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 THE DATE OF CAXTON'S EETUEN TO ENGLAND. 
 Hampstead, June 8/ 1877. 
 
 Now that the Caxton Celebration is close at 
 hand, it may not be uninteresting to your readers 
 to point out a piece of fresh evidence— hitherto 
 unknown, as far as I can ascertain — with regard 
 to the exact date of Caxton's return into England. 
 In a volume of the 'Collectanea' of Camden, 
 among the Cotton MSS., I discovered the follow- 
 ing entry in his own hand, " In the year 1471, 
 William Caxton, Mercer and Merchaunt of 
 London, brought it into England, where the 
 Abbot of Westminster, well likinge the deuice, 
 imprinted the destruction of Troyes, the first 
 booke w''^ was ever imprinted in England." This 
 gives a strong support to the independent testi- 
 mony of Stow, who also gives the date 1471 in 
 his ' Survey of London.' It is quite impossible 
 to believe that Caxton, who had held such a high 
 position at Bruges, and had lived for thirty years 
 in connexion and correspondence from abroad with 
 the Mercers' Company at home, could sink sud- 
 denly into such utter oblivion and silence as not 
 to be once mentioned in his adopted city for more 
 than six years. On the other hand, it is only 
 natural that, returning to his native country after 
 an absence of so many years, he should have 
 passed a life of retirement and obscurity, holding 
 no ofiicial position, and unknown by fame in the 
 vicinity of his new residence. »As to any data 
 founded on his well-known device, no conclusions 
 could be more erroneous or absurd. It is abso- 
 lutely certain that Caxton never saw or heard of 
 the use of such a figure as is taken for the numeral 
 seven on his device, it was invariablv formaA lika^ 
 a pair of open compasses at that time, and that is 
 the shape of that figure as always used by him. 
 As regards the other character, it is, undoubtedly, 
 like the numeral four as used about that period, 
 but our printer never used it himself, his figure 
 being almost identical with the four now in use, as 
 may be seen in many of his books. 
 
 EpwARD Scott. ^ 
 
2^ 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2007 with funding from 
 
 Microsoft Corporation 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/biographytypograOObladrich 
 
THE 
 
 BIOGRAPHY 
 
 TYPOGRAPHY 
 
 WILLIAM CAXTON, 
 
 ENGLAND'S FIRST PRINTER, 
 
 WILLIAM BLADES. 
 
 Uontron : 
 
 TRUBNER & CO., 67 & 59, LUDGATE HILL. 
 
 KARL I. TRUBNER. 
 
 1877. 
 
LONDON ! 
 
 PRINTED BY BLADES. EAST A BLADES, 
 
 11, ABCHUROH LANE. E.C. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 HE "Caxton Celebration'* is in 
 full progress, and many per- 
 sons are requiring information 
 about our first Printer, his life 
 and works. To supply that demand the present 
 Volume is issued. In 1861-63, two volumes 
 quarto were published, entitled " The Life and 
 Typography of William Caxton," in which the 
 most full information then obtainable was 
 afforded; but being both costly and cumber- 
 some, it has been thought desirable to issue a 
 new **Life " in a more handy form. 
 
 The particulars of the biographical portion 
 have, where necessary, been re-cast ; but only 
 one additional fact of any importance has been 
 added, viz., that Caxton was married, and left 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 behind him a married daughter, information 
 kindly supplied to me by Mr. Gairdner, of 
 the Eecord Office. 
 
 The bibliography has been necessarily cur- 
 tailed, the account of the old manuscripts of 
 Caxton's printed books having been omitted, 
 as well as the details under " Existing Copies " 
 and "statistics." On the other hand, some 
 new works, of which the "Ars moriendi," 
 "Sex Epistolae," and the "Officium beatse 
 Mariae," are the chief, have been added to the 
 Catalogue of Caxton's productions, and de- 
 scribed in full. It has also been thought 
 necessary to retain the full Collation of each 
 work. 
 
 It is a pleasing task to acknowledge assist- 
 ance, and to E. A. Graves, Esq., of the British 
 Museum, I owe my best thanks for revising 
 the proofs of the biographical portion, and for 
 numerous suggestions. 
 
 The Plates, as in the former edition, are from 
 the skilful hand of G. I. E. Tupper, Esq., of 
 Pudding Lane, Eastcheap, whose ability in this 
 description of work is beyond praise. To him 
 also are due many of the remarks on the various 
 types, both in this and the former edition. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 But chiefly I am indebted to Henry Brad- 
 shaw, Esq., Librarian to the University of 
 Cambridge, for the use of his annotated copy 
 of *'The Life and Typography of William 
 Caxton," which has enabled me to rectify 
 several mistakes in that work, and to assign 
 with a greater degree of accuracy the undated 
 books to their proper years. 
 
 Mr. J. C. C. Smith, Probate Registry, Somerset 
 House, kindly informed me of the discovery of 
 another portion of the Will of Robert Large, 
 Caxton's Master. 
 
 The woodcut head-pieces, tail-pieces, and 
 initials are from the hand of Noel Humphreys, 
 Esq., who on this occasion kindly resumed his 
 pencil for the subject's sake. 
 
 W. B. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PART I. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 William Caxton — His Birthplace and Parentage ... 1 
 
 CHAPTEE 11. 
 William Caxton — An Apprenticeship 7 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Caxton Abroad 15 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Literature in the Fifteenth Century 88 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Development of Printing 39 
 
 CHAPTER YT. 
 Cplard Mansion 59 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Caxton a Printer 55 
 
CONTENTvS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Caxton at Westminster ... ... ... ... ... 69 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Master Printer — the Paper — the Type — Presses — 
 
 Pressmen — Ink — the Bookbinder — the lUuminator 94 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Containing Mercers' Records — Will of Robert Large — 
 Burge's Records — St. Margaret's Records — Docu- 
 ment from Record Office 1 43 
 
 PAET II.— LIST OE PRINTED BOOKS. 
 
 Books printed in Type No. 1 165 
 
 Books printed in Type No. 2 181 
 
 Books printed in Type No. 3 235 
 
 Books printed in Type No. 4 243 
 
 Books printed in Type No. 5 309 
 
 Books printed in Type No. 6 329 
 
 Doubtful Works 359 
 
 Index 371 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 l^IRTirrLACE AND PARENTAGE. 
 
 WAS bom and lerned myn enj^lissh in 
 Kente in the weeld where I doubte not is 
 spoken as brode and rude englissh as is in 
 ony place of euglond." Thus briefly does 
 William Caxton record the place of his 
 birth and early years, and notwithstand- 
 ing prolonged and careful research nothing 
 more precise has been ascertained. 
 
 The name of " weald," rendered by Halliwcll " forest," or 
 " woody country," betokens the nature of the district, which at 
 the time of the Conquest, and for centuries after, was covered 
 with dense woods where thousands of wild hogs roamed and 
 fattened. This extensive tract of country had no legally 
 defined boundaries, and one can easily understand how Lam- 
 barde, the Kentish historian, was so puzzled when he attempted 
 to describe it, that he declared it easier to deny altogether 
 the existence of the weald than to define its boundaries with 
 any accuracy. An approximate idea of its geographical 
 position may be gained by observing that a traveller, starting 
 from Edenbridge, and journeying through Tunbridge, Harden, 
 Biddenden, and Tenterden to the Romney marshes, would 
 pass through its centre. 
 
 A century before Caxton's birth a great change had com- 
 menced in the weald of Kent. Hitherto the wool for which 
 
 B 
 
WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 England was famous had been purchased by merchants and 
 carried over to Flanders, for the purpose of being made into 
 cloth, which was brought back for sale in England. Edward 
 III, struck by the wealth and power which accrued to Flan- 
 ders from the cloth manufacture established there, determined 
 to try the experiment of establishing a factory in England. 
 
 The weald, covered as it then was with forests, was of 
 little value as land ; and hither, aided in his design by the 
 sanguinary feuds at that time raging among the trade guilds 
 of the Low Countries, the King induced about eighty respect- 
 able Flemish families to migrate and carry on the manu- 
 facture of cloth in the country which produced the wool. 
 Exempt from taxation, and favoured by the royal patronage 
 and many special privileges, the colony throve and grew 
 rapidly. The Flemish settlers soon became naturalised, and 
 increased in wealth and influence year by year ; so that in 
 the fifteenth century " their trade was of great importance, 
 and exercised by persons who possessed most of the landed 
 property in the weald." Thus writes Hasted in 1778, and 
 adds, " Insomuch that almost all the antient famihes of these 
 parts, now of large estates, are sprung from ancestors who 
 have used this staple manufacture." 
 
 "We read Caxton's narrative of his birth in a new light, 
 when we bear in mind that the inhabitants of the Weald had 
 a strong admixture of Flemish blood in their best families, 
 and that cloth was their chief, and, probably, only manufac- 
 ture. "We understand why the Kentish dialect was so broad 
 and rude, and we enter more heartily into the amusing 
 anecdote in Caxton's preface to the "Eneydos," where he 
 tells of the good wife of Kent who knew what the Flemish 
 word " eyren " meant, but understood not the Enghsh word 
 "eggs." "Certayn marchaunts," says Caxton, "were in a 
 ship in tamyse for to have sayled over the see into zelande, 
 and for lacke of wynde thei taryed atte forlond . and wente 
 to lande for to refreshe them And one of theym named 
 shefiTelde a mercer cam in to an hows and axed for mete . and 
 specyally he axed after eggys And the good wyf answerde . 
 that she cotide speke no frenshe. And the marchaunt was 
 
BIRTHPLACE AJS'D PARENTA(JE. 
 
 an^rj . for he also coiide speke no frenshe . but wolde hare 
 hadde egges, and she undersfcode hym not, And thenne at last 
 a nother sajd that he wolde have eyren, then the good wyi* 
 sayd that she understod hym wel." Dr. Pegge, in his 
 " Alphabet of Kenticisms," gives " eiren " as the equivalent 
 of "eggs" in the Kentish dialect of old English. 
 
 Here, then, in some rural homestead, surrounded by people 
 who spoke English " not to be understonden," was Caxton bom. 
 Kentish historians, anxious to localise the honour of having 
 given birth to so famous a man, claim the ancient manor of 
 Caustons, near Hadlow, in the Weald of Kent, as the original 
 seat of the Caxton family. In the fifteenth century the name 
 Caxton was usually pronounced Cauxton or Causton, the letter 
 a having a broad sound, and the u being frequently inserted 
 after it. Numerous instances are given in the " Archaeologia 
 Cantiana," Vol. V., of names of Kentish towns having this 
 broad pronunciation. Thus Francklyn occurs in old deeds as 
 Frauncklyn ; Mailing as Mauling, and Wanting as Waunting. 
 The letters s and x were often interchanged, and so Caxton 
 writes AUsaumUr for Alexander, while to ask appears in the 
 " Chess Book " as to axe. We may further note that Caxton^ 
 in Cambridgeshire, is spelt in old documents, Caustoriy and, 
 in the records of the Mercers* Company, a certain Thomas 
 Cacston appears as one of the liverymen appointed to wel- 
 come King Edward IV on his entry into London, and is 
 immediately after entered as Thomas Cawston. Many years 
 before Caxton's birth, the manor of Caustons had been alie- 
 nated from the Caxton family, by whom it had 'long been 
 held ; and although some offshoots may have remained in the 
 neighbourhood, the most important branch appears to have 
 taken root in Essex, and there adopted the name of the old 
 Kentish hundred for their new residence; for among the 
 wills now preserved at Somerset House is that of Johannes 
 Cawston, of Hadlow Hall, Essex, dated 1490. Nothing, how- 
 ever, of interest can be gleaned from it. 
 
 We therefore conclude that William Caxton probably de- 
 scended from the old stock of the Caustons, who owned the 
 manor of Caustons, near Hadlow, in the Weald of Kent. The 
 
 B 2 
 
WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 evidence is not strong, but yet there is no other locality in 
 the Weald in which can be traced the slightest connection, 
 either verbal or otherwise, with the family. 
 
 Caxton's pedigree is quite unknown, no trace of any of his 
 relatives, except a married daughter, having been discovered. 
 The "William Caxton" who was buried in 1478, in the church 
 of St. Margaret, Westminster, is asserted by some biographers 
 to have been the father of our printer. This may be possible ; 
 but no relationship can be assumed from mere identity of 
 name, for Caxtons, Caustons, or Cauxtons are to be found in 
 many parts of England during 
 
 ©©© 
 
 the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 centuries. William de Caxtone 
 owned a house in the parish of 
 St. Mary Abchurch, London, 
 in 1311 : a man of the same 
 name paid his tax to the City 
 authorities in 1441 : and there 
 was a family of Caxtons fa- 
 mous for centuries as mer- 
 chants at Norwich, who used as their trade-mark three Cakes 
 and a Tun. The will of Robert Caxton, alias Causton, is pre- 
 served at Canterbury; and at Sandwich, Tuxford, Newark, 
 Beckenham, Westerham, and frequently in the early records 
 of London does the name appear. The will of John Caxton, 
 of Canterbury, likewise still exists : he was " of the parish 
 of St. Alphage, Mercer," and left to the church some wooden 
 " deskys," upon which the following device may still be seen. 
 
BIRTHPLACE AND PAIIENTAGE. 
 
 When was Caxton bom ? To this question a more satis- 
 factory answer can be given, for the date of his apprenticeship 
 has fortunately been preserved in the records of the Mercers* 
 Company. It has generally been assumed that 1412 was the 
 date of his birth, upon the sole ground that Caxton himself 
 complained, in 1471, that he was gro\Ning old and weak, from 
 which the inference has been drawn that he must then have 
 seen at least sixty years. That this date, however, must be 
 advanced is proved by the following extract from the earliest 
 volume of the "Wardens' Accounts" in the Archives of the 
 Mercers* Company. The entry occurs in a list of fees for the 
 binding and enrolment of apprentices "pur Ian deunt passe 
 cest assauoir des Fest de Saynt John Bap** Ian xvj du Roy 
 Henr sisme ; " that is, " for the year last passed that is to say 
 from the Feast of St. John Baptist in the 16th year of King 
 Henry YI. [June 24, 1438]," and is literally as follows : — 
 
 Entres des Appiitices. 
 
 Item John large, i les appntices de .... 
 
 Item Will'm Caxston, ) Kobert Large 
 
 We have here recorded the interesting fact that in 1438 
 Caxton was apprenticed to Robert Large. It is the first 
 genuine date in his life with which we are acquainted, and 
 affords us a starting point from which can be reckoned, with 
 some degree of certainty, the date of his birth. 
 
 The age of twenty-one has always been considered as the 
 period when a man arrives at his legal majority ; but in the 
 fifteenth century there was also what may be termed the civic 
 majority, which was not attained until three years later. This 
 custom prevailed to the end of the seventeenth century; for 
 in 1693 an Act of Common Council was passed enjoining the 
 Chamberlain to ascertain that every candidate for admission 
 to the freedom of the City had "reached the full age of 
 twenty-four." The phrase " quousque ad etatem suam xxiiij 
 annorum peruenerit," so commonly found in old wills, refers 
 to this custom ; and in \iew of it the indenture of an appren- 
 tice was always so drawn that on the commencement of his 
 
WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 twenty-fifth year he might issite from his apprenticeship. 
 This necessarily caused a considerable variation in the length 
 of servitude, which ranged according to the age of the youth, 
 from seven years, the shortest term, to fourteen years. Taking 
 the "entries" and "issues" in the Mercers' records as a guide, 
 ten years appears to have been the term most usual in the 
 fifteenth century ; but if we calculate his servitude to have 
 lasted but seven years, Caxton could not have been more 
 than seventeen years of age when apprenticed, and would 
 therefore have been bom not later than the year 1421. 
 That he was not much younger is evident from the position 
 he had gained for himself at Bruges only eleven years after he 
 entered his apprenticeship, when he was accepted as surety 
 for a sum equal to £1500 at the present day; so that we 
 cannot be far \^Tong if we assume 1422-3 as the date of his 
 birth. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 AN APPRENTICESHIP. 
 
 AXTON tells us, in his prologue to 
 " Charles the Great," that, previously to 
 his apprenticeship, he had been to school, 
 but whether in Kent or in London he 
 does not say. He only thanks his 
 parents for their kind foresight in giving 
 him a good education, by which he was enabled in after 
 years to earn an honest living. No other particulars of his 
 early history being known, we will pass at once to the year 
 1438, and imagine him, fresh from the Weald, already in- 
 stalled in the household of Alderman Large, and duly invested 
 with all the rights and privileges of a London apprentice. 
 
 "When we remember how many of these apprentices were 
 young men about four-and-twenty years of age, we can readily 
 believe that very strict rules were required to keep them 
 ■within bounds, and that when they did break loose it was 
 sometimes beyond the combined power of all the city autho- 
 rities to restrain them. The Evil May Day, as it was called, 
 in 1517, when the apprentices rose against the foreigners, 
 especially the French, and, notwithstanding the efforts of the 
 Lord Mayor and aldermen, ravaged the City, burning houses 
 and killing many persons, is recorded by the old chroniclers. 
 The day was long remembered by the masters vvith fear, and 
 by the apprentices "with pride — although twelve of the latter 
 ignominiously perished by the hands of the hangman after 
 the suppression of the riot by the King's troops. 
 
WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 The master's duties to his apprentice were to feed him, 
 clothe him, and teach him well and truly his art and craft. 
 Failing the fulfilment of these duties, the apprentice could, on 
 complaint and proof shown before the Court of Aldermen, 
 have his indentures cancelled, or be turned over to another 
 master. On the other side, the apprentice made oath to serve 
 his master well and truly, to keep all his secrets, to use no 
 traffic on his own account, and to obey all lawful commands. 
 
 The London merchants of those days were very exclusive 
 in their reception of apprentices, and perhaps none of them 
 more so than the Mercers, who took precedence of all the 
 City companies. The leading men of the great companies, as 
 was natural, apprenticed their sons to one another, and thus 
 the family names of Caxton's fellow-apprentices are the names 
 also of the wardens, and the most substantial citizens of the 
 period. The family name of " Caxton " does not, indeed, figure 
 among those of the City mag-nates, but William Caxton's 
 admission to the household of one of London's most eminent 
 merchants, and his being apprenticed at the same time as his 
 master's son, go far to prove the family to have been well 
 connected. In one case only does there seem a probability 
 of relationship. The records of the Mercers' Company contain 
 many notices of the " entries " and " issues " of apprentices, 
 and in 1447 it is recorded that one Kichard Caxton finished 
 his term of servitude with John Harrowe, whose son was one 
 of the apprentices of Eobert Large at the same time as 
 William Caxton, Large and HaiTowe were fellow Mercers, 
 and evidently on friendly terms, so that it is probable the two 
 young Caxtons were of the same family. 
 
 Robert Large, Caxton's master, was one of the richest and 
 most influential merchants in the City. He was a Mercer, 
 and the son of a Mercer, and a native of the City of London. 
 In 1430 he filled the office of Sheriif, and in 1439-40 that 
 of Lord Mayor. The Mercer's Company was then, as now, 
 the oldest chartered company in existence, and among its 
 members were comprised the merchants of highest standing 
 in the City. It paid more money to the king's revenue, sent 
 to a "riding" more well-mounted men, spent larger sums on 
 
Plate I. 
 
 From Aygas's Map of London, showing the Home of Alderman Large, 
 Caxion's Master (marked f J. The Arms of Large in right hand comer. 
 
BIRTHPLACE AND PAEEin^AOB. 
 
 its "liveries," and yielded from its ranks more sheriffs and 
 majors than any two City companies besides. Large was 
 elected "Gardein" (the old term for Warden) in 1427, and 
 apiKjars to have made himself very popular, if we may judge 
 from the unusual expenditure on the Lord Mayor's Day when 
 he succeeded to the mayoralty. Carriages not having yet 
 come into use, the procession to Westminster was on horse- 
 back, the Mercers on that occasion riding in new robes, 
 preceded by sixteen trumpeters, blowing silver trumpets pur- 
 chased for the occasion. A few liverymen who absented 
 themselves were heavily fined. 
 
 The house in which Alderman Large resided no doubt 
 presented a great contrast to Caxton's home in the Weald. 
 It stood at the north end of the Old Jewry, and appears to 
 have been a very ancient and extensive mansion. Stow, 
 writing in 1598, gives a curious account of its vicissitudes, 
 and sums up its history thus: — "sometime a Jews' Syna- 
 gogue, since a house of friars, then a nobleman's house, after 
 that a merchant's house, wherein mayoralties have been kept, 
 but now a wine tavern." Large resided there until his death. 
 
 The household of which Caxton had become a member 
 consisted of at least, eighteen persons, exclusive of domestic 
 ser\^ants — Alderman Kobert Large and his second wife 
 Johanna ; four sons, Robert, Thomas, Richard, and John, all 
 under age (24 years), the last being bound apprentice at the 
 same time as Caxton; two daughters, Alice and Elizabeth, 
 both mider age (21 years) ; two "servants," or men who had 
 served their apprenticeship, and eight apprentices. Large did 
 not long survive his mayoralty. His mU is dated April 11th, 
 1441, and he died on the 24th of the same month. He was 
 buried in St. Olave's, Old JewTy, in the same grave as his 
 first wife Elizabeth, and their monument, with the following 
 inscription, existed in the time of Stow : — " Hie requiescat in 
 Gratia et misericordia Dei, Robertus Large, quondam Mer- 
 cems et Maior istius civitatis." An imperfect copy of Large's 
 will is preserved iu the Principal Registry of the Court of 
 Probate at Somerset House. From it we learn that he owned 
 the manor of Horham, in Essex, and that he left various sums 
 
10 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 to the parish churches of Shakeston, Aldestre, and Overton, 
 where some of his relatives were buried. It would have been 
 interesting to find that Large had a family connection mth 
 Caxton's native county ; but although no trace of this can be 
 discovered, it is remarkable that two of his apprentices should 
 have had Kentish names, Caxton being merely another form 
 of Causton, a manor near Hadlow, and the hundred of Strete 
 being represented by Caxton's fellow-apprentice, Randolph 
 Streete. He left liberal bequests to his parish church of St. 
 Olave, Old Jewry, and for religious purposes generally, as well 
 as considerable sums for the completion of a new aqueduct 
 then in coui'se of construction, for the repair of London 
 Bridge, for cleansing the watercourse of Walbrook, for mar- 
 riage portions of poor girls, for relief of domestic servants, 
 and for the use of various hospitals of London, among which 
 may be noticed " Bedleem," Bishopsgate Without, St. Thomas 
 of Southwark, and the Leper Houses at " Hakeney-les-lokes." 
 Among the many bequests in Large's will, the following are 
 worthy of notice as showing the names and approximate ages 
 of Caxton's fellow apprentices, of whom he appears, both by 
 the order in which he is mentioned, and by the dates in the 
 Mercers' records, to have been the youngest. 
 
 Richard Bonyfaunt (issued 1 440) ... 50 marks. 
 
 Henry Okmanton (entered 1434) ... 50 pounds. 
 
 Robert Dedes ( ). . .20 marks. 
 
 Christopher Heton (issued 1443). . .20 pounds. 
 
 William Caxton (entered 1437)... 20 marks. 
 
 Besides the above there were Randolph Streete, who issued 
 in the same year as that in which Caxton was bound, Thomas 
 Neche, who issued in 1440, and John Harrowe, who issued 
 in 1443. These are all entered in the Mercers' books as 
 " appiitices de Rob*- Large." 
 
 Before proceeding with the account of Caxton, we may 
 here briefly state what is known of the subsequent history of 
 the family in which he lived. Mistress Large (whose son 
 Richard Tumat, by her first husband, is mentioned in Large's 
 will) was now again a widow, with a large fortune of her own 
 
AN APPRENTICESHIP. 11 
 
 and the care of two stepsons, each of whom was also well pro- 
 \ided for. Her second bereavement appears for a time to 
 have affected her most deeply. Over the body of her deceased 
 husband she thus solemnly and publicly vowed to devote the 
 remainder of her days to charity and chastity : — " I, Johanna, 
 that was sometime the wife of Robert Large, make mine 
 avow to (tod and the high blissful Trinity, to our Lady Saint 
 Mary, and to all the blissfiU company of Heaven, to live in 
 chastity and cleanness of my body from this time forward as 
 long as my life lasteth, never to take other spouse but only 
 Christ Jesu." At the same time a ring was placed upon her 
 wedding finger, and a coarse bro^Ti veil thrown over her by 
 the priest. Her celibacy was not, however, of long duration, 
 as in about three years she married for the third time, as we 
 learn from the following quaint entry in the second edition 
 of Stow's " Survey of London." Writing of John Gedney, 
 Lord Mayor in 1427, he says, "This Godnay in the yeare 
 1444 wedded the widdow of Robert Large late Maior, which 
 widdow had taken the Mantell and ring, and the vow to Hue 
 chast to God tearnie of her life, for the breach whereof, the 
 marriage done they were troubled by the Church, and put to 
 penance, both he and she." 
 
 All the children menti(jned by Tiarge in his ^\'ill were by 
 EHzabeth, his first wife. Robert and Thomas did not long 
 survive their father; John died soon after the expiration of 
 his apprenticeship, which, as we have seen, was contempo- 
 raneous with that of Caxton, and his name, accordingly, does 
 not occur in Large*s will. Richard, the sole survivor, suc- 
 ceeded, as was his father's wish, to all the property demised to 
 his two elder brothers, and his claims were allowed by the 
 Court of Aldermen on his "attaining his age of 24 years" in 
 the year 1444. Large's daughter Alice does not appear to 
 have claimed her patrimony on arriving at her majority ; she 
 therefore, in all probability, died previously; but Elizabeth 
 maiTied soon after her father's death, and her husband, 
 Thomas Eyre, son of the Lord Mayor, received her dowry in 
 1446. 
 
 The three years which Caxton passed as apprentice with 
 
12 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Large were very eventfiil, and, as it was during this period 
 that he must have received his most vivid impressions of life, 
 it may not be amiss to take a rapid glance at a few of the 
 events which agitated the minds of the people. Caxton, no 
 doubt, was witness of the great jousts in Smithfield in 1438, 
 which lasted three weeks, and are so graphically described in 
 one of the Lansdowne Manuscripts in the British Museum 
 (No. 285), and his intense love for knightly sports may have 
 there been first developed. But though sights of knights at 
 tournaments were to be seen for nothing, common bread was 
 very dear, and many deaths from starvation occurred in the 
 same year. An old chronicle tells us that, "Men ate rye 
 bread and barly, and bred mad of benes, peses, and fetches : 
 and wel were hym that myghte haue ynowe thereof." In his 
 own additions to the " Polycronicon " Caxton is more than 
 usually minute in his record of the events which occurred 
 during the time of his apprenticeship. Speaking of this year, 
 he recounts that "Come was soo skarce that in some places 
 poure peple made hem brede of fern rotes." This makes one 
 cease to wonder at tumults and rebellion, and possibly some 
 chord of pity was struck in Caxton's breast when certain men 
 from his native county of Kent, called "Risers," were beheaded, 
 and the heads of five of them were stuck on poles and left 
 to rot over the southern gateway of London Bridge. In 1439 
 Large was elected Mayor, and at his "riding" to Westminster 
 and back, all his apprentices no doubt assisted to sweU the 
 shout in honour of their master, and to drink the wine which 
 flowed freely from the conduits. But ere that year was ended 
 a sad spectacle was seen on Tower Hill, when Richard Wyche, 
 Vicar of Deptford, an old man of eighty years of age, was 
 burnt for Lollardism. An old chronicler, at the end of his 
 account of this martyrdom, adds, " for the which Sir Richard 
 was made grete mom among the comyn peple ;" and well they 
 might moan, for his love and charity had won for him the 
 strongest affection among the poor. He was first degraded 
 " at Powly's," and then taken away to Tower Hill, where he 
 was roasted over a slow fire. The excitement among the 
 people was intense, and on the night of this event all the 
 
AN APPRENTICESHIP. 18 
 
 watches throughout the city were doubled, bo great were the 
 fears entertained of a general rising. The impression made 
 on the mind of Caxton may be gathered from his own rela- 
 tion : — " This yere Syr Rychard wiche, vycary of hermettes- 
 worth was degrated of his prysthode, at powlys, and brente 
 at toure hylle as for an heretyk on saynt Botolphus day, how 
 wel at his deth, he deyde a good crysten man, wherefore after 
 his dethe moche people cam to the place where he hadde ben 
 brente, and oflryd and made a heepe of stones, and sette vp 
 a crosse of tree, and helde hym for a saynt till the mayer 
 and shreves, by commaundement of the kynge and bisshops 
 destroyed it, and made there a donghyll." Another grievous 
 event appears, in the following year, to have excited the com- 
 passion of our young apprentice. On three alternate days 
 Eleanor Chobham, the beautiful wife of Duke Humphrey, was 
 landed on the banks of the Thames, and, accompanied by the 
 mayor, sheriffs, and guilds of the city, walked to St. Paul's 
 barefooted, clad in a white sheet, and holding a taper, as 
 a penance for her presumed sorceries with the witch of Eye. 
 Caxton has narrated this at unusual length. There were great 
 tournaments again this year in the Tower, as well as a despe- 
 rate fight between the citizens and a body of courtiers, for 
 which the former, although first attacked, were heavily fined 
 by the king. The old chronicler describes the fray as "a 
 great debate by the night time, where through shots of bows 
 there were many hurt foul and slain." But the chief event of 
 this period, considered in its bearing upon Caxton's destiny, 
 was the conclusion of a three years' peace between England 
 and Flanders. This, coupled with the termination of the war 
 which had raged furiously between Holland and Zealand and 
 Hamburgh, was probably a material cause in determining 
 Caxton's departure from England. 
 
 We do not know what were the exact duties which de- 
 volved upon Caxton during his apprenticeship; but as an 
 assistant to Large, who had extensive connections, and was 
 doubtless in frequent correspondence mth Bruges, the great 
 centre of English commerce abroad, he must have obtained 
 considerable insight into the customs of foreign trade, and 
 
14 . WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 become personally known to many Flemish merchants, who, 
 when in London, would probably stay in Large's house. 
 
 We must not forget that Caxton was not released from 
 his indentures by the death of his master. If he wished to 
 continue his career as a merchant, whether in England or 
 abroad, he was obliged to serve out his apprenticeship ; and 
 that he did so we gather from his admission in after years to 
 the livery of the Mercers' Company. Executors were bound 
 to pro\ide the apprentices of a deceased trader with a new 
 home; and it would seem that the original master might 
 appoint a new master by his will, or of his ovm accord assign 
 the apprentice during his lifetime, without making the appren- 
 tice himself a party to the assignment. So far as we know, 
 Large made no arrangement of this kind; and it appears 
 probable that the usual course of pro\'iding a new master for 
 the bereaved apprentice was adopted by the executors in 
 Caxton's case. Moreover, it was not uncommon for young 
 men in his position to be sent to some foreign town to obtain 
 experience in trade. Wheeler says, " The Merchants Adven- 
 turers send their yong men, sonnes, and servantes or appren- 
 tices, who for the most parte are Gentlemens sonnes, to the 
 Marte Townes beyonde the seas, there to leame good facions 
 and knowledge in trade." Whether Caxton left England by 
 his own desire, or at the instance of his new master, or by 
 the invitation of a foreign friend, is unknown ; but that he 
 took up his abode in the Low Countries, and probably at 
 Bruges, in 1441, the year in which his first master died, we 
 gather from his own words in the prologue to " The Eecuyell," 
 where he states that he had then, in 1471, been abroad for 
 thirty years. Thither probably he carried with him no more 
 than the twenty marks (equal to about £150 at the present 
 day) bequeathed to him by Alderman Large. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 CAXTON ABROAD. 
 
