Transcriber's Note:
- - signifies italic text;
^ or ^{} signifies a superscript.
[=] signifies a letter with a macron accent (straight line over);
[~] signifies a letter with a tilde over.
Both macron and tilde sometimes indicate an omitted letter.
This is a collection bibliographical notes on old books. In the
older books there are many instances of the long 's', printed as
'ſ', and used mostly in the middle of words.
A final 's' was printed as 's', as it is now. A final double-'s'
was usually printed as 'ſs'. An exception is on Psge 41: 'Odyſſ'.
"Finis duodecim libri Hom. Odyſſ. Opus nouem dierum,"
Occasionally, 'ſſ' in the middle of a word, was printed as 'ſs'.
Some examples of the use of 'ſ' and 'ſs':
'Paradiſe loſt' (Paradise lost), 'The Pilgrims Progreſs'
(The Pilgrims Progress), 'Odyſses' (Odysses), etc
The letter 'w' was often printed as 'vv', and 'W' as 'VV'.
'J/j' was often printed as 'I/i', and 'I/i' as 'J/j'.
Thus 'The Rich Jew of Malta' appears in this book as
'The Rich Ievv of Malta'.
'v' was often printed as 'u', and 'u' as 'v' thus, "God ſaue the
Queene" for "God save the Queen".
Also: "vntill this preſent tyme" for "until this present time".
In the earlier books, people wrote what they heard. All spelling
variants, if they make sense, and are not obvious printing errors,
have been retained.
Spelling rules did not exist until the later part of the 19th
century. Some words and names (e.g. Church-yard/Churchyard) are
hyphenated on some pages, unhyphenated on others. All have been
retained.
Punctuation is not nessarily consistent, is not always present,
and sometimes occurs where we would not expect it (e.g. 'the price
of .ii. Shyllynges the piece'; '.xiii Articles'; 'and before the
yere ,M,iiiiC, and .ix', etc.). A colon (:) was sometimes used
instead of a full stop. Apostrophes were sometimes conspicuous by
their absence (e.g. 'Le Morte Darthur' for 'Le Morte D'Arthur'),
and opened brackets were not always closed. There are some
instances of quotations enclosed in double quotes nested inside
quotations similarly enclosed in double quotes, leading to the
occasional paragraph ending in ."" This would appear to have been
the printing style of the time, and has been retained.
The Author has included a list of corrections on Page 221, at the
end of the book and before the Index. These corrections have been
implemented, as listed.
The rest of the Transcriber's Note is at the end of the book.
* * * * *
The committee on Publications of the Grolier Club
certifies that this copy of "Bibliographical Notes on
One Hundred Books Famous in English Literature"
is one of three hundred and five copies printed on
French hand-made paper, and three on vellum, during
the year nineteen hundred and three.
* * * * *
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
ON ONE HUNDRED BOOKS FAMOUS IN
ENGLISH LITERATURE
* * * * *
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
ON
ONE HUNDRED BOOKS
FAMOUS IN
ENGLISH LITERATURE
COMPILED BY
HENRY W. KENT
[Illustration]
THE GROLIER CLUB
OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
MCMIII
Copyright, 1903, by
THE GROLIER CLUB OF THE
CITY OF NEW YORK
PREFACE
After the publication of the volume entitled _One Hundred Books
Famous in English Literature with Facsimiles of the Title-pages and
an Introduction by George E. Woodberry_, the books themselves were
gathered from the collections of members of the Club for an exhibition
at the Club-house. All of these volumes belonged to the first
published editions, except where copies of the earliest editions were
not obtainable, or, for some reason, were not desirable. In two cases,
those of "Tottel's Miscellany" and Lyly's _Euphues_, copies of the
first editions are unique, and, therefore, practically not obtainable.
The second edition of _A Myrrour For Magistrates_ contains the first
issue of the poem called an _Induction_ by the Earl of Dorset,
and was, therefore, the edition which it was desirable to show.
Notwithstanding the oft-repeated statement that copies of the second
edition of Bacon's _Essays_ are of greater rarity than those of the
first, no copy of the first edition was forthcoming, and one of the
later date was necessarily included in the collection. In one or
two instances a second issue of a first edition was used where the
extremely rare first issue was not owned by a member of the Club.
Arranged side by side, each volume open at its title-page, the
individuality of these well-known works was brought out strikingly:
taken collectively, they illustrated, clearly and interestingly, the
development of the Book in England. Members of the Club were thus led
to suggest the publication of a second, or supplementary volume, which
should give the bibliographical facts connected with each book, and
which should indicate, briefly, something of this development. The
present volume was undertaken in response to this suggestion.
The relations of author with printer or publisher, the success
or failure of the books, matters of illustration, and marked
peculiarities of editions, issues or volumes--all these things are
referred to at greater or less length. In some cases, the facts have
been given with fullness; but in others, like that of the Shakespeare
_First Folio_, about which so much has been written, it was thought
unnecessary to enter into details. Many of the books in the list
having been already the subjects of whole bibliographies, or, having
been carefully collated in other works, full collations have not been
thought desirable here. It should be noted, in this connection, that
the collations of books printed before the eighteenth century
are given by signatures, while of books published after 1700, the
paginations are given. Works of more than two volumes have not been
collated in detail.
