Elyot, who dedicated his treatise on the Education or Bringing up of Children to her for the benefit of her sons. Both made unhappy marriages, were constantly engaged
in litigation, and were frequently in disgrace.
Many later "poetics" are indebted to this book. The original edi tion is very rare. Professor Edward Arber's reprint (1869) contains a clear summary of the various documents with regard to the author ship of this treatise. The history of the Puttenhams is discussed in H. H. S. Croft's edition of Elyot's Boke called the Governour. A care ful investigation brought him to the conclusion that the evidence was in favour of Richard. There are other modern editions of the book, notably one in J. Haslewood's Ancient Critical Essays (1811-15).