John Lesley (1527-1596) was a Scottish Catholic bishop, politician and historian. He was an avid supporter of Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as one of her closest advisors. He was arrested several times for supporting Mary's claim to the throne, and was imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1570. During his eighteen-month incarceration he began collecting materials for this work, a history of Scotland, for which he is now principally known. The book was published after his release and banishment from England, in Rome in 1578. This copy is a first edition and is bound in vellum with elaborate blind tooling, including representations of Justice and Chastity on the front and back boards respectively.