 HE City of Bruges had long been not 
 only the seat of government of the 
 Dukes of Burgundy, but also the metro- 
 polis of trade for all the neighbouring 
 countries. Thither resorted merchants 
 from all parts of Europe, certain of 
 finding there the best market for 
 their wares. English traders especially abounded, having been 
 greatly favoured by Philip the Good, who had been almost 
 from a child brought up in the Court of England, and who 
 in 1446 gave great privileges to the Merchant Adventurers 
 under the name of The English Nation^ by which title they were 
 ever after commonly known in foreign parts. So greatly were 
 the Duke's dominions indebted to the trade in wool and cloth 
 with England, that Philip the Good, when he instituted in 
 1429 a new Order of Knighthood, adopted for its title and 
 badge " The Golden Fleece." The " Athenaeum" for Decem- 
 ber 5th, 1863, gives a curious account of the choice of this 
 name. " Philip, wearied with suggestions for the name and 
 badge of his new Order, at last said it might be named in 
 some reference to the season of the year in which the matter 
 had been discussed. That season included the months of July, 
 August, September, October and November. As the initial 
 letters of those months (the same in French and Dutch as in 
 English) made the word Jason, the name of the Hero of the 
 Golden Fleece, the conclusion was hilariously arrived at that 
 the new Order should be named accordingly." 
 
16 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Caxton issued out of his apprenticeship about 144G, and 
 became a freeman of his guild, though, as this happened 
 abroad, no notice of it occurs in the Company's books. It 
 would appear that he immediately entered into business on 
 his own account, and that he prospered, for in 1450 we find 
 him in Bruges, and so far successful as to be thought sufficient 
 security for the sum of £110 sterling, more than equal to 
 £1,500 now. This appears from the following curious law 
 proceedings preserved in the archives of the City of Bruges. 
 William Craes, an English merchant, in the year 1450, sued 
 in the Town Hall of Bruges, before the burgomasters, mer- 
 chants, and councillors of the city, John Selle and William 
 Caxton, both English merchants, for a sum of money. William 
 Craes deposed that John Granton, of the Staple at Calais, was 
 indebted to him in the sum of £110 sterhng, for which the 
 said John Selle and William Caxton had become sureties, 
 and that the said John Cranton having departed from the 
 city without payment made, he, the said Craes, had caused 
 his sureties to be arrested. The defendants admitted that 
 they were tho. sureties for John Granton, but pleaded that as 
 Granton was very rich, complainant should wait and look to 
 him for payment, if indeed the money had not been already 
 paid. Judgment was given by Roeland de Vos and Guerard 
 le Groote in favour of the complainant, the defendants having 
 to give security for the sum demanded, but it was also decreed 
 that if John Granton on his return to Bruges should prove 
 payment previously to his departure, the complainant should 
 then pay a fine double in amount to that of the sum claimed. 
 
 We learn from their records that the Mercers were, at this 
 period, engaged in a considerable trade with the Low Coun- 
 tries, but this soon after received a check from an edict of 
 the Duke of Burgundy which prohibited the importation of 
 all English cloths. The item in the Mercers' accounts — " To 
 Richard Burgh for bearing of a letter over the sea, 6s 8^," 
 probably refers to this, although from the small sum paid 
 in comparison with several similar entries, it may be inferred 
 that he was not a special messenger, but that he took charge 
 of the letter, having to go to Bruges on his own account. 
 
CAXTON ABROAD. t7 
 
 The date when Caxton was admitted to the freedom of hw 
 Company does not appear, but it was doubtless shortly after 
 he had issued from his apprenticeship. It must have occurred 
 before 1453, for in that year he made a journey from Bruges 
 to London, accompanied by Richaert Burgh and Esmond 
 Redeknape, when all three were admitted to the Livery of the 
 Mercers' Company, a privilege to which the admission to the 
 freedom was a necessary step. Like Caxton, Burgh and Rede- 
 knape were probably English traders settled at Bruges : Rede- 
 knape was most likely a relative of the W. Redeknape of 
 London, who appears farther on as a merchant trading ^vith 
 Bruges, and we have already noticed Burgh as the bearer of a 
 letter to that city. We may likewise remark that the usual 
 fees on their taking up the livery seem to have been remitted, 
 the whole entry in the volume of accounts being erased by 
 the pen. The Mercers' accounts of the same year show 
 charges for sending two letters to the Duchess of Burgundy, 
 who was not above trading in cloth on her owti account, with 
 the special privilege from her brother, Edward lY, of being 
 freed from the payment of import and export duties. In 
 1453 Geoffrey Felding, Mercer, was mayor, and the names of 
 William Caxton, Ric. Burgh, Thos. Bryce, and William Pratt 
 appear, charged with fines of 35. 4^. each for not attending 
 at his riding (quils fautent de chiuachier ouesque le mair). 
 
 As an English merchant residing in Bruges, Caxton would 
 necessarily be subject to the laws and regulations of the 
 Chartered Company called the Merchant Adventurers, 
 whose Governor had control over all English and Scotch 
 traders in those parts. All foreign trade was then carried 
 on by means of Trading Guilds. These associations, which 
 occupy a prominent position in the early history of European 
 commerce, had in most cities a common place of residence, 
 and were governed by laws and charters granted on one side 
 by the government of their own country, and on the other 
 side by the government of the country in which they had 
 settled. They appear to have originated in a common 
 necessity. The trader in a foreign country was always an 
 object of suspicion to the inhabitants, and often found him- 
 
18 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 self restricted by its laws as to the articles he should buy 
 or sell, and to the prices he should give or receive. These 
 laws being frequently imjust and subversive of all legitimate 
 trade, besides being often strained to the great injury of indi- 
 viduals, it was found expedient for all traders in foreign lands 
 to unite, and by combined ax^tion to secure that recognition of 
 their rights which the individual could not obtain. Hence 
 arose the Association of Merchant Adventurers, which con- 
 sisted of English merchants, who ventured their goods in 
 foreign markets. The Mercers, whose foreign trade far ex- 
 ceeded that of all other Companies, appear to have originated 
 this Association in the thirteenth century, under the name of 
 the Guild or Fraternity of St. Thomas-a-Becket, and to have 
 retained the principal management of its affairs until their 
 disconnection in the sixteenth century. Although Grocers, 
 Drapers, Fishmongers, and several other trade guilds yielded 
 their quota of members, and added their influence when 
 support was needed, yet there were more Mercers among the 
 Merchant Adventurers than liverymen of any other company ; 
 the meetings of the Association at their head-quarters in 
 London were held in Mercers' Hall, and their transactions 
 entered in the same minute-book with those of the Mercers' 
 Company itself until 152G, when they became entirely inde- 
 pendent, although the last hnk was not severed before the 
 Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed the office which the 
 Merchant Adventurers held of the Mercers under their Hall. 
 It appears, however, from the records of the Founders' Com- 
 pany, that the Merchant Adventurers became their tenants in 
 1565; that the Founders borrowed a large sum of money 
 from them, for which, in 1647, £200 was paid for interest; 
 and that in 1683 the Founders leased the Sising Eoom and 
 the Gown Room of their new Hall in Lothbury to the Mer- 
 chant Adventurers for £16 per ammm. Several charters were 
 granted by English kings to their subjects in various parts of 
 Europe for their internal government. In 1407, Henry IV 
 granted authority to the English merchants in Holland, Flan- 
 ders, Prussia, and other States, to assemble and elect governors, 
 with power to nile all English merchants repairing thither. 
 
CAXTON ABROAD. 19 
 
 and to make reasonable ordinances. Henry VI renewed these 
 powers in 1444. On the accession of the House of York, 
 the Mercers consulted the City Recorder and "Rigby" re- 
 specting their Corporation, and by the statute 1 Ed. IV, c. i., 
 passed for confii-ming the titles of those who held under 
 grants of any of the three preceding kings, therein described 
 as " in fact and not in right " kings of England, all grants to 
 the wardens of the Mercers were specially confirmed. The 
 Merchant Adventurers now obtained a larger charter, dated 
 April IGth, 1462, which Hakluyt calls " The Merchant Adven- 
 turers' Patent," for the better government of the English 
 merchants residing in Brabant, Flanders, &c., and under its 
 provisions William Obray was appointed " Governor of the 
 English Merchants " at Bruges. 
 
 Whether Obray died about this time is not known, but he 
 does not appear to have acted long in his new capacity, for 
 between June 24th,- 1462, and June 24th, 1463, the Mercers' 
 books record that William Caxton was performing the official 
 duties of governor, and was in correspondence not only with 
 the wardens of the Mercers' Company, but also with the Lord 
 Chancellor, writing to both about the best method of regu- 
 lating the buying of ware at Bruges. The charge for boat- 
 hire incurred by the wardens in delivering Caxton's letter to 
 the Lord Chancellor is thus entered in the annual accounts : — 
 
 Item for botehyre for to shewc to ye lords of ye coiiscU the I're 
 
 y* came from Caxton & ye felaship by yond ye See vjd. 
 
 Wlien Caxton's name next appears in the Mercers' books 
 there is no doubt of his position, as he is addressed by the 
 title of " governor." It was one of the duties of the governor 
 at Bruges by his "correctors" to see that all goods exported 
 to England were of just weight and measure, and at a Court 
 of Adventurers, held in Mercers' Hall on August 16th, 1465, 
 WiUiam Redeknape, William Hende, and John Sutton com- 
 plained that they had received both cloth and lawn deficient 
 in breadth as weU as length ; whereupon it was decided that 
 a letter should be dispatched to " William Caxton, Governor 
 heijond the Sea" for reformation of the abuse. This being 
 
20 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 an unusually interesting entry, we quote it here as it is 
 on folio cxl. of the original minute book : — 
 
 A° xiiij° Ixvo- Courte of aventurers holden the xvj*^ daye of 
 August the yere aboue written. 
 
 ffor euell mesure ffor asmuche as Will™ Kedeknape Will™ hende 
 of cloth & lawne. & John Sutton w* other complayne as well for 
 lak of mesure in all white clothe and brown 
 clothe as in brede of the same/ and in lykewise 
 in lawne nyvell & purpell hit is accorded that a 
 letter shal be made to Will™ Caxton gouno*" by 
 yonde the see as well for refourmacion of the 
 p'sidentes as other &c. 
 
 A lettre of the same and other was sent by henry 
 Bomsted the iiij*^ day of September A^ Rs e. iiij'i 
 iiijto. 
 
 Whether Henry Bomsted was a special courier does not 
 appear ; but the same year another letter was sent at a cost 
 representing more than £15 at the present day, and entered 
 thus : — 
 
 Item to Jenyne Bakker, Currour for berying a letter 
 
 to Caxton ovir ye see xviiij s viij d 
 
 Caxton being now established in the city of Bruges, in the 
 influential position of Grovernor of the English Nation in the 
 Low Countries, it may be as well to take a brief survey of 
 his duties and emoluments at this period. These are expressly 
 laid down in the charter already noticed, granted only two 
 years before. The governor had full power to govern by 
 himself or deputies all merchants and mariners, to make such 
 minor regulations for the conduct of trade (not contrary to 
 the International Treaties) as seemed needful, to decide all 
 quarrels, and to pass sentence in a court composed of himself 
 as governor and twelve justicers to counsel and advise him ; 
 the justicers to be chosen by the " common merchants and 
 mariners," subject to his approval, six sergeants being allowed 
 " to do the executions and arrests of the said court." He was 
 to appoint at pleasure correctors and brokers to witness all 
 bargains, as well as folders and packers to make up the packs 
 of the merchants (who were not allowed to pack their own 
 
CAXTON ABROAD. 21 
 
 goods, lest any prohibited articles should be included), and he 
 was to be present at the unpacking of goods newly arrived. 
 No parcel was to leave the city without being sealed. The 
 officers were paid by a fee charged on packing or unpacking 
 every pack : the governor being paid at the rate of 2d. for 
 every pack sealed for exportation, and Id. for every bargain 
 witnessed by his deputies, besides several smaller levies which 
 •are not mentioned in the charter, except under the tei-m 
 " accustomed dues." From all this it will be seen that the 
 governor ruled over his countrymen with almost unlimited 
 authority. His duties must at times have been very onerous, 
 involving much responsibility, and requiring talents of no 
 mean order. To him likewise would be made all communi- 
 cations from the Government under which they lived, and to 
 his diplomatic skill and influence would be due to a large 
 extent the comfort or discomfort of all the English residents. 
 By the charter Obray would appear to have been the 
 nominee of the king himself, but this was only a form, as the 
 custom seems to have been for the Court of the Adventurers 
 to recommend "a fit person" to the king, who thereupon 
 appointed him. The following example will show in whose 
 hands the executive power really resided : — Tlie name of John 
 Pykering appears in the Mercers' books as the successor of 
 Caxton in the office of " Governor of the English Nation." 
 This Pykering, who was a Mercer of reno^\Ti, having spoken 
 against the wardens of his Company, was summoned before 
 an assembly of the "Adventurers of the different Fellowships " 
 •in London. There disdaining to "stond bare bed," and 
 speaking " alle hawty and roiall," he was by the advice of the 
 Court of the Mercers discharged from his office of governor, 
 and heavily fined. Shortly after, he appears to have repented 
 his boldness, for we find him humbly asking pardon on his 
 knees before a full Court. Nothing could more fiilly prove 
 the power exercised by the Mercers' Company, which was, in 
 fact, mainly instrumental in obtaining the new charter for 
 the Adventurers, or, as they are usually termed, "our felawship 
 by yond the See," for which in the year following they are 
 charged by the Mercers' Company £47 Os. lOd. 
 
22 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 The " English Nation," as we have ah-eady remarked, was 
 a very important body at Bruges, and hke the Esterlings, the 
 Florentines, and other merchants, had their o^ti " House," 
 which existed in its original state when Sanderus, who calls 
 it " Prastorium peramplum," wrote his " Flandria Illustrata." 
 The engraving of the Domus Angliae, occupied by the Mer- 
 chant Adventurers, and in which William Caxton resided for 
 many years, is taken from this work, which contains numerous 
 illustrations of the ancient buildings of Bruges, including the 
 residences of the various guilds. 
 
 A great similarity prevailed in the internal management 
 of all foreign guilds, arising from the fact that foreigners 
 were regarded by the natives with jealousy and suspicion. 
 The laws which governed the Esterlings in London, who lived 
 in a strongly-built enclosure, called the Steel Yard, the site of 
 which is now occupied by the City station of the South Eastern 
 Kailway Company, were much the same as those under which 
 the English Nation lived in Bruges and other cities. The 
 foreign merchant had, in Caxton's time, to brave a large 
 amount of popular dislike, and to put up Adth great restraints 
 on his liberty. Not only did he trade under harassing re- 
 strictions, but he resigned all hopes of domestic ties and 
 family life. As in a monastery, each member had his o^ti 
 dormitory, whilst at meal-times there was a common table. 
 Marriage was out of the question, and concubinage was 
 followed by expulsion. Every member was bound to sleep in 
 the house, and to be in-doors by a fixed time in the evening, 
 and for the sake of good order no woman of any description 
 Avas allowed within the walls. 
 
 When Caxton entered upon his duties as governor, he 
 acted under the articles of a treaty of trade between the two 
 countries, which had been many years in force, but which 
 would terminate on November 1st, 14G5. It was highly neces- 
 sary that a renewal of this treaty should be made before that 
 date, and we accordingly find that the king issued a com- 
 mission, dated October 24:th, 1464, in which he showed great 
 wisdom by joining in one mission a clever statesman and a 
 ELiccessfiil merchant. These were Sir Richard Wliitehill, who 
 
Plate II. 
 
 The House in which Caxton lived nt Bruges. 
 
CAXTON ABROAD. 28 
 
 had already been employed in several important embassies, 
 and William Caxton, who, as the chief Englishman in Bruges, 
 and well acquainted with all trade questions was " a most fit 
 person." They were, however, unsuccessful, although for what 
 reason does not appear, and the treaty being still unrenewed, 
 a " convencion of lordes " was fixed to meet at St. Omer on 
 October 1st, 1465, to consider the matter. This convention 
 does not appear to have taken place, for on the 14th of the 
 same month, the wardens of the Mercers' Company wrote a 
 long letter to Caxton, informing him that " the convention 
 holdeth not ;" that the king, taking into consideration the 
 near approach of the term of the existing treaty, had written 
 to the mayor of London requesting him " to provide a person " 
 to go over to the Duke of Burgundy about the prorogation 
 of the intercourse ;" that the wardens of the Mercers with the 
 wardens of divers Fellowships, Adventurers, considering that 
 hitherto in similar cases the kmg, "with the advice of his 
 council, had made provision in that behalf," and that it was 
 not their part to take upon themselves a matter of such great 
 weight, had urged the mayor to \^Tite a letter to the king 
 in the most pleasant wise that he could, beseeching him " to 
 provide for this matter ; " and that, considering the near 
 approach of the term of the treaty and the uncertainty of any 
 speedy action by the king, Caxton had better consult with his 
 fellow merchants at Bruges in as " goodly haste " as possible 
 as to the best means of protecting their goods and persons 
 mitil such time as the treaty might be renewed. This inte- 
 resting letter, which appears in fall in the Mercers' books, was 
 signed by the four wardens, and addressed " a W. Caxton." 
 
 A very anxious year must this have been with Caxton, for 
 not only was the treaty unrenewed, but the Duke of Bur- 
 gundy decreed the exclusion of all English-made cloth from 
 his dominions. This of course induced retaliation, and the 
 importation of all Flemish goods into England was prohibited 
 by Act of Parliament ; but neither the Flemish nor the English 
 merchants could suffer their trade to be paralyzed, and so the 
 traffic was carried on by a more circuitous and expensive 
 route, being smuggled through the neighbouring States. Next 
 
24 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 year the Earl of War\\'ick (the nobleman to whom Caxton 
 afterwards dedicated the first edition of his " Chess Book "), 
 wrote to Caxton, calling upon him to enforce the Act of Par- 
 liament forbidding the purchase of wares by English traders 
 in the Duke of Burgundy's dominions. Caxton immediately 
 communicated this order to the lord mayor and to the wardens 
 of the Mercery at London, in a letter dated 27th May, 146G, 
 desired to be informed what the " lordes intent " was, and 
 whether they had received a letter which he had sent by way 
 of St. Omer, at the same time requesting early news of any 
 " ioperdy that shulde fall." The letter arrived in London on 
 June 3rd, when a full court of Adventurers w^as instantly 
 summoned, at which it was determined that an immediate 
 answer should be returned. This was accordingly despatched 
 next day by the hands of Simon Preste, addressed " a Will""- 
 Caxton, Gunor de la nac' deng'" and signed by the four 
 wardens. In it Caxton was instructed that the Act of Par- 
 liament must be observed and the fines enforced in every case 
 of infringement ; that, being themselves ignorant of the 
 intention of the Lords, they could give no information on 
 that point ; and, that as to any threatened jeopardy, it was 
 likely to be known sooner in Bruges than in London.* 
 Matters remained in this unsatisfactory state until the death 
 of Philip the Good, June 15th, 1467, who was succeeded by 
 his son, Charles the Bold. 
 
 The tide of affairs now turned in favour of England, and 
 in the following year the Lords Hastings and Scales, John 
 Kussell, and others were sent as ambassadors to conclude a 
 treaty of marriage between Charles the Bold, Duke of Bur- 
 gundy, and the Princess Margaret, sister of King Edward IV. 
 Lord Scales, afterwards Earl Rivers, w^as in later years one of 
 Caxton's most liberal patrons, and his translation of "The 
 Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers " was the first book 
 with the date of imprint which issued from Caxton's press. 
 John Russell, " Docteur en Decret, and Arcediacre de Berk- 
 
 * Verbatim copies of all these letters may be seen in " The Life 
 and Typography of William Caxton," Vol. I., pp. 90-92. 
 
CAXTON ABROAD. 
 
 suir," who subsequently became Bishop of Lincoln and Lord 
 High Chancellor, appears to have l)een an ancestor of the 
 Bedford family, and his oration delivered at the investiture of 
 the Duke of Burgundy with the Order of Garter, on February 
 4th, 1470, is also one of the earliest works printed by Caxton. 
 The marriage was solemnized in Bruges on the 5th of June, 
 1468, with the greatest possible pomp ; and long accounts of 
 the splendour of the ceremony, and of the accompanying 
 festivities, are given by the old chroniclers. Caxton, by reason 
 of his position as " governor," would no doubt take part in 
 them, and be in close intercourse with the many English 
 nobles frequenting the Flemish court. It is not improbable 
 that it was at this period that he attracted the notice, and 
 gained the good-will, of the duchess herself, for he was cer- 
 tainly in her service two years later. 
 
 The nuptial feasts were soon followed by negociations for 
 treaties of trade. The king having, by the advice of his 
 counsel, determined to send an embassy to the Duke of Bur- 
 gundy for the " enlarging of woollen cloth in his dominions," 
 issued a special command to the Mercers' Company that they 
 would present unto liim certain persons of their number " to 
 go out in^embassage with diverse ambassadors into Maunders," 
 the Mercers thereupon nominated William B;edeknape, John 
 Pykeryng, and William Caxton. This took place on Septem- 
 ber 9th, 1468, and the three ambassadors having been approved 
 by the king, the Court of the Mercers met again on the 28th 
 of the same month, and voted £40 " out of the Cundith mony " 
 for the costs and charges of Redeknape and Pykeryng in this 
 embassy. The omission of Caxton's name from this grant 
 leads us to infer that he was then engaged in the discharge of 
 the duties of governor at Bruges, and would therefore not 
 require any travelling expenses. The mission was successful, 
 and the intercourse was renewed between the two countries 
 in October of the same year. 
 
 The duties of Caxton's office must necessarily have occu- 
 pied a great portion of his time, and obliged him, in the 
 interests of the traders he represented, to pay visits to the 
 various towns in which the English merchants resided. The 
 
26 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 old records of Utrecht of the years 1464, 1465, and 1467, 
 mention free passports having been granted to Caxton, his 
 servants and goods. Nevertheless, he seems to have found 
 leisure for those literary pursuits to which he was so much 
 attached. It was in March, 1468, or, as we should now say, 
 1469, that he began to translate the favourite romance of that 
 age, " Le Recueil des Histoires de Troye." This, he informs 
 us in a Prologue, he undertook to avoid sloth and idleness ; 
 and indeed the constant use of phrases in which he excuses 
 himself for his translations by urging the duty of eschewing 
 sloth and idleness, vvould almost lead one to imagine that 
 Caxton was of an indolent nature, did not the whole of his 
 life, and especially those few last years in which he performed 
 such prodigies of literary labour, give a satisfactory denial. 
 Phrases of this kind were among the conventionalities of the 
 age, and nearly every writer in the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 centuries seems to have considered the avoidance of sloth as 
 the proper excuse for bringing forward any literary work. 
 In the manuscripts of Caxton's time, these deprecatory pre- 
 faces are very common ; and a comparison with the French 
 original will shov/ that these sentiments, although adopted by 
 Caxton, are in reality those of the original author, and not 
 the spontaneous avowal of the translator. This explana- 
 tion is necessary in order to prevent too great weight being 
 attached to Caxton's phraseology in the Prologue to the 
 "^Histories of Troy," for he was stiU " governor," an office 
 necessarily entailing a considerable amount of responsibility 
 and work, when he commenced that translation. Indeed, if 
 Anderson be correct when he states in his " History of Com- 
 merce," that there were at this period sometimes more than a 
 hundred vessels in Sluis, the port of Bruges, Caxton must 
 have had ample work upon his hands. But whether he really 
 had " no great charge or occupation," or whether he w^as too 
 busy to devote the needful time to his translation, he himself 
 tells us that he then proceeded no further than with five or 
 six quires. Each quire or section consisting of eight or ten 
 leaves, this would amount to between forty and sixty leaves 
 of manuscript. At this point, dissatisfied with the results of 
 
CAXTON ABROAD. 27 
 
 his labour, he laid them aside, without any intention of ever 
 completing his translation. 
 
 About two months later Caxton appears to have had more 
 " occupation " than he could get through alone ; for, although 
 still acting as " governor," a judgment was delivered in his 
 name, wherein he was styled ""William Caxton marchant 
 dangleterre maistre et gouvemeur des marchans de la nation 
 dangleterre par deca." The case in dispute being between an 
 EngUshman and a Genoese merchant, they agreed to submit 
 it to the arbitration of William Caxton and Thomas Perrot as 
 mutual friends ; but Caxton being obhged to leave Bruges 
 for some cause not mentioned in the document, a full court 
 of merchants was summoned, and the judgment delivered in 
 the names of the arbitrators. This judgment is dated May 
 12th, 14 G 9, and is the latest instance, as yet discovered, in 
 which. Caxton's name appears in his oJEcial capacity. 
 
 There is, however, another notice of Caxton lately dis- 
 covered in the archives at Bniges, but whether it is to be 
 referred to a period before or after his resignation of office is 
 uncertain. It is a document containing a list of persons who, 
 on August 13th, 14G9, were considered by the town council 
 to be of sufficient importance to share in the gifts of the 
 "Vins d'honneur" usually distributed on gi'cat public occa- 
 sions. Caxton received four kans of wine, but whether it was 
 presented to him as " governor," or as an official m the ser- 
 vice of the Duchess of Burgimdy, is unkno\\ii. Treaties were 
 certainly being negociated by ambassadors from England who 
 were at Bruges in 1469, and received, on June 11th, a present 
 of " trois pieces de viu," but this was two months earlier than 
 the date of the gift to Caxton. 
 
 On February 4th, 1470, an imposing ceremony took place 
 at Ghent, ambassadors being sent by Edward IV to invest 
 the Duke of Burgundy with the Order of the Garter, but there 
 is no direct evidence to support the supposition that Caxton 
 was present on this occasion. That he was at Ghent, though 
 appai-ently a year later, is stated in his prologue to " The 
 RecuycU," and he appears to have been connected with the 
 printing of the Latin oration delivered by Dr. RusseU. 
 
58 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 In October of the same year Edward IV, accompanied by 
 many of his nobles, took refuge in the capital of the duke's 
 dominions from the machinations of the Earl of Warwick. 
 Here Caxton, either as "governor" or as a servant of the 
 duchess, had an excellent opportunity of assisting his country- 
 men, who were in great need, until the restoration of their 
 sovereign. That he did so may be inferred from the royal 
 favour extended to him in after years. 
 
 The exact date when Caxton entered the service of the 
 duchess, as well as that when he relinquished his governor- 
 ship, is uncertain. The two events may have borne the rela- 
 tionship of cause and effect. Caxton's own narrative shows 
 that about two years after his first essay at translating " The 
 Recuyell," or about March, 1471, he was in the service of the 
 duchess, receiving a yearly salary and other benefits. He was 
 then instructed to resume his literary work, and the " dreadful 
 command " of his royal mistress seems to have been obeyed 
 with wonderful alacrity ; for, although he was at one time at 
 Ghent and at another time at Cologne, the translation was 
 not again neglected till, on the 19th of September, 1471, the 
 whole was completed, and offered by Caxton to the duchess, 
 by whom he was handsomely rewarded for his trouble. 
 
 The nature of the service rendered by Caxton to the 
 duchess is very uncertain. He says of himself that he was 
 her servant, receiving a yearly fee, and other good and great 
 benefits. That it was an honourable office admits of no doubt, 
 and that it was moreover one in which Caxton's knowledge 
 and talents as a merchant would be serviceable seems very 
 probable. We must not forget that in those days princes, 
 nobles, and even ecclesiastics, did not consider it inconsistent 
 with their dignity to trade on their own account, and this 
 they frequently did under special exemptions from the taxes 
 to which the ordinary merchant had to submit. Edward IV 
 and many of his nobility owned ships of merchandise. In 
 1475 the Wardens of the Mercers' Company TVTote to 
 Antwerp concerning a ship called "The Sterre," belonging 
 to Earl Rivers, and a document of the year 1472 throws some 
 light on the nature of the services which a merchant like 
 
CAXTON ABBOAD. 29 
 
 Caxton might have rendered to his royal mistress. Edward 
 IV in that year granted to his sister, the Duchess of Bur- 
 gundy, special privileges and exemptions with regard to her 
 own private trading in English wool. The late duchess, wife 
 of Philip the Good, likewise engaged in similar transactions, 
 in which, if we may judge from the following entries in the 
 Mercers' accounts, her ladies also were apparently in some 
 degree interested : — 
 
 1450, Item paid to John Stnbbes for peiys to the 
 
 Gentilwoman of the Duchesse of Bnrgeyn vj d 
 
 1461. Item paid to Hewe Wyche for a writ directe 
 to Sandewyche for the gownys of the 
 gentil womans of the duches of Bm-geyn ij s vj d 
 
 1454. Item — Pour la copie dune lettre enuoie a la 
 
 duchesse de Burge xij s 
 
 1455. Item — a M Gervers pour une lettre & la copie 
 
 enuoi a la duchesse de Burg* xx s 
 
 The question naturally arises — How was it that Caxton, 
 holding the influential and lucrative position of "Governor 
 of the English Nation " at Bruges, resigned that post to enter 
 upon duties of a much less ambitious character ? There is. 
 no reference in the Mercers* records to any disagreement 
 between Caxton and the home authorities, nor had he at this 
 time (1469) entertained the idea of returning to his native 
 country. We must, however, remember that during a very 
 eventful and anxious period he had for some years held an 
 office of the gravest responsibility, and we may assume from 
 his complaint of two years later, that age was daily creeping 
 upon him and enfeebling his body, that the troubles of official 
 life had undermined his health. We can, therefore, easily 
 imagine that he would gladly embrace the opportunity of 
 exchanging the cares of office for the easy service of the 
 Duchess of Burgundy, which would allow him to indulge 
 in the congenial pursuit of Hterature and the "strange 
 meruaylous historyes" in which he so much delighted. Or 
 perchance his complaint of "age creeping upon him" was 
 simply one of the conventional self- depreciating remarks 
 common to writers of his time, while the real cause of. bia 
 
80 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 resignation was a wish to marry and to enjoy those home 
 joys and comforts which had hitherto been impracticable. 
 
 That Caxton was a married man, and that he could not 
 have married much later than 1469, is a new fact in the 
 biography of Caxton, discovered by Mr. Gairdner, of the 
 Public Eecord Office, who recently came across a paper docu- 
 ment, without seals or signatures, and therefore only a copy 
 of the original, made for production in court in connection 
 with some law-suit. It was found among the miscellaneous 
 records of the Exchequer, formerly preserved in the Chapter 
 House at Westminster, and was first printed in the "Academy" 
 for April 4th, 1874. The tenor of the document, which is 
 given in fall in the appendix, is as follows: — ^A variance 
 having arisen between Gerard Croppe, merchant tailor, of 
 Westminster, and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of William 
 Caxton, the matter was brought before the archdeacon and 
 the king's chaplain, who heard the case in St. Stephen's 
 Chapel, Westminster. It was then agreed that they should 
 live apart, and not vex, sue, or trouble one another, each 
 being bound under a penalty of £100 (which vrould represent 
 about £1500 at the present day). Upon the signing of a 
 deed to that effect, the said Gerard Croppe was to receive 
 from the executors of William Caxton "twenty printed 
 legends," valued at 13s id each (the sum total of which 
 would now be equivalent to £200), and to give the executors 
 a fall acquittance of any farther claim upon the estate. This 
 document, which is dated May 20th, 1496, throws no light 
 upon the cause of quarrel, unless it were concerning a legacy 
 left by Caxton to his daughter. 
 
 Now, assuming that Caxton was married in 1469, which 
 was about the period when he resigned his official position 
 and entered the royal service, and that his daughter Eliza- 
 beth was bom soon after, she would have been about twenty- 
 one years of age at the time of her father's death in 1491, 
 and twenty-six years of age when separated from her hus- 
 band. We have already seen how John Stubbs and Hugh 
 Wyche were in communication with the gentlewomen of the 
 Duchess of Burgundy. Caxton, no doubt, was also in fre- 
 
CAXTON ABROAD. 81 
 
 quent attendance upon them, and may perhaps have induced 
 one of them to become his wife. Whether this be so or not, 
 it is now an ascertained fact that after some forty-six years 
 of compulsory celibacy, Caxton took to himself a wife, who, 
 it may be hoped, was truly his helpmate and solace of his 
 decHning years. It is not unlikely that the following entry 
 in the Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Margaret, Westmin- 
 ster, under the year 1490, may refer to Caxton's wife : — 
 
 *' Item. — Atte bureying of Mawde Caxton for torches & tapres iij s ij d." 
 