CONTENTS
TITLE AUTHOR DATE PAGE
The Canterbury Tales Chaucer 1478 3
Confeſſio Amantis Gower 1483 5
Le Morte Darthur Malory 1485 7
The Booke of the Common Praier 1549 9
The Vision of Pierce Plowman Langland 1550 12
Chronicles of England Scotlande, and
Irelande Holinshed 1577 15
{Baldwin, }
A Myrrour For Magiſtrates {Sackville,}
{and others} 1563 19
Songes And Sonettes Howard 1567 22
The Tragidie of Ferrex and Porrex {Norton and}
{Sackville } [1570?] 24
Euphues Lyly 1581 26
The Countesse Of Pembrokes Arcadia Sidney 1590 29
The Faerie Queene Spenser 1590 32
Eſſaies Bacon 1598 34
The Principal Navigations, Voiages,
Traffiques And Discoueries of the
Engliſh Nation Hakluyt 1598 36
The Whole Works Of Homer Chapman [n. d.] 40
The Holy Bible 44
The Workes Jonson 1616 48
The Anatomy Of Melancholy Burton 1621 51
Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies Shakespeare 1623 53
The Tragedy of The Dutchesse of Malfy Webster 1623 56
A New Way To Pay Old Debts Massinger 1633 57
The Broken Heart Ford 1633 58
The Famous Tragedy of
The Rich Ievv Of Malta Marlowe 1633 59
The Temple Herbert 1633 60
Poems Donne 1633 62
Religio Medici Browne 1642 65
The Workes Waller 1645 67
Comedies And Tragedies {Beaumont and}
{Fletcher } 1647 69
Hesperides Herrick 1648 72
The Rule And Exercises
Of Holy Living Taylor 1650 74
The Compleat Angler Walton 1653 75
Hudibras Butler 1663 77
Paradiſe loſt Milton 1667 79
The Pilgrims Progreſs Bunyan 1678 82
Absalom And Achitophel Dryden 1681 84
An Essay Concerning
Humane Understanding Locke 1690 86
The Way of the World Congreve 1700 88
The History Of The
Rebellion and Civil
Wars In England Clarendon 1702 89
The Tatler 1710 91
The Spectator 1711 94
The Life And Strange
Surprizing Adventures
Of Robinson Crusoe Defoe 1719 97
Travels Into Several
Remote Nations Of
The World Swift 1726 99
An Essay On Man Pope [1733] 102
The Analogy Of Religion Butler 1736 104
Reliques Of Ancient
English Poetry Percy 1765 105
Odes Collins 1747 109
Clarissa Richardson 1748 110
The History Of Tom Jones Fielding 1749 112
An Elegy Wrote In A
Country Church Yard Gray 1751 114
A Dictionary Of The English
Language Johnson 1755 117
Poor Richard improved Franklin 1758 119
Commentaries On The Laws Of England Blackstone 1765 121
The Vicar Of Wakefield Goldsmith 1766 123
A Sentimental Journey Through
France And Italy Sterne 1768 126
The Federalist 1788 128
The Expedition of Humphry
Clinker Smollett 1771 130
An Inquiry Into The Nature and
Cauſes Of The Wealth Of Nations Smith 1776 132
The History Of The Decline And
Fall Of The Roman Empire Gibbon 1776 133
The School For Scandal Sheridan [n. d.] 136
The Task Cowper 1785 137
Poems Burns 1786 141
The Natural History And
Antiquities Of Selborne White 1789 143
Reflections On The Revolution
In France Burke 1790 146
Rights Of Man Paine 1791 147
The Life Of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Boswell 1791 150
{Wordsworth }
Lyrical Ballads {and Coleridge} 1798 153
A History Of New York
by Diedrich Knickerbocker Irving 1809 155
Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Byron 1812 157
Pride And Prejudice Austen 1813 161
Christabel Kubla Khan, A Vision;
The Pains Of Sleep Coleridge 1816 163
Ivanhoe Scott 1820 165
Lamia, Isabella,
The Eve Of St. Agnes,
And Other Poems Keats 1820 167
Adonais Shelley 1821 169
Elia Lamb 1823 171
Memoirs Pepys 1825 173
The Last Of The Mohicans Cooper 1826 175
Pericles And Aspasia Landor 1836 177
The Posthumous Papers Of
The Pickwick Club Dickens 1837 180
Sartor Resartus Carlyle 1834 183
Nature Emerson 1836 186
History Of The Conquest Of Peru Prescott 1847 187
The Raven And Other Poems Poe 1845 189
Jane Eyre Brontë 1847 191
Evangeline Longfellow 1847 192
Sonnets Mrs. Browning 1847 193
Melib[oe]us-Hipponax Lowell 1848 194
Vanity Fair Thackeray 1848 196
The History Of England Macaulay 1849 199
In Memoriam Tennyson 1850 201
The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne 1850 202
Uncle Tom's Cabin Mrs. Stowe 1852 204
The Stones of Venice Ruskin 1851 205
Men And Women Browning 1855 208
The Rise Of The Dutch Republic Motley 1856 209
Adam Bede George Eliot 1859 211
On The Origin Of Species Darwin 1859 213
Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám Fitzgerald 1859 216
Apologia Pro Vita Sua Newman 1864 217
Essays In Criticism Arnold 1865 218
Snow-Bound Whittier 1866 219
* * * * *
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
ON
ONE HUNDRED BOOKS
FAMOUS IN
ENGLISH LITERATURE
* * * * *
GEOFFREY CHAUCER
(1340?-1400)
1. [The Canterbury Tales. Printed at Westminster by William Caxton,
about 1478.]
The text begins with the first line of the book, and there is
no prefatory note or colophon, to give a clue to the name of
the work, its place of publication, its printer, or the date
of its production. The date and the name of the printer,
however, are determined by the type, which is a font used by
Caxton in books printed at Westminster between the years 1475
and 1481. This type, known as Type No. 2, because it was the
second employed by him (the first used for printing books in
England), is like the characters in manuscripts written in
Bruges in the fifteenth century, and called "Gros Bâtarde."
