Editing Samuel Daniel (section)

===1594–1601: Mountjoy, ''Civil Wars'', ''Poetical Essays'', and ''Works''===
After the publication of ''Cleopatra'', Daniel parted ways with Mary Sidney and experienced financial difficulties. He was taken in by [[Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy|Charles Blount]], Baron Mountjoy, as described in the first edition of Daniel's epic poem about the [[Wars of the Roses]], ''The First Four Books of the Civil Wars Between the Two Houses of Lancaster and York'', published in 1595.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pitcher|2004}}</ref> The poem included complimentary references to Mountjoy and a section praising him and his close friend [[Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex|Robert Devereux]], the Earl of Essex. Daniel had worked at Essex's estate, [[Wanstead]], as he wrote the initial version of his poem.<ref>{{harvnb|Weiss|2018|pp=148–151}}</ref>

Between 1595 and 1599, Daniel added a fifth book to ''The Civil Wars'' and included the expanded poem in ''The Poetical Essays of Samuel Daniel'', a collection of his works dedicated to Mountjoy and published in 1599. The collection included revised versions of ''Delia'', ''Rosamond'', and ''Cleopatra'', as well as two new works, ''Musophilus'' and ''A Letter From Octavia to Marcus Antonius''. ''[[Musophilus]]'' was dedicated to Daniel's friend and fellow poet [[Fulke Greville]], whose discussions with Daniel had inspired the dialogue in verse, a debate between a poet and a courtier on the value of writing poetry relative to more worldly pursuits.<ref>{{harvnb|Hiller|Groves|1998|pp=5–6, 109–111}}</ref> ''A Letter from Octavia'' was dedicated to [[Margaret Clifford, Countess of Cumberland|Margaret Clifford, the Countess of Cumberland]], whose relationship with her philandering husband inspired Daniel's sympathetic portrayal of [[Mark Antony|Mark Antony's]] wife, [[Octavia the Younger|Octavia]]. The use of the word "Essays" in the title of the collection may have been inspired by Montaigne's French work that had used the same word in its title.<ref>{{Harvnb|Pitcher|2017|pp=4, 6}}</ref> Like Montaigne's writings, Daniel's collection included works that debated topics in a contemplative, self-reflective style.

[[File:TheGreatPicture AnneClifford 1646 ByJanVanBelcamp.PNG|thumb|250px|''The Great Picture'', a [[triptych]] commissioned in 1646 by Anne Clifford and attributed to [[Jan van Belcamp]] (1610–1653). It depicts Clifford as a girl at left and as a mature woman at right. The left panel includes a portrait of her childhood tutor, Samuel Daniel.]]
During the late 1590s to first years of the 1600s, Daniel took on the role of tutor to the young [[Lady Anne Clifford|Anne Clifford]], daughter of the Countess of Cumberland, the woman to whom he had dedicated ''A Letter to Octavia''. Anne Clifford maintained a sense of gratitude and affection toward Daniel through the rest of her life. She included his portrait and volumes of his works in the family triptych she commissioned that has come to be known as ''The Great Picture''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Slater|2018}}</ref>

In 1601, a new collection of Daniel's writings was published titled ''The Works of Samuel Daniel, Newly Augmented''. Once again, the collection contained revised editions of his earlier works, including an expanded version of ''The Civil Wars'' that now extended to a sixth book. ''The Civil Wars'' was newly dedicated to [[Elizabeth I|Queen Elizabeth]], likely reflecting Daniel's elevated stature as one of the leading poets of the day, regarded by some as the successor to Edmund Spenser, who had died in 1599.<ref>{{Harvnb|van Es|2006}}</ref>