 Reverting to the " Histories of Troye," and the presenta- 
 tion of a manuscript copy to the duchess, no doubt can be 
 entertained that this was the turning-point in Caxton's life. 
 In the Prologue to Book I. he nan*ates in simple language 
 the causes which led him to undertake the translation: — 
 " Whan I remembre that euery man is bounden by the 
 comandement & counceyll of the wyse man to eschews 
 slouthe and ydelness whyche is moder and nourysshar of vyces 
 and ought to put myself \Tito vertuous occupacion and besy- 
 nesse/ Than I hauynge no grete charge of ocupacion folow- 
 ynge the sayd counceyll/ toke a frenche boke and redde 
 therein many strange and meruayUous historyes where m I 
 had grete pleasyr and delyte/ as well for the nouelte of the 
 same as for the fayr langage of frenshe . whyche was in prose 
 so weU and compendiously sette and wreton/ whiche me 
 thought I understood the sentence and substance of euery 
 mater/ And for so moche as this booke was newe and late 
 maad and drawen in to frenshe/ and neuer had seen hit in 
 oure englissh tongue/ I thought in my self hit shold be a 
 good besynes to translate hyt in to oure englissh/ to thende 
 that hyt myght be had as well in the royame of Englond as 
 in other landes/ and also for to passe ther\N7th the tyme . and 
 thus concluded in my self to begynne this sayd worke." 
 
 The new "Historic" was a welcome novelty to his 
 countrymen, who had hitherto been accustomed to read such 
 works only in French, which still retained its pre-eminence 
 as the language of the court and of literature, notwithstand- 
 ing the great advance and improvement which had been 
 
82 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 made in English. The demand for Caxton's translation soon 
 became greater than could possibly be supplied. His hand 
 grew "wery and not stedfast" with much writing, as he 
 states in the epilogue of the printed edition, and his eyes 
 were "dimed with overmoch lokyng on the whit paper." 
 Then it was, with Colard Mansion at hand to teach and 
 help him, that he turned his attention to the new-born Art 
 of Printing, 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 LITERATURE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 &iP^amBi^| HE revival of literature in Europe, com- 
 K8™M^BSH menciug with the latter part of the four- 
 'hmSbTjio ^JH teenth centuiy, its steady growth, and 
 its wonderful development in the suc- 
 ceeding age, have been dwelt upon by 
 many wTiters. Nowhere was this revival 
 more strongly marked than in France and the Low Countries. 
 The French kings and the princes of the royal blood had 
 been for many generations the constant patrons of authors 
 and of all engaged in the production of books. In 1350, 
 John II, who has the credit of having founded the library 
 of the Louvre, ascended the throne of France. No parti- 
 culars concerning the library of this monarch ha\'e been 
 preserved, and it was probably of no gTcat extent; but his 
 literary tastes descended to each of his four sons, and from 
 the inventories which have come down to us of the libraries 
 of these princes, we obtain very interesting information a»s 
 to the number, the description, the illuminations, the bind- 
 ings, and the market value of the books which they contained. 
 Charles, the eldest son, who succeeded his father in 1304, 
 had a highly-developed taste for every thing connected with 
 the fine arts. He greatly increased the number of volumes in 
 the Louvre library, so that in the ninth year of his reign, 
 when Gilles MaUet drew up a catalogue, they amounted to 
 1)10, the greater number of which were written on fine 
 
 D 
 
34 • WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 vellum, and were magnificently bound, and enriched with 
 gold clasps and precious stones. This library, the Duke of 
 Bedford, when Regent of France, is supposed to have trans- 
 ported to England in 1429. In after years, a few of the 
 volumes returned to France, but the famous library of the 
 Louvre never recovered its ancient splendour. Louis, Duke 
 of Anjou, second son of King John, shared to a gi-eat degree 
 the love of books and works of art displayed by his elder 
 brother. The third son, John, Duke of Berry, formed an 
 extensive library at his chfiteau at Bicetre, near Paris, inferior 
 only to that of the king himself. But of all the king's sons, 
 Philip, who soon equalled his eldest brother in power, far 
 surpassed him in the number and splendour of his literary 
 treasures. King John's second wife was Jane, widow of the 
 Duke of Burgundy, and in her right he succeeded to that 
 duchy on the death of her only son. When dividing his 
 kingdom among his four sons. King John apportioned Bur- 
 gundy to the youngest, Philip the Hardy, who, by his marriage 
 with Margaret, only daughter and heiress of Louis, Count of 
 Flanders, inherited, on the death of his father-in-law in 1384, 
 a large extent of territory. Philip, who has the character of 
 having been a generous prince, was well read in the literary 
 lore of his age. He was passionately addicted to music and 
 to the collection of fine books, and he spared no expense in 
 the employment of artists, and in the purchase of their most 
 choice productions. Nor did he rest satisfied with the en- 
 couragement of artists alone, but gathered round him some 
 of the most learned and able authors of his time, who enriched 
 his library with new works. This prince died in 1404, and 
 was succeeded by his son, John the Fearless, who, although 
 distracted by continual wars, maintained and even added 
 somewhat to his father's library. Christine de Pisan received 
 one hundred crowns for two books which she presented to 
 him. But all previous patronage is eclipsed by the encourage- 
 ment given to literature by Philip the Good, who succeeded 
 to the dukedom of Burgundy upon the decease of John in 
 1419. At Bruges, where he kept his court, he gave continual 
 employment to a crowd of authors, translators, copyists, and 
 
LITERATURE IN THE FIFTEEKTII CENTURY. 35 
 
 illuminators, who enriched his library with their best pro- 
 ductions, and did not forget to sing the praises of their 
 generous patron. David Aubert, a celebrated scribe, thus 
 describes the duke in 1457: — "This renowned and virtuous 
 prince has been accustomed, for many years past, to have 
 ancient histories read to him daily. His library surpasses all 
 others, for from his youth he has had in his service numerous 
 translators, scholars, historians, and scribes in various coun- 
 tries, all diligently working, so that now there is not a prince 
 in all Christendom who has so varied and so rich a library." 
 In the account which M. Barrois gives of the library of this 
 sovereign, he enumerates nearly two thousand works, the 
 greater part being magnificent folios on vellum beautifully 
 illuminated, and bound in velvet, satin, or damask, studded 
 with gems, and closed by gold clasps, jewelled and chased. 
 Many of these are still preserved in the Royal Library at 
 Brussels. 
 
 The taste of successive rulers spread its influence among 
 their subjects, and fashion lent its aid in multiplying libra- 
 ties. No present was more acceptable than a beautiftdly 
 executed manuscript, and the opulent nobles of the French 
 and Burgundian courts offered costly books to their sove- 
 reigns and their friends. The records and inventories of this 
 period contain numerous entries of such gifts, often with their 
 estimated value. 
 
 Among the nobles at the court of Philip the Good, many 
 emulated the literary taste of their sovereign, but none 
 showed greater judgment and liberality in the formation of 
 his library than Louis de Bruges, Seigneur de la Gruthuyse. 
 This nobleman, who had risen by his talents to the highest 
 position, received, at his chAteau of Oostcamp, near Bruges, 
 in 1470, Edward IV of England, when he sought refuge 
 from the Lancastrians in Flanders, and was afterwards re- 
 warded by that king with the title of Earl of Winchester. 
 His library was scarcely inferior to that of his sovereign, 
 and nearly the whole of the manuscripts were the production 
 of Flemish artists at Bruges or Ghent. The large size of the 
 volumes, thebeauty of the vellum, the elegance of the writing, 
 
 d2 
 
3G WILLIAJVI CAXTOX. 
 
 the artistic merit of the illuminations and ornaments, and 
 the luxury displayed in the bindings, are evidences of the 
 deep interest taken by the Seigneur de la Gruthuyse in the 
 formation of his library. On his death it passed to his son, 
 Jean de Bruges, and was soon after added to the collection 
 already existing at the chateau of Blois, belonging to the kings 
 of France. Great pains were then taken to obliterate the 
 armorial bearings, devices, and monograms which showed the 
 former ownership of the manuscripts, which efforts were but 
 partially successful, as about a hundred volumes, now among 
 the most precious treasures of the Bibliotheque Rationale at 
 Paris, still attest that they once belonged to this celebrated 
 collection. As the patron of literary men and of artists, 
 Louis de Bruges takes a high place in the annals of his 
 country, whilst the friendly attitude he assumed towards 
 Colard Mansion, in the early career of that unfortunate 
 pioneer of the press, should ever endear his name to biblio- 
 graphers. This passion for beautiful books was not confined 
 to the dukedom of Burgundy, but existed equally in France, 
 Italy, Germany, England, and other countries. Henry YI of 
 England had a valuable library, and many of the books \mtten 
 and illuminated for him are still among the Eoyal MSS. in 
 the British Museum. The Duke of Bedford, whose love for 
 literature was no doubt gi-eatly stimulated during the time he 
 held the office of Regent of France, was surpassed by none of 
 his countrymen in his patronage of the fine arts, and the 
 celebrated Missal, ^\Titten and illuminated for him, still re- 
 mains as one of the choicest productions of his age. Hum- 
 phrey, Duke of Gloucester, the protector of England during 
 the minority of Henry YI, was also greatly attached to his 
 library, and many manuscripts are extant, over which the 
 antiquary pauses with respect and interest as he reads the 
 boldly-written autogTaph, " Cest a moy Homfrey." 
 
 Owing to these causes, the various artists connected with 
 bookwTiting and bookbinding, as well as the trades necessary 
 to them, received much encouragement, while, to ensure ra- 
 pidity as well as excellence of workmauship, division of labour 
 was carried out to a great extent. Indeed, so important a 
 
LITERATUHR IN THE FTFTEENTH CENTURY. 37 
 
 branch of commerce had the manufactui-e of books now be- 
 come, and BO numerous were the different classes of craftsmen 
 thus employed in Bruges, that there sprang up in that. city a 
 guild, apparently very similar to the trade companies m 
 London, to which, in 1454, the duke granted a formal charter 
 and special privileges. The company is styled "der ghilde 
 van sinte jan Ewagz," or " The Guild of St. John the Evan- 
 gelist," who was the patron saint of scribes ; and the volume 
 of receipts and expenditure of this guild, beginning with the 
 entrance fees of the original members, exists still in a perfect 
 state of preservation in the city archives of Bruges. Van 
 Praet gives some interesting extracts from this volume, which 
 show that .the guild comprised members of both sexes, to 
 whose names their respective trades are affixed, thus indicat- 
 ing the various branches of industry employed at that time in 
 the manufacture of books. 
 
 Librariers et bockvcrkopers {Boohsellersi). 
 
 Prenter-vercoopers {Printsellcrs) . 
 
 Scilders (^Painters). 
 
 Vinghette makers {Painters of Vignettes). 
 
 Scrivers et bouc-scrivers {Scriceners and copyvits of hooJa). 
 
 Verlichtcrs (^Illuminators). 
 
 Prenters (^Printers, whether from blocks or typea). 
 
 Bouc-binders {Boohhinders). 
 
 ]^eimmakers (^Curi'iers). 
 
 Drooch-scherrers {Cloth sihearers). 
 
 Parkement makers et fransyii makers {Parchment and Vellum 
 
 makers). 
 Guispel snyders {Boss carvers). 
 Letter sniders {Letter engravers). 
 Beelde makers {Figure engravers). 
 
 Similar corporations existed in other cities. Thus, at 
 Antwerp, the Guild of St. Luke was formed before 1450, and 
 included trades like those of the Guild of St. John at Bruges ; 
 and at Brussels there was a guild of writers called " Les 
 Freres de la Plume." These guilds supported their own 
 chapel and chaplain, and sometimes had considerable pro- 
 perty. Nearly all the early printers whose names are now 
 famous in the annals of Flemish typogi'aphy were enrolled 
 in one or other of these associations. 
 
88 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 The object of the foregoing sketch, and its bearings on the 
 subject of this memoir, will be evident to the reader who 
 recalls to mind that it was while the pursuit of literature in 
 Bruges was most ardent — that it was during the reign of the 
 greatest bibliophile of the fifteenth century, when Bruges 
 teemed with authors, translators, scribes, and illuminators, 
 who resorted thither from all parts of Europe to Philip the 
 Good as to a second Maecenas — that it was during the time 
 when the bibliographical treasures of Philip the Hardy, en- 
 riched by the numerous additions of his son and grandson, 
 and the libraries of Louis de Bruges and other nobles of the 
 Flemish court were concentrated in the same city — that 
 William Caxton was, for thirty-three years at least, a resident 
 in Bruges. Access to these libraries would be easy to him, 
 and that he availed himself of the privilege seems all the 
 more probable, since we find, without exception, that the 
 books which he translated for his own press may be traced 
 in the catalogues of these noble libraries. As " Governor of 
 the English Nation," through whom all negotiations between 
 the English and the Burgundian governments would be car- 
 ried on, Caxton would be well acquainted with the nobles and 
 oflicers of the court, and hence he would naturally become 
 the agent for the literary wants of his countrymen. He 
 would also be brought into close contact with the most clever 
 authors, scribes, and illuminators of the time, among whom 
 were Colard Mansion and Jean Brito, originally artistic book- 
 writers, but afterwards the first to introduce the art of print- 
 ing into the city of Bruges. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 OSTUME, that sure guide of the historian 
 and the antiquary, is perhaps nowhere 
 more discernible than in Uterature, not 
 km]HKKn||klM merely in the dress of language and ex- 
 ^ M^j^g ^ pression, but also in the visible exponents 
 ^"^^' ""^^l: of that dress — writing and printing. Thus, 
 a manuscript or a printed book may, by the character of its 
 writing or printing alone, be ascribed to a determinate era. 
 In other words, a careful investigation of the mode of con- 
 struction wiU, in most cases, enable us to determine the 
 approximate age of any book, from the early manuscript to 
 the machine-printed volume of the present day. 
 
 In tracing the early development of printing, we are able 
 to note those successive deviations from the form of its parent, 
 Caligraphy, which were necessitated by the peculiarities of 
 the new art. Commencing simply as a substitute for manu- 
 script, it was naturally a close imitation thereof, and hence 
 the first printers laboured under many inconveniences, which 
 were shaken off as the capabilities of the new discovery be- 
 came better understood. These changes often afford the only 
 satisfactory evidence of the place and date of printing, as well 
 as well as of the printer's name. We propose, therefore, as an 
 aid to chronological arrangement, to notice the points of 
 similarity between the earliest printed books and manuscripts, 
 especially wiih. reference to the productions of Colard Mansion 
 
40 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 and William Caxton, and then to trace the novelties, purely 
 t}"pographical, introduced by the printers. 
 
 1. There was a selection of material. The scribe natu- 
 rally wrote his choicest productions on fine vellum, carefully 
 sorted in order to secure evenness in tone and quality; and 
 with the same idea the early printers sorted out their paper 
 before beginning to print. This is frequently seen when two 
 or three copies of the same book are compared together. One 
 is found to be printed entirely on thick, while another is 
 wholly on thin paper — one has no defects, whereas another is 
 made up of what the modern stationer calls " outsides." The 
 two copies of Caxton's " Knyght of the Toure " preserved in 
 the British Museum present a remarkable instance of this 
 plan of selection. 
 
 2. It was a common practice with the scribes, when em- 
 ploying paper for their books, to use parchment for the inmost 
 sheet of every section. The object of this was to give a firm 
 hold to the thread of the binder, and thus strengthen the 
 volume, but the alternation of paper and parchment did not 
 present a pleasing appearance to the eye. Caxton adopted a 
 modification of this plan, and instead thereof pasted a strip of 
 vellum dovvii the centre of the section. In books which have 
 had the good fortune to escape the modern bookbinder, the 
 observer may still sec either the slips themselves or their 
 traces in the b^o^^^l stains left by the paste. 
 
 3. When commencing a book, the scribes had a custom of 
 passing o^'er the first leaf, and beginning on the third page, 
 probably with the intention of protecting the first page during 
 the execution and binding of the work. This practice was 
 followed in the early works which issued from the presses of 
 Flanders and of England, but unfortunately, in most of these 
 books, on which an expensive modern binding has been 
 placed, the blank leaf has been rejected as too coarse for a 
 fly-leaf, thus causing many volumes, although perfect as re- 
 gards the print, to be described by bibliographers as wanting 
 the title-page. 
 
 4. The scribe necessarily wrote but one page at a time, 
 and, curiously enough, in this the early printers also assimi- 
 
, DEVELOPMENT. 41 
 
 lated their practice. Whether from want of sufficient type to 
 set up the requisite number of pages, or from the small size 
 of the platen of the early presses, there is certain evidence of 
 the first books from Caxton's press having been printed page 
 by page. Thus, in all the books printed with type No. 1, 
 instances are found of pages on the same side of the sheet 
 being out of parallel, which could not occur if two pages 
 were printed together. A positive proof of the separate print- 
 ing of the pages may, however, be seen in a copy of " The 
 Recuyell of the Histories of Troye," in the Bodleian Library ; 
 for there the ninth recto of the third quintemion has never 
 been printed at all, while the complementary page, which falls 
 on the same side of the sheet, has been properly printed. A 
 variation in the colour of the ink, though often very notice- 
 able, is not a sure proof that the two pages so differing were 
 printed separately, as that may have occurred through imper- 
 fect beating. 
 
 5. Many bibliographers, neglecting the study of manu- 
 scripts, and confining their examination of early books to the 
 products of the printing press, have WTitten and argued as if 
 " signatures " were an invention of printers. This is an erro- 
 neous idea. It was as necessary for the scribe to mark the 
 sequence of the sheets which he wrote as for the typographer 
 to mark the order of those which he printed ; because when 
 the sheets, whether manuscript or printed, had to be bound, 
 it was an absolute necessity for the binder to have every sheet 
 signed, for the signatures were his only guide in the collation 
 of the volume. There would seem to have been, for a long 
 time, an antipathy to these useful little signposts, which, being 
 needed only so long as the book remained unbound, were 
 placed by the scribe as near as possible to the bottom of the 
 leaf, that they might disappear under the plough of the binder. 
 This is what has happened in the great majority of cases, but 
 in every instance of the manuscript being preserved uncut 
 they may still be seen. 
 
 It is interesting to notice the manner in which the early 
 printers adopted and afterwards modified this custom of the 
 scribes. As it was very inconvenient for them to print sig- 
 
42 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 natures of one or two letters away from the solid page, at 
 the extreme margin of the sheet, and as the idea of disfiguring 
 the text by making them a part of it was objectionable, they 
 continued the old practice for some time, and actually signed 
 every sheet by hand with pen and ink after it was printed. 
 The uncut copy of " The Recuyell," at Windsor Castle, is an 
 example of a book with manuscript signatures at the extreme 
 foot of every sheet. After some time, however, the prejudice 
 was overcome, and the signatures were printed close up to 
 the bottom line of the page. They were first introduced at 
 Cologne in 1472 and adopted by Caxton in 1480. 
 
 6. The upper portion of the first written leaf of a manu- 
 script was frequently left blank, for an illustration by the 
 vignette-painter. Space was also left at the beginning of 
 every chapter, and sometimes of every sentence, for an illu- 
 minated initial. For many years the early printers likewise 
 followed this plan, every book they issued requiring the hand 
 of the illuminator to complete it. This illumination was a 
 distinct branch of trade, and the workmen employed in it 
 did nothing but paint in the initials and paragraph marks. 
 Through carelessness or ignorance a wrong initial was occa- 
 sionally painted in, but as far as possible to prevent this, both 
 scribes and printers inserted a smaU letter as a guide, which 
 was usually covered over by the coloured capital. 
 
 7. When transcribing a book, it was seldom thought a 
 matter of any importance to add the date of transcription 
 and the writer's name, though occasional instances of this 
 are found. It was probably a Hke feeling which made the 
 early printers foUow a practice which has caused the modern 
 bibliographer much doubt on many chronological points of 
 the greatest interest. So needless was it thought to inform 
 the reader when, where, or by whom a book was printed, that 
 out of twenty-one works known to have issued from the press 
 of Colard Mansion at Bruges, not more than five have a date 
 affixed to them, and of nearly one hundred publications 
 assigned to Caxton's press, considerably more than two-thirds 
 appear without any indication of the year of imprint. 
 
 8. The similarity, amounting almost to identity, between 
 
DEVELOPMENT. 43 
 
 the printed characters of the early typographers and the 
 written ones of their contemporaries, must also be noted. 
 It was this similarity which probably first gave rise to the 
 now admitted fable of Fust selling his bibles at Paris as 
 manuscripts, his impeachment before the parliament as a 
 sorcerer, and the necessity he was under of revealing his 
 secret to save his life. 
 
 The first printer, when he set about forming his alphabet, 
 could not have been troubled as to the shape he should give 
 his letters. The form which would naturally occur to him 
 would be that to which both he and the people to whom he 
 hoped to sell his productions had been accustomed. It is not 
 therefore at all wonderful, that the types used in the earliest 
 printed books should closely resemble the T\Titten characters 
 of the period, nor that this imitation should be extended to 
 all the combinations of letters which were then in use by 
 the scribes. Thus the bibles and psalters which appeared in 
 Germany, among the first productions of the press, were 
 printed in the characters used by the scribes for ecclesiastical 
 service-books, while the general literature was printed in the 
 common bastard-roman. When Sweynheym and Pannartz, 
 emigrating from Germany, took up their abode in the famous 
 monastery of Subiaco, near Rome, they cut the punches for 
 their new types in imitation of the Roman letters indigenous 
 to the country. In the dominions of the Duke of Burgundy, 
 where the labours of the scribes had been most extensively en- 
 couraged, the same plan was pursued. Colard Mansion, the 
 first printer at Bruges, was also a celebrated caligrapher, and 
 the close resemblance between his printed books and the best 
 manuscripts of his time is very marked. The same character 
 of wTiting was also in use in England, and Caxton's types 
 accordingly bear the closest resemblance to the hand-TVTiting 
 in the Mercers* books, and to the volumes of that period in 
 the archives at Guildhall. Nevertheless Dibdin thus censures 
 Caxton for not adopting Roman types : — " That perfect order 
 and symmetry of press work, so immediately striking in the 
 pages of foreign books of this period, are in vain to be 
 sought for among the volumes which have issued from 
 
44 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 Caxton's press; and the uniform rejection of the Roman 
 letter so successfully introduced by the Spiras, Jenson, and 
 Sweynheym and Pannartz is, unquestionably, a blemish on 
 our printer's typographical reputation." 
 
 9. The short spacing of the early printers also deserves 
 remark.* — The uneven length of the lines, so noticeable in 
 manuscripts, was a necessity, as the "writer could not forecast 
 the space between the words so as to make all the lines of 
 an even length. But it certainly was no necessity with the 
 printer ; for although in this respect the time-honoured custom 
 of the scribes was followed for a few years, the improved 
 appearance which evenness gave to the work was soon 
 observed, and thus a typographical step in advance was estab- 
 lished. At Mentz and Cologne this occurred at a very early 
 stage. The first Psalter, printed in 1457, and the Mazarine 
 Bible of 1455 show, now and then, lines slightly deficient in 
 length, as do some of the earliest productions of Ulric Zel ; 
 but this rudeness soon gave way to a systematic plan of 
 spacing the lines to one even length. In the early specimens 
 from the Bruges and Westminster presses, the practice of 
 
 * We may here observe, that bibliographers often misuse the word 
 "justification" when referring to the practice of placing all the space 
 at the end of lines. The printer's term " justification " does not neces- 
 sarily refer to the spacing out of the words in a line. Every line in 
 a page must be "justified" or made of the normal length, and the 
 last line in a paragraph, containing perhaps no more than one word, 
 must be justified equally with the full-length line. Short lines are 
 justified with quadrats, or pieces of metal, which fill up the line, but, 
 being lower than the type, do not print. What is called " short," or 
 "bad," or "imperfect justification," is sure to reveal itself, to the 
 dismay of the compositor, by allowing the faulty line to drop out when 
 the " fortoe," or mass of type, is lifted. The probable reason why 
 Colard Mansion and Caxton did not space their lines to an even length 
 is, that at that time they had not begun to use the setting-ride. This 
 useful little slip of metal enables each letter as it is picked up by the 
 compositor, to be passed along on an even surface to its destination, 
 instead of catching in every unevenness or burr of the previous line. 
 Its absence would entail many obstractions to the spacing-out of lines, 
 and render the plan of leaving all the spare space at the end, which 
 was actually adopted, at once more easy, expeditious, and free from 
 accident. 
 
DEVELOPMENT. 45 
 
 placing all the spare space at the end of the lines, instead of 
 dividing it between the words, gives a very rude appearance 
 to the page, and in these books it is carried to a greater extent 
 than in the works of any German, Italian or French printers. 
 Colard Mansion abandoned this practice in 1479, and Caxton 
 in 1480. 
 
 It. will be apparent, from the foregoing remarks, that the 
 books of our first printers bore no slight resemblance to 
 manuscripts, and indeed, until quite recently, a copy of the 
 Mazarine Bible, in the Library of Lambeth Palace, was so 
 regarded ;* but this resemblance was soon modified, in many 
 particulars, to suit the requirements of typography. 
 
 The execution of manuscript capitals being both tedious 
 'and expensive led to the early introduction of large letters en- 
 graved on wood, which were either printed in black at the same 
 impression as the other portion, or in red by a subsequent 
 operation. Colard Mansion seems never to have adopted them, 
 although several of his books are illustrated by large and 
 numerous woodcuts. Caxton inserted illustrations engraved 
 on wood in two or three books before 1484, the date of 
 "^sop," in which woodcut initials first appear. 
 
 Title-pages, likemse, are purely typographical in their 
 origin, the scribes having been content with heading their 
 page with "Hie incipit" and the name of the treatise. 
 Caxton followed the usage of the scribes in this particular; 
 for, with one exception only, and at the very end of his 
 career, where the title of the book is printed alone in the 
 centre of the first page, his books appear without any title- 
 page whatever. 
 
 Wynken de Worde adopted, the use of title-pages imme- 
 diately after the death of his master, but Machlinia of 
 London, and the schoolmaster-printer of St. Alban's, never 
 used them. 
 
 ♦ In 1856, an old established bookseller, in one of our largest cathe- 
 dral towns, marked a copy of Caxton's " Statutes of Hen. VII " as an 
 old MS., and »old it for 2a'. Qd. ! See also the remarks on Verard's 
 " Euryalus ct Lucrecc," in the Catalogue of the Harleian MSS., vol. III, 
 No. 4392. 
 
46 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 These minute details may appear, at first sight, to be 
 hardly worthy of record ; but when we remember that two- 
 thirds of Caxton's books are without any date, and that, by 
 careful examination of the workmanship, we can trace the 
 printer gradually developing the changes from manuscript to 
 typographical character, we appreciate the existence of a mass 
 of technical evidence which, like the strata of the earth, or the 
 mouldings of a cathedral arch, afibrds chronological data quite 
 independent of any other source, and enables us, with a near 
 approach to accuracy, to determine the age of any undated 
 book. To this evidence may be added some other important 
 signs which sometimes bear witness to the date when a book 
 was printed. Such are the size of the printed page, its depth 
 and width, the number of lines in a page, the number of 
 sheets in a section, and, above all, the sequence in the use of 
 various types. In Caxton's books this sequence is very re- 
 markable, as will be seen by the annexed table, where only 
 books with fixed dates are entered, so that the reader may 
 form his own judgment as to the chronological order of the 
 above-mentioned peculiarities. 
 
 Some interesting facts may be gathered from this table. 
 
 1. The types used by Caxton bear a definite chronological 
 relation to one another. Type No. 1 goes out of use, and is 
 succeeded, in 1477, by No. 2. Type No. 3 is principally em- 
 ployed for headlines during the use of Nos. 2 and 4. In 1480 
 type No. 4 makes its appearance, but not till No. 2 is about 
 to disappear. In 1483 type No. 4* supersedes its predecessor, 
 and, in its turn, makes way for Nos. 5 and 6, which close the 
 list. If the books were added which give the dates of their 
 translation, which almost always coincide with those of their 
 printing, the result would be the same. 
 
 2. All the books printed before 1480 were with hues of an 
 uneven length, whilst aU printed subsequently were spaced out 
 evenly. 
 
 3. Signatures and even spacing of the lines were syn- 
 chronous improvements, and both, when once adopted, were 
 never afterwards abandoned. In the signatures themselves a 
 curious fact may be noted — that whereas the custom of Caxton 
 
DEVELOPMENT. 
 
 47 
 
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 ^ 
 
 S g § S 2 g g«^^«V-^§ 2^ g g g g § g g 1 g 1 
 
 53 
 
 g g § § § g a'i'i'i'^'i a al a a a a a a a a a a 
 
 
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 fl o a 
 
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 cs'S'a'Ss'S'Ssstfs'S'S's'Ss^p 
 
 ooooooooocoooooocoo 
 
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 ^§ 
 
 
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 Illlllj 
 
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48 WILLIAM CiVXTON. 
 
 was generally to use letters and Roman numerals, as t ), for 
 his signatures, yet in the three years 1481 to 1483, and at no 
 other period, he used Arabic numerals, thus t 1, or 2 1. 
 
 We may further add that the use of the paragraph mark 
 (IT) never appears before 1483 ; that the great device makes 
 no appearance, till 1487, the printed date to the third edition 
 of the "Dictes" notwithstanding; and that initials in wood 
 first appear in the "^sop" in 1484. 
 
 By the application of these tests to the undated books we 
 are enabled to assign each of them, with tolerable certainty, 
 to a particular period. 
 
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 ^r 
 
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 ^^ 
 
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 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
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 ^p.^^^^ 
 
 
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 w//i^^ 
 
 
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 ^^«K 
 
 
 ^^o >^^1^ 
 
 ^"T^ 
 
 v^ 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 COLAED MANSION. 
 
 RUGES, the old metropolis of Flanders, 
 offers many points of the greatest inte- 
 rest to the historian and the antiquary. 
 In the fifteenth century, it was the chosen 
 residence of the sovereigns of the House 
 of Burgundy, and to its marts resorted 
 the most opulent merchants of Europe. There the arts, as 
 well as commerce, were developed to a degree of excellence 
 unequalled since the Augustan age, and even Paris was sur- 
 passed in literary and artistic treasures. Artists and crafts- 
 men were consequently numerous, and, as we have already 
 seen, those of them who were connected with the production 
 of books, were enrolled as a trade guild. And this pre- 
 eminence is not immaterial to our enquiry, for William 
 Caxton was not only for more than thirty years a constant 
 resident in Bruges, holding for a considerable period a posi- 
 tion of great authority, but in this city likewise took his first 
 lessons in typography and obtained the materials necessary 
 for the introduction of the New Art into his native country. 
 
 Colard Mansion is generally admitted to have been the 
 first printer at Bruges, but of his history little is knoTVTi. His 
 name occurs many times in the old records still preserved in 
 the municipal library, and always in connection either with 
 his trade of fine-manuscript writer, or with the guild of St. 
 John. The first time it appears it is written "Collinet," 
 a diminutive of Collaert, from which Van Praet, his first 
 
 E 
 
50 , WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 biographer, thinks he was at that time under age. In 
 1450 "Colinet" received fifty-four livres from the Duke of 
 Burgundy for a novel, entitled " Eomuleon," beautifully 
 illuminated and bound in velvet. This copy is now in the 
 Eoyal Library at Brussels, and another copy, ^wTitten in 
 characters exactly like the types used twenty years later by 
 Colard Mansion, is in the British Museum. Both the Seig- 
 neur de la Gruthuyse and the Seigneur de Creveceur were his 
 patrons ; the former, indeed, was at one time on such fi'iendly 
 and familiar terms with Mansion, that he stood godfather to 
 one of his children. It does not, however, appear that in 
 later years, when poverty laid its heavy hand on the unfor- 
 tunate printer, any of his patrons came to his assistance. 
 