Colard Mansion, the earliest printer of Bruges, used a font of
similar style, and Caxton probably formed his type on the
same models, if, indeed, he did not procure it from Mansion
himself, with whom he learned the new art of printing. But we
may also identify our printer by means of his own statement
made in the signed "Prohemye" to the second edition of
the work, printed in 1484 (?), where, in speaking of the
difficulty of obtaining a pure text, he makes an interesting
criticism of this, the first edition. He says:
"For I fynde many of the sayd bookes, whyche wry- | ters haue
abrydgyd it and many thynges left out, And in | so[~m]e place
haue sette certayn versys, that he neuer made ne sette | in
hys booke, of whyche bookes so incorrecte was one brought to
me vj yere passyd, whyche I supposed had ben veray true &
cor- | recte, And accordyne to the same I dyde do enprynte a
certayn | nombre of them, whyche anon were sold to many and
dyuerse | gentyl men, of whome one gentylman cam to me, and
said that | this book was not accordyn in many places vnto the
book that | Gefferey chaucer had made, To whom I answerd that
I had ma-| de it accordyng to my copye, and by me was nothyng
added ne | mynusshyd."
According to the arrangement of William Blades, this is the
tenth work of England's first printer, and the fifth printed
on English soil. It was printed after his return from Bruges,
whither he had gone as a mercer, and where he turned printer
and editor. Few of the books from his press exceed it in size
and beauty. Nine copies are known; two are in the British
Museum, one in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, one in Merton
College, Oxford, and five in private libraries. Of all these
only two are in perfect condition.
The volume has no signatures, folios or catchwords, and the
lines are unevenly spaced. The rubrication of the initial
letters was done by hand.
In the matter of purity of text this edition is inferior
to the second, as Caxton himself thus early recognized; the
manuscript from which it was printed, Tyrwhitt tells us,
"happened unluckily to be one of the worst in all respects
that [he] could possibly have met with." But however that may
be, the _Canterbury Tales_ is entitled to a chief place among
English books as presenting the first printed text of Chaucer,
who, "by hys labour enbelysshyd, ornated, and made faire our
englisshe."
Folio. Black letter.
COLLATION: _371 leaves; sixteen of which are in facsimile._
JOHN GOWER
(1325?-1408)
2. This book is intituled, confeſ- | ſio amantis / that is to saye
| in englysshe the confeſſyon of | the louer maad and compyled
by | Johan Gower squyer borne in walys | ... (Colophon) Enprynted at
Westmestre by me | Willyam Caxton and fynyſſhed the ij | day of
Septembre the fyrſt yere of the | regne of Kyng Richard the thyrd /
the yere of our lord a thouſand / CCCC / | lxxxxiij / (a mistake for
1483).
The text is a composite one, being taken from at least three
MSS. Manuscripts are extant in three versions: the earliest is
dedicated to Richard II, and contains a panegyric on Chaucer;
the second is dedicated to Henry of Lancaster, but the poets
having quarreled, the panegyric is omitted; and the third is
likewise addressed to Henry, but with certain differences in
the work. With the exception of these variations, the text is
alike in all.
The type of the printed work exhibits two variations of the
same characters, and is called Type No. 4, and No. 4*. It is
the smallest font employed by Caxton in any of his books, and
the most used, thirty-one volumes having been printed between
1480 and 1487 in one or the other or in both variations.
The printer does not, as in the following work, write a
special prologue or preface to the _Confessio_, but states
all the facts he knows concerning it in the introductory
paragraph, or title, at the beginning of the first column.
The book has no catchwords or folios, and the signatures are
irregularly printed. Seventeen copies were known to Blades:
three in the British Museum; Cambridge, Pembroke College,
Cambridge, Hereford Cathedral, Lambeth Palace Library, Queen's
College, and All Souls, Oxford, each having one; while eight
were in private libraries.
The copy whose title-page is here shown in facsimile is one
of five copies that are perfect. We first hear of it in the
library of Brian Fairfax, a Commissioner of Customs in the
18th century, who bequeathed it to his kinsman, Hon. Robert
Fairfax, afterward seventh Lord Fairfax. Lord Fairfax intended
to sell the collection at auction, but eventually sold it
entire, in 1756, to his relative, Francis Child of Osterley
Park, for two thousand pounds. In 1819 the Osterley Park
library passed into the family of the Earl of Jersey, and,
when finally dispersed, in 1885, brought thirteen thousand and
seven pounds, nine shillings.
At the time of the intended auction, in 1756, a catalogue was
printed, but afterward all but twenty copies of the edition
were suppressed. One of these is marked with the valuation
of each book, and shows the _Confessio_ to have been held at
three pounds. Eight hundred and ten pounds was the price it
brought at the sale in 1885.
Folio. Black letter. 12-5/8 × 18-15/16 inches
COLLATION: _222 leaves; four of which are blank_.
SIR THOMAS MALORY
(1430?-1470?)
3. (Colophon) ¶ Thus endeth thys noble and Joyous book entytled le
morte | Darthur / Notwythſtondyng it treateth of the byrth / lyf /
and | actes of the ſayd kyng Arthur / of his noble knyghtes of the
| rounde table / ... whiche book was re | duced in to englyſſhe by
ſyr Thomas Malory knyght as afore | is ſayd / and by my deuyded in
to xxj bookes chapytred and | enprynted / and fynyſſhed in thabbey
westmestre the last day | of Juyl the yere of our lord / M / CCCC /
lxxxv / ¶ Caxton me fieri fecit.
The book begins with a prologue by Caxton wherein he tells how
he came to print it, presents his reason for the belief that
Arthur was an historical personage, and relates some facts
with regard to the sources of the romance. He says:
"After that I had accomplysshed and fynysshed dyuers hystoryes
as wel of contemplacyon as of other hyſtoryal and worldly
actes of grete conquerours & prynces, and also certeyn bookes
of ensaumples and doctryne, Many noble and dyuers gentylmen
of thys royame of Englond camen and demaunded me many and
oftymes, wherfore that I haue not do made & enprynte the noble
hystorye of the saynt greal, and of the moost renomed crysten
Kyng, ... kyng Arthur....
