Limited edition of 180 copies. The Ashendene Press was one of the earliest to be influenced by William Morris and the Kelmscott Press. C.H. St. John Hornby founded the press in 1894, and in 1900 he introduced his "Subiaco" typeface which came to be the trademark font of the Ashendene Press. This typeface was modeled on the type used by Sweynheym and Pannartz, the first printers in Italy, and embodied the subtle renaissance style of the Ashendene Press.

Some Ashendene editions were illustrated with woodcuts, though its edition of The Faerie Queene follows the early printing tradition of Spenser's classic and is unillustrated.

The text of this edition is edited by J.C. Smith and is based on a collation of the first three editions of The Faerie Queene.