 From 1454 to 1473 the name of Mansion is found, year by 
 year, as a contributor to the guild of St. John, the formation 
 of which has been already noticed. In 1471 he was "doyen" 
 or dean, an office which he held for two years, at the expira- 
 tion of which time he is supposed to have left Bruges for a 
 twelvemonth in order to learn the new art of printing. This 
 is a needless assumption, grounded solely on his subscription 
 for 1473 having been paid through a brother of the guild. 
 From 1476 to 1482 his name does not appear at all as a 
 contributor, although the dates of the " Boece," the " Quadri- 
 logue," and the "Somme rurale," show that he was still at 
 Bruges, and pursuing his vocation. His subscription to the 
 guild is again entered in 1483, and his name occurs in the 
 guild records for the last time in 1484. This was a disas- 
 trous year to Colard Mansion ; for, although not overtaken 
 by death, as his early biographers have assumed, disgrace, 
 poverty, and expatriation awaited him. He appears to have 
 been in straitened circumstances for some years, as in 1480 
 he could not execute the commission of Monseigneur de 
 Gazebeke for an illuminated copy of " Valerius Maximus," in 
 two volumes, without several advances of money. The re- 
 ceipts for these instalments are still preserved, as is also a 
 notice of Mansion's place of residence, which was in one of 
 the poorest streets in Bruges, leading out of the Rue des 
 Carmes. ^is typographical labours were carried on in one of 
 
COLARD MANSION. 61 
 
 two rooms over the porch of the church of St. Donatus, for 
 which we may assume that he paid the same rent as the next 
 tenant, six livres per annum. It was in this room that 
 Colard Mansion, in May 1484, finished his beautiful edition 
 of Ovid's "Metamorphoses," a magnificent folio of 386 leaves, 
 full of woodcuts, printed-in separately from the text. We 
 know nothing of the sale of this noble production ; but the 
 expenses connected with it were probably his ruin, for about 
 three months later he left the city. The Chapter of St. 
 Donatus, feeling uneasy about their rent, soon made inquiries 
 afi to the probability of his return, there being an opportunity 
 of letting the room to a better tenant ; but all was in vain, 
 and in October 1484 the apartment in which Mansion had 
 for so many years been labouring at those volumes which are 
 now prized as among the glories of Bruges, was made over to 
 Jean Gossin, a member of the same guild as Mansion, and, 
 like him, engaged in the manufacture of books. The Chapter, 
 however, took care not to lose by their tenant's flight, for the 
 conditions upon which his room (and probably a large stock 
 of printed sheets besides) was made over to Gossin were that 
 the latter should pay up all arrears of rent. Nothing more is 
 known of Mansion after this sad event ; and it is mournful to 
 contemplate the poor man turning his back upon his native 
 city, to begin life anew at the age of nearly sixty, after so 
 many years spent in literary labour. It has been suggested 
 that he took refuge in Paris, as the names of Paul and Robert 
 Mansion appear as printers in that city in 1650 ; but on this 
 point there is no evidence whatever. 
 
 In examining the productions of Colard Mansion's press, 
 it is somewhat perplexing to the lover of accuracy to find that 
 he, like all the earliest printers, issued most of his produc- 
 tions without date, and many without even name or place. 
 In this he merely followed the example of his predecessors, 
 the scribes, who seldom afl&xed their names, or the date of 
 the transcript. Van Praet enumerates twenty-one works from 
 his press, and another has been since discovered. These, to 
 the eye of a printer, naturally divide themselves into two 
 classes. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 1st. Those printed in a large bold Secretary type. 
 
 2nd. Those printed in a smaller semi-roman character, 
 known as " Lettres de Somme." 
 
 No one acquainted, although but slightly, with the prac- 
 tical features of typography can doubt that the early books 
 attributed to Caxton, and the early books issued by Mansion, 
 came from the same press. Mansion employed for his first 
 type a very bold secretary, exactly similar in character to 
 the type first used at Westminster. In PL II and III they 
 may be seen in juxtaposition. It also closely resembled in 
 shape and size in the character in which Mansion was accus- 
 tomed to execute his manuscripts. He likewise printed, at 
 the head of each chapter, the summary in red ink ; and here 
 he displayed so curious an instance of typographical ingenuity 
 that the reader's attention is particularly requested to it. If 
 we closely examine into the appearance which the red ink, 
 as used by Mansion in his "Boccace" "Boece," "Somme 
 rurale," and "Ovide," presents, it will be noticed that it is 
 very du'ty in colour, and moreover that the black lines, nearest 
 the red, have their edges tipped with red, a defect Avhich the 
 separate printing of lines in red ink afibrds no opportunity 
 for producing. The following explanation will satisfactorily 
 show the modus operandi. The two colours were printed by 
 one and the same pull of the press, all the type, both for 
 black and red, being included in the same form. But it was 
 impossible to beat the form with the balls, and leave a single 
 line in the middle untouched ; so the whole page was inked 
 black, and then (a space for play being always left above and 
 below) the black ink was carefuUy wiped from the intended 
 red line, and that line re-inked with red by the finger, or by 
 other means, after which the sheet was puUed. A two-fold 
 inconvenience attended this clumsy process, — the black could 
 never be removed so completely that it would not taint the 
 ensuing red, and the utmost care would not usually prevent 
 the black lines nearest the red receiving a slight touch from 
 the red finger, or ball. Iil fact, both these defects appear in 
 every book printed by Colard Mansion, in which the two 
 colours were used, and to these was frequently added a third 
 
COLARD MANSION. 58' 
 
 — the loss of a portion of the black ink nearest to the red 
 caused by the wiping process. Actual experiment shows that 
 this mode of working both colours at once is the only solution 
 of the appearance, and the inducement for its adoption waa 
 in all probability the perfect accuracy of " register " it secured, 
 as there was thus no fear of the red lines not fitting exactly 
 in their proper places — an accuracy very difficult to obtain, by 
 separate printings, at a rudimentary press. This peculiarity 
 of workmanship in the Bruges printer is not found in any 
 book from the Mentz or Cologne presses ; indeed all the typo- 
 graphical habits of the Bruges and Cologne printers were so 
 distinct and opposite that it is difficult to believe in any con- 
 nection between them. 
 
 It has been already shown that in early books uneven 
 spacing is a sure sign that the workmanship is prior to that 
 of books from the same press in which the lines are all of 
 equal length. The dated books of Colard Mansion are only 
 six in number, which fully bear this out. 
 
 Le Jardin de Devotion before 1476 uneven lines 
 
 Boccace du Dechiet des Nobles Hommes 1476 „ 
 
 Boece de la Consolation de Philosophie 1477 „ 
 
 Le Quadrilogue d'Alaiu Chartier 1478* even lines 
 
 La Somme rurale 1479 „ 
 
 Les Metamorphoses d'O vide 1484 „ 
 
 Taking, then, 1478 as the year in which Mansion changed 
 his practice, we may assume, without fear of error, that all 
 the undated books, with short-spaced lines, were anterior, and 
 all the undated books, with their Hues spaced to one length, 
 posterior to the " Quadrilogue." On this basis his undated 
 productions may be thus arranged. 
 
 Before 1478, having lines of an uneven length : — 
 
 Les Dits moraux des Philosophes short-spaced 
 
 Les Invectives contre la Secte de Vanderie „ 
 
 La Controversie de Noblesse ,, 
 
 Debat entre trois valeureux Princes 
 
 * The only date in the volume is 1477, which was the year when 
 the Prologue was composed : the printing must have been later than 
 this. 
 
54 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 After 1478, having lines of an even length : — 
 
 Lea Advineaux amoureux. Edit. 1 full-spaced 
 
 Le Doctrinal du temps present „ 
 
 La Doctrine de bien vivre ., 
 
 L'Art de bien mourir ,, 
 
 La Purgatoire des man vais Maris „ 
 
 Ii 'Abuse en court „ 
 
 Les Evangiles des Quenouilles „ 
 
 Le Donat espirituel „ 
 
 Les Adeuineaux amoreux. Edit, 2 „ 
 
 Dionysii Areopagiticte liber „ 
 
 Colard Mansion seems never to have produced works from 
 his press with rapidity; therefore, as the "Boccace of " 1476 
 contained nearly 600 pages in large folio, and the " Boece " of 
 1477 about the same, we may fairly assume that the five other 
 short-spaced works were anterior to the "Boccace." This 
 hypothesis would make Mansion a printer in Bruges about 
 the time when Caxton finished his translation of " Le Recueil 
 des Histoires de Troyes." 
 
 In the next Chapter it is proposed to show how all the 
 peculiarities noticeable in the printed productions of Colard 
 Mansion may be traced in those attributed to William Caxton. 
 
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CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CAXTON A PRINTER. 
 
 HE evidence as to where and from whom 
 Caxton acquired his knowledge of the Art 
 of Printing has been considered by nearly 
 every bibliographer as being confined en- 
 tirely to the information obtained from 
 Caxton's own Prologues and Epilogues, 
 with the one addition of the well-known quatrain of Wynken 
 de Worde, at the end of his " Bartholomaeus de Proprietatibus 
 Rerum." The argument from technical peculiarities in the 
 books themselves has hitherto been almost entirely overlooked, 
 although a mass of the truest, because unintentional evidence 
 may be found from the attentive study of these dumb witnesses. 
 Mr. Bradshaw, of Cambridge, has most truly observed, in 
 his " Classified Index," that the bibliographer should " make 
 such an accurate and methodical study of the types used and 
 haUts of printing observable at different presses as to enable 
 him to observe and be guided by these characteristics in 
 settling the date of a book which bears no date upon the sur- 
 face." * But the great difficulty in the way of this systematic 
 study is the impossibility of having the books side by side, for 
 their rarity is so great that in no one existing library can 
 they all be found. 
 
 The books printed in Caxton's type No. 1, used only at 
 
 * A classified Index of the fifteenth-centnry books in the collection 
 of M. J. de Meyer. 8vo. London, 1870. 
 
5G WILIJAM CAXTON. 
 
 Bruges, are five in number, althougli we can trace his direct 
 connection with but two of them. 
 
 1. "The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye," with Pro- 
 
 logues and Epilogues. 
 
 2. " Le Recueil des Histoires de Troye." 
 
 3. " The Game and Playe of the Chesse," with Prologue by 
 
 Caxton. 
 
 4. " Les Pais et Proesses du Chevalier Jason." 
 
 5. " Meditacions sur les Sept Pseaulmes penitenciaulx." 
 To these must be added one book printed at Bruges in type 
 
 No. 2. 
 ry^ 6. " Les Quatre Derrennieres Choses." 
 
 Before analysing the evidence supplied by Caxton's re- 
 marks and dates, it is necessary to explain how easily a 
 mistake may be rtiade, and an erroneous conclusion drawn, 
 unless care be taken to remember the effect of the change of 
 style upon the commencement of the year. In England, from 
 the thirteenth century until 1752, the new year began on 
 March 25th ; while in Holland and Flanders it commenced on 
 Easter Day. Neglect of this fact has led to many historical 
 errors. Thus, one historian states that Charles I. was be- 
 headed on January 30th, 1C48, whereas others assert that the 
 event took place on the same day in 1649 ; one dates the 
 flight of James II. from his kingdom in February, 1688, 
 whilst others date it in 1689. In these and many other 
 instances one WTiter takes the old style of beginning the year, 
 whilst others take the new style, each being right from his 
 own stand-point. In a lately discovered tract printed by 
 Caxton, and kno^^Ti as the " Sex Epistolae," we have the text 
 of several letters which passed between the Pope and the 
 Doge of Venice, which will be more particularly described 
 under " Books in type No. 4." It is merely mentioned here 
 as affording an apt illustration of the foregoing remarks. 
 The letters commence on December 11th, 1482, and succeed 
 one another in due order until the 7th of January, 1482, and 
 the end of February, 1482. This was no blunder, for the old 
 year continued until March 25th, which was New- Year's Day, 
 1483. Returning now to the consideration of Caxton's first. 
 
CAXTON A PRINTER. 57 
 
 lessons in the Art of Printing, we will examine each of the 
 books attributed to him, commencing with 
 
 "The Recuyell." — This occupies the foremost place, 
 because Caxton himself tells us that with it he began his 
 career as a printer. Its Prologues and Epilogues contain 
 curious and interesting gossip from Caxton's own pen, telling 
 us how the Duchess of Burgundy, in whose service he then 
 was, commanded him to complete the translation, which he 
 had begun but not advanced with. He tells us that he began 
 to translate the work at Bruges on March 1st, 1468, which, 
 as the year in Flanders did not then commence till Easter, 
 was really 1469, that he continued it at Ghent, and finished 
 at Cologne on September 19th, 1471, thus making a period 
 of two years and a half ; that on its completion he presented 
 it it to the Duchess, who rewarded him handsomely; that 
 many persons desired copies of it, so that, finding the labour 
 of writing too wearisome for him, and not expeditious enough 
 for his friends, he had practised and learnt, at his great 
 charge and expense, to ordain the book in print, to the end 
 that every man might have them at once. As was natural 
 to a person making practical acquaintance for the first time 
 with the effects of typography, Caxton ends ^vith noticing 
 what in his eyes, accustomed to see one copy finished before 
 another was begun, was the most wonderful feature of the 
 new art, namely, that all the copies were begun upon one day, 
 and were finished upon one day. 
 
 The periods of time here mentioned by Caxton require 
 notice. He began to translate on March 1st, 1469, but soon 
 relinquished his self-imposed task, after writing no more than 
 five or six quires (or sections of four or five sheets each). 
 After the lapse of two years, in March, 1471, he resumed the 
 translation, and in the following September he presented the 
 Duchess with the completed work. Now, six months would 
 have been a very likely time for the translation and a fair 
 copy thereof to take ; but it would have been impossible to 
 have accomplished the printing also in that space of time, 
 especially as the whole translation was finished before the 
 first sheet was printed, as will be hereafter shown. We may 
 
58 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 also notice, that the duration of Caxton's visit to Cologne 
 must have been very short, as his absenee from Bruges lasted 
 no more than six months. 
 
 "Le Recueil" has but one date, and that evidently 
 refers to the literary compilation alone, and affords no clue 
 whatever to the year of printing. Indeed, the numerous 
 copies still extant in manuscript prove that the work enjoyed 
 considerable popularity before it came under the hands of the 
 printer. The date of the printing of this book has been 
 fixed, by several writers, between 1464 and 1467, from the 
 consideration that Le F^vre, the compiler, is spoken of in the 
 prologue as chaplain to the Duke of Burgundy, and in such 
 a manner as to signify that the duke was then living. But 
 in the English version there is a material difference : Le 
 Fdvre is not styled there as in the French, " Chappellain de 
 montres redoubte seigneur MonseigTieur le Due Phillipe de 
 Bourgoingne," but " chapelayn vnto the ryght noble glorious 
 and mighty prynce, in his tyme, Phelip due of Bourgoyne." 
 Philip, therefore, was alive when " Le Recueil " was printed, 
 but dead when "The Recuyell" went to press. The duke 
 died in 1467; and it is therefore inferred that "Le Recueil" 
 must date between 1464 and 1467, while "The Recuyell" 
 must be later than 1467. That this should be considered as 
 proving anything more than that the original French was 
 compiled during the lifetime of Philip, and that when Caxton 
 translated the same the duke was dead, seems unaccountable. 
 AU the copies of " Le Recueil," both manuscript and printed, 
 followed the wording of the original, and the printer would 
 no more think of altering it in 1476, the probable date of 
 imprint, than the transcriber would in copying the same 
 twenty-five years later. The National Library at Paris has a 
 manuscript of this very book written after 1500, but repro- 
 ducing exactly the clause which, in the printed edition, is 
 considered to be a proof of its having been executed prior to 
 1467. Caxton altered the prologue of Le Fevre to suit his 
 own time, because he was translating ; but, in printing from 
 the manuscript of another (assuming his connection with " Le 
 Recueil"), he would have been in opposition to the practice 
 
CAXTON A PRDTTEE. 59 
 
 of his age had he altered the original. His translation was 
 in its turn printed and reprinted, word for word, long after it 
 was out of date. 
 
 There is, therefore, no reason whatever for asserting that 
 "Le Recueil," written in 1464, was printed before "The 
 Recuyell," translated in 1474, and sent to press about the 
 same date. In fact, the whole tone of the epilogue to Book 
 III. of " The Recuyell," leads unquestionably to the conclu- 
 sion that that was the very first occasion on which Caxton 
 had busied himself with typography. He would never have 
 said, "I have learned to ordain this loolc in printe at my 
 great charge and expense," if he had already printed one or 
 two others. M. Bernard assumes that Caxton had nothing 
 to do with the printing of "Le Recueil," and that it was 
 executed before he turned his attention to the new art. This 
 opinion, however, has not a single fact to support it. 
 
 " The Chess Book " affords but little evidence of value, 
 its prologue being, for the most part, merely a translation of 
 that written by Jehan de Vignay for the French original. It 
 offers, indeed, one date ; but that is open to question in its 
 application. " Fynysshid the last day of marche, 1474," are 
 the concluding words of the epilogue. But what was finished, 
 the translation, or the printing ? From the context it was 
 probably the translation, although the printing was not many 
 months later. This date also must be advanced a year ; for, 
 as already noticed, the new year did not commence, in 
 Flanders, till Easter Day, which fell, in that year, on April 
 10th ; so that March 31st, 1474, was, according to the 
 modern reckoning, March 81st, 1475. 
 
 The prologue to the second edition throws a httle light 
 on the history of the first. Caxton there says, in reference to 
 his connection with the book : " .... an excellent doctor of 
 divinity .... made a book of the Chess moralised, which, at 
 such time as I was resident in Bruges^ came into my hands. 
 .... And to the end that some which have not seen it, nor 
 understand french nor latin, I deUberated in myself to translate 
 into our maternal tongue ; and when I had so achieved the 
 said translation, / did do set in imprinter a certain number of 
 
CO WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 them which anon were depesshed and sold." He here appears 
 to mean that upon the completion of the translation he em- 
 ployed some one else to print it : — " I did do set in imprinte." 
 " Did do," according to the idiom of those days, was commonly 
 used for doing a thing through the medium of another. The 
 phrase was borrowed from the French — "plain pouoir de 
 prendre et faire prendre les larrons," is the wording of an 
 ordinance dated in the fifteenth century. "He did do be 
 said to the messenger," for " he caused to be said," is found 
 on folio 22 of the " History of Jason." " The Emperor did 
 do make a gate of marble" occurs in the second edition of the 
 " Chess Book," fol. 85. Similar examples abound, so that we 
 may fairly conclude that Caxton did not himself print the 
 first edition of the " Chess Book," but that both the transla- 
 tion and the printing were executed in Bruges. 
 
 The other books, namely, the French "Jason," the "Medi- 
 tacions," and the " Quatre Derrennieres Choses," contain the 
 bare text without remark or date of any kind, being, as 
 bibliographers say, sine uUd notd. 
 
 The whole of the literary evidence therefore may be briefly 
 summed up thus: "The Eecuyell" was translated in 1471, 
 and printed some time after ; the " Chess Book " was printed 
 after 1474, and probably in the latter half of 1475 ; and " Le 
 Recueil" was compiled in 1464, but, like the other four, 
 affords no evidence of date of the printing, which was pro- 
 bably about 1476. 
 
 We will now examine the testimony afforded by a com- 
 parison of the technical peculiarities of these six books. In 
 collating " The Recuyell," the make-up of the sections, at the 
 beginning of the volume, is worth noting. It was the practice 
 of Caxton, as of other printers, to commence the printing of 
 his books mth the text, any preface which might be requisite, 
 being added afterwards in a separate section, with a different 
 kind of signature. When, however, the whole of the manu- 
 script, prologue as well as text, was complete before it came 
 into the printer's hands, there was no occasion for any such 
 arrangement. This appears to have been the case with regard 
 to "The Recuyell," where nothing has been added at the 
 
^ 
 
 I IJ 
 
 fit ^ ^ 
 
 o 
 
 I 
 
 If J lit 
 
 I, 
 
 
 
 
CAXTON A PRINTER. 
 
 01 
 
 beginning, as the first section of five sheets includes all the 
 introductory matter, as well as a portion of the text. Now 
 the first page, which bears the date of the conclusion of the 
 translation, being on the same sheet as a portion of the text, 
 it is evident that the whole volume must have been in 
 manuscript before any part was set up in type. We may 
 infer, indeed, from his own description of the effect that so 
 much T\Titing had upon him, that Caxton issued several 
 manuscript copies before he thought of using the printing- 
 press. The copy presented to the Duchess was undoubtedly 
 manuscript ; or else how could Caxton have chronicled in the 
 printed w^ork her acceptance of the book and his reward for 
 the present ? And this again leads to the supposition that 
 the portion of the epilogue relating to the printing was added 
 by Caxton to his original manuscript when he determined to 
 print it. 
 
 For precisely similar reasons, Caxton's prologue to the 
 " Chess Book," which was a translation or adaptation of the 
 original French, is also a portion of the first section of the 
 volume. None of the other books under review having pro- 
 logues, we will proceed to a comparison of some other typo- 
 graphical particulars. 
 
 The following table ^ill show some of the technical features 
 of each book, and some of what may be called the " habits " 
 of the printer : — 
 
 No. Title. Size. 
 
 ^0. 
 
 No. of 
 
 Sheets 
 
 in a 
 
 Section. 
 
 No. of 
 Lines 
 in a 
 page. 
 
 Measure- 
 ment of 
 Page. 
 
 Inches. 
 
 Spacing 
 
 of 
 Lines. 
 
 i 
 1 
 
 GD 
 
 1 TheRecyuell Fol. 
 
 2 LeRecueil Fol. 
 
 3 The Chess Book ... Fol. 
 
 4 Les Fais du Jason . Fol. 
 
 5 Meditacions Fol. 
 
 6 Les 4*™ derrennieres 
 
 choses Fol. 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 5 
 4 
 4 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 31 
 31 
 31 
 31 
 31 
 
 28 
 
 5 X 7f 
 5 X 71 
 5 X 7f 
 5 X 7| 
 5 . 7| 
 
 5 X 7| 
 
 uneven 
 
 uneven 
 
 uneven 
 
 even 
 
 even 
 
 uneven 
 
 none 
 none 
 none 
 none 
 none 
 
 uone 
 
 From this table we perceive,— 
 
 First, That the first five books are printed with the same 
 
62 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 types, are all of the same size, and all without signatures; 
 that all agree exactly in the size of the page ; and that the 
 even spacing of the lines in the "Meditacions" and the 
 "Jason" proves that they were produced later than the 
 others. 
 
 Secondly, That the five books in type No, 1 may be con- 
 sidered as the production of one printer. 
 
 ^Yho, then, was this printer ? When we attentively ex- 
 amine the shape of the letters in type No. 1, we notice a 
 remarkable similarity between it and that of the writing of 
 many Bruges manuscripts of the same period, which would 
 induce us, at first sight, to attribute the design of the type 
 to some artist of that city. 
 
 M. Bernard, whose opinion is of great weight, where his 
 nationality is not concerned, traces the pattern of type No. 1 
 directly to Colard Mansion of Bruges. Speaking of a manu- 
 script in the National Library at Paris, written by Colard 
 Mansion's own hand, he says, " This book is ^vritten in old 
 batarde, and in exactly the same character as the types of 
 ' Le Kecueil des histoires de Troyes ;' " yet he attributes the 
 cutting of the types to a French artist, and the printing to a 
 German, Ulric Zel. The paper he also claims for a French 
 mill, on account of the fleurs de Us, and the Gothic p with the 
 quatrefoil, ignoring the fact that these are common Flemish 
 watermarks of the fifteenth century, and found in abundance 
 in the books from the Bruges and Westminster presses. 
 
 That any of these books in type No. 1 were printed by 
 Ulric Zel, or any other Cologne printer, I cannot for a moment 
 believe. It is possible, of course, that Zel, if employed to do 
 so, could have designed and cut types of the gros-bAtarde 
 pattern, although, as a fact, he never used such types himself ; 
 but all the Cologne printers of that period had their own 
 peculiarities and habits, which were not at all those of the 
 Bruges printers. Zel, from an early period, printed two pages 
 at a time, as may be easily verified where a crooked page 
 occurs; for the other page printed on the same side of the 
 sheet wiU in every case be found crooked also. Now, the 
 " Recuyell " was certainly printed page by page, as were like- 
 
CAXTON A PRINTER. 03 
 
 wise all the books from Mansion's press. And Caxton, when 
 printing liis smaller books, even cut the paper up and printed 
 one page only at a time. This accounts for the entire rejec- 
 tion by Mansion,* and the sparing use by Caxton of the 
 quarto size for their productions, as it necessitated twice as 
 much press-work as the larger size. But stronger evidence 
 is to be found in the fact that Zel, after 14C7, always spaced 
 out the lines of his books to an even length, and would have 
 taught any one learning the art from him to do the same j 
 yet this improvement was not adopted by either Mansion or 
 Caxton until several years later. Whoever may have been the 
 instructor of Mansion and Caxton, and whatever may have 
 been the origin of their typography, the opinion that either 
 of them, after learning the art in an advanced school such 
 as that of Cologne, would have adopted in their first produc- 
 tions, without any necessity for so doing, primitive customs 
 which they had never been taught, and returned in after years 
 by slow degrees to the rules of their original tuition, has only 
 to be plainly stated to render it mitenable. 
 
 The printer of all these works was undoubtedly Colard 
 Mansion, who had just before established his press at Bruges 
 — who cast the types on his own model for Caxton, and in- 
 structed him in the art while printing * iviih and for him 
 "The Recuyell" and the "Chess Book"— who ceriuinhj 
 printed "Les Quatre Derrennieres Choses" — ^who supplied 
 Caxton with the material for the establishment of a press 
 in England — ^who, about the time of Caxton's departure, used 
 the same type for "Le Recueil" — and who, at a still later 
 period, printed alone the "Jason" and the "Meditations." 
 
 We will now examine "Les Quatre Derrennieres Choses," of 
 which the only copy knoTVTi is in the Old Royal collection in 
 
 * Van Praet, Bninet, and especially Campbell in his " Annales de 
 la Typographie Neerlandaise," err in describing "Le purgatoire des 
 mauvais Maris," printed by Colard Mansion, as a *' petit in-4o." The 
 copy described is cut a little more than usual, but the watermark which 
 i* in the middle of tlie page proves the size to be folio, whereas had it 
 been quarto the watermark must have been in the back and partly 
 hidden by the binding. 
 
64 WILLIA^I CAXTON. 
 
 the British Museum. Like all Colard Mansion's books, and 
 unlike any one of Caxton's, it is in French. It is printed in 
 type No. 2, the type of the " Dictes " of 1477, and all the 
 early books which issued from the Westminster press. Then 
 the peculiar appearance of the red ink at once attracts atten- 
 tion. The two colours have been evidently printed at the 
 same pull of the press, as was Colard Mansion's practice. 
 Here the same process of wiping the black ink off lines 
 purposely isolated, and then re-inking them with red, has 
 been resorted to, and here, too, as in the acknowledged 
 productions of the Bruges press, the same defects have been 
 produced; the red ink having a tarnished appearance from 
 the subjacent remains of the black, and the black lines nearest 
 the red having received a red edging which, however inter- 
 esting as a connecting link between two celebrated printers, 
 by no means increases their typographical beauty. Now, as 
 no Cologne printer is known to have resorted to this unique 
 method of working in colours, .1 feel no hesitation in ascribing 
 " Les Quatre Derennieres Choses " either to Colard Mansion or 
 to Caxton working under his tuition ; and as this peculiarity 
 is nowhere found in Caxton's productions of the Westminster 
 press, the former would seem the more likely conjecture. 
 
 The connection thus established between the types used 
 by Caxton in his first attempts in England and those used by 
 Colard Mansion is still further strengthened by the fact that 
 the form of the &c., peculiar to type No. 1, is in several 
 instances, by an evident mixing of the founts, used instead 
 of the proper sort belonging to type No. 2. This famishes 
 positive proof that the two founts were under one roof, whether 
 at Cologne or Bruges, or elsewhere. Whoever printed the five 
 books in type No. 1 most certainly owned type No. 2 also. 
 
 Against all this, however, has to be placed the direct 
 assertion of Wynken de Worde, who, in the proheme to his 
 undated edition of " Bartholomasus de Proprietatibus Rerum," 
 gives the following rhyme : — 
 
 " And also of your chary te call to remembraunce 
 
 The soule of William Caxton first prynter of this boke 
 In lateh tonge at Coleyn hyself to auauce 
 
 That euery well disposyd man may thereon loke." 
 
CAXTOy A PRINTER, 65 
 
 The phraseolo^ of this rerse is very ambiguous. Arc we 
 to understand that the editio princeps of " Bartholomaeus " pro- 
 ceeded from Caxton's press, or that he only printed the first 
 Cologne edition ? that he issued a translation of his own, 
 which is the only way in which the production of the work 
 could advance him in the Latin tongue ? or, that he printed 
 in Latin to advance his own interests ? The last seems the 
 most probable reading. But though the words will bear 
 many constructions, they are evidently intended to mean that 
 Caxton printed " Bartholomaeus" at Cologne. Now this seems 
 to be merely a careless statement of Wynken de Worde ; for 
 if Caxton did really print " Bartholomaeus " in that city, it 
 must have been with his own types and presses, as the 
 workmanship of his early volumes proves that he had no 
 connection with the Cologne printers, whose practices were 
 entirely different. The time necessary for the production of 
 so extensive a work would have been considerable ; therefore, 
 as Caxton's stay at Cologne on the occasion of his finishing 
 the translation of " Le Recueil " was but short, the printing 
 of this apocryphal "Bartholomaeus" would have been at a 
 subsequent ^isit, of which there is no record. No edition has 
 yet been discovered which can, by any stretch of the imagina- 
 tion, be attributed to Caxton, although there is more than one 
 old undated edition belonging to the German school of print- 
 ing. Accuracy of information was in those days not much 
 studied, and to a general carelessness about names and dates 
 Wynken de "VVorde added a negligence peculiarly his own. 
 We may excuse him for using Caxton's device in several 
 books which by their dates and types are knowii to have been 
 printed by himself, as well as for putting Caxton's name as 
 printer to the edition of the " Golden Legend," printed in 
 1493, two years' after his master's death. Such inaccuracies 
 were at that time thought but little of. But how can we 
 account for the blundering alteration in the 1495 edition of 
 the " Polycronicon," where Wynken de AVorde, making himself 
 the speaker in Caxton's prologue, promises to carry the history 
 down to 1485; or for the still greater error in the "Dictes" 
 of 1528, in which, while adopting Caxton's epilogue, but 
 
 F 
 
66 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 substituting his own for Caxton's name, he makes all the trans- 
 actions there related happen between Earl Elvers and himself ? 
 Wynken de Worde's blunders in statements are well matched 
 by his blunders in workmanship, of which, however, we will 
 quote but two. In Caxton's edition of the " Stans Puer ad 
 Mensam," the third and fourth pages of the poem were acci- 
 dentally transposed ;. yet Wynken de Worde, notwithstanding 
 the break of sequence, blindly reprints the error ! Again, in 
 his edition of " The Horse, the Shepe, and the Ghoos," he 
 actually omits a whole page without discovering his mistake ! 
 Other examples might easily be quoted, but enough has been 
 adduced to show that Wynken de Worde was by no means 
 careful in his statements.* 
 
 We must remember that Wynken de Worde, moreover, 
 was too young to have had any personal knowledge of Caxton's 
 early efforts, and that the vast importance of the art to the 
 entire world, and the interest attaching to its origin, were 
 ideas which would find no place in the mind of a fifteenth- ^ 
 century printer. We must not, therefore, regard De Worde's 
 statement as deliberately made for the purpose of telling 
 posterity something about Caxton. Lewis, Caxton's first 
 biographer, was very sceptical concerning this Cologne edition 
 of " Bartholomaeus." "Its ha^dng a Latin title," he says, 
 
 * William Caxton, except in the occasional interchange of i and y, 
 which were at that period considered as equivalents, never altered the 
 orthography of his name, a fact the more noticeable as the name 
 certainly varied in pronunciation : but Wynken de Worde, although 
 mentioning his master's name but eight times, contrived to make the 
 four variations of Caxton, Caxston, Caston, and Caxon. With regard 
 to his own name Wynken de Worde appears to have tried how many 
 variations he could invent, of which the following list is not even 
 complete : — 
 
 Wynken de Worde. Wynandus de Worde. 
 
 Wynden de Worde. Wynandus de word. 
 
 Wynkyn de Worde. winandus de worde. 
 
 Wynkyn Theworde. Vunandus de worde. 
 
 Wynkyn the Worde. Vuinandi de vuorde. 
 
 Wynkyn de Word. Winand i Wordensi. 
 
 VVinquin de Worde. Winandi de Wordensis. 
 
CAXTON A PEINTER. C7 
 
 "might possibly deceive De Worde, and make him think it 
 was printed in Latin. However this may be, it does not 
 appear that any edition of it, printed by Caxton or any one 
 else, either in Latin or English, that year, is now in being." 
 