Th[=e]ne al these thynges forsayd aledged J coude not wel
denye, but that there was suche a noble kyng named arthur, and
reputed one of the ix worthy, & fyrst & chyef of the crysten
men, & many noble volumes be made of hym & of his noble
knyztes in frensshe which I haue seen & redde beyonde the see,
which been not had in our maternal tongue, but in walsshe ben
many & also in frensshe, & Somme in englysshe but nowher nygh
alle, wherfore such as haue late ben drawen oute bryefly in
to englysshe, I haue after the symple connynge that god hath
sente me, vnder the fauour and correctyon of al noble lordes
and gentylmen enprysed to enprynte a book of the noble
hystoryes of the sayd kynge Arthur, and of certeyn of his
knyghtes after a copye vnto me delyuerd, whyche copys Syr
Thomas Malorye dyd take oute of certayn bookes of frensshe and
reduced it in to Englysshe, And I accordyng to my copye haue
doon sette it in emprynte...."
The volume is printed without folios, head-lines, or
catchwords, in the type known as No. 4, already referred to
under the _Confessio_. The initial letters are printed from
wood.
Only two copies are known; one perfect, from which the
facsimile of the title-page was taken, the other an imperfect
one, which belonged to Earl Spencer's collection. The British
Museum possesses only a fragment. Our copy, like that of the
_Confessio_, was one of the nine Caxtons belonging to the
Fairfax library. In the list of 1756, it was valued at two
pounds, twelve shillings and sixpence; in 1885 it sold for one
thousand nine hundred and fifty pounds.
Folio.
COLLATION: _432 leaves, one of which is blank_.
THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER
4. The | booke of the common praier | and adminiſtracion of the |
Sacramentes, and | other rites and | ceremonies | of the | Churche:
after the | uſe of the Churche of | Englande. | Londini, in officina
Richardi Graftoni, | [Two lines] Anno Domini. M.D.XLIX | Menſe
Martij. [Colophon] Excuſum Londini, in edibus Richardi Graftoni |
Regij Impreſſoris. | Menſe Junij M.D.xlix. | Cum priuilegio ad
imprimendum ſolum.
We know very little about the preparation of the book. An Act,
dated January 22, 1549, entitled "An Act for uniformity of
Service and Administration of the Sacraments throughout the
Realm" speaks of the commissioners who had been appointed, and
had first met at Windsor in May, 1548, as follows: "Whereof
His Highness by the most prudent advice ... to the intent a
uniform, quiet, and godly order should be had concerning the
premisses, hath appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury, and
certain of the most learned and discreet Bishops, and
other learned men of this realm to consider and ponder the
premisses." The same Act goes on to say "the which at this
time by the aid of the Holy Ghost, with one uniform agreement
is of them concluded, set forth and delivered to his highness,
to his great comfort and quietness of mind, in a book
entituled,--
"_The Book of Common Prayer, and Administration of the
Sacraments, and other rites and Ceremonies of the Church,
after the Use of the Church of England._"
Richard Grafton, the printer of our copy, was originally a
prosperous London merchant. His zeal for religion led him to
associate himself with Edward Whitchurch, another merchant, in
causing Matthews's Bible to be translated and printed in
1537, in publishing the Coverdale Bible of 1535, and again
in printing the Cranmer Bible of 1540. He turned printer
eventually, and his books are counted among the best specimens
of the book-making of the period. He and his friend, who also
became a typographer, received a patent from Henry VIII in
1543 for printing "bookes of diuine service, that is to say,
the masse booke, the graill, the antyphoner, the himptnell,
the portous, and the prymer, both in Latyn and in Englyshe of
Sarum use," all of which had formerly been printed abroad.
In 1546, Grafton was appointed printer to Prince Edward,
afterward Edward VI, and in 1547 printer to the King. When the
_Prayer Book_ came to be put to press there was therefore no
question of who should be chosen to do the work.
Ames says that Grafton and Whitchurch continued friends and
partners for many years, but it is a fact, as Dibdin points
out, that while up to 1541 their names appear together upon
title-pages, after that date there are usually two issues of
each work, part having Grafton's name in the imprint, and part
Whitchurch's. This is true of the Cranmer Bible, and the same
thing is found in connection with the_ Prayer Book_. It is
not known whether the separation is due to some economic
arrangement agreeable to both printers, or whether they may
have quarreled. To the names of these two printers of the
first edition, however, should be added another, that of John
Oswen of Worcester, formerly of Ipswich, who by virtue of a
license from Edward VI was printer of "every kind of book, or
books, set forth by us, concerning the service to be used in
churches, ministration of the sacraments, and instruction
of our subjects of the Principality of Wales, and marches
thereunto belonging ... for seven years, prohibiting all other
persons whatsoever from printing the same."
All issues of this edition differ more or less in general
style and appearance. The most marked dissimilarity in the
volumes issued by the London printers lies in the special
woodcut title-page used by each. Grafton's beautiful border
(repeated for "A Table" and "Kalendar") shows, above a Doric
frieze supported by pilasters, a view of the Council Chamber
with King Edward, surrounded by his advisers, and at the
bottom the printer's punning mark, on a shield upheld by
two angels. It is as fine a piece of work as anything of the
period. Grafton afterward used the same border for his
edition of _A Concordance of the Bible_, printed in 1550.
The Whitchurch copies have a woodcut border very similar in
character to those in use twenty years later, which have the
appearance of being related to some of the borders drawn for
Plantin. This border consists of caryatids representing Roman
soldiers with shields, supporting the royal coat-of-arms,
and below, satyrs and loves with another coat-of-arms in a
cartouche, and the initial _E_ in a tablet on one side, and
_W_ on the other.
The earliest known copy printed by Oswen, a quarto, has a
colophon which reads: ¶ _At Worceter by_ ¶ | _Jhon Oſwen_.
¶ _They be also to ſell at Shreweſburye._ | (_Imprinted the
xxiiii. day of May._ | _Anno. M.D.XLIV._ The title is framed
by a border made up of five woodcut panels, carelessly
arranged; and some of the initial letters are ornamented.
