_Fol. 1^a._ TITLE: Thordinary of Crysten men [woodcut below.] _Fol.
1^b-4^b, table of contents._ _Fol. 5^a_ [woodcut above]: Here begynneth
a notable treatyse and ful necessarye to all crysten men for to knowe &
it is named the Ordynary of Crystyens or of crysten men. _Fol. 217^b_:
Here endeth the book named the ordynarye of crysten men newely hystoryed
and translated out of Frensshe in to Englysshe. Enprynted in the cyte of
London in the Fletestrete in the sygne of y^e sonne by Wnykyn de worde.
y^e yere of our lorde .M.CCCCC.vi. _Fol. 218^a, title repeated over
woodcut._ _Fol. 218^b_, [PRINTER'S DEVICE]
Quarto. Sign. Aa^4, A^6, B^4, C-X, AA-NN^{8, 4 (altern.)}, OO^6,
PP^{5}+{1}. 218 leaves, gothic letter, 34 lines (marginal citations
60 lines) to the page, without foliation. Title cut in large
lower-case letters on block 2 × 4 in. Five- and six-line initials
at the head of the larger divisions of the text. Ten woodcuts, one
repeated. The final blank PP. 6 has been replaced by an independent
leaf having on the one side the title repeated with woodcut, and on
the other the printer's device, either of which may in the binding
be made the recto. The device is the first of his so-called
"Sagittarius" forms, and the one most commonly used from 1506 to
1518. Ames-Dibdin, ii, p. 103. Morgan Cat. iii, p. 214, n. 743.
The present copy lacks the first four leaves, containing the title and
the table of contents; but both the title and the woodcut accompanying
it are repeated elsewhere in the volume, the title on fol. 218^a, the
woodcut on fol. 87^a.
Of the French original, _L'ordinaire des chrestiens_, at least six
editions were printed before 1500, the earliest apparently at Rouen, c.
1487. In them it is stated that the writing was commenced 22 May, 1467
and finished (_consommé_) 22 May, 1469. The corresponding dates in the
prologue and epilogue of the translation are "fyrst begonne to be
wryten" 14 Jan., 1467, "fyrst consumed" 14 Jan., 1500. The confusion,
common to both the French and the English of the 15th century, in the
derivatives of _consummare_ and _consumere_ relieves the translator,
Andrew Chertsey, from the appearance of an over-literal translation, but
the change in the date of the completed work can hardly be in the
direction of accuracy.
The woodcuts which appeared in the first edition of the "Ordinary"
printed in 1502 are in this second edition replaced by others of
different design and better execution, borrowed mainly from "The crafte
to lyve well and to dye well", printed by de Worde in 1505 and like the
present work translated by Chertsey from a French original, _L'art de
bien vivre et de bien mourir_. Two of these illustrations, "Temptation
to Impatience" (fol. 73^b) and "Soul leaving the Body" (fol. 218^a), are
copied from the early block-book _Ars moriendi_.
Bound by Alfred Matthews in blind-tooled crimson morocco, with inside
gold borders and gilt edges. Leaf 8-1/4 × 5-3/4 in.
Wynkyn de Worde, Caxton's assistant, was a native of Wörth, Alsace. He
came into possession of his master's printing materials on his death in
1491 and continued to occupy his house in Westminster until 1500 when he
moved to Fleet Street within the city. In the number of his books,
almost eight hundred, he surpassed all the early printers, but many of
them were works of small size and consequence. Some of his largest and
finest books were reprints of Caxton's folios. Mention has been made of
his use of Caxton's original device without addition. In all of his own
various devices also, the place of honor in the center is given to
Caxton's initials and cipher, plainly as a mark of loyalty to the
master, not an advertisement of himself as the successor.