Ignoring the omissions of the Niccols edition, the entire work contained almost one hundred lives, covering the period from Albanact in 1085 BC to Elizabeth in 1603 and written over 60 years. Whilst the work was dismissed and largely forgotten after 1610 the lives from the Baldwin era were popular and highly regarded during the Tudor period. Philip Sidney, mentions the work in his "Defence of Poesy", saying that it was "meetly furnished of beautiful parts". The influence of the work was evident in many contemporary works such as "Albion's England" by the poet William Warner and "Cromwell" by Michael Drayton which was actually included in the 1610 edition. It was also significant for its development of the form of tragedy in English literature, with Higgins' story of Lier and Cordila providing a source for Shakespeare's "King Lear".