Another copy, dated July 30, is in folio. The title-page is
here bordered with ten woodcuts, having between the inner and
outer sets the rubricated text: "Let euerye soule submyt hym
ſelfe unto the aucthorite of the higher powers. For there is
no power but of God. The powers that be, are ordained of God
whoſoeuer therefore reſiſteth power: reſiſteth the
ordinance of God. Rom. XIVI." A royal coat-of-arms, which in
the quarto was placed before the order of Matins, here heads
the title, printed in red. Every other line following is also
rubricated. In Grafton's copy the "Te Deum Laudamus," "The
Song of Zacharias," and "The Letany," occur at the end of the
book but are not in the table of Contents.
The statement made in the Act that the work had been
concluded, set forth, and delivered, must apply, it is
thought, to the manuscript, since no printed copy is known
dated earlier than March. A copy printed by Whitchurch has
the date March 7, 1549, and another by Grafton is dated the
eighth; other copies are dated in May, June and July. The book
was used in the London churches on Easter Day, April 21, 1549,
and was ordered, as we have seen, to be used in all churches
after the Feast of Pentecost, which fell upon June 9 in 1549.
From the requirements of its use, we may infer that the
edition must have been a large one. We are sure of the price
of the volume from the following note, added at the end of the
book: "The Kynges Maieſtie, by the aduyſe of his moſte
deare vncle the Lorde Protector and other his highnes
Counſell, ſtreightly chargeth and commaundeth, that no
maner of perſon do ſell this preſent booke vnbounde,
aboue the price of .ii. Shyllynges the piece. And the ſame
bounde in paſte or in boordes, not aboue the price of three
ſhylleynges and foure pence the piece. God ſaue the Kyng."
The price differs in different volumes. A copy of Oswen's May
24th issue sets the price at two shillings and twopence for
unbound copies, and three shillings eightpence for bound
copies.
Folio. Black letter and Roman.
COLLATION: _183 leaves, including title-page. Sig. A-Y, AA-f._
WILLIAM LANGLAND
(1330?-1400?)
5. The Vision | of Pierce Plowman, now | fyrſte imprynted by Roberte
| Crowley, dwellyngin Ely | rentes in Holburne. | Anno Domini | 1505.
Cum priuilegio ad im | primend[~u] ſolum. [Colophon] ¶ Imprinted at
London by Roberte | Crowley, dwellyng in Elye rentes | in Holburne.
The year of | Our Lord M.D.L.
Before appearing with this work as a publisher, Robert Crowley
was by no means unknown to the reading world as a writer;
nor was it probably a mere printer's venture that led him to
select such a work as this for publication, but sympathy
with the tendency of the book itself. He had been educated
at Oxford, and received early the strong bent toward the
doctrines of the Reformation which prompted the writing of
his first three books, whose titles indicate something of
his leaning in the religious controversies of the day: _The
Confutation of the miſhapen Aunſwer to the miſnamed,
wicked Ballade, called the Abuſe of y^e bleſſed
ſacram[=e]t of the aultare ... that Myles Hoggard ... hath
wreſted.... Compiled by Robert Crowley. Anno. 1548_; _The
confutation of .xiii Articles, wherunto Nicolas Shaxton ...
ſubſcribed and ... recanted ... at the burning of ... Anne
Aſkue_, in [1548] and _An informacion and Peticion agaynſt
the oppreſſours of the Pore Commons of this Realme_,
in [1548]. We may picture to ourselves with what relish so
controversial and partisan a soul must have prepared for the
press, and then watched through it, what Ellis calls "the
keenest ridicule of the vices of all orders of men, and
particularly of the religious."
Crowley's career as a printer was only an incident in a life
devoted to championing the new doctrines of Protestantism.
The three books mentioned were printed by Day and Sere; and
Herbert thinks that it may have been in their office that our
printer-writer learned the trade which he followed for three
years only. Considering the fact that his press was situated
in Ely Rents, where William Sere also dated his books in 1548,
and thereabouts, this seems very probable. But from Crowley's
use of the excellently designed and really charming woodcut
border with Edward Whitechurch's cipher at the bottom and his
symbol of the sun at the top, we may almost infer that he was
on equally familiar relations with that printer, established
at The Sun, over against the Conduit. We may add that William
Copeland of The Rose Garland also used, at a later date, a
similar compartment in several of his books.
One might expect Crowley, serious and scholarly in his
tastes, to be a careful editor; and his researches to find
his author's name, as revealed in "The Printer to the Reader,"
prove that he was such an one, even if, for some reason
or other, he did not choose to place the name upon the
title-page. He says:
"Beynge deſyerous to knowe the name of the Autoure of this
moſt worthy worke, (gentle reader) and the tyme of the
writynge of the ſame: I did not onely gather togyther
ſuche aunciente copies as I could come by, but alſo
conſult ſuch m[=e] as I knew to be more exerciſed in
the ſtudie of antiquities, than I myselfe haue ben. And
by ſome of them I haue learned that the Autour was named
Roberte langelande, a Shropshere man borne in Cleybirie,
aboute .viii. myles from Maluerne hilles.... So that this I
may be bold to reporte, that it was fyrſte made and wrytten
after the yeare of our lord .M.iii.C.L. and before the yere
,M,iiiiC, and .ix which meane ſpaſe was .lix yeares. We
may iuſtly c[=o]iect therfore, y^t it was firſte written
about two hundred yeres paſte, in the tyme of Kynge Edwarde
the thyrde...."
The year after _The Vision_ was published our printer was
ordained a deacon, and, later, made vicar of St. Giles,
Cripplegate, where he preached and wrote until his death. He
published no less than twenty-two volumes, eight of which he
printed himself, thus taking his place, along with Caxton, at
the head of the list of printer-authors which includes such
names as Wolfe, Baldwin, Richardson and Morris.
