(Fifteenth Century)
About the year 1475 one William Caxton, a prosperous English wool
merchant of good standing and repute, began printing books. The art
which he introduced into his native country was quickly taken up by
others; first, it seems, by certain monks at St. Albans, and shortly
afterward by Wynkyn de Worde, who had been an apprentice to Caxton. In
1486 the press at St. Albans issued two books printed in English, of
which one was entitled 'The Boke of St. Albans.' Of this volume only
three perfect copies are known to exist. It is a compilation of
treatises on hawking, on hunting, and on heraldry, and contained but
little evidence as to their authorship. Ten years later Wynkyn de Worde
reprinted the work with additions, under the following elaborate title,
in the fashion of the time:--'Treatyse perteynynge to Hawkynge,
Huntynge, and Fysshynge with an Angle; also a right noble Treatyse on
the Lynage of Coote Armeris; ending with a Treatyse which specyfyeth of
Blasyng of Armys.'
[Illustration: JULIANA BERNERS]
The authorship of this volume, one of the earliest books printed in the
English language, has generally been ascribed to a certain (or
uncertain) Juliana Berners, Bernes, or Barnes, who lived in the early
part of the fifteenth century, and who is reputed to have been prioress
of the Nunnery of Sopwell,--long since in ruins,--near St. Albans, and
close to the little river Ver, which still conceals in its quiet pools
the speckled trout. If this attribution be correct, Dame Berners was the
first woman to write a book in English. Although the question of the
authorship is by no means settled, yet it is clear that the printer
believed the treatise on hunting to have been written by this lady, and
the critics now generally assign a portion at least of the volume to
her. In the sixteenth century the book became very popular, and was
reprinted many times.
Of the several treatises it contains, that on fishing has the greatest
interest, an interest increased by the fact that it probably suggested
'The Compleat Angler' of Izaak Walton, which appeared one hundred and
sixty years later.