 Perhaps De Worde, who reprinted the "Recueil," had 
 some vague recollection of Caxton having stated that he had 
 been at Cologne, and so carelessly adopted the idea as giving 
 point and rhyme to his verses. 
 
 The following anecdotes illustrate in a curious manner 
 the typographical connection between Mansion and Caxton. 
 A bookseller of Paris purchased an old volume for the moderate 
 sum of one louis. He took it to M. de La Serna Santander, 
 and asked him if he thought two louis too dear. "No," 
 replied the wary bibliographer, and gave him the money. 
 That volume is now in the National Library at Paris, and 
 contains, bound together in the original boards, the " Quadri- 
 logue," printed by Mansion at Bruges, and the French "Jason," 
 printed in Caxton's type No. 1. Something similar to this 
 happened in 1853, when Mr. Winter Jones discovered in the 
 Library of the British Museum, "Les Quatre Derrenieres 
 Choses," in Caxton's type No. 2, bound up with the " Medi- 
 tacions," in type No. 1, and with contemporary handwTiting 
 running from the last page of one work to the first of the 
 other, the volume being evidently in its original state, just as 
 it was printed and bound at Bruges, in the little workshop of 
 Colard Mansion over the church porch of St. Donatus. 
 
 Here, perhaps, I may be excused if I venture to build a 
 brief history, founded, in the absence of sure foundation, 
 in many parts on probability only, but which may neverthe- 
 less be welcome to some as an attempt to draw into a con- 
 sistent narrative the scattered threads of Caxton's career 
 between 1471 and his establishment at Westminster. 
 
 Caxton, having finished and been rewarded for his trouble 
 in translating " Le Eecueil " for the Duchess of Burgundy, 
 found his book in great request. The English nobles at 
 Bruges wished to have copies of this the most favourite 
 romance of the age, and Caxton found himself unable to 
 supply the demand with sufficient rapidity. This brings us 
 
 F 2 
 
C8 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 to the year 1472 or 1473. Colard Mansion, a skilful cali- 
 grapher, must have been known to Caxton, and may even 
 have been employed by him to execute commissions. Man- 
 sion, who had ol)tained some knowledge of the art of printing, 
 although certainly not from Cologne, had just begun his typo- 
 graphical labours at Bruges, and was ready to produce copies 
 by means of the press, if supported by the necessary patron- 
 age and funds. Caxton found the money, and Mansion the 
 requisite knowledge, by the aid of which appeared "The 
 Recuyell," the first book printed in the ncAV type, and more- 
 over the first book printed in the English language. This, 
 probably, was not accomplished till 1474, and was succeeded, 
 on Caxton's part, in another year, by an issue of the " Chess 
 Book," which, as we are informed in a second edition, was 
 " anone depesshed and solde." Mansion, finding success at- 
 tended the new adventure, printed the French "Recueil," 
 and, after Caxton's return to England, the French " Jason " 
 and the " Meditacions." The three French works were 
 doubtless published by Mansion alone, as Caxton is not 
 known to have printed a single book in French, although 
 perfectly acquainted with that language. Caxton, having 
 thus printed at Bruges "The Recuyell" and the "Chess 
 Book" with types either wholly or in part belonging to 
 Mansion, now obtained a new fount of the pattern of the 
 large batarde already in use by Mansion, but smaller in size, 
 with the intention of practising the art in England. To test 
 its capabilities, "Les Quatre Derrennieres Choses" was then 
 produced under the immediate supervision of Mansion. 
 
 Early in 147G Caxton appears to have taken leave of the 
 city where he had resided for five and thirty years, and to 
 have returned to his native land laden with a more precious 
 freight than the most opulent merchant-adventurer ever 
 dreamt of, to endow his country with a blessing greater than 
 any other which had ever been bestowed, save only the intro- 
 duction of Christianity. 
 
CHAPTER Vlll. 
 
 WESTMINSTER. 
 
 N^ the preceding chapters Caxton's career as 
 an Apprentice, as a Merchant, as Governor 
 of the Merchant- Adventurers, as a Magis- 
 trate, and as an Ambassador, has been 
 traced; the revival of literary tastes in 
 P]nrope has been briefly sketched, as well 
 as the literary influences by which Caxton was surrounded ; 
 and we have seen his translation of a romance for the 
 Duchess of Burgundy obtain such popularity that he was 
 forced to have recourse to the new art of printing, in order 
 to multiply copies quickly: but we have yet to investigate 
 the most important period of his history — those last fifteen 
 years, to which the whole of his former life seems but the 
 introduction — that short period which alone has caused the 
 name of Caxton to be inscribed on the tablets of history, and 
 the typographical relics of which form the best and only 
 memorial which England possesses of her first printer.* 
 
 We left Caxton early in 1476 preparing to return to Eng- 
 land, after having disposed of his printed copies of the "Chess 
 Book" in Bruges. The next certain notice of him is after 
 
 * There is certainly the Roxburghe tablet in St. Margaret's Churcli, 
 Westminster ; and, better still, there is a " Cajrton Pension" in connec- 
 tion with the " Printers' Corporation," by which the needs of sonic 
 afflicted successors in Caxton's ci'aft are alleviated ; but a memorial 
 worthy of our first printer and of his countrymen has never yet been 
 attempted. 
 
70 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 his settlement at Westminster, when, in Novemher 1477, he 
 had printed his first edition of the "Dictes and Sayings of 
 the Philosophers." This book is, in fact, the earliest we have 
 from Caxton's press with an indispntable imprint. It is 
 evident that his arrangements for settling in England, the 
 engagement of assistants, and all the other matters inseparable 
 from a novel nndeitaking, mnst have occupied a considerable 
 time. If, therefore, we assume that Caxton commenced his 
 new career in this country about the latter half of 1476 we 
 cannot be far wrong. A cautious man, he began to try his 
 powers, and ascertain the probable sale for his productions, by 
 printing small pieces. Copland, one of his workmen, who 
 served with Wynken de Worde after his first master's death, 
 has a curious remark upon this in the prologue to his edition 
 of " Kynge Apolyn of Thyre," with which romance he appears 
 to have commenced his career as a printer. " Whiche booke 
 I, Roberte Copland, have me applyed for to translate oute of 
 the Frenshe language into our maternal tongue, at the exhor- 
 tacyon of my forsayd mayster [Wynken de Worde], gladly 
 foUowynge the trace of my mayster Caxton, J)pgynnynge tvith 
 small storijes and immfleteSj and so to other'' That West- 
 minster was the locality in which Caxton first settled, there is, 
 fortunately, no room to doubt; but as the exact spot has 
 given rise to considerable discussion, it may be useful to 
 collect all the instances in which Caxton connects his o\mi 
 name with a definite locality. We therefore give the follow- 
 ing extracts taken verlatim et literatim from his works : — 
 
 1477. DiCTES AND Sayings. First edition. Epilogue, en- 
 prynted by me william Caxton at trestmestre. 
 
 1478. Moral Proverbs. Colophon. Ihaue enprinted .... 
 At westmestre. 
 
 1480. Chronicles of England. First edition. Colophon. 
 enprinted by me William Caxton Jn thabbey of west- 
 mynstre by london. 
 
 1480. Description of Britain. First edition. Prologue. 
 ths comyn cronirles of enylond ben .... now late en- 
 printed at westmynstre. 
 
WESTMINSTER. 71 
 
 1481. MiRROUR OF THE WoRLD. First edition. Prologue. 
 Ajid empriscd hy me .... to translate it i?ito our 
 maternal tongue .... in thahhay of tvestm/'sfre by 
 london. 
 
 1481. Reynard THE Fox. First edition. Epilogue, ly m^ 
 tvilVm Caxton translated . ... in tlmlhey of tvest- 
 mcstre. 
 
 1481. Godfrey of Bologne. Epilogue, sette informs and 
 emjjrynted .... i?i thabiey of icestm£ster. 
 
 1483. Pilgrimage of the Soul. Colophon. Enprynted at 
 tvestmestre hy ivilliam Caxton. 
 
 1483. Liber Festivalis. First edition. Colophon. Em- 
 prynted at Westmynster by tvyUyam Caxton. 
 
 1483. Quatuor Sermones. First edition. Colophon. En- 
 prynted by Wylliam Caxton at Westmestre. 
 
 1483. CoNFESSio Amantis. Colophon. Enprynted at tvest- 
 mestre by me ivillyam Caxton. 
 
 1483. Golden Legend. First edition. Epilogue, fynysshed 
 it at westmpstre. 
 
 1483. Caton. Colophon. Translated . ... by William 
 Caxton in thabbey of Westmynstre. 
 
 1483. Knight of the Tower. Colophon, enprynted at 
 
 Westmynstre. 
 
 1484. ^sop. Epilogue, enprynted by me uHliam Caxton 
 at westmynstre in tMbbay. 
 
 1484. The Order of Chivalry. Epilogue, translated 
 
 .... by me William Caxton divellymje in Westmynstre 
 besyde london. 
 
 1485. King Arthur. Colophon, emprynted and fynysshed 
 in thabbey westmestre. 
 
 1485. Paris and Yienne. Colophon, translated . ... by 
 
 wylliam Caxton at Westmestre. 
 [1489.] DiRECTORiUM Sacerdotum. Colophon. Impresstim 
 
 .... ajmd Westmonesterium. 
 1489. Doctrinal of Sapience. Colophon, translated .... 
 
 by wyllyam Caxton at Westmestre. 
 To these must be added Caxton's Advertisement, printed 
 about 1480. 
 
72 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 " If it plese ony man spirituel or temporel to bye ony pyes 
 of two and thre comemoracios of salisburi vse enpryiitid after 
 the forme of this preset lettre whiche ben wel and truly cor- 
 rect, Mg liijm cmne to tvestmomster in to tJw aJmonesrye at the 
 reed pale and he shal haue them good chepe." 
 
 The following quotations are from titles or colophons of 
 books printed by Wynken de Worde in the house of his late 
 master, only three of which are dated. 
 
 ScALA Perfectionis, 1493. 
 
 And Wynkyn de Worde this hath sett in print. 
 
 In William Caxstons hoics so fyll the case. 
 DiRECTORiUM Sacerdotum, 1495. In domo Caxton Wynlcyn 
 
 fieri fecit. 
 Lyndewode's Constitutiones, 1496. A2md Westmonaste- 
 
 rium. In domo caxston. 
 The XII Profytes of Tribulacyon. Enprynted at West- 
 
 myster in Caxtons Jwiis. 
 DoxATus Minor. In domo Caxton in tvestmonasterio. 
 Whital's Dictionary. Imp)rynted in the late hous of Wit- 
 
 liam Caxton. 
 Accedence. Prynted in Caxons house at westmynstre. 
 The Chorle and the Byrde. Emprynted at westmestre in 
 
 Caxtons house. 
 DocTRYNALLE OF Dethe. Enprynted at westmynster Jn 
 
 Caxtons hous. 
 Ortus Vocabulorxjm. prope ceUherrimum monasterium quod 
 
 ivestmy7istre appellatur imjjj^essum. 
 
 Adding to the foregoing the testimony of Stow, we shall 
 have before us all the evidence of any authority. 
 
 " Neare vnto this house westward was an old chappel of 
 S. Anne, oner against the which the Lady Margaret, mother 
 to King H. the 7. erected an Almeshouse for poore women 
 .... the place wherein this chappell and Almeshouse standeth 
 was called the Elemosinary or Almory, now corruptly the 
 Ambry, for that the Almes of the Abbey were there distri- 
 buted to the poore. And therin Islip, Abbot of Westmin. 
 
WESTMINSTER. 78 
 
 erected the first Pres^e of booke printing that euer was in 
 England about the yeare of Christ 1471. William Caxton, 
 cittizen of London, mercer, brought it into England, and was 
 the first that practised it in the sayde Abbey." 
 
 Reviewing the foregoing quotations, it will be noticed 
 that although the precise expression, Printed in t/te Ahhey of 
 Westminster f is affixed to some books, yet the more general 
 phrase Printed at Westminster is also used, and e\'idently 
 refers to the same locality, for otherwise we must suppose 
 Caxton to have carried on two separate printing-offices for 
 many years. The word "Abbey" did not assume its modern 
 sense, as applying only to the fabric, until after the Refonna- 
 tion; and the phrase "dwelling at Westminster," used in 
 1484, just after "printed in the Abbey," 1483, and before 
 "printed in the Abbey," 1485, proves that Caxton himself 
 attached to the word no very restrictive idea. We find also, 
 from the above-mentioned advertisement, that "Westminster" 
 in that instance meant "The Almonesrye," where Caxton 
 occupied a tenement, called " The Red-pale." The Almonry 
 was a space within the Abbey precincts, where alms were dis- 
 tributed to the poor ; and here the Lady Margaret, mother of 
 King Henry VIL, and one of Caxton's patronesses, built alms- 
 houses. Other houses were also there ; and we therefore con- 
 clude that by the words in the Ahhey Caxton meant nothing 
 more than that he resided within the Abbey precincts. 
 
 The position of St. Anne's Chapel and the Almonry, in 
 relation to that of the Abbey Church, seems to have been 
 misunderstood by all the biographers of Caxton. Dr. Dibdin, 
 Charles Knight and others, place them on the site of the 
 Chapel of Henry YII, which is the east end of the Abbey. 
 The Almonry was considerably to the west, and the following 
 statements, gathered from Stow, will give its exact locahty. 
 After describing the monastery and the king's palace, he pro- 
 ceeds to say, "now \vill I speake of the gate house, and of 
 Totehill streete, stretching from the west part of the Close .... 
 The gate towards the icest is a Gaile for offenders .... On 
 the Southside of this gate, king H. the 7. founded an almes- 
 house .... Neare vnto this house westward was an old chappel 
 
WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 of S. Anne .... the place wherein this chappel .... standeth 
 was called the Almory." The Almonry was therefore west- 
 south-west of the western front of the Abbey. 
 
 It has been argued that Caxton was permitted by the 
 abbot to use the "Scriptorium" of the abbey as a printing- 
 office. Printing, even in these days of improvement, is neces- 
 sarily in some parts a very unclean operation, but it was much 
 more so in its earlier years, some of the processes employed 
 being extremely filthy and pungent. The Abbot of West- 
 minster would never have admitted into the scriptorium any 
 thing so defiling, much less within the sacred walls of the 
 church itself. There is, indeed, no evidence that any portion 
 of the abbey was ever appropriated as a scriptorium: no 
 mention of such a place is made by any historian, nor has 
 any manuscript been recognised as having issued thence. 
 
 The Abbot of Westminster, at the time of Caxton's arrival 
 in England, was John Esteney, who succeeded to that office 
 in 1474, upon the promotion of Thomas Milling to the 
 Bishopric of Hereford. Those \vTiters who maintain that 
 Caxton returned to England before 1474 have mentioned 
 Milling as his patron. George Fascet succeeded Abbot 
 Esteney in 1498, and was in turn succeeded by John Islip in 
 1500. Stow's chronology is very faulty in ascribing to Abbot 
 Islip any connection with Caxton, whose death occurred about 
 nine years before Islip's election to the abbacy. 
 
 There is nothing to lead to the supposition that Caxton 
 and Abbot Esteney were on intimate terms ; indeed, the pro- 
 bability is that they knew but little of each other. Our 
 printer mentions Esteney but once, and that only casuaUy, as 
 illustrating the difficulty which even educated men experienced 
 in deciphering documents of a bygone age. In the prologue 
 to the " Eneydos," Caxton says, " My lord abbot of West- 
 mynster did do shelve to me late certayn euydences wryton 
 in old Englisshe, for to reduce it into our Englisshe now 
 vsid." The sense of "Did do shewe," as already noticed, 
 would seem merely to signify "caused to be shewn;" or in 
 other words, the abbot only sent the documents. Caxton 
 always appears to have recorded, in prologue or epilogue, the 
 
WESTMINSTER. 75 
 
 names of those by whom he was employed; and if he had 
 received any favour or patronage from the abbot, he would in 
 all likelihood have dedicated one of his numerous translations 
 to him, as he did to so many of his patrons, some of whom, 
 like Hugh Brjxe and William Praat, were plain " Mercers " 
 only. 
 
 It is unlikely, therefore, that Caxton went to Westminster 
 by invitation of the abbot, or that he occupied any place 
 within the church itself, or that he stood in any other rela- 
 tion to the abbot than that of tenant. The rent-roll of the 
 abbey was under the immediate charge of the abbot's cham- 
 berlain, and with him Caxton would have to agree as to his 
 tenure of "The Red-pale" in the Almonry. 
 
 The reason of Caxton's preference for the Almonry is not 
 at all evident, though his being a Mercer may, possibly, have 
 had some connection with his choice, as the Mercers' Com- 
 pany held certain tenements of the abbots of Westminster. 
 Some of these were in the parish of St. Martin Otewich 
 (Broad Street Ward), within the city walls ; and there was 
 also a tenement called " The Pye," and another called " The 
 Grehounde," the localities of which are not mentioned. The 
 rents paid for these are duly entered in the " Renter Wardens' 
 Account-books," at Mercers' Hall. But whatever induced 
 Caxton to settle at Westminster, we may safely infer, from his 
 own mention, not more than two or three years later, of " The 
 Red-pale" as his house, that it was there he originally estab- 
 lished himself, that there his translations were made and works 
 printed, and that there, surrounded by his books and presses, 
 and soothed by the loving attentions of his daughter, he 
 breathed his last. 
 
 Wynken de Worde, his immediate successsor, printed 
 several books in the same place, dating them from " Caxton's 
 house in Westminster." This phrase was considered, by the 
 early biographers of Caxton, as proving that he had migrated 
 from the side chapel, where they assumed he first set up his 
 press, and established himself in a new residence. Bagford, 
 with his usual fertility of invention, identified the very street 
 and house into which Caxton moved, and assigned reasons 
 
WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 for his ejection from the abbey. For many years an old 
 house in the Almonry was currently believed to have been 
 that in which our first printer dwelt ; but Mr. Nichols, who, 
 as well as Knight, gives a T^^oodcut of it, is of opinion that 
 the house could not be older than the time of Charles I. 
 Upon its demolition in 184G, portions of the beams were 
 made into walking-sticks and snuff-boxes, and presented to 
 various patrons of literature as genuine relics of the famous 
 printer. Interesting, indeed, would it have been if we could 
 have identified the exact spot where the first press was placed 
 on English soil, and still more so if we could have stood in 
 the very room where Caxton worked ; but uncertainty hangs 
 over all this part of our history. 
 
 The printers of the fifteenth century, especially in Hol- 
 land and Flanders, very frequently used armorial bearings for 
 their trade-marks, the shield being repre- 
 sented as hanging from the branch of a tree. 
 A broad band do^Tn. the centre of the shield 
 is, in heraldic language, called a " pale," and 
 this, if painted red, would be a " red pale." 
 Doubtless this was the sign used by Caxton 
 to designate his house. The woodcut oppo- 
 site, taken from Holtrop's " Monumens Typo- 
 graphiques," pi. 71, shows a house of the 
 fifteenth century, which has two tenants, both printei*s, each 
 of whom has a sign. This was in Antwerp. The printers 
 at Delff, in Holland, used a "black pale" for their 
 marks. 
 
 "We have already mentioned " The Greyhound " as being 
 held by the Mercers' Company from the Abbots of West- 
 minster. From the same " Account-book " it appears that in 
 1477 the "livelihode" made a "visitation," and "kept a 
 dinner" at "The Greyhound," which cost them 26s Sd, be- 
 sides 2d for washing the table-cloth. There is nothing to 
 indicate the locality of this tenement ; but from the fact that 
 mercers, as wtU as drapers, dealt largely in cloth and various 
 woollen goods, they would necessarily be much interested in 
 the great staple of wool, held at fixed intervals, not far from 
 
WESTMINSTER. 
 
 77 
 
 the abbey walls.* They would therefore require a place in 
 the neighbourhood for meeting during their visitation which 
 
 would, at the same time, afford them good accommodation for 
 a dinner at its close. 
 
 And here we may remark that, although so much of his 
 attention was devoted to translating and printing, Caxton 
 probably still took considerable interest in his old vocation. 
 The wool-staple at Westminster was an important mart, and 
 many of the merchants resorting thither were fellow mercers 
 
 * Stow says the Abbots of Westminster had six wool-honses in the 
 Staple granted them by King Henry VI. 
 
78 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 and benefactors to St. Margaret's Church. Some of them 
 were also fellow members with Caxton of the "Fraternity 
 or Guild of our Blessed Lady Assimiption." Several of the 
 "Account-books" of this brotherhood are still preserved in 
 the vestry of St. Margaret's ; and although they nowhere state 
 its objects, it seems, from the entries of salaries paid to 
 priests, from money spent in obits, wax, and vestments, and 
 from the granting of a few pensions, to have been somewhat 
 like the "benefit societies" of the j^resent day, with the addi- 
 tional advantage of prayers for the repose of the souls of 
 deceased members. And yet, if only a religious guild, it is 
 not apparent why they required certain tenements in Alder- 
 mary, which they leased of the Mercers' Company, not far 
 from the Steel Yard of the Hanse merchants, w^here large 
 quantities of raw wool were stapled. But whatever may have 
 been the objects of this guild, their accounts, made up by 
 their clerk every three years, show that towards the end of 
 the fifteenth century they were in a flourishing state, mth a 
 good balance to their credit; and that, on Midsummer-day, 
 they, too, had a " general feast," on which they spent a large 
 portion of their income. The expenses of these lavish feasts, 
 each time filling at least two folio pages, are entered in the 
 accounts mth gi-eat minuteness, from the amount paid to the 
 "chief cok" as a reward (which Avas more than twelve guineas 
 of modem money), down to the boat-hire for the " turbuts," 
 and nearly £l for "pottes broken and wasted at the same 
 fest." * Of this guild Caxton was a member for some years 
 before his death. 
 
 * After an entry of the payment of six priests' salaries, there occur — 
 " Costes and pcelles allowed by the hole Brotherhode toward thexpenccs 
 of the j^eiiall fest in iij'ie yere of this accorapt." 
 These " Costs and Parcels " occupy two folio pages, and contain the 
 following among other items : — 
 
 *' A tonn of wyne vj li " 
 
 " Paide to John Drayton chief sole for his re- 
 ward XXV s " 
 " Also for the hire of xxiiij doseyn of erthen 
 
 pottes for ale & wyne iiij s " 
 
WESTMINSTER. 79 
 
 It is pleasant to think of our printer as retaining the 
 friendship of the city merchants after all official relationship 
 between them had been dissolved. That this was the case is 
 proved by his warm eulogy of the City of London, and his 
 continuance as a member of the Mercers' Company. He, no 
 doubt, had many personal friends and supporters ; indeed, it 
 would be hardly a stretch of the imagination to fancy that, 
 during the holding of the great wool-staple at Westminster, 
 Caxton would be no disinterested observer, and that at its 
 close, when the wardens and the " livelihode " flocked to the 
 "dener kept at the grehounde," if not there by right as a 
 liveryman of the Mercers* Company, the printer would be 
 always a welcome guest. Surely, before parting, in remem- 
 brance of past associations and services one of the drinking 
 pledges would be, " The health of William Caxton, late gover- 
 nor of our fellowship beyond the sea." 
 
 But to return to facts. There is no doubt that Caxton 
 was residing in his tenement in the Almonry when he printed 
 the " Dictes" in 1477. He would, therefore, be in the parish 
 of St. Margaret : and it is somewhat remarkable that a person 
 bearing the same name was buried there about two years 
 later. In 1479 the parochial records show an entry among 
 
 ** Also for ertlien pottes broken & wasted at 
 
 the same fest vj s viij d " 
 
 " Also to iiij players for their labour xij s x d " 
 
 " Also to iij mynstrelles ix s xd " 
 
 " Also for the mete of diuers strangers xvj s " 
 
 '* Also for russhes ij s iiij d " 
 
 " Also for vj doseyn of white cnppes iij s " 
 
 " Also for portage and botehyre of the Turbut iiij d " 
 
 " Also for ix Turbutts xv s ij d " 
 
 Besides scores of " Capons, chekyns, gese, conyes, and peioncs 
 
 (pigeons), the chief "cok" provided them with "swannys" and 
 
 " herons," with all sorts of fish, including oysters and '* see pranys," or 
 
 prawns, with all sorts of meats and game, with jellies in " ix doscn gely 
 
 dishes," and with abundance of fruits. The quantity of ale, wine, and 
 
 ypocras provided by the butler is marvellous, and one cannot wonder at 
 
 the heavy entries for "pottes and cnppes broken and wasted." The 
 
 cook seems to have been paid much more liberally than the wardens, 
 
 who had but xxx s between them " for their diligence." 
 
80 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 the receipts of the burial fees of twenty pence for two torches 
 and three tapers at a low mass for William Caxton. Dibdin 
 assumes this man to have been our printer's father : possibly 
 so, but there is no evidence of kindred. We may notice, 
 however, that although the amount paid may to us seem 
 trifling, yet it was more than double the average burial fees 
 of that period, as is evidenced by the same accounts. About 
 this time the king ordered a payment of £30 (equal to £400 
 or £450 now) to be made to Caxton for "certain causes or 
 matters performed by him for the said Lord the King." 
 Might not this have been for assistance to Edward IV and 
 his retinue when fugitives at Bruges ? 
 
 Caxton, as might be expected, held a high position in his 
 parish ; and, within a very short time of his amval, his name 
 appears as auditor of the parish accounts. The parish audit 
 seems to have been a very simple affair. It was open to all 
 the parishioners, and the accounts were probably read aloud 
 by the clerk who was engaged by the churchwardens to keep 
 them. The balance in cash, and the custody of the "trea- 
 sures" in the church, were then handed over to the incoming 
 wardens, and the names of the most substantial parishioners 
 present were added by the clerk to the usual form declaring 
 the correctness of the accounts. The business on these occa- 
 sions, was fitly concluded by a good "supper." Caxton's 
 name appears annexed to the audit for the years 1478-80, 
 1480-82, 1482-84 ; and it would have been most gratifying 
 to have found that the signatures at the end of these and 
 other accounts were genuine autographs. All the names, how- 
 ever, are in the same handwriting, which is that of the scribe 
 or priest engaged to keep the parish books. 
 
 Caxton did not enter upon his new adventure of printing 
 books without good and able patronage. Edward IV, as we 
 have seen, paid him a sum of money for certain ser\dces per- 
 formed; and Caxton printed "Tully" and "Godfrey" under 
 the king's "protection." Edward's sister Margaret, Duchess 
 of Burgundy, was his friend and supporter, and perchance may 
 have paid a visit to her old servant at the " Eed-pale," when 
 she visited England in 1480. Margaret, Countess of Rich- 
 
WESTMINSTER. 81 
 
 raond, mother of King Henry VII, also favoured his designs. 
 Earl Rivers, brother to the queen, was a fast friend, with 
 whom Caxton seems to have enjoyed a considerable degree of 
 intimacy, and the Earl of Warwick likewise must have had 
 some knowledge of him, as Caxton dedicated to him the 
 "Chess-Book." The "Order of Chivalry" was dedicated to 
 Richard III. Henry VII personally desired Caxton to trans- 
 late and print the "Fayts of Arms," and the "Eneydos" was 
 specially presented to Arthur, Prince of Wales. Master 
 William Daubeney, King Henry VI's treasurer, was his " good 
 and synguler friend." William, Earl of Armidel, took great 
 interest in his progress, and allowed him the "yearly fee" of 
 a buck in summer and a doe in winter. Sir John Fastolf, 
 a great lover of books, of whose library several volumes still 
 exist; Hugh Bryce, mercer and king's ambassador; William 
 Pratt, a rich mercer ; and divers unnamed " gentylmen and 
 ladyes," are known to have employed him. Some of these, 
 like the " noT)le lady with many faire doughters," for whom 
 he produced "The Knyght of the Toure," engaged him to 
 translate as well as to print. 
 
 In 1486 death deprived Caxton of his old friend William 
 Pratt, who, on his death-bed, requested him to print " The 
 Book of Good Manners." The terms in which Caxton men- 
 tions Pratt as a fellow mercer, an honest man, and " a singular 
 friend of old knowledge," show that a close bond of union 
 existed between the two. It is to be hoped that their mutual 
 object — "the amendment of manners, and the increase of 
 virtuous living" — ^w-as promoted by the publication. 
 
 In 1490 died, and was buried at St. Margaret's, one 
 "Mawde Caxton," of whose relationship to William Caxton 
 there is no direct evidence. It may have been the Maude 
 who, twenty-nine years earlier, became his mfe while he was 
 yet in Bruges : if so, it will explain, in a most interesting 
 manner, the reason why he in that year suspended printing 
 the " Fayts of Arms," until he had finished a new under- 
 taking, "The Arte and Crafte to Die Well." 
 
 The history of Caxton after his settlement at Westminster 
 is almost confined to a catalogue of the productions of his 
 
82 
 
 WILIJAM CAXTOX. 
 
 press. Fortunately many were printed from his own manu- 
 script, and have additions which often afford the date of 
 translation or of printing. The foUomng table presents an 
 arrangement of these books, from which we may obtain some 
 
 DATES. 
 
 TRANSLATION. 
 
 PRINTING. 
 
 1477— Nov. 18... 
 1478— Feb. 20... 
 1479— Feb. 3... 
 
 Mar. 24... 
 1480— Apr. 22... 
 
 June 10... 
 
 Aug. 18... 
 1481— Jan. 2... 
 
 Mar. 8... 
 
 Mar. 12... 
 
 June 6... 
 
 June 7... 
 
 Aug. 12... 
 
 Nov. 20... 
 1482-Julv 2... 
 
 Oct. 8... 
 1483— June 1... 
 
 June 6... 
 June 30... 
 Sept. 2... 
 Not. 20... 
 Dec. 23... 
 1484— Jan. 31... 
 Mar. 26... 
 
 Sept.' 13... 
 1485— June 18... 
 
 July 31... 
 
 Aug. 31... 
 
 Dec. 1... 
 
 Dec. 19... 
 1480- June 8... 
 1487— May 11... 
 1489— Jan. 23... 
 
 May 7... 
 
 July 8... 
 
 1490— June 15... 
 June 22... 
 July 14... 
 
 
 Dictes, 1st edition (e) 
 Moral Proverbs (e) 
 Cordyale (b) 
 Cordyale (c) 
 
 
 
 Chronicles, 1st edit, (e) 
 Description, 1st ed. (<?) 
 
 
 
 
 vid, 15th Book (c)... 
 
 
 Mirrour, 1st edit (&)... 
 Mirrour, 1st edit. («)... 
 Godfrey (b) 
 
 
 Reynart, 1st edit. (6^)... 
 Godfrey (e) 
 
 
 
 
 Tully (e) 
 Godfrey (e) 
 
 Polycronicon (e) 
 
 Chronicles, 2nd ed. (e) 
 
 Knight of the Toure (e) 
 JEiSoip (e) 
 
 
 
 Pylgremage (<?) 
 Festival (e) 
 Confessio (<?) 
 Golden Legend (e) 
 
 Knight of the Tourc (e) 
 
 ^.sop (e) 
 
 Order of Chivalry (e) 
 
 
 
 
 Caton (e) 
 
 
 
 Ryal Book (e) 
 
 Charles (e) 
 
 King Arthur (e) 
 
 Charles (^0 
 
 Paris and Vienne (e) 
 
 Paris and Vienne {e) . 
 
 
 Good Manners (e) 
 
 Good Manners (<?) 
 
 Fayts (b) 
 
 Doctrinal (e) 
 
 Favts (e) 
 
 
 
 Directorium, 2nd ed. (c) 
 
 Art and Craft (e) 
 
 Enevdos (e^ 
 
 
 
 Fayts (e) 
 
 (ft) means begun. 
 
 {c) means ended. 
 
WKSTMDfftTKR. 
 
 idea of the time occupied in their translation and printing. 
 The majority of Caxton's works, however, ])ear no date what- 
 iever ; and here the only basis of a correct arrangement must 
 be a careful examination and comparison of the peculiarities 
 of the various types. In tliis table variations may be noticed 
 from some of the dates as printed by Caxt<^)n ; but these are 
 merely apparent discrepancies caused by the difference l^tween 
 the old and new style of reckoning the commencement of the 
 year, and aim by the custom, then so common, of dating by 
 the regnal year of the sovereign. 
 