Dibdin calls the vellum copy of _The Vision_ which belonged to
Earl Spencer unique, but the copy here collated would deprive
it of that distinction, even if there were not another in the
British Museum.
A comparison of several copies of the book reveals the fact
that in most of them the date on the title-page has been
written in to correct the printer's error.
There were three other impressions issued during 1550, two of
them said to be "nowe the ſeconde tyme imprinted," and
the third with the printer's name spelled "Crowlye" on the
title-page. Rev. W. W. Skeat in his edition of _The Vision_
says:
"But all three impressions are much alike. The chief
differences are, that the two later impressions have many more
marginal notes, a few additional lines, and also 6 additional
leaves between the printer's preface and the poem itself,
containing a brief argument or abstract of the prologue and of
each of the Passus. The first impression is the most correct;
also the third impression is much less correct than the
second, and considerably inferior to it."
Quarto. Black letter.
COLLATION: [Illustration: Five pointed star],
_two leaves; A-GgI_, in fours. Folioed.
RAPHAEL HOLINSHED or HOLLINGSHEAD
(d. 1580?)
6. 1577. | The Firſte volume of the | Chronicles of England Scot |
lande, and Irelande. | Conteyning, | The deſcription and Chronicles
of England, from the | Firſte inhabiting vnto the conqueſt | [Six
lines] Faithfully gathered and ſet forth, by | Raphaell Holinſhed.
| At London, | Imprinted for George Biſhop. | God ſaue the Queene.
1577 | The | Laſte volume of the | Chronicles of England, Scot- |
lande, and Irelande, with | their deſcriptions. | Conteyning, |
The Chronicles of Englande from William Con- | querour vntill this
preſent tyme. | Faithfully gathered and compiled | by Raphaell
Holinſhed. | At London, | Imprinted for George | Biſhop. |
[Printer's mark] God ſaue the Queene.
The first edition is known as the Shakespeare edition,
because it was used by the great poet, in common with all the
Elizabethan dramatists, in the preparation of his historical
plays.
That Holinshed used the adjective _faithfully_ in its true
sense may be seen by a reference to the dedication of the book
to Sir William Cecil, Baron of Burleigh, whose coat-of-arms
appears on the back of the title-page. Here he gives an
interesting account of the inception and fortunes of the work,
with an incidental side-light upon the relations of printer
and professional writer:
"Where as therefore, that worthie Citizen Reginald Wolfe
late Printer to the Queenes Maiestie, a man well knowen and
beholden to your Honour, meant in his life time to publiſh
an vniuerſall Coſmographie of the whole worlde, and
therewith alſo certaine perticular Histories of euery knowen
nation, amongſt other whome he purpoſed to vſe for
performance of his entent in that behalfe, he procured me to
take in hande the collection of thoſe Histories, and hauing
proceeded ſo far in the ſame, as little wanted to the
accompliſhment of that long promiſed worke, it pleased God
to call him to his mercie, after .xxv yeares trauell ſpent
therein, so that by his vntimely deceaſſe, no hope
remayned to ſee that performed, which we had so long
trauayled aboute: thoſe yet whom he left in trust to
diſpoſe his things after his departure hence, wiſhing
to the benefite of others, that ſome fruite might follow of
that whereabout he had imployed ſo long time, willed me to
continue mine endeuour for their furtherance in the ſame,
whiche although I was ready to do, ſo farre as mine abilitie
would reach, and the rather to anſwere that trust which the
deceaſſed repoſed in me, to ſee it brought to ſome
perfection: yet when the volume grewe ſo great, as they
that were to defray the charges for the Impreſsion, were not
willing to go through with the whole, they reſolued first to
publiſhe the Histories of Englande, Scotlande, and Irelande,
with their deſcriptions, whiche deſriptions, becauſe
they were not in ſuch readineſſe, as thoſe of forreyn
countreys, they were enforced to uſe the helpe of other
better able to do it than I."
Reginald Wolfe, so well known and highly esteemed, was a
German by birth, and trained in his craft in the office of the
Strasburg master Conrad Neobarius, whose device of _The Brazen
Serpent_ he afterward adopted. Edward VI appointed Wolfe royal
printer in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, as well as bookseller and
stationer, with an annuity of 26s. 8d.
We find the names of his executors and the chief promoters of
the history in the entry on the Registers of the Stationers'
Company, under date of July 1, 1578: "Receyued of master
harrison and master Bisshop for the licensinge of Raphaels
Hollingshedes cronycles XX^s and a copy," which, by the way,
Mr. Arber remarks to be the largest fee he had met with. Some
copies bear the imprint of one, some of the other; and there
are still others with the names of John Harrison (there were
four publishers of this name), Lucas Harrison and John Hunne,
who were also probably among them "that were to defray the
charges for the impression."
No printer's name appears in either volume, but the figure of
a mermaid upon the title-pages, and a larger mark of two
hands holding a serpent upon a crutch at the end of the
first volume, show it to have been from the press of Reginald
Wolfe's apprentice and successor, Henry Bynneman of The
Mermaid, in Knight Rider Street. Boy and man knowing his
master's hopes and fears for his _Universal Cosmographie_,
acquainted with the long travail put upon it, and so properly
desirous, like the rest, to see some fruit born of it, who
could have done the work so well and faithfully as he?
In the preface to the second volume we are told that it was
intended to bring out the histories of England, Scotland,
and Ireland, with their descriptions, in one volume, and
the descriptions and abridgements of the histories of other
countries in another; but that the chronicles of England
growing very voluminous it was deemed best to defer printing
the histories of the other countries, and to divide the
material on hand into two volumes. Here, however, a new
difficulty presented itself; the history of England after the
Conquest was found to equal in length all the other matter,
and, if allowed to follow after the early history of the
Island, in its proper order, would make the volumes very
unequal in size; so it was given a volume by itself, with the
pagination continuing that of the English history in the
first volume. The other histories have separate title-pages,
paginations, and indexes.
