Abstract: Although Edmund Spenser devises a fictitious geographic space in his epic, The Faerie Queene, the allegorical representation of the place delivers an authentic reference to the geography in reality, a place where such American products as gold, tobacco, and guaiacum convey the clear information about the economy and geography in the New World. Spenser's narrative demonstrates that gold can increase the national wealth of the suzerain, whereas plants and herbs can satisfy its domestic consumption and meet its medical demands, but the obsession with gold impinges upon the Christian economic ethics during the Medieval period, the consumption of luxuries from overseas could cause a quick flow of the English wealth to Spain, and overseas exploration might trigger a spread of diseases across continents. Gold, tobacco, and guaiacum involve some economic issues related to mercantilism, consumer economy, and disease economy. The ambiguous and even contradictory narrative about the colonial merchandise reveals the colonial conduct of the colonizers who not only wish to consume colonial merchandise, but also attempt to establish their own moral superiority at the same time.

Key words: Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, American merchandise, discourse of colonial economy