 The same table shows that Caxton took ten weeks for the 
 translation of the " Mirrour of the World," containing 198 
 pages ; twelve weeks for " Godefroy of Bologne," 284 pages ; 
 and nearly six months for " Fayts of Arms," 2SG pages. The 
 period occupied in printing "Cordyale," 152 pages, was only 
 seven weeks, whilst "Godfrey," supposing the printing imme- 
 diately to follow the completion of the translation, took nearly 
 six months. The " Knight of the Tower," 208 pages, required 
 eight months ; " Charles the Gix^at," 188 pages, five and a half 
 months ; " Paris and Yienne," 70 i>age8, three and a half 
 months; "Good Manners," lo2 images, eleven months; and 
 " Fayts of Arms," 286 pages, more than a year. 
 
 Caxton's o^\^l translations made in this country were The 
 Whole Life of Jason ; the Mirror of the World ; Reynart the 
 Fox; Godfrey of BuUoyn; the Golden Legend; the book 
 called Caton ; the Knight of the Tower ; ^sop's Fables ; the 
 Order of Chivalry ; the Royal Book ; the Life of Charles the 
 Great ; the History of the Knight Paris and the Fair Vienne ; 
 the Book of Good Manners ; the Doctrinal of Sapience ; the 
 Fayts of Arms ; the Art and Craft to Die Well ; Eneydos ; 
 the Curial ; the Life of St. Winifred ; Blanchardin and Eglan- 
 tine; the Four Sons of Aymon; and the Gouvernayle of 
 Health. These contain more than 4,500 printed i)ages. The 
 total produce of his press, excluding the liooks printed at 
 Bruges, reaches to above 18,000 pages, nearly all of folio size. 
 These figures speak more forcibly than any argument for the 
 great industry and pei*8everance of Caxton ; and to this list 
 must be added the translation of the "Yitfe Patnim," w'hich 
 
84 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 he finished only a few hours before his death, but did not 
 live to print. 
 
 Those who have blamed Gaxton for not choosing the 
 Bible, or the works of Greece and Rome for the use and 
 instruction of his countrymen, have quite overlooked the 
 impossibility of making a business profitable (and Caxton 
 tells us, in " Charles the Great," that he earned his living by 
 it), unless it supplied the wants of the age. The demand in 
 England in the fifteenth century was not for Bibles in the 
 vernacular, nor for Horace, nor for Homer, whose ^\Titings 
 very few could read in the original texts;* but the clergy 
 wanted Service-books, and Caxton accordingly provided them 
 with Psalters, Commemorations, and Directories ; the preachers 
 wanted Sermons, and were supplied with the "Golden Legend," 
 and other similar books ; the " prynces, lordes, barons, knyghtes 
 & gentilmen" were craving for "joyous and pleysaunt his- 
 toryes" of chivalry, and the press at the " Bed-pale" produced 
 a fresh romance nearly every year. Poetry and history require 
 for their appreciation a more advanced mental education, and 
 of these, therefore, the issue was more scanty. By thus bring- 
 ing his commercial experience to bear upon his new vocation, 
 and by accommodating the supply to the demand, while, at 
 the same time, he in no slight degree directed the channel 
 in which that demand should flow, Caxton contrived to earn 
 an honest living by the produce of his press, and to avoid 
 the fate of his typographical brethren at Rome, Sweynheim 
 and Pannartz, who, having printed too many works of the 
 
 * The historian Gibbon regrets that in the choice of authors 
 Caxton '* was reduced to comply with the vicious taste of his readers ; 
 to gratify the nobles with treatises on heraldry, hawking {^Caxton 
 printed notJiing of the sorf^y and the game of Chess ; and to amuse 
 the popular credulity with romances of fabulous knights and legends of 
 some fabulous saints. The father of printing expresses a laudable desire 
 to elucidate the liistor}' of his country ; but instead of publishing the 
 the Latin chronicle of Kadulphus Higden {^wJiich very few could liave 
 read'] he could only venture on the English version by John de Trevisa 
 .... the world is not indebted to England for one frstt edition of a 
 classic author! " 
 
WESTMINSTER. 85 
 
 classic authors, about 12,000 volumes in five years, became 
 bankrupt, and sank under the dead weight of their unsold 
 volumes. 
 
 Thus, in the selection of books for his press, some of 
 which he obtained "with grete instaunce, labour, and coste" 
 — in translating and printing — in friendly communication 
 and intercourse with the best educated men of his day — in 
 the discharge of the social duties of his position — Oaxton 
 passed the few remaining years of his life. In 1491, when 
 close upon seventy years of age, but still in full vigour of 
 mind, he undertook the translation of the "Vitas Patrum." 
 Whether disease was at this time gradually undermining his 
 health, or whether, as the following colophon renders more 
 probable, he was taken off suddenly, is unknoT^^l ; but it is 
 an interesting fact that he was spared to work at his favoiuite 
 task of translation till within a few hours of his death. 
 
 The following is Wynken de Worde's colophon to the 
 " Vit^e Patrum : " — " Thus endyth the moost vertuouse hys- 
 torye of the deuoute and right renowned ly^-es of holy faders 
 lyuynge in deserte, worthy of remembraunce to all wel dysposed 
 persones which hath be translated oute of Frenche into 
 Englisshe by William Oaxton of Westmjiistre late deed and 
 fynysshed at the laste daye of hys lyff," 
 
 The exact date of his death has not been ascertained ; but 
 the burial is entered in the parish accounts for 1490-92, and 
 from the position of the entry would appear to have taken 
 place towards the close of the year 1491. .This date is con- 
 finned by the following manuscript note, quoted by Ames : — 
 "There is wrote dowTi in a very old hand in a Fnwtm 
 Tpmpoi'um of my friend Mr. Ballard's, of Cambden, in Glou- 
 cestershire : — * Of your charitee pray for the soul of Mayster 
 Wyllyam Caxton, that in hys time was a man of moche oniate 
 and moche renommed Avysdome and connyng, and decessed 
 fill crystenly the yere of our Lord MCCCC lxxxxj.' " 
 
 " Moder of Merci shyld him fro thorribul fynd, 
 And bryng hym to lyff eternall that ucuyr hath }Tid.'* 
 
 He was buried in his o^^^l parish churchyard, and in the 
 
80 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 account-books of the churchwardens appear the ft)llowin^ 
 funeral charges : — 
 
 Item atte Burcyng of William Caxton for iiij torches ... vj s viij d 
 Item for the belle atte same bureyng vj d 
 
 These fees are considerably higher than those paid by the 
 majority of the parishioners, and ai-e equalled in but very few 
 instances; they thus afford farther evidence of the superior 
 position held by our printer in his parish. 
 
 Caxton's property consisted probably of little more than 
 his stock in trade. He nevertheless left a will, as fifteen 
 copies of the "Golden Legend" are recorded in the parish 
 accounts as having been " bequothen to the chirch Ixihove by 
 WiUiam Caxston." The " Golden Legend " was first printed 
 in 1484, but the second edition, of which the bequest proba- 
 bly consisted, was not executed till four or five years later. 
 By the churchwardens' account for 1496-98, it appears that 
 by that time they had disposed of three of the fifteen copies : 
 one for 6s Sd, and another for 6s 4^, by the agency of William 
 Ryolle ; and one for Gs Sd to the parish priest, probably for 
 his own use. Within the next two years William Geiffe 
 took five copies at an average of 5s 4:d each ; John Crosse 
 one copy at 5s 8^; Walter Marten one at 5s 11^; and Daniel 
 Aforge one at 5s 10^; another being sold in "Westmynster 
 halle" for 5s 8^. This should have left remaining, in 1500, 
 four copies to be accounted for, but the "Memorandum" 
 acknowledges only th?^ee ; probably one copy had been appro- 
 priated by the churchwardens to the use of their church. 
 Two more copies were sold in the ensuing two years, and one 
 left unaccounted for. 
 
 The discovery of Caxton's will would probably settle satis- 
 factorily many questions about his family and relations, but 
 all the registries in which it might possibly have been depo- 
 sited have been searched without success. 
 
 That our knowledge of William Caxton is confined ahnost 
 entirely to his public life, is much to be regretted. We can 
 trace to some extent his career in commerce as well as in 
 diplomacy. As a printer too, we can judge of him by an 
 
WESTMIK8TER. 87 
 
 examination of his works ; but when we wish to portray the 
 man as a master, or in domestic life, or we desire to know 
 what his neighbours thought of him, we fail for want of reliable 
 material. From his appending a bitter satire on " women " 
 to the " Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers," we might 
 have inclined to think him a bachelor, did we not know that 
 he had a wife and daughter when he came to England ; but 
 that he was unmarried while " governor " at Bruges is almost 
 certain, as the rules of celibacy were very strict among mer- 
 chants living out of their own countries. The Steel Yard 
 merchants had a stringent law on the subject, and the Mer- 
 chant Adventurers were doubtless guided by the same policy. 
 We naturally turn to the prologues and epilogues attached 
 to Caxton's translations for traits of character, but here again, 
 we are surrounded by difficulties. There existed in those 
 days no rights in literature. Every author took from others 
 what best suited his puri)ose, and that without acknowledg- 
 ment, except to give authority to his o\^ii opinions. This 
 practice has involved many of the worlds of that period in 
 considerable obscurity. Caxton was not free from this charac- 
 teristic of his age, and we accordingly find him appropriating 
 whole prologues and epilogues from the French originals, 
 altering them only when inapplicable to himself Such in- 
 stances may be seen in the "Chess Book," the "Mirror," 
 the " Golden Legend," " Charles," and others. Great care is 
 therefore requisite to distinguish between Caxton's o\^ii 
 thoughts and the mere translation of those of others. But, 
 after making due allowance for all this, there yet remains, 
 in Caxton's prologues and epilogues, a substratum of indi- 
 viduality, which muist be the basis for any right appreciation 
 of his character. His repeated eulogies of Edward IV, and 
 the members of his family, indicate that all his political 
 sympathies were with the House of York. This wiis but 
 natural, for the development of trade consetiuent upon amity 
 between England and the princes of the Low Countries, made 
 all the English merchants staunch adherents to the White 
 Rose. His AVTitings also reveal that he had a deep sense of 
 religion, and was strict in the observance of his Christian 
 
88 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 duties. Although in one sense the greatest reformer that this 
 country has ever known, he was quite unconscious of the 
 tendency of the art wliich he introduced. In the tone of his 
 mind he was indeed eminently conservative, comparing the 
 good old times of his apprenticeship mth the degeneracy of 
 the succeeding generations, when in the youth of London there 
 was " no kernel nor good corn found, but chaff for the most 
 part." Much concerned was he to note in his latter days the 
 decline of chivalry, and he urged his Sovereign to take imme- 
 diate measures for its revival, even to the extent of engaging 
 in a new crusade against the Turks for the recovery of the 
 " holy cyte of Jherusalem." Conservative as he was in theory, 
 there seems reason to believe that he was no less so in practice. 
 Caxton never gave in to the new-fangled ideas of printers 
 about the advantage of title-pages to books, though if we may 
 judge from the fact of Wynken de Worde using them imme- 
 diately after his master's death, he was of the reverse opinion. 
 In the adoption of signatures, initials, and lines of an even 
 length, he was very tardy, and from the use of red ink he was 
 evidently averse. 
 
 As a linguist, Caxton undoubtedly excelled. In his native 
 tongue, notwithstanding his self-depreciation, he seems to 
 have been a master. His Amtings, and the style of his trans- 
 lations, will bear comparison Mith Lydgate, with Gower, with 
 Earl Rivers, the Earl of Worcester, and other contempo- 
 raneous writers. Many of his readers, indeed, thought him 
 too " ornate " and " over curious " in his diction, and desired 
 him to use more homely terms ; but, since others found fault 
 with him for not using polished and courtly phrases, we may 
 fairly presume that he attained the happy medium, " ne over 
 rude, ne over curious," at which he aimed. When excited by 
 a favourite subject, as the "Order of Chivalry," he waxed 
 quite eloquent ; and the appeal of Caxton to the knighthood 
 of England, has been often quoted as a remarkable specimen 
 of fifteenth-century declamation. AYith the French tongue 
 he was thoroughly conversant, although he had never been in 
 France ; but Bruges was almost French, and in the Court of 
 Burgundy, as well as in that of England, French was the 
 
WESTMINSTER. 89 
 
 chief medium of conversation. With Flemish he was also 
 well acquainted, as shown by his translation of " Reynart ;" 
 indeed, this language, after so long a residence in Bruges, 
 must have become almost his mother-tongue. 
 
 Caxton's knowledge of Latin has often been denied or 
 underrated ; but as goveni(fr of the EngUsh nation in Bruges, 
 and as ambassador, he must have been able to read the 
 treaties he assisted to conclude, and the correspondence )i\ith 
 the king's council. Moreover, he printed books entirely in 
 the Latin tongue, some of which were full of contractions, 
 and could only ha^'e been undertaken by one well acquainted 
 with that language. These were the "Infancia Salvatoris," 
 three editions of the "Directorium Sacerdotum," a "Psal- 
 terium," " Horae," " Tractatus de Transfiguracione," and 
 several "Indulgences." To "ordain in print" a Latin manu- 
 script of the fourteenth or fifteenth century required a 
 knowledge of the language on the part of the workman as well 
 a£ of the master ; for, as the letters n and u were identical in 
 shape, and as m and t varied only in the number of strokes, 
 the latter being without a dot, it was impossible to read some 
 words — for instance, mitiiiiiuiii (minimum), where fifteen 
 parallel strokes distract the eye — apart from their context. 
 We have, however, in the English translation of the " Golden 
 Legend" positive evidence on this point; for, in the "Life 
 of Saynt Rocke," the printer says, "which lyff is translated 
 oute of latyn in to englysshe by me wyllyam Caxton." 
 
 As translator, editor, and author, Caxton has not received 
 his due meed of praise. The works wliich he undertook at 
 the suggestion of his patrons, as well as those selected by 
 himself, are honestly translated, and, considering the age in 
 which he lived, are well chosen. Romances, the favourite 
 literature of his age, were Caxton's great delight — and that 
 not merely for the feats of personal prowess which they nar- 
 rated, although no quality was more desirable in the fifteenth 
 century, but rather, a« he himself says, for the examples of 
 "courtesy, humanity, friendliness, hardiness, love, cowardice, 
 murder, hate, \'irtue, and sin," which " inflamed the hearts of 
 the readers and hearere to eschew and flee works vicious and 
 
90 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 dishonest." In Poetry Caxton shows to great advantage, for 
 he printed all the works of any merit which then existed. 
 The prologue to his second edition of the " Canterbury Tales" 
 proves how anxious he was to be correct, and at the same 
 time shows the difficulty he had in obtaining manuscripts 
 free from error. The poetical reverence with which Caxton 
 speaks of Chaucer, " the first founder of ornaie eloquence in 
 our English," and the pains he took to reprint the " Canter- 
 bury Tales " when a purer text than that of his first edition 
 was offered to him, show his high appreciation of England's 
 first great poet. In History the only available works in 
 English were the "Chronicle of Brute" and the "Polycroni- 
 cou;" the latter Caxton carried down, to the best of his 
 ability, to nearly his owii time. It was, indeed, as a writer of 
 history that Caxton was best knoTNoi to our older authors, some 
 of whom, while including his name among those of English 
 historians, have overlooked the far more important fact that 
 he was also England's prototypographer. 
 
 AU reference to the literary forgery of Atkyns, who, in the 
 seventeenth century, to support his claim to certain exclusive 
 privileges of printing under the king's patent, invented the 
 foolish story of the abduction, by Tumour and Caxton, of one 
 of the Haarlem workmen, and his settlement at Oxford in 
 1464, has here been purposely omitted. The whole account is 
 so evidently false, so entirely at variance with the known facts 
 in Caxton's history, and has been so often disproved in works 
 on English typography, that it needs no further refutation. 
 
 As to Caxton's industry, it was marvellous : at an age when 
 most men begin to take life easily, he not only embarked in 
 an entirely new trade, but added to the duties of its general 
 supervision and management, which could never have been 
 light, the task of supplying his workmen with copy from his 
 own pen. The extraordinary amount of printed matter, 
 original, and translated, which he put forth has already been 
 noticed ; but there seems reason to beheve that some of his 
 works, both printed and manuscript, have been entirely lost. 
 Of his translation of the " Metamorphoses of Ovid," only Book 
 XV has been preserved ; but we may be certain that Caxton 
 
WESTMIKSTEE. 91 
 
 never would have begun to translate at the end of a work ; 
 and it seems probable, as the manuscript is evidently intended 
 for the press, that the whole was printed as well as translated. 
 Moreover several of Caxton's works being unique, and others 
 having been but recently discovered, we may conclude that 
 time will yet reveal to us other specimens. 
 
 Great interest would attach to a veritable portrait of 
 Caxton, but although two or three have been published, they 
 are all apocryphal. The only one that has any appearance 
 of probability is the small defaced illumination in the maim- 
 gcript of " Dictes and Sayings" at Lambeth Palace, which has 
 received too much praise from Horace Walpole, who engraved 
 it for his " Royal and Noble Authors." King Edward IV is 
 represented on his throne, with the young prince (to whom 
 Earl Rivers was tutor) standing by his side: there are two 
 kneeling figures, one of which. Earl Rivers, is presenting to 
 the king a copy of his own translation, which Horace Walpole 
 assumes to have been printed by the other, who of course 
 would then be Caxton. If this were the case it would be 
 very interesting ; but unfortunately the second figure is evi- 
 dently an ecclesiastic, as shown by his tonsure, and apparently 
 represents " Hay wardc " the scribe, who engrossed the copy, 
 and probably executed the illumination. The portrait com- 
 monly received as that of Caxton, and which first appeared in 
 his " Life," by Lewis, is thus accounted for by Dr. Dibdin : — 
 " A portrait of BurcMeUo, the Italian poet, from an octavo 
 edition of his work on Tuscan poetry, of the date of 1554, 
 was inaccurately copied by Faithorne for Sir Hans Sloane, as 
 the portrait of Caxton." In Lewis's " Life," this portrait was 
 "improved" by adding a thick beard to Burchiello's chin, and 
 otherwise altering his character ; and in this form the Italian 
 poet made his appearance, upon copper, as Caxton. Ames, 
 Herbert, Marchand, and others, have reproduced this absurd 
 engraving. From a note, however, TVTitten by Lewis to Ames, 
 it appears that, although Lewis admitted the portrait, it was 
 Bagford's creative genius that invented it, as may also be 
 inferred from Lewis's own subscription " mv. Bafifard," upon 
 the plate. 
 
92 WILLIAM C.VXTON. 
 
 As an instance of his appreciation of a higher life than can 
 be obtained from riches alone, we will quote an anecdote which 
 Caxton himself wrote, and added as an appendix to " JSsop's 
 Fables." 
 
 " There were dwelling in Oxford two priests, both Masters 
 of Art, of whom that one was quick and could put himself 
 forth, and that other was a good simple priest. And so it 
 happened that the master that was pert and quick was anon 
 promoted to a benefice or two, and after to prebends, and for 
 to be a dean. So after long time this worshipful man, this 
 dean, came riding into a good parish with ten or twelve 
 horses, like a prelate, and came into the church of the said 
 parish, and found there tliis good simple man, sometime his 
 fellow, which came and welcomed him lowly. And that other 
 bade him. Good morrow. Master John, and took him slightly 
 by the hand and axed him where he dwelled. And the good 
 man said. In this parish. How ! said he. Are ye here a 
 soul-priest or a parish-priest ? Xay, sir, said he ; for lack of 
 a better I am parson and curate of this parish. Then that 
 other availed his bonnet and said. Master parson, I pray you 
 be not displeased, I had supposed you not to be beneficed; 
 but, master, said he, I pray you, what is this benefice worth 
 to you a year ? Forsooth, said the good simple man, I wot 
 not, for I make never account thereof, although I have had 
 it four or five yeai-s. And know you not what it is worth ! 
 it should seem a good benefice? No, forsooth, said he; 
 but I wot well what it shall be worth to me. Why, said he, 
 what shall it be worth ? Forsooth, if I do my true dihgence 
 in the cure of my parishioners in preaching and teaching, and 
 do the part belonging to my cure, I shaU have heaven therefor. 
 And if their souls be lost, or one of them by my default, 1 
 shall he punished therefor, and hereof am I sure. And with 
 that word the rich dean was abashed. This was a good answer 
 of a good priest and and honest." 
 
 No attempt has been made in the preceding sketch to 
 exalt Caxton at the expense of historical truth. As England's 
 first typographer, a never-dying interest will surround his 
 name. Except as a printer, he nowhere shines forth pre- 
 
WESTMINSTEB. 
 
 93 
 
 eminent. But although we cannot attribute to him those 
 rare mental powers which can gra«p the hidden laws of nature, 
 nor the still more rare creative genius which endures through- 
 out all time, we can claim for him a character which attracted 
 the love and respect of his associates — a character on which 
 history has chronicled no stain — a character which, although 
 surroimded, through a long period of civil war, by the worst 
 forms of cruelty, hypocrisy, and injustice in Church and State, 
 retained to the last its innate simplicity and truthfiilness. 
 
CHAPTER TX. 
 
 THE MASTER PRINTER. 
 
 HE question of the exact spot upon which 
 England's first printing press was estab- 
 lished has already been discussed. The 
 well-kno^^^l advertisement of Caxton, 
 which states that pies of Salisbury use 
 were on sale at the "Red-pale," in the 
 almonry, at Westminster, not only indicates the position of 
 his house, but also the sign by Avhich it was known. The 
 precise appearance of the almonry in the fifteenth century 
 nnist be to some extent imaginary, but we know that alms- 
 houses were there, and probably two or three structures besides 
 that occupied by Caxton. 
 
 We will now ask the reader to imagine fourteen years 
 passed since Caxton first began working at his new art. It 
 is not difficult to picture the wooden building in the almonry 
 occupied by his sedate but busy workmen. We can look in 
 at yonder window, and see the venerable master printer him- 
 self "sittjiig in his studye where lay many and dyuerse 
 paunflettis and bookys." The great towers of Westminster 
 Abbey cast their shadow across the room, for he is an early 
 riser and already at work upon his translation of the new 
 French romance, called "Eneydos." The "fayre and ornate 
 termes" of his author give him "grete plasyr," and he 
 labours, almost without intermission, till the low sun, blazing 
 from the western windows, w-ams him of the day's decline. 
 
THE MASTER PRINTER. 
 
 Again, we watch him pass with observant eye through the 
 rooms where his servants are at work ; we see the movements 
 of the Compositors, who ply their rapid fingers close to the 
 narrow windows ; we hear the thud-thud of the wooden presses 
 as the workmen "pull to" and "send home" the "bar," 
 discussing meanwhile the latest news; and we sympathise 
 with the binder, who, hammering away at the volume between 
 his knees, looks in despair at the ever-increasing progeny of 
 his master's art. Piles of books and printed " quayers " rise 
 on all sides, and many a wise head is ominously shaken at the 
 folly of supposing that purchasers can be found for so many 
 books. Nevertheless Caxton pursues his busy course, ever at 
 work with mind and body, preparing copy for the press, and 
 guiding and instructing his workmen in the art which he had 
 learned in Bruges at " grete charge and dispense," and the 
 practices of which are to be explained in the following 
 chapter. 
 
 Of all the workmen employed at the " Red-pale," the names 
 of three only have descended to us. 
 
 Wynken de "Worde, who was probably a native of the 
 town of Worth in Belgium, appears to have been the chief 
 man. When he entered Caxton's service is unknown ; it was 
 probably at an early age, as he was still living in the year 
 1535. In 1491 he succeeded to the stock in trade of his 
 deceased master, but he did not append his ovm name to his 
 books until 1493. He used many varieties of Caxton's " mark." 
 
 Richard Pynson speaks respectfully of Caxton as " my 
 worshipful master." He at first set up a press just outside 
 Temple Bar, and used Caxton's device in his books. 
 
 William Copland remained for some time after Caxton's 
 death in the service of Wynken de Worde. He, too, in his 
 prologue to "Kynge Apolyne of Thyre," mentions "my 
 master Caxton." Doubtless there were many others, and some 
 have supposed that Machlinia, Lettou, and Tr^eris were 
 among the number; but there is no evidence that these 
 printers were ever reckoned among Caxton's workmen. 
 
 We come now to the mechanical means by which, during 
 fourteen years, Caxton carried on his business. Was the 
 
96 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 process of book-making the same as it is at the present 
 time ? What sorts of types, and how many founts were 
 used ? How were the types made, and what were their sizes ? 
 Did the compositors use upper and lower case, sticks, chases, 
 brass rule, reglets, farniture, and the various appliances of a 
 modern composing-room ? What were the presses like, and 
 the practices of the pressmen ? And lastly. In what form 
 were Caxton's books issued to the public ? To most of these 
 questions it would, at first sight, seem as though no definite 
 answer could be given ; but when attention is directed to the 
 books themselves, undesigned, and therefore most trustworthy, 
 evidence will be fomid in them as to many technical customs 
 and peculiarities of the early printers. 
 
 Before the invention of printing, the art of book-making, 
 mechanically considered, was divided into three departments : 
 the manufacture of the material upon which to Avrite, almost 
 entirely parchment or vellum ; the ink making and the writ- 
 ing, the scribe being his own ink maker ; and the binding. 
 Illuminators there were, of course, but their work was merely 
 ornamental, and by no means necessary to the idea of a book. 
 In monasteries famous for the diffusion of learning all these 
 branches were carried on together. So- has it been with 
 printers, who, from the infancy of their art to the present 
 time, have occasionally included everything necessary to a 
 perfect book in one establishment. If all the trades which, 
 either directly or indirectly, are called into operation by 
 printers were to be enumerated, few indeed would be omitted ; 
 nevertheless, the absolute necessaries for the production of a 
 book are — the material upon which to print, the types and 
 presses mth which to print, and the workmen to handle them. 
 We will, therefore, consider Caxton's books under the follow- 
 ing heads : — 
 
 The paper. j To these may be added, al- 
 
 The types. | though not as necessary 
 
 The compositor. | assistants : 
 
 The press, the pressman, 
 
 and the ink. 
 The bookbinder. 
 
 The rubricator, illuminator, 
 and wood-engTaver. 
 
THE MASTER PIUNTEIl. 97 
 
 THE PAPER. 
 
 Fortunately, there is no need to enter here upon the 
 obscure origin of the manufacture of paper. The only ques- 
 tion which concerns us is — What kind of paper did C ax ton 
 use, and whence did he obtain it ? He certainly had several 
 sizes ; the largest, which was probably found too unwieldy, was 
 used only for the first two editions of the " Golden Legend," 
 an uncut copy of which, in the University Library at Cam- 
 bridge, gives 22 X 15| inches for the full measurement of a 
 whole sheet. The large size of this ' book was, doubtless, 
 suited to its intended use — ^in the public services of the 
 church. He likewise used several smaller sizes, which varied 
 according to the moulds in which the sheets were made, from 
 18i X 13 inches to 16 x 11 inches. 
 
 The quality of the paper varied considerably, though not 
 to the extent apparent in the books as they now exist — 
 chemical " doctoring " and washing, which have in many 
 instances been resorted to for cleansing purposes, having 
 weakened and rotted much of the paper so treated, whilst 
 the untouched specimens remain strong and fibrous. We 
 observe in books still in the original bindings, and apparently 
 untouched, that the paper was rough — sometimes very rough 
 — on the surface, with long hairs frequently imbedded in it, 
 and marks where many more had been removed ; of a strong 
 fibrous texture, unbleached, and of a clear mellow whiteness, 
 indicating an absence of colouring matter in the pulp. 
 
 The axicompanying woodcut shows a paper-mill of this 
 period. A water-wheel was arranged to turn a wooden shaft 
 upon which were rows of cogs which continually hfted up to 
 the height of a few inches a number of wooden pestles, and 
 then let them fall upon the material, which was always in 
 shallow water. The whole of the fibre was thus retained with 
 its length and strength uninjured. Wlien the pulp was ready 
 it was taken up, in small quantities, into the hand-mould, 
 and formed into a sheet. There would be no difficulty what- 
 ever in making paper nowadays in a similar manner, only no 
 one in the trade would spare the time and labour, and no one 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 out of the trade would pay for the cost and trouble of its 
 production. 
 
 The unevenness in thickness and colour to which the 
 manufacture was liable at this early period, appears to have 
 necessitated a sorting of the sheets after they came from the 
 mill ; those nearest to each other in colour and weight being 
 put together. This system of selection was adopted occa- 
 sionally for single copies, economy being doubtless the induce- 
 ment. When two or three examples of a book can be com- 
 pared together this fact is often very evident, as in the two 
 copies of "The Knight of the Tower" which are in the 
 British Museum, where the variation in quality is too great 
 to be accounted for except by this practice of selection. 
 Several other instances show that Caxton, when preparing to 
 print a new volume, told off the paper separately for certain 
 copies. This custom also accounts for the astonishing variety 
 of water-marks frequently found in one volume. 
 
 Some possessors of uncut specimens of Caxton's press have 
 imagined them to be " large paper copies," but we have no 
 evidence that Caxton designedly printed special copies, except, 
 perhaps, in the instances of the vellum " Doctrinal " and 
 
THE MASTER PRIKTER. 99 
 
 " Directorium," hereafter to be noticed, but of these the 
 appearance is by no means that of livres de luxe. 
 
 Watermarks are of much less value in bibliography than 
 some writers have ima^ned. In but very few instances can 
 a hmit of time be fixed for their use ; and as the marks might 
 be repeated, or the paper itself kept for any length of time, 
 and imported to any place, they cannot be used as evidence 
 either of the date when, or the place where, a book passed 
 through the press. The arms of France — three fleurs-de-lis 
 on a shield, surmounted by a crown — ^which appear as a 
 watermark in "Le Recueil des Histoires de Troyes," have 
 been adduced by M. Bernard as evidence of the French origin 
 of the printed work. He was doubtless unaware that the same 
 watermark appears in " The Eecuyell," " Canterbury Tales," 
 1st edition, "Mirrour," 1st edition, "Jason," "Chronicles," 
 "Polycronicon," "Speculum Vitae Christi," "Dictes," 2nd 
 edition, and many others, embracing the whole of Caxton's 
 typographical career. When, however, paper bears the arms 
 of a nation or a city, Ave may, in such a case, fairly conjecture, 
 although not with certainty, the seat of its manufacture. It 
 appears likely that all Caxton's paper was imported from the 
 Low Countries, and it was in all probability purchased from 
 some old connection in the great mart of Bruges. But where- 
 ever obtained, there was a great intermixture of quaUties, 
 including the make of several mills. "We have never yet seen 
 one of Caxton's books in which the same watermark runs 
 through the whole volume, and in many cases the variety is 
 astonishing. Thus, in a copy of the first edition of the 
 " Canterbury Tales," now in the library of Mr. Huth, there 
 appear no less than fifteen distinct watermarks. 
 
 A few of the marks found in Caxton's books are here 
 given. As already remarked, they indicate the Low Coun- 
 tries as the land of their origin, and most of them are found 
 also in the block-books, the works of Colard Mansion, Gerard 
 Leeu, and other early printers. 
 
 No. 1. The Bull's Head, which appears in the earliest speci- 
 mens of paper known, and was a favourite symbol with 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
THE MASTER PRINTEB. 101 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
102 WILLIAM CAXTOJf. 
 
 paper makers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 
 The varieties of it are very numerous. 
 
 No. 2. The Arms of John the Fearless, son of Philip the 
 Hardy. As eldest son the field is charged with a label : 
 the superimposed cross referring to his crusade in 1395. 
 This and the six succeeding marks have a direct 
 connection with the ruling dynasty in Flanders and the 
 Low Countries. 
 
 No. 3. The letter p is very common in Caxton's books, and 
 is perhaps the initial of Philip the Good ; although 
 paper bearing a p had also been made in the reign of 
 Philip the Hardy. Its varieties are very numerous. 
 
 No. 4. The letter g is thought by Sotheby to be the initial 
 of Ysabel, third wife of Philip the Good. 
 
 Mr. Sotheby, in his hst of Caxton's watermarks, 
 mentions the p and g combined, as occurring in the 
 British Museum copy of "Jason." During a careful 
 search, however, in the same copy, I was unable to 
 detect any such mark. 
 
 No. 5. The Unicorn — a symbol of powder adopted by PhiUp 
 the Good, who chose two unicorns as supporters of his 
 coat-of-arms. The same figure was used extensively as 
 an ornament in his palace and furniture. 
 
 No. 6. The Arms of France. These were frequently used by 
 paper-makers of the Low Countries, probably in refer- 
 ence to the direct descent of the House of Burgundy 
 from the Kings of France. 
 
 No. 7. The Arms of Champagne. This province was ceded 
 to the Duke of Burgundy in 1430 by the King of 
 France. 
 
 No. 8. The Hand, over which is a single fleur-de-lis, the 
 peculiar badge of the House of Burgundy. 
 In Caxton's books the p is the most common among the 
 
 watermarks, the order of frequency among the others being 
 
 as follows : — The Hand or Glove ; the Arms of Champagne ; 
 
 the Bull's Head ; the Arms of France ; the Greyhound ; the 
 
 the Arms of John the Fearless ; Shears ; a Pot ; an Anchor ; 
 
 an Unicorn ; a Bull ; a Cross ; Grapes ; a Pelican, &c. 
 
THE MASTER PEINTER. 103 
 
 The reader curious on this point may see numerous other 
 watermarks figured by Mr. Sotheby in the third volume of his 
 " Principia Typograpliica." Many of these are merely varia- 
 tions of the mark, the paper being made in the same mould. 
 An accidental injury, or even the wear and tear of the mould 
 by constant use, often caused a contortion of the wires. In 
 rare instances the watermark occurs uninjured in shape, but 
 quite at the edge of the paper. This has been accounted 
 for by supposing the fine wires which held the watermark 
 in its place on the mould to have become loosened by decay, 
 or some accident, and so allowed the mark to slide along the 
 face of the mould, but it is more probably caused by the use 
 of large sheets of paper cut down to a smaller size. 
 
 Of the value of paper in Caxton's time we may form some 
 idea from the prices paid by the directors of the Kipoh press, 
 at Florence, between 1474 and 1483. An originaT "Cost 
 book" of this establishment is still extant in the Magliabechian 
 library at Florence. It is one of the most interesting docu- 
 ments connected with early typography, and has been edited 
 and published by the Padre Vincenzio Fineschi. From this 
 it appears that the following nine sizes or qualities of paper 
 were then in use, the EngUsh prices given being about the 
 present equivalent, reckoning the lira at 3s 9^?. 
 
 PER REAM. 
 
 1. Large paper of Bologna in common folio, about £l 4 2 
 
 2. Middling ditto ditto . . 33 2 J 
 
 3. Small ditto ditto . . 11 3^ 
 
 4. Paper of Fabriauo, with a crossbow for water- 
 
 mark 12 4J 
 
 5. Ditto, with a cross for watermark .... 8 7^ 
 
 6. Paper of CoUe 8 7^ 
 
 7. Paper of Prato 9 4J 
 
 8. Paper of Pescia, with spectacks for watermark 10 10 J 
 
 9. The same, with a ^Zoi'e for watermark ... 9 
 
 Zanetti quotes a document, dated 1483, which states the 
 price of paper in Florence to have been, at that period, for 
 " Carta reale, quaderni 10... 3 lir. 6 sol.8d ;" and for " Carta da 
 
104 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Bcrivere il quademo...l8 sol.;" that is, royal paper about 
 12s 5d per ten quires, and writing paper 3s 4^ per quire. 
 
 The first paper maker in England was John Tate. He 
 manufactured specially for Caxton's successor, Wynken de 
 Worde, who thus announces the fact in his edition of " Bar- 
 tholoma3us de Proprietatibus," printed about the year 1498 : — 
 
 "And John Tate the younger, 
 
 Joye mote he broke, 
 Whiche late hath in Englond doc 
 
 Made this paper thynne, • 
 
 That now in oure englisshe 
 
 This boke is prynted Innc." 
 
 Tate, who died in 1514, and whose A\ill is preserved in the 
 principal registry of the Court of Probate, left considerable 
 property, several of his legacies being in paper. 
 
 It is somewhat remarkable that Caxton should have made 
 so sparing a use of vellum for his books, and should have been 
 so indifferent about the quality of the skins which he did 
 employ. The only examples known are a copy of the " Doc- 
 trinal of Sapience," at Windsor Castle, for a long time thought 
 to be unique, and a "Speculum vitas Christi," now in the 
 British Museum, to which may be added a few slips on which 
 Indulgences are printed. 
 
 THE TYPES. 
 
 The question of the invention of moveable types, like that 
 of the origin of paper, is one into which we have no need 
 here to enter. The majority of writers on this subject having 
 been unacquainted with the characteristics of type, have 
 strayed far and wide in the discussion. M. Bernard, however, 
 WTiting as a practical printer, has done much to dispel 
 numerous misapprehensions, and especially that common 
 error of supposing that the first moveable types were cut in 
 wood. 
 
 We now proceed to lay before the reader the earliest 
 notices of typefounders, and such evidence as may explain the 
 mechanics of typefounding in the fifteenth century, especially 
 with reference to the types of Caxton. 
 
THE MASTER PRINTER. 105 
 
 Perhaps no part of the Typographic Art is hidden in more 
 utter darkness than the early manufacture of the types. 
 Oonsiderable secrecy no doubt accompanied all the operations 
 of the first printers, and was maintained down to a com- 
 paratively late period. Moreover, it was but natural that the 
 results of the new art should hold a more prominent place 
 in men's minds than the processes by which those results 
 were produced, and thus, although printers and printing were 
 often mentioned, we find nothing concerning the mechanical 
 part of typefounding anterior to that curious little book of 
 trades, with illustrations by Jost Amman, which was issued at 
 Frankfort in 1568 The author, in the few lines which accom- 
 pany the illustration, omits all reference to the process, but, 
 from the woodcut of the " SchriflFfcgiesser " and his tools, we 
 shall further on draw some practical inferences concerning 
 early typefounding. 
 
 Whether Caxton, whose account of his first typographical 
 venture is contained in the prologue to the Third Book of 
 " The Recuyell," made himself acquainted with the manufac- 
 . ture as well as with the use of his types there is no evidence 
 to prove. He simply remarks, " Therefore I have practysed 
 and lerned at my grete charge and dispense to ordeyne this 
 said book in prynte." If he only procured types and presses, 
 and the requisite knowledge to control their use, it no doubt 
 cost him a considerable sum. The probability is that his first 
 two founts were cast at Bruges according to his instructions, 
 and that he brought the second over with him to Westminster. 
 But, when once settled in his native country, we may weU 
 consider whether he would not, for convenience sake, have 
 become his own typefounder. No stray hint or remark can 
 be found to incline us to the one opinion or the other. 
 Several generations of printers passed away before we find in 
 any work the slightest allusion to English typefounders. The 
 earliest appears in Archbishop Parker's preface to Asser's 
 Chronicle of King Alfred, where, in speaking of the Saxon 
 types with which the book was printed, the editor states that 
 as far as he knew. Day, the printer, was the first to cut 
 them : — " lam ver5 cumDayus typographus primus (& omnium 
 
106 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 certe quod sciam solus) has formulas seri inciderit : facile quae 
 Saxonicis Uteris perscripta sunt, iisdem typis diuulgabuntur." 
 This leads us to suppose that John Day was only one type- 
 founder among others, and that therefore the art was at that 
 time by no means a novel one in England. Seventy years 
 later we find typefounding a distinct trade in London, and 
 under rigid Government protection, as we learn from the 
 following decree : — 
 
 "Decreed by the Court of Starre-Chamber, 11th July, 
 1637:— 
 
 "That there shall be Four Founders of letters for 
 
 printing and no more. 
 "That the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Bishop 
 
 of London, with Six other High Commissioners, 
 
 shall supply the places of those four as they shall 
 
 become void. 
 "That no master Founder shall keep above two 
 
 Apprentices at one time." 
 Despite this restrictive care, however, the typefounders of 
 Holland and Flanders supplied English Printers with better 
 types than native art could produce, until the estabhshment 
 of a foundry by the first Caslon. 
 
 The only English author before the rise of encyclopsedias, 
 who described the process of type manufacture was Joseph 
 Moxon. This ingenious author, writing in 1683, gives an 
 account of the whole Art of Printing, as practised in an im- 
 proved style by himself, and devotes several chapters to the 
 various methods of punch cutting, matrix sinking, and type 
 founding. The process then adopted was very similar to that 
 still in use, and difiered greatly from that of Caxton, or 
 Caxton's typefounder. The practice of Moxon, like that of 
 modern typefounders, was to cut each letter in relief on a 
 piece of steel to form the punch — to strike this punch into a 
 small piece of copper, which made the matrix — and then to 
 fit this matrix to the bottom of an iron mould into which the 
 liquid metal was poured. The mould, which formed the 
 shank of the type, was capable of a sliding adjustment, 
 widthwisc, to the width of the various letters (from an i to 
 
THE MASTER PRINTER. 107 
 
 an ^); the depth or size of the bodi/ always remaining 
 the same throughout the fount. Thus, by using each matrix 
 successively in the same mould, exactness in size of body was 
 insured. 
 
 The want of this exactness, indicated by the uneven appear- 
 ance of the lines, and other considerations, lead to the con- 
 clusion that the fifteenth-century printers did not practise 
 this method, but is very difficult even to speculate upon that 
 which they did employ in the production of their types. The 
 examination of many specimens has led me to conclude that 
 two schools of typography existed together. The ruder con- 
 sisted of those printers who practised their art in Holland 
 and the Low Countries, and who, by degrees only, adopted 
 the better and more perfect methods of the school founded 
 in Germany by the celebrated trio — Fust, Gutenberg, and 
 Schoeffer. None of these divulged the secrets of their art. 
 One fact, however, we know with certainty, and that is that 
 the German school employed the very best artists that Europe 
 could produce to cut the patterns, or rather punches, for 
 their types. In an interesting tract from the pen of Sir 
 Anthony Panizzi it is proved that the celebrated Bolognese 
 goldsmith, medallist and painter, Francia, was the artist w-ho 
 cut all the Aldine types, the elegance of which ^N-ill for ever 
 associate the name of Aldus with the perfection of printing. 
 From the " Cost Book " of the Ripoli press, at Florence, we 
 find also that steel, iron, and tin were used in the manufacture 
 of types about 1480. But the English printers, whose prac- 
 tice seems to have been derived from the Flemish school, 
 were far behind their contemporaries in the art. Their types 
 show that a very rude process of founding was practised, and 
 the use, as will be described presently, of old types as patterns 
 for new, evinces more of commercial expediency than of 
 artistic ambition. 
 
 That Caxton's types were really cast is evident from 
 identity in the face of the same letter, w^here even a flaw may 
 be noticed as recurring continuously; but the material of 
 which the matrices were formed must be to a great extent 
 conjectural. M. Bernard has given an interesting account of 
 
108 WILLIAltf CAXTOir. 
 
 some successful efforts to cast letters in sand, but his speci- 
 men has not a single overhanging letter in it, and, from its 
 size, was certainly much easier to produce than would have 
 been the small types of Caxton ; yet in one respect, the " bad 
 lining," or irregular heights of the letter, it has an interesting 
 similitude to Caxton's types. In the office of Messrs. Caslon 
 there are still in existence some large Roman capital letters 
 (about 3 -line pica), which an old workman assured me he had 
 himself used in by-gone years to form sand-moulds for type, 
 a practice then by no means uncommon. 
 
 We will now turn to the little book of engravings already 
 mentioned as giving the earliest notice of the art. We there 
 see somewhat of the practices of the Frankfort typefounders 
 in 1568. The woodcut shows that even a century after the 
 invention of the art there was an important difference from 
 the modem plan, although probably the principle of punch, 
 matrix and mould, was the same. There is a small furnace, 
 with the pan of metal sunk in the top ; by the side are the 
 bellows, basket of charcoal, and tongs. Close to the type- 
 founder is the bowl into which he drops each type as it is 
 cast ; and the artist has correctly dra^vn these types with the 
 " break " of the letter still attached. The workman holds the 
 mould in his left hand, and is pouring in metal from a ladle. 
 On the table at his back is what appears to be a nest of very 
 shallow drawers, which hold the matrices in alphabetical 
 arrangement, while upon the top of the drawers are three or 
 four matrices for immediate use. On the wooden shelves 
 opposite are three moulds, some sieves, and crucibles. The 
 sieves were probably for sifting the sand in which might be 
 cast the large types, and in which the small ingots for use in 
 the melting pot would be run. The main interest of this 
 woodcut lies ui the type moulds, in which we notice a differ- 
 ence in shape from those now used ; while the absence of the 
 long wire spring which holds the matrix firm up to the mould 
 indicates that, during its use, the matrix was a fixture in the 
 mould. The foremost of the three moulds on the shelf shows 
 in its side a hole which may possibly have been used for the 
 insertion of a matrix. 
 
THE ItfASTER PRINTER. 109 
 
 As the early moulds were so dissimilar to those of modem 
 use, let us look to the types themselves for evidence. Antici- 
 pating the result of the analysis of the various founts used 
 by Caxton (which will follow in its proper place) we find 
 the conclusion inevitable that hard-metal punches were not 
 used, and that even types themselves were used either as 
 punches, or in some analogous way for the production of new 
 founts. The use of large types to fonn matrices in sand (as 
 in the case of Messrs. Caslon's foundry, above alluded to), was 
 not uncommon in bygone years ; and that letters of a much 
 smaller size can also be effectively employed as punches is 
 interestingly illustrated by the shifts to which Benjamin 
 Franklin, America's pioneer-printer, was put in the early 
 days of the Transatlantic press. Franklin thus narrates his 
 own practice : " Our printing-house often wanted sorts, and 
 there was no letter-foundry in America ; I had seen types 
 cast at James's in London, but without much attention to 
 the manner ; however, / contrived a mouldy and made use of 
 the letters we had as puncheons, struck the matrices in lead, 
 and thus supplied, in a pretty tolerable way the deficiencies. 
 / also engraved several things on occasion." 
 
 The metal of which Caxton's types were cast can only be 
 conjectured. The probability is that it was soft, and if even 
 BO soft as lead it would have been sufficiently durable to have 
 performed the work for the small impression required of each 
 book. In demonstration of this the author procured, by the 
 kindness of Messrs. Figgins, a fount of their Caxton types in 
 pure lead, and composed a page of Caxton's " Chess Book," 
 working it in the usual way, at a common hand press, and 
 numbering each impression as it came from the tympan in 
 order to note its gradual wear. The paper was royal cartridge 
 of the common rough quality, and was worked dry. After 
 500 pulls, perceiving no appreciable wear, the author stopped 
 the experiment, being sufficiently satisfied. 
 
 Our conclusions then, in respect of the founding, are 
 mainly negative. The moulds were unlike those now in use, 
 and the punches were not of steel. The process, whatever it 
 may have been, admitted of contrivances incompatible with 
 
110 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 our present mode ; and we conjecture that the type-metal, if 
 not of lead, was jet sufficiently soft to allow of it being easily 
 trimmed up with a chisel. This trimming up, so often visible 
 in Type No. 2*, misled the late Mr. Vincent Figgins, who, 
 when examining the second edition of the " Game and Play of 
 the Chess," came to the erroneous conclusion that the whole 
 book was printed from types cut separately by hand, a con- 
 clusion which he would never have adopted had he extended 
 his examination to other and earlier works of Caxton in the 
 same types. 
 
 Let us now see what the founts of types really were that 
 Caxton used. 
 
 When we look at the long list of English authors who 
 have written upon early typography, and when we recognise 
 among the names those of Moxon, Palmer, Smith, Bowyer, 
 Nichols, Stower, Watson, Hansard, and Timperley, all of 
 whom were, as printers, practically acquainted with the art 
 which employed their pens, it is a matter of some surprise 
 that nothing like a correct account of Caxton's types ap- 
 peared. Nor is it less remarkable that the only history of 
 English typefounding is that by Rowe Mores, a well-knoTvn 
 antiquarian, who was brought up for the Church, and who 
 devoted many of the later years of his life to the collection of 
 old moulds and matrices. He purchased all the old stock of 
 the last of the old race of lelterfounders, Mr. James, of Bar- 
 tholomew Close, whose extensive collection was said to date 
 from the days of Wynken de Worde ; and it is much to be 
 regretted that, after the death of Mr. Mores, his collections 
 were not preserved intact. His catalogues of matrices exist- 
 ing in his own day, or in his own possession, are probably 
 exact enough ; but his account of the types used by Caxton 
 and Wynken de Worde is ftdl of errors. 
 
 During Caxton's career as a printer, viz., from about 
 1476 to 1491-2, or a period of seventeen years, he used 
 eight separate founts or castings of letters. These eight 
 founts we have called, according to their chronological 
 appearance. No. 1, No. 2, No. 2*, No. 3, No. 4, No. 4*, 
 No. ,5, and No. 6. 
 
THE MASTER PRINTER. Ill 
 
 If we divide them into character of letter we find tliree 
 
 1st. Type No. 1 is distinct in character, and unlike any 
 other known type. On comparison with a manuscript 
 in the holograph of Colard Mansion, of Bruges, M. 
 Bernard came to the conclusion that it was formed 
 upon the handwriting of that celebrated caligrapher. 
 
 2nd. Types 2, 2*, 4, 4*, and 6, are of the same cha- 
 racter as the early type of Colard Mansion, known as 
 " gros batarde." 
 
 3rd. Types 3 and 5, were designed, like the characters of 
 the Bible and Psalter of the early Mentz printers, 
 upon the Church Text of the scribes, and approach 
 nearer than any other of Caxton's types to what 
 modem printers call " black letter." 
 
 If, however, we divide the eight founts into distinct 
 cuttings, we find five : — 
 
 1st. Type No. 1. 
 
 2nd. Type No. 2, modified first into No. 2*, and again 
 
 into No. 6. 
 3rd. Type No. 8. 
 
 4th. Type No. 4, modified into No. 4*. 
 5th. Type No. 5. 
 
 Type No. 1. 
 
 Although we believe that Caxton had less to do with this 
 than with any of the later types, yet, as it is the first with 
 which his name is associated — as it is that by using which he 
 obtained a knowledge of the art of printing — and as it is the 
 type of the first English-printed book, — ^it is clothed with an 
 interest peculiarly its o^n. 
 
 The books printed with this fount are five : — 
 
 The Recuyell of the Histories of Troy .... 1472-74 -^^^^5 ^^-6 ^x(^ 
 The Game and Play of the Chess, 1st edition . . 1475-76 -5/V; ^''^> ^'^/ 
 
 Le Recueil des Histoires de Troyes 1475-76 ^-i^ ^^/^, 
 
 Les Fais du Chevalier Jason after 1476J7.^^n^ 'P!:i>'S, 
 
 Les sept Pseaulmes penitenciaulx after 1476 >^JVT 
 
112 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 From the rarity of " Les Fais du Jason," only one copy 
 being in England, and that inconvenient for prolonged ex- 
 amination, its peculiar features, if any, are not noticed in the 
 following remarks. 
 
 The first thing we observe in type No. 1 is, that its gene- 
 ral appearance is more free and manuscript-like than would 
 be thought the case from the square-set figure of each indi- 
 vidual letter. This is, to a considerable extent, caused by 
 the great variety of letters, there being only five for which 
 there were not more than one matrix, either as single letters 
 or in combination : for, although the differences between the 
 various matrices of the same letter may be but very slight, 
 we have here the fundamental principle of freedom, namely, 
 a recurrence of modified sameness. The execution of the type 
 is good, sharp, and decided, with sufficient difference between 
 the repetitions of the same letter to indicate independence of 
 of tracing or mechanical contrivance; hence probably the 
 work of one accustomed to cut letters. The body of the type, 
 which is identical throughout the five books, is the same as 
 the recognised Great Primer of modern printers. 
 
 The complete fount embraced at least 163 sorts, of which 
 we remark upon the following : — 
 a is not used in the English books, but often occurs in the 
 
 French books. 
 t is not used in " The Eecuyell " or the " Chess Book," but 
 
 often occurs in " Le Recueil " and " Les sept Pseaulmes." 
 It is often used for an 1^ in the French books, but always 
 
 correctly in the English books. 
 /I. — This incongruous and badly-cut letter appears about 
 
 twelve times, in various grades of bad casting, before the 
 
 recto of folio 36 of " The Recuyell," after which it is not 
 
 found. 
 i^ is only found in the English books, where it is sometimes 
 
 used for a M. 
 Arabic numerals do not occur in this fount. 
 There are only three marks of punctuation, which may be 
 
 called — the comma, or oblique stroke (/), the colon (:), 
 
 and the full point (.). They are used arbitrarily as to 
 
THE MASTER PKINTER. 113 
 
 power, and in numerous varieties of combination, such as, 
 
 •/ V A ./' •/• // :. ♦:• ••.:••. &c., &c. 
 
 From the foregoing remarks it wall be seen that there are 
 certain letters peculiar to the English and others peculiar to 
 the French books printed in this type ; and as these are not 
 in any way attributable to the fashion of the language, the 
 fact strongly corroborates the opinion that, although from the 
 same printer, the compositor, and perhaps the cases, were 
 changed. 
 
 Type No. 2. 
 
 This was the first fount used in England when Caxton set 
 up his presses at the " Eed-pale" in the Almonry, and, before 
 remarking upon its peculiarities, we will give a list of the 
 books knoA^Ti to have been printed from it. Of these, as will 
 be shown further on, there are two easily-distinguished classes; 
 those printed first, with type No. 2, and those printed after- 
 wards, with a re-casting of the fount, which we call type 
 No. 2*. 
 
 TYPE No. 2. 
 
 Les quatre derrenieres choses anU 1477 -^-^^ » 
 
 History of Jason circa 1477 ^^V'. cvir^ 
 
 Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, 1st edition . 1477 ^A', ^^r^^^^ 
 
 Horae, 1st edition circa 1477 <^^-0 
 
 Canterbury Tales, 1st edition ante 1478 
 
 Moral Proverbs 1478 
 
 Propositio clarissimi Johannis Russell .... ante 1479 
 
 Stans Puer ad Mensam ante 1479 
 
 Parvus Catho and Magnus Catho, 1st edition . ante 1479 
 
 Ditto ditto 2nd edition . ante 1479 
 
 The Horse, the Sheep, and the Goose, 1st edition ante 1479 
 
 Ditto ditto 2nd edition . ante 1479 
 
 Infancia Salvatoris ante 1479 
 
 The Temple of Glass ante 1479 
 
 The Chorle and the Bird, 1st edition .... ante 1479 
 
 Ditto 2nd edition ante 1479 
 
 The Temple of Brass ante 1479 
 
 The Book of Courtesy, 1st edition ante 1479 
 
 I 
 
114 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Anelida and Arcyte circa 1478 
 
 Boethius de Consolatione Philosophise 1478 
 
 TYPE xo. 2*. 
 
 Cordial 1470 
 
 Laurentius Griilielmus de Saona de Nova Rhethorica, circa 1479 
 
 Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, 2nd edit., circa 1480 
 
 An Indulgence 1480 
 
 Parvus Catho and Magnus Catho, 3rd edition . circa 1480 
 
 Mirrour of the World, 1st edition 1480 
 
 Eeynard the Fox, 1st edition 1480 
 
 Tully of Old Age, and of Friendship 1481 
 
 The Game and Play of the Chess, 2nd edition . circa 1481 
 
 Tliis type has a more dashing, picturesque, and elaborate 
 character than type No. 1. It is an imitation of the "gros- 
 batarde " type of Colard Mansion, with same variation in the 
 capital letters, which are extremely irregular, not only in size 
 but also in design, some being of the simplest possible con- 
 struction, whilst others have spurs, lines, and flourishes. 
 
 The general appearance of type No. 2 is very different 
 from that of No. 2*, many letters in the earlier fount having 
 a bolder and thicker face than in the later ; and the fact of 
 there being a perfect division of the books into two distinct 
 classes prevents our attributing this difference to either wear 
 of type or faulty printing — the former would be gradual, the 
 latter irregular. 
 
 On comparing the two classes, letter by letter, we find 
 several single and compound letters occurring in the one and 
 not in the other. Thus tXi (not final) is peculiar to the first 
 class, while two forms of fe without a loop in the head, double 
 U without loops, X% toa, toe, and toO are found in the second 
 class only. Other letters are so entirely different that a single 
 example is convincing of their not having been printed from 
 the same founts; and the remainder, although often very 
 nearly alike, so constantly preserve some slight characteristic 
 peculiar to each section, that a close examination of numerous 
 instances, after making allowance for faulty printing, leads to 
 
THE MASTER PRINTER. 115 
 
 the conclusion that no letters of the first section are identical 
 with those of the second. 
 
 A minute examination discloses the general fact, that the 
 letters of Type No. 2* are somewhat thinner than those of 
 Type No. 2, and that, in numerous instances, the tops, the 
 descending tails, and the titles generally, have been truncated. 
 For example, examine the letter f and its combinations in the 
 two types; the second shows always a thinner-faced letter 
 than the first. Again, notice how the tops of the various tjs, 
 the tails of eit and in, and the tails generally appear in the 
 second, state. Observing that the two founts (2 and 2*) are 
 never mixed, and that all the books dated before 1479 occur 
 in Type No. 2, and all those dated after 1479 in No. 2*, the 
 two types appear to indicate two distinct periods; and, taking 
 into consideration the peculiarities just noticed, it would seem 
 that, upon the types becoming worn, some of the best were 
 selected, trimmed up with a graver, and used for making 
 matrices for a new casting. If this were not the case, how 
 should we account for the new fount being so nearly like the 
 old? for, the two not having been used together, there was 
 no reason for such care to make them match. 
 
 The body of Type No. 2 is the same as that of Type No. 
 2*, and is exactly equal to two lines of " Long Primer " 
 (Caslon's standard), w^hich is very near to " Paragon." A 
 complete fount of Type No. 2 consisted of 217 sorts, and 
 Type No. 2* of 254 sorts. 
 
 The $ct of Type No. 1, which, if it occurred at all, might 
 have been expected in the first fount used in England, is 
 found only in books printed with Type No. 2*. 
 
 We may notice here that the sorts If, e^, bt, and others, 
 presume an intended French use of Type No. 2, a probability 
 strengthened by the tj? and the combinations of to, l>eing 
 • later additions to the fount in No. 2*. 
 
 Type No. 3. 
 This grand type, which was in use from about 1479 to 
 1483, has perhaps less direct interest for us than any of the 
 others. No English book in this type is known, and until a 
 
 I 2 
 
116 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 very recent period it was considered merely as a supple- 
 mentary fount used by Caxton for headings, &c. But the 
 discovery of a ** Psalterium," fragments of a " HoraB," and a 
 **Directorium" proves that three works at least were printed 
 entirely with this fount. Upon these, especially the "Psal- 
 terium," and upon the headings of '* Boethius," the " Golden 
 Legend," and " Tully," the following remarks are based. 
 
 The small letters 'are an exact copy of those cast by the 
 early German founders, Fust and Schoeffer, and are equally 
 well executed. The capital letters, however, are very unlike 
 Fust's, being for the most part a modification of the Flemish 
 "Secretary," as already presented to us in the gros-bAtarde 
 type of Colard Mansion. 
 
 The body is identical, or very nearly so, with type No. 2, 
 and is used with it to distinguish proper names, &c., in the 
 " Cordial " and in " Tully," but, having a much larger face, 
 it is never in line. 
 
 The complete fount comprised 194 sorts. The stops 
 generally are smaller than those of type No. 2, which is 
 remarkable, as the face of the letter is much larger. 
 
 This type was intended for Latin works, as the contrac- 
 tions sufficiently prove. All the books we have in it are in 
 Latin, except headings in the first edition of the "Golden 
 Legend," &c., and proper names, as in the "Cordial" and 
 " Tully." Used almost entirely for Church Service books, it 
 does not seem to have been much in favour with Caxton ; but 
 upon his death his successor, Wynken de Worde, came into 
 possession of it, and used it continually. 
 
 Type No. 4. 
 Types No. 4 and 4* may be spoken of generally as onej 
 there being the same intimate connection between them as 
 between Nos. 2 and 2*; unlike them, however, there is a 
 slight variation in the body, type No. 4 being, as compared 
 with the re-casting of it, or type No. 4*, as 20 is to 19. In 
 other words, the body of type No. 4 is rather smaller than 
 that of Type No. ,4*. This of course would only be possible 
 by direct intention with modem typefounders, who use the 
 
THE MASTER PRINTER. 117 
 
 same moulds and matrices for as many founts of the type as 
 are required ; but as is shown in the chapter on typefounding, 
 the moulds and matrices were in those days very different. 
 
 The engraving of the types is neat, and appears to have 
 been executed by the same hand that cut type No. 2 ; but 
 there is this difference between the second states of the two 
 founts — type No. 2* was, as already shown, cast from matrices 
 formed by the use of old casts of type No. 2 as punches, after 
 being trimmed by hand, but for types Nos. 4 and 4* there 
 is the strongest evidence of the same punches having been 
 used, and therefore the variation of body is the more remark- 
 able, as it would have been as easy to make the re-casting 
 agree in size with the original as to make the letters of each 
 fount agree among themselves. The variation, however, is 
 a fact. 
 
 The body of type No. 4 is very near indeed to modem 
 English (Caslon's standard), and is the smallest of any used 
 by Caxton. The re-casting, or type No. 4* (which loses 1 in 
 20 — that is to say, 19 lines of type No. 4* take up only the 
 same depth as 20 of type No. 4) is exactly two lines of 
 minion. The total number of sorts in type No. 4 appears to 
 have been 194, and in No. 4* 187, a few sorts not having 
 been re-cast. 
 
 We will now give a list of the works for which this type, 
 in its two states, was employed. 
 
 TYPE Na 4. 
 
 The Chronicles of England, 1st edition 1480 
 
 The Description of Britain 1480 
 
 An Indulgence 1481 
 
 Curia Sapientiae circa 1481 
 
 Godfrey of Boloyne 1481 
 
 The Chronicles of England, 2nd edition 1482 
 
 Polycronicon 1482 
 
 The Pilgrimage of the Soul 1488 
 
 A Vocabulary 1488 
 
 Servitium de Visitatione circa 1488 
 
 Confessio Amantis {mostly) 1488 
 
118 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 The Knight of the Tower {partly) 1484 
 
 Sex Epistolas (mostly) 1483 
 
 TYPE No. 4*. 
 
 The Festial, 1st edition 1483 
 
 Quatuor Sermones, 1st edition 1483 
 
 Confessio Amantis {partly) 1483 
 
 The Knight of the Tower {mostly) 1484 
 
 Caton circa 1484 
 
 Golden Legend circa 1484 
 
 Death-Bed Prayers circa 1484 
 
 ^sop 1484 
 
 Order of Chivalry circa 1484 
 
 Canterbury Tales, 2nd edition circa 1484 
 
 Book of Fame circa 1484 
 
 The Curial circa 1484 
 
 Troylus and Creside circa 1484 
 
 Life of our Lady circa 1484 
 
 Life of St. Winifred circa 1485 
 
 Life of King Arthur 1485 
 
 Life of Charles the Great 1485 
 
 Paris and Yienne 1485 
 
 The commas have a notable chronological bearing. The 
 short comma (/) was used alone up to the second edition of 
 the " Chronicles," in 1 482 — is used occasionally with the long- 
 comma (/) in 1483 — and disappears entirely after that year. 
 
 A good test by which to distinguish 4 and 4* is the shape 
 of the lower-case \U; the letter with the curled top distin- 
 guishing the book at once as belonging to type No. 4, whereas 
 its absence is a sure sign that the type is No. 4*. 
 
 Type No. 4* makes its first appearance among Caxton's 
 founts in a very peculiar manner. In the autumn of 1483 
 he was engaged in printing two works, Gower's "Confessio 
 Amantis" and the "Knight of the Tower." At sig. g of 
 " Confessio Amantis" we find that the inmost sheet is in type 
 No. 4*, the three other sheets of the section being in type 
 No. 4. Several pages in sig. ^ are also in No. 4*, and on 
 
THE MASTER PRINTER. 119 
 
 sig. ^ iiii recto the first column is in No. 4, while the second 
 column is in No. 4*. This mixture of founts by no means 
 proves that the two were in use at the same time ; it only 
 shows that before the cases containing type No. 4 were finally 
 emptied out to make room for the new fount, one compositor 
 had worked ahead of his fellows, who had not finished their 
 taking of copy when the new letter supplanted the old. The 
 table, although placed at the commencement of the book, was 
 necessarily printed last, and therefore, as a matter of coursCj 
 we find type No. 4* used for it. In the "Knight of the 
 Tower," sig. f introduces the new fount to us, all that follows, 
 as well as the introductory matter, being type No. 4*. 
 