The book is illustrated with woodcuts in two distinct
varieties, one, representing the heads of kings, the other,
spirited scenes in the history. The last are of a better
character than most of those of the period, and show very
clearly the influence that Holbein, who had died in
London twenty-four years before, had exerted upon English
book-illustration. Some of the cuts are repeated. The
elaborate woodcut border in the contemporary German style was
used by the printer in several other books, before and
after this date. A large, well-designed initial C, with a
coat-of-arms in the center, printed from a separate block
("mortised"), begins the dedication to Lord Burleigh; and a
large I, with a picture of the Creation, probably designed
for the first page of a Bible, begins the preface, and _The
History of Scotland_. This last is the largest initial letter,
Mr. Pollard says, that he has found in an English book. It
had previously been used by Wolfe, in 1563. An initial letter,
representing an astronomer (Ptolemy?), is prefixed to _The
History of Ireland_. It is signed with a C having a small I
within it. Other initials of a similar character had been used
before by John Day, in Cunningham's _Cosmographical Years_,
published in 1559. A royal coat-of-arms begins the Chronicle
of the reign of Queen Elizabeth; and in the second volume, at
page 1868, is a folded woodcut of the "ſiege and wynning of
Edinburg Caſtell. Anno. 1573." It is signed [C T] _Tyrell_.
[TN: C T in a rectangular box.]
Folio. Two volumes. Black letter and Roman. Double
columns. Woodcuts.
COLLATION: ¶, _six leaves; [Illustration: 5 pointed star], two
leaves; A-P, in eights; Q, six leaves; r, one leaf; a-s, in
eights; t, one leaf; A and (*b*), two leaves each; *a* and
*b*, six leaves each; A-Z and Aa-Ii, in eights; Kk, four
leaves; Ll and Mm, six leaves each; one leaf; [Illustration:
small floral graphic], two leaves; A-C, in eights; D, four
leaves; and A (repeated)-D, in eights; E, five leaves; F and
G, eight leaves each; H, six leaves; I, two leaves_.
Volume II: ¶, _two leaves; t, seven leaves; u-z, A-Z,
Aa-Zz, Aaa-Zzz, and Aaaa-Dddd, in eights; Eeee, nine leaves;
Ffff-Yyyy, in eights; Zzzz, two leaves; A-M, in fours; N, two
leaves; ( ), two leaves_.
WILLIAM BALDWIN
(fl. 1547),
THOMAS SACKVILLE,
FIRST EARL OF DORSET
(1536-1608), AND OTHERS
7. ¶ A Myrrour For | Magiſtrates. | Wherein maye be ſeen by |
example of other, with howe gre- | uous plages vices are
puniſhed.... [Five lines, Quotation] Anno 1563. | ¶ Imprinted at
London in Fleteſtrete | nere to Saynct Dunſtans Churche | by
Thomas Marſhe.
The Epistle "To the nobilitye and all other in office" is
signed by William Baldwin, who was at one time a corrector
of the press to Edward Whitechurch, and later something of
a printer himself. He printed with his own hands, using
Whitechurch's types and the Garland border, his work entitled
¶ _The Canticles or Balades of Salomon phraſelyke declared
in Englyſh Metres. Imprinted at London by William Baldwin,
ſeruant with Edwarde Whitechurche._ It was he who edited and
saw this work through the press. He says of it:
"The wurke was begun and parte of it prynted in Queene Maries
tyme, but hyndered by the Lorde Chauncellour that then was,
nevertheles, through the meanes of my lord Stafford, the fyrst
parte was licenced, and imprynted the fyrſt yeare of the
raygne of this our moſt noble and vertuous Queene, and
dedicate then to your honours with this Preface. Since whych
time, although I have bene called to an other trade of lyfe,
yet my good Lorde Stafforde hath not ceaſſed to call upon
me, to publyſhe ſo much as I had gott[~e] at other mens
hands, ſo that through his Lordſhyppes earneſt meanes,
I have nowe alſo ſet furth an other parte, conteynyng as
little of myne owne, as the fyrst part doth of other mens,"
and he expressed the hope that if these prove acceptable,
encouragement may be given to "wurthy wittes to enterpryſe
and performe the reſt."
After the abortive attempt of Wayland to print the book, under
the title _A memorial of suche Princes, as since the tyme
of King Richarde the seconde, haue beene unfortunate in the
Realme of England. In ædibus Johannis Waylandi: Londini_
[1555?], the first part referred to was printed by Marshe
in 1559. It contained nineteen legends (although twenty are
mentioned in the table of contents), fourteen of which were
by Baldwin, and the others by Ferrers, Churchyard, Phaer, and
Skelton. Of these helpers, Baldwin says in the Epistle: "Whan
I firſt tooke it in hand, I had the helpe of many graunted,
& offred of ſum, but of few perfourmed, skarſe of any:
So that wher I entended to haue contriued it to Quene Maries
time, I haue ben faine to end it much ſooner: yet ſo, that
it may ſtande for a patarne, till the reſt be ready:
which with Gods Grace--(if I may haue anye helpe) ſhall be
ſhortly."
The idea of the work is usually said to have originated with
Sackville, who, following Lydgate's _Fall of Princes_, planned
it as a review of the illustrious and unfortunate characters
in English history from the Conquest to the end of the
fourteenth century. He is supposed to have turned the work
over to Baldwin and the others, after writing an "Induction,"
and one legend, the life of Henry Stafford, Duke of
Buckingham; but no good reason is given for the omission of
these poems from the volume when it came to be printed in
1559. Baldwin's reason, already quoted, seems likely enough,
and Lord Stafford's urgent entreaty, referred to, no doubt had
the effect of causing both poems to be added to the edition
issued now, where they appear as _The Seconde Parte_ of the
volume of 1559. The title-pages of the two editions are alike,
except for the date and the imprint; this in the earlier
edition reads: _Londini, In ædibus Thomæ Marſhe_. No
reference is made to the additional part except in the
Epistle. The new part has a separate index.
