Formerly in the posession of Giorgiana Burne-Jones. Text by Edmund Spenser. Edited by F.S. Ellis. 12 illustrations by Arthur J. Gaskin and printed from process blocks by Walker and Boutall. 225 paper copies, 6 on vellum. The Shepheardes Calender was Edmund Spenser’s first major poetic work, published in 1579. It emulates Virgil’s first work, the Eclogues. The Shepheardes Calender is a poem that consists of twelve eclogues. Each eclogue is named after a different month, which represents the turning of seasons. An eclogue is a short pastoral poem that is in the form of a dialogue or soliloquy.