 Type No. 5. 
 
 There is much similarity of design between this and type 
 No. 3, the likeness between some of the letters being so close 
 as lead to the conclusion that one artist cut both. 
 
 The books printed in this letter are as follows : — 
 
 The Royal Book circa 1487 
 
 The Book of Good Manners . 1487 
 
 Directorium Sacerdotum, 1st edition .... circa 1487 
 
 Speculum Yitae Christi circa 1488 
 
 Commemoratio Lamentationis circa 1488 
 
 The Boctrmal of Sapience 1489 
 
 Horae circa 1490 
 
 Servitium de Transfiguratione circa 1491 
 
 In the 2nd edition of the "Golden Legend" (1487?), all 
 the headings, both of chapters and pages, are in this type. 
 
 Type No. 5 has no exact counterpart in the bodies of 
 modern foimders. The nearest would be two lines of brevier, 
 than which it is slightly larger, losing one line in thu*ty-five. 
 The total number of sorts in use appears to have been 153. 
 The comparative scarcity of double letters is very noticeable. 
 No Arabic numerals are used. 
 
 The large Lombardic capitals used with this fount have a 
 bold and striking appearance. Unlike any former fount of 
 
120 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Caxton's) they are all cast with the largest face the body will 
 bear, and without the least beard. They are used, more or 
 less, in every book printed with this type, although in some 
 books {e.g. "Royal" and "Speculum") they appear very 
 seldom. They do not look at all well when used as initials 
 to a word, on account of their size preventing them ranging 
 with the sequent letters, and this may have been the cause 
 why Caxton, except in the " Directorium," made a very 
 sparing use of them, save indeed that he converted them 
 into quadrats. For this purpose they were doubtless adapted 
 by some shortening process, which, however, has not pre- 
 vented them cropping out continually in the blank spaces of 
 the head lines and signature lines, where they often assume a 
 very puzzling appearance. In the latest books printed with 
 type No. 5 these Lombardic capitals appear as red initials, 
 printed at a separate operation. This use for them was, 
 doubtless, the invention of Caxton's successor, Wynken de 
 Worde, who appears to have inherited his master's working 
 materials. 
 
 Type No. 6. 
 
 The body of this fount is great primer (Caslon's standard) 
 within a shade, being almost the same as type No. 1. The 
 number of sorts in the fount is, for Caxton, very small, 
 amounting to only 138. It may be called Caxton's last 
 fount, for it came into use in 1489, and was used for books 
 up to 1491, the date of Caxton's death. Indeed, there seems 
 good reason for supposing that for some time after Caxton's 
 death it served his successor, Wynken de Worde. With it 
 the following works were printed : — 
 
 The Fayts of Arms . 1489 
 
 Statutes of Henry YII circa 1489 
 
 The Grouvernal of Health circa 1489 
 
 Reynard the Fox, 2nd edition circa 1489 
 
 Blanchardin and Eglantine circa 1489 
 
 The Four Sons of Aymon circa 1489 
 
 Directorium Sacerdotum, 2nd edition .... circa 1489 
 
 Eneydos circa 1490 
 
THE MASTER PRINTER. 121 
 
 The Fifteen Oes, &c circa 1490 
 
 The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers 3rd 
 
 edition circa 1490 
 
 The Mirrour of the World, 2nd edition . . . circa 1490 
 
 Divers Ghostly Matters circa 1490 
 
 The Art and Craft to know well to Die . . . circa 1491 
 The Book of Courtesy, 2nd edition .... circa 4491 
 
 The Festial, 2nd edition circa 1491 
 
 Quatuor Sermones, 2nd edition circa 1491 
 
 The Chastising of God's Children circa 1491 
 
 A Treatise of Love circa 1491 
 
 We have in this fount another remarkable instance of the 
 contrivances employed by the early typefounders. A new 
 fount was required, but whether Caxton gave the founders 
 instructions concerning its size, or whether the fount was cast 
 first, and then sold to our printer, there seems no possibility 
 of discovering ; but this we can prove from the pages them- 
 selves, that the greater portion of type No. 6 was made from 
 the punches, or from old letters of Caxton's Nos. 2 and 2*. 
 The body is rather smaller, nine lines occupying the same 
 depth as eight lines of No. 2 ; and it is amusing to observe 
 the shifts and contrivances resorted to for reducing those 
 letters which, in type No. 2, occupied the full body. For 
 instance, the ^, |H, and ^ have the flourish which passes 
 under the letter brought close up to the letter itself. The Wi 
 was also treated in the same way, but the violence used has 
 damaged the flourish so much that, in most instances, it broke 
 away ; in some cases, however, it remains in a most pitiable 
 and crippled condition. The corresponding flourish in the 
 ^ has been boldly cropped off. Jf and 3 are strangely 
 transformed, evidently by a blow on the soft metal, length- 
 wise. A few characters altogether new appear, and a few 
 interpolations from other founts, besides a quaint set of Lom- 
 bardic capitals, among which occurs now and then a letter 
 from the Lombardic fount used with type No. 5. The total 
 number of sorts was 141. 
 
 But here the question may very naturally be asked, How 
 do we know that the books in the foregoing lists which are 
 
122 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 without date, witliout place, and without printer's name, 
 although printed with the same types as those of Caxton, are 
 not really from the workshop of another printer, who had 
 obtained his material from the same source as our printer ? 
 The evidence is entirely negative, but it is nevertheless very 
 strong. 
 
 When a new branch of industry becomes sufficiently deve- 
 loped, one of the immediate consequences is a division of 
 labour. Thus typefounders became separated from printers, 
 as soon as the latter became sufficiently numerous to keep the 
 former in constant employment. The earliest printers were 
 almost of necessity their own typefounders, and it appears 
 that they each made or otherwise exclusively possessed those 
 patterns of types which they used. There is certainly no 
 evidence that prior to the end of the 15th century the tj^es 
 of one printer were at the same time in use by another. This 
 exclusive use of types has been accepted as a fact by the best 
 authorities, and has been of great use to the bibliographer 
 in identifying the printer of books sine ulld 7iofd, for a printer 
 may thus be recognised at once by his types, just as a man 
 may be distinguished by his handwriting. 
 
 THE COMPOSITOR. 
 We will now suppose a fount of type delivered -over to 
 the compositors to be laid in the cases, an operation requiring 
 much more care than in the present day, on account of the 
 numerous double letters and combinations. One effect of the 
 combinations would be to equalise the size of the boxes, as 
 the letter "e" for instance, which now requires the largest 
 box, would then most frequently occur in combination with 
 one of the consonants, and not be used alone oftener than 
 many other letters. Counting the respective numbers used 
 of each sort throughout many pages of diffisrent books, the 
 fact is ascertained that single vowels and single consonants 
 were more often required than any one particular combina- 
 tion. Arranging a case on the basis that the sorts most in 
 use should be placed before the compositor in the position 
 most accessible to his fingers, and remembering that in all 
 
THE MASTER PKUTTEU. 128 
 
 the old representations of a " case " there is no division into 
 upper and lower as now, we arrive at the accompanying plan, 
 which is doubtless a tolerably exact representation of a com- 
 positor's case as used by Caxton. There are 209 boxes, which 
 would lead to some little difficulty in keeping " clean cases ;" 
 and one need feel no surprise at finding \\Tong letters so often 
 making their appearance in Caxton's pages. The combina- 
 tions of illy niy uUf nUf nn, tm, mi were often found in the 
 WTong boxes, and have brought down to the present day the 
 strongest evidence against the usefulness of logotypes. 
 
 In the earliest representation of a printing office the press 
 is always made the most prominent object ; very often, how- 
 ever, as in Plate VII, with a compartment for the compositor. 
 Figure 1 is the earliest instance, and we there see a com- 
 positor at work. Before him is the case divided into even 
 boxes, and raised on a cleft stick is the copy. The composing- 
 stick is in his ric/ht hand, doubtless owing to the engraver not 
 having reversed the drawing from which he copied : it is held 
 correctly by the man in PI. YIII. We have already noticed 
 the use of a composing-stick and setting-rule, and the even- 
 ness of lines consequent thereon. It was not adopted at 
 Westminster until 1480, although Caxton must often have 
 seen the improved appearance which lines of an even length 
 gave to the page in the numerous works pre\iously issued 
 from all the Continental presses. He would, doubtless, have 
 imitated them had his mechanical appliances permitted ; but 
 we do not find evenness of page until the arrival of type No. 
 4, in the year 1480; and then, probably for the first time, 
 composing-sticks, setting-rules, and chases were seen in the 
 Westminster printing office. Before this the types were 
 no doubt, as M. Bernard has shown to be the case in the 
 later block books and the early examples of Dutch printing, 
 taken straight from their boxes, and placed side by side in a 
 sort of cofiin, made of hard wood, with a stout bottom, and 
 screws at the foot to tighten the page when completed. The 
 width of the page could not be extended beyond the internal 
 measurement of the " coffin," but might be reduced at plea- 
 sure by placing down either side a straight piece of wood. 
 
124 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 The depth would be regulated in a similar manner, by varying 
 the thickness of the foot-block against which the screws 
 worked. 
 
 Let us, then, imagine the workman with his wooden box 
 before him. The further end would be slightly raised, to 
 keep the types from falling forward. He begins at the left- 
 hand corner, and adding, from the case, letter to letter, soon 
 gets to the end of the first line, and, not ha^dng room for the 
 next word, makes it quite tight with quadrats or spaces. 
 Then comes the second line, and this, as well as all the rest, 
 would not be so easy. Placing rough types upon rough types 
 admits of very little shifting or adjustment, and to this fact, 
 I imagine, we must attribute the practice of leaving the lines 
 of an uneven length in early books. Any attempt to push 
 along the words of a line in order to introduce more space 
 between them, without some plan of easing the friction, would 
 l)e certain to break up the line altogether — and so the lines 
 were left just as they happened to fall, whether frill length or 
 short. Sometimes, when a word would come into the line 
 with a little reduction of the space between the last two 
 words, the space was reduced accordingly ; but more often a 
 syllable at the end of the line was contracted, such as "men" 
 into "me," or "vertuous" into "vertuo^" Most often the 
 compositor, knowing the practice to be understood by his 
 readers, would finish his line with just so many letters as his 
 measure would take, and accordingly it is common to find 
 words divided thus: — why-|che th|at wjymen w|iche 
 m I an. But when once the " setting-rule " was brought into 
 use all that was altered, and the various words of a line could 
 be pushed about, and the spaces between them augmented or 
 reduced with ease. Having completed his proper number of 
 lines, the foot-piece would be placed after the last line for the 
 foot-screws to work upon, and the "form" would be ready 
 for press. There being a bottom to the box, nothing could 
 fall out, and, although doubtless not very tight in some parts, 
 the sloppy ink then used would not, like modern stiff ink, 
 draw up any loose letters. 
 
 If the sides of these cofiins, or wooden boxes, were equal 
 
THE MASTER PRINTER. 125 
 
 in height with the types they enclosed they would, like them, 
 leave their mark on the paper. This was the case in some of 
 the early Dutch block-books, where the sides of the chase 
 appear occasionally printed in the margin. I have searched in 
 vain for any marks of the chase in the margins of Caxton's 
 books. But whatever method he used — ^^vhether he screwed 
 up the types in wooden boxes, or whether he used iron chases, 
 — one thing is very plain in nearly every book he issued 
 either the "justification" was bad, or the pages were "locked 
 up" very loosely, for quadrats and spaces are continually 
 "working up" and showing themselves. 
 
 The composing-sticks were originally of hard wood, with- 
 out any sliding adjustment ; one set, all the same, were for 
 folio pages, another for quai'to, another for octavo. 
 
 " Reglets," or thin pieces of hard wood the length of a line, 
 appear never to have been used. Wlien a "white" line was 
 wanted under a chapter head or over a colophon, em quadrats 
 were ranged side by side for the purpose, and very often 
 capital letters which had been reduced in height for the pur- 
 pose, although often not sufficiently. These low capitals 
 would often W'Ork up while at press, and make undesirable 
 appearances in very conspicuous places. For examples the 
 reader may examine the " Royal Book," and " Speculum vitae 
 Christi," in the British Museum. 
 
 The "balls" with which the page was inked before taking 
 an impression appear to have midergone no change in shape 
 or make from the earliest times until the very beginning of 
 the present century. TVlien, however, the flexible composi- 
 
126 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 tion now in use was invented it soon superseded entirely the 
 old plan, and now it is a matter of great difficulty to find an 
 old pair of balls. These balls were hollow hemispheres of 
 wood with a handle. Wool was fitted into the hollow, upon 
 which the skin, or " pelt," was nailed on the side more than 
 half-way round ; then more wool was pushed in till the skin 
 was extended and tight : the last nails were then hammered 
 in, and the balls fit for use. 
 
 The page having been completed by the compositor, it 
 went to press in its chase or wooden box without any further 
 operation. The business of "reader" as yet was not. All 
 the workmen's blunders and errors, the turned letters, the 
 wrong sorts, and the numerous literal mistakes were, left 
 uncorrected. ' Even whole lines were occasionally omitted by 
 the workman, and the omission remained throughout the 
 edition, affording indisputable evidence that "proof sheets" 
 after composition were quite unknown. At page 125 of 
 Lewis's " Life of Caxton," we read concerning our printer — 
 " As he printed long before the present Method of adding the 
 Errata at the End of Books was in Use and Practice, so his 
 extraordinary Exactness obliged him to take a great deal 
 more Pains than can easily be imagined; for, after a Book 
 was printed off^ his way was to revise it, and correct the 
 Faults in it with red Ink, as they then used to correct their 
 ^\Titten Books. This being done to one Copy, he caused one 
 of his Servants to run through the whole Impression, and 
 correct the Faults he had noted with a Stanesil or Red-lead 
 Pencil, which he himself afterwards compared with his own 
 corrected Copy, to see that none of the Corrections he had 
 made were omitted." A most laborious task indeed, had so 
 foolish an idea ever entered the mind of so practical a man as 
 Caxton, but the whole assertion is a mere fiction, started by 
 Bagford, adopted by Lewis, and repeated by every subsequent 
 writer, without a shadow of evidence to support it. The only 
 books in which manuscript additions were made at the time 
 of publication were the " Polycronicon " and " Mirrour of the 
 World." The former, in the majority of copies, has the year 
 of the world and the regnal year engrossed in red ink on the 
 
Plate VII. 
 
 The oldest knaum representation of a PrinttTig Press. Paris, 1507. 
 
 Luther's Press. Av^stmrg, 1522. 
 
Plate VIII. 
 
 TJie ''Prelum Asc^nsianum." Paris, 1520. 
 
^ 
 
 b3 3 
 
 I 
 
 b 
 
 X 
 
f 
 
 
 1: ^^^^^W^^^^^S 
 
THE MASTER PRINTER. 127 
 
 side margins; and the latter, in the woodcut of the seven 
 concentric circles whicli represent the astronomical heavens, 
 has the names of the celestial spheres written in black ink 
 between each circle. But although I have examined about 
 five hundred of Caxton's books, 1 have never seen anything 
 approaching to a grammatical correction coeval with the date 
 of the book. 
 
 PRESSES, PRESSMEN, AND PRINTING INK. 
 The method adopted by the earliest printers to obtain 
 impressions from their blocks was to lay the sheet to be 
 printed on the already inked block, and to rub it carefully. 
 Wood-engravers of the present day take proofs in the same 
 manner. The plan was continued for block printing many 
 years after the invention of moveable types. The method 
 of obtaining an impression by a direct pressure down- 
 wards is generally supposed to have been synchronous with 
 the use of moveable types. Mr. Ottley, however, describes 
 several of the earliest wood-blocks, which he had no doubt 
 were printed by means of a press. Of one he states, "I am 
 in possession of a specimen of wood engraving, printed in 
 black oil colour on both sides the paper by a downright pres- 
 sure, which I consider to have been, without doubt, printed 
 in or before the year 1445." There can be no question, 
 therefore, that the earliest type printers found a press ready 
 to their hands ; but as we have no description of the mechan- 
 ism of the early presses, we must, as in the instance of type 
 founding, have recourse to the first dated engravings. The 
 earliest representations of a printing-press are found in the 
 works of Jodocus Badius Ascensius, the celebrated printer of 
 Paris. Two of these are delineated in Plates VII and VIII, 
 whereof the earlier is found as a printer's device in the title 
 of a work dated 1507. The large press, Plate IX, having 
 upon its basement the date 1520, was taken from the Bagford 
 collection, and has hitherto been generally considered as the 
 earliest representation of a printing-press. The small press 
 was taken from a tract of Luther's dated 1522. The other 
 comes also from the Bagford fragments, and appears to be 
 
128 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 about the middle of the sixteenth century, as the mechanism 
 of the spindle is evidently improved. It is represented here, 
 however, principally on account of the figure of a type- 
 founder seen through a door in the background, a feature 
 very rarely pourtrayed: I have not been able to trace the 
 work for which this woodcut was designed. In aU these 
 presses the principle is the same. There is a simple worm 
 screw, with a long pin for a lever ; the head of the press and 
 the table bear the pressure, and the " hose," as the transverse 
 piece between the screw and the platen was called, served to 
 steady the downward pressure. The girths, dram, and handle 
 served to run the table out and in, and the tympans and 
 frisket were identical in principle, if not in appearance, with 
 those now used. In Plate IX we see some of the pressman's 
 appliances exposed to view. There is the shears for cutting 
 out his tympan-sheet, and for general purposes ; next to it is 
 a pick-brush for cleaning out picks in the type; a pair of 
 compasses for accurately testing the "furniture" between the 
 pages ; and, lastly, a screw point for making " register." 
 
 To each press is assigned two workmen; one is pulling 
 lustily at the bar, while the other is distributing ink upon 
 the balls previously to beating the form. The two heaps of 
 printed and white paper, in Fig. 2, appear to our modern 
 notions very awkwardly placed, being both on the off side of 
 the press, so that the workman had to reach over the form 
 whenever he took up or laid do\Mi a fresh sheet of paper. As 
 however this peculiarity is represented continually, and so 
 late as the seventeenth century, it was doubtless a common 
 custom. 
 
 No doubt the ink was better and the impression harder in 
 the time of these presses than in Caxton's time. His ink was 
 of the weakest description, and the amount of power required 
 for a " pull " of the press proportionately weak, the one neces- 
 sitating the other. His presses, in the earlier part of his 
 printing career, did not take more than a post folio page; 
 and, with a very sloppy ink, the pull, if strong, would have 
 made a confused mass of black instead of a legible impression. 
 As it is, the ink has been almost invariably squeezed over the 
 
THE MASTER PRINTER. 129 
 
 edge of the letters, and has contorted their shape. Few indeed 
 although practical men, would imagine the deceptive nature 
 of an impression taken from new types with weak ink and 
 light pressure. In such a case the type appears at one time 
 much thicker than it is, from the "spuing" of the ink — at 
 another time battered, with some portion of it broken — and 
 again, to use a technical term, as if it were all " off its feet." 
 
 The representation of the "Printer" in the "Book of 
 Trades," 1569, shows that the presses then were fitted with 
 both ''tympans" and "frisket;" and many signs lead to the 
 belief that similar appliances were used by Caxton's workmen. 
 In short pages we often find a few lines of matter put at the 
 bottom, which was blocked out by the frisket, and answered 
 the purpose of a " bearer." Several instances occur in the 
 "Godfrey," at the Public Library, Cambridge; also in the 
 " Life of Our Lady," at the British Museum. In " Speculum 
 vitae Christi" we actually find "a bite," half of the bottom 
 line remaining unprinted. 
 
 We have already noticed that only one page at a time was 
 worked in the earlier part of Caxton's career, although later, 
 at the probable introduction of Wynken de Worde, two pages 
 were managed. This necessitated great care in getting the 
 unsigned pages in their right places, and that such care was 
 needed is proved by several instances of transposition. 
 
 Before leaving this portion of our subject, a peculiarity 
 probably connected with the mechanism of the press must be 
 noticed. A smaU hole at the four comers of each sheet 
 appears in every book printed with type No. 1. Such holes 
 (first noticed by Mr. Tupper), have not been observed in any 
 books printed with the later types, except "Quatre derren- 
 nieres choses." The employment of points by modem press- 
 men to obtain accuracy of register, and the punctures (called 
 "point holes") in the paper, consequent upon the use of 
 them, are well known. The holes under notice certainly sug- 
 gest a similar practice. 
 
 After due time allowed for the ink to dry upon the paper, 
 the printed sheets passed into the hands of the binder, whose 
 operations come next under consideration. 
 
 K 
 
130 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 THE BOOKBINDER. 
 
 The art of bookbinding had not in England, in the fif- 
 teenth century, reached the perfection seen in the beautiful 
 Continental specimens of the same period. Nor indeed was 
 any uncommon binding required for the cheap productions 
 of Caxton's press. His sheets were not, as in modern prac- 
 tice, pressed between glazed boards after being printed, but 
 went, without further process, from the press side to the 
 hands of the binder. The few specimens which have reached 
 us in a pristine state show the indentation, more or less 
 distinct, made by the types. The edition of "Eneydos," 
 1490, was hurried through the binder's hands so soon after 
 the first section (which, containing the prologue and table, 
 necessarily went to press last) was printed, that all the leaves 
 of that section, in every copy I have seen, show a very bad 
 "set-off" from the type on the opposite pages. 
 
 To enable the binder to collate the sheets of each section 
 correctly, it was the custom, as weU with the scribes as with 
 the printers, to place distinguishing marks on the first page 
 of each sheet; these were called signatures, and as Caxton 
 used only 4"^ for his boolcs, the binder (as a rule) was sure 
 that when he had got sheets aj, ait, ail}, aiiif together 
 his section was complete. Some printers, who were irregular 
 as to the number of sheets in a section, adopted the plan of 
 signing the centre sheet of every section upon the third as 
 well as the first page, so that the binder by this distinguishing 
 mark might directly see the number of sheets intended for 
 each section, however great the irregularity. In such cases 
 the 4*^ would be signed on the first five rectos, leaving only 
 three unsigned. Caxton, however, never adopted this plan, 
 his sections always containing the same number of unsigned 
 as of signed leaves. The sheets having been collected into 
 sections, the signatures served again to collate the sections 
 into volumes, the only use for which they are now retained. 
 All the early books from Caxton's press are described as 
 unsigned, because the signatures were not printed, but 
 inserted in manuscript at the extreme bottom of the page. 
 
THE MASTER PRINTER. IW 
 
 The modem binder begins by folding all his sheets into 
 quarto, octavo, &c., according to the size of the book, each 
 folded sheet making a section; they are then collated and 
 bound. In Caxton's books the collation of the sheets pre- 
 ceded the folding. It has been already observed that the 
 quarto sizes were treated, both in printing and binding, 
 as folio, the paper being cut in half before going to press. 
 The type was so arranged that when three, four, or five sheets 
 were folded one inside another, quirewise, the pages should 
 be in their proper sequence. The open sheets of each section 
 being gathered were knocked even, and folded in the middle. 
 This adoption of one plan for books of aU sizes was in accord- 
 ance with the old usage of the scribes, who necessarily cut 
 their veUum sheets to the intended size before the manuscript 
 was commenced, and varied their sections from three sheets, 
 if very thick, to six or seven, if very thin. The section of 
 three sheets was called "temio" — of four sheets "quatemus" 
 —of five sheets "quintemus" — and so on. Caxton adopted 
 the "quaternus" or "quaternion" for all his books, using a 
 larger or smaller section only if the beginning or end required 
 it. Wynken de Worde, however, made frequent use of the 
 temion. 
 
 From the foregoing remarks we see that the temion and 
 quaternion must necessarily be arranged in the order of the 
 following diagrams, by consulting which the reader may easily 
 know the pages belonging to any given sheet. 
 
 A Ternion — Three sheets of paper folded in half, quire- 
 wise," or one inside another. This gives six leaves, or twelve 
 
 vg22. 
 
 A Quaternion — Four sheets of paper folded in half, 
 quirewise, or one inside another. This gives eight leaves, 
 or sixteen pages. 
 
 k2 
 
182 
 
 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 If this arrangement be kept in mind it will be found very 
 UBefiil in many ways. For instance, it is often important to 
 know whether a leaf preceded the first printed page, and, if 
 so, whether the blank leaf found in many volumes is that 
 leaf. It is plain that if a quaternion was adopted for the 
 first section, then the first and the eighth leaf would belong 
 to the same sheet of paper; and therefore if sig. a 8 had a 
 watermark sig. a j should not have any ; if a ij had a water- 
 mark, a 7 should be without, and so on with a iij and a 6, and 
 with a iiij and a 5, where we arrive at the middle sheet of the 
 section, and where a careful examination in the fold will cer- 
 tainly show the thread of the binder, always a true sign of 
 the centre. These indications are often the only decisive 
 evidence of the completeness or incompleteness of a volume, 
 and enable us to decide, even where printed signatures are 
 wanting, the true collation of a book. 
 
 Catchwords are not found in any of Caxton's books, 
 although here and there a word by itself at the foot of a 
 page may look very like one ; but in every instance this word 
 wlQ be found to form an integral part of the text, and there- 
 fore in no sense a catchword, which by its very nature must 
 be treated as the first word of the next page. 
 
 In paper manuscripts of the fifteenth century it is not 
 uncommon to find vellum used for the inmost sheet of each 
 section, or to find a slip of parchment pasted down the 
 centre of each section. This was to give an increase of 
 strength to the back where the binder's thread would be 
 likely to tear through the paper. Instances where these slips 
 are used are common in " unwashed " specimens from Caxton's 
 press. The manuscript volume at Althorp, containing " Pro- 
 positio," is treated so throughout, and in the quarto poems at 
 
THE MASTEE PRINTER. . t$$ 
 
 Cambridge the marks of the paste, where the slip was torn 
 away at the rebinding of the volume, are very visible. 
 
 The earliest pictorial representation of a binder at work is 
 displayed in the little " Book of Trades," to which reference 
 has already been made ; but as there is nothing in it peculiar 
 to the age we will pass on to the material of the covers. This 
 was very frequently only a stiff piece of parchment, with tlie 
 edges tiu-ned in, and a blank leaf pasted down inside as a 
 lining. A few books still remain in this state, just as issued 
 from the " Ked-pale " by Caxton. Such are the copies of 
 *' TuUy de Senectute " in Queen's CoUege, Oxford ; the " Art 
 and Craft," " Directorium," and the " Game and Play of the 
 Chess," in the Bodleian ; and the " Godfrey of Boloyne" in the 
 library of Mr. Holford. If intended to be more durable, Caxton 
 used "boards" sometimes made of oak, or beech, and some- 
 times (fortunately for bibliographers) of waste sheets from the 
 press pasted together. These were covered with browTi sheep- 
 skin, upon which was a simple pattern of circles, or crosses, 
 or dragons, &c. Instances may stiU be seen in the 2nd edition 
 of the "Festial" at the British Museum; in the "Servitium 
 de Transfiguratione," lately purchased for the same library ; 
 in the 2nd edition of the " Mirrour of the World," at Bristol ; 
 and at other libraries. In the last-mentioned volume four 
 leaves of the unique " Fifteen Oes " were used as linings for 
 the inside of the boards. An account of a " Boethius," of 
 which the interior of the covers was composed entirely of 
 "waste sheets," is given in the description of that work. 
 
 When bound, we may consider that the book was generally 
 ready for delivery to the purchaser. It was so with all Caxton's 
 later publications, but the earlier books still required the 
 services of the rubrisher. 
 
 THE ILLUMINATOR, THE RUBRISHEB, AND THB 
 WO OD-ENGR A VER. 
 
 It has already been noticed that, in the latter half of the 
 fifteenth century, the great development of book manufacture 
 led to a corresponding division of labour. Thus in Bruges 
 we find there were Scrivers, or persons who wrote the text 
 
184 , WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 only of books, Verlichters, or Eubrishers, who probably con- 
 fined their attention to illuminated capitals, and Vinghetfe 
 makers (miniatores), who were artists capable of designing 
 and painting subjects. In only one instance do the books of 
 Caxton suggest the idea that the services of the Vinghette 
 maker were to have been employed. At the commencement 
 of his edition of Gower's "Confessio Amantis" (sig. 1, 4), the 
 prologue of the author is begun more than half-way down 
 the page. The blank was evidently intended for a design of 
 some sort, possibly for a large woodcut, after the fashion of 
 Colard Mansion, who printed all the great cuts to his "Ovid" 
 by a separate working. As a rule, however, Caxton's books 
 required no help from the vinghette maker, although he 
 certauily employed, so late as 1485, the services of a rubrisher, 
 to insert the initial letters at the beginning of chapters, and 
 to make paragraph marks in appropriate places. For this 
 purpose a vermilion ink was nearly always used, although 
 occasionally a light blue alternated. For the initial of the 
 first chapter a square space was left equal to the depth of four 
 or five lines of type : for succeeding chapters a space of two 
 lines was generally considered suflacient. 
 
 The first use of woodcut initials was in 1484, after which 
 year they were never (except on rare occasions when a sort 
 ran short) omitted. Caxton had only two or three of each 
 letter, and sometimes only one, as may easily be seen by the 
 recurrence of a particular initial. Some of them have their 
 heavy blackness relieved by a few white dots punctured in 
 the face of the letter, a practice frequently adopted by the 
 German school to lighten the groundwork of early woodcuts. 
 Caxton's initials are varied in shape, and often elegant in 
 design, but with the exception of the floriated ^ at the begin- 
 ning of the "Order of Chivalry," and "-^sop," and perhaps 
 the IS in " Eneydos," they demand no especial notice. A few 
 of them are given here. 
 
 The woodcut illustrations to Caxton's books have not 
 received much attention from the writers on the early his- 
 tory of wood engraving. Strutt, Singer, and Ottley in his 
 " Enquiry " have omitted to notice them. Dibdin and Jackson 
 
THH- MASTER PBrNTER. 18i 
 
 have devoted a few pages to their consideration ; and Ottley, 
 in the posthumous work on the " Invention of Printing," has 
 some interesting remarks on the early use of the art in Eng- 
 land. His opinions are enforced by a facsimile of some rude 
 woodcuts in his own possession, which he believed to have 
 been executed as early as the celebrated S. Christopher of 
 1423. From his arguments we may conclude that although 
 no great amount of vitality can be attributed to the art of 
 wood engraving in England in the early part of the fifteenth 
 century, it nevertheless was known and practised by native 
 artists ; and that the use of native talent for Caxton's books 
 was therefore possible. 
 
 At the same time it requires no artistic education to see 
 that there is a great similarity in general appearance between 
 the illustrations in some of the early Dutch books, and the 
 woodcuts of Caxton's " Chess Book," " Golden Legend," and 
 others. In the " Troy Book," folio, printed at Augsburg in 
 1483, and the French-printed "^sop," 1476, the broad out- 
 line and heavy black feet of the figures at once suggest a 
 similarity of style if not identity of artist. But whether 
 Caxton's cuts be native or foreign there can be little doubt 
 of the origin of the designs. His artist merely copied the 
 outUnes found in the manuscript from which the book was 
 being (or to be) printed. At that period there were a certain 
 number of standard works always in demand, and for each of 
 these the illimiinators had a conventional treatment, which 
 appears repeated over and over again in different books. To 
 those who have examined the illuminated manuscripts of the 
 fifteenth century, executed in the Low Countries (of which 
 there are numerous examples in the Eoyal Collection of the 
 British Museum), the identity of design and treatment in 
 Caxton's engravings will be evident. 
 
 It is somewhat remarkable that woodcut illustrations pre- 
 ceded the use of woodcut initials in Caxton's books by about 
 four years. In the " Fables of ^sop," 1484, we meet with 
 printed initials for the first time, while woodcuts, illustrative 
 of the text, had been used in great abundance for the "Golden 
 Legend," the " Chess Book," the " Mirrour of the World," Ist 
 
186 WILLIAM OAXTOlSr. 
 
 edition, and " Parvus et Magnus Catho," the last