This new part contains only one poem by Baldwin; the others,
besides Sackville's two, are by Dolman, Francis Segar,
Churchyard, Ferrers, and Cavyl, eight in all. Besides the
poems, there is "A proſe to the Reader, continued betwene
the tragedies from the beginning of the booke to the ende,"
just as in the first part.
To the Earl of Dorset's legend "The complaynt of Henrye duke
of Buckingham," is prefixed "The Induction," of which Baldwin
speaks in the prose following _Howe the Lord Hastynges was
betrayed_, as follows: "but fyrſt you shal heare his preface
or Induction. Hath he made a preface ([backwards P?R] one)
what meaneth he thereby, ſeeing none hath uſed the like
order. I wyl tell you the cauſe thereof ([backwards P?R] I)
which is thys: After that he underſtoode that some of the
counſayle would not ſuffer the booke to be printed in
ſuche order as we had agreed and determined, he propoſed
with himſelfe to have gotten at my handes, al the tragedies
that were before the duke of Buckinghams, Which he would have
preſerued in one volume. And from that time backeward
even to the time of William the conquerour, he determined to
continue and perfect all the ſtory himſelfe, in ſuch
order as Lydgate (folowing Bocchas) had already uſed.
And therefore to make a meete induction into the matter, he
deuiſed this poeſye:"
The woodcut border of four pieces with heads of Venus and
Mars at the top had been used by John Byddell in Taverner's
translation of the _Bible_ in 1539, by James Nicholson of
Southwark, in Coverdale's _New Testament_ of 1538, and by
Marsh for the edition of the _Mirror_ in 1559. There are a
few ornamental initial letters at the beginning of the book,
notably one at the beginning of the Epistle, a large P, with
figures of children. This belongs to a series of a children's
alphabet attributed to Dürer, and first used by Cervicornus, a
printer of Cologne.
Quarto. The second edition. Black letter.
COLLATION: ¶ _and A, four leaves each; B-N, in eights; O-U,
in fours; X-Z and Aa-Bb, in eights; Cc, four leaves_.
HENRY HOWARD,
EARL OF SURREY
(1517?-1547), AND OTHERS
8. ¶ Songes And Sonettes | written by the right honorable | Lord Henry
Haward late | Earle of Surrey, and | others. | Apud Richardum Tottell.
| 1567. | Cum priuilegio. (Colophon) ¶ Imprinted At Lon- | Don In
Fletestrete within Temple barre at the | ſigne of the hand and
ſtarre, by | Richard Tottell, | Anno. 1567. | Cum priuilegio.
Richard Tottel was licensed to print law-books, and his
publications of that nature exhibit his best work; but this
book, though not attractive in appearance, was his most
popular venture. It was called "Tottel's miscellany," and it
is fitting that his name should always be connected with it as
a testimony to his energy and intelligence in producing a
work so greatly to the "honor of the English tongue." We
learn something of his energy in his desire to establish a
paper-mill in England to compete with the French paper,
then in general use; and his intelligence is evinced in the
following extract from his address "To the reader":
"That to haue wel written in verſe, yea and in ſmal
parcelles, deſerueth greate praiſe, the woorkes of diuers
Latins, Italians, and other, do proue ſufficiently, that our
tong is able in that kinde to do as praiſe woorthelye as the
reſte, the honorable ſtile of the Earle of Surreye, and
the weightineſſe of the deepe wytted Syr Thomas Wyat
the elders verſe, withe ſeueral graces in ſundrie good
English writers, doe ſhewe abundantlye. It reſteth
now (gentle Reader) that thou thinke it not euill done to
publiſh to the honour of the Engliſhe tongue and for
profit of the ſtudious of English eloquence, thoſe woorkes
which the ungentle horders up of ſuche treaſure haue
hertofore enuied thee."
His confidence in the gentle reader was not misplaced, and he
had the satisfaction of issuing six editions between 1557
and 1574. The first was printed at The Hand and Star, June 5,
1557, and is represented by one copy which is in the Bodleian
Library; the British Museum and the Library of Trinity
College, Cambridge, each owns a copy of a second edition,
dated July 31, 1557; one copy exists of a third edition dated
1559; and there is a fourth edition dated 1565. The present
edition agrees in its contents with the second, and is said to
be the most correct of all.
This volume contains two hundred and eighty sonnets, of which
the first forty-one (including one by an unknown author) are
by Lord Howard. "S. T. VVyate the elder" is signed to the
next group of ninety-six; and a collection of one hundred and
thirty-three by "Vncertain auctours," follows. The collection
ends with ten "Songs written by N. G." (Nicholas Grimald).
Grimald had contributed forty to the first edition, which were
cut down to the present number for the second edition.
Octavo. The fifth edition. Roman.
COLLATION: _A-P, in eights_.
THOMAS NORTON
(1532-1584)
AND
THOMAS SACKVILLE,
FIRST EARL OF DORSET
(1536-1608)
9. ¶The Tragidie of Ferrex | and Porrex, | ſet forth without
addition or alte- | ration but altogether as the ſame was ſhewed |
on ſtage before the Queenes Maieſtie, | about nine yeares paſt,
vz. the | xviij. day of Ianuarie. 1561. | by the gentlemen of the |
Inner Temple. Seen and allowed. &c. | Imprinted at London by | Iohn
Daye, dwelling ouer | Alderſgate.
This play, drawn from Geoffrey of Monmouth's _History of
Britain_, and telling the story of King Gorboduc's efforts to
divide his realm between his sons Ferrex and Porrex, was
the first tragedy written in English. Before this authorized
edition, one unauthorized by the writers, though regularly
licensed by the Government, had appeared in an octavo
volume of thirty-six leaves, printed in black letter, with a
title-page which reads as follows: