Il Pastor Fido or The faithfull Shepherd. Tranlsated out of Italian into English.

London: Printed [by Thomas Creede] for Simon Waterson. 1602.

First edition in English. Small quarto. 182x125mm. Collates: [A2], B-Q4. The translator is identified on [A]1v as a kinsman of Sir Edward Dymock and is variously named as John, Charles or Tailboys Dymock, the last generally thought now to be the most likely. Nineteenth century maroon half morocco with grey paper covered boards, spine lettered in gilt, modern endpapers. Rubbing to extremities. Some browning, particularly to the edges but overall a very good copy of a rare and important work. We have traced only one in the auctions records (Christie's in 2004 when it brought $3585). Library Hub locates six copies in the UK with OCLC adding two in the US and one in Canada. The Folger also holds a copy. On the front free endpaper is an inscription by "Mitford 1819 25th December" which refers to Beaumont and Fletcher's comment on Dymock's translation as "a very bad one". If this is by a member of the celebrated Mitford clan of Northumberland then the most likely candidate, given the date is Sir John Mitford who had been Speaker of the House of Commons.
Il Pastor Fido was first published in Venice in 1590. The faithful shepherd is the humble Mirtillo who, in the final scene discovers that he is of divine lineage and so can marry the similarly divine but hitherto out of reach Amarilli. With its classical rustic setting (this is the world of Theocritus and Virgil), thwarted love, jealous gods, dastardly plots, mistaken identity and happy redemption, Il Pastor Fido is an almost perfect example of dramatic pastoral. Its baroque plot appealed to later composers, most notably of course Handel whose opera of the same name appeared in 1712.
This 1602 translation into English has been long overshadowed by the considerably more common 1647 version by Richard Fanshawe. But Dymock's is much better and is regarded, in some circles, more highly than Guarini's original. It is clearer, simpler, more concise and more dramatic. This was, after all, a golden age of English theatre. Jonson refers to Il Pastor Fido in Volpone and scholars have traced its influence on Shakespeare particularly in A Midsummer Night's Dream where the connections are most marked, but also in All's well that ends well, Measure for Measure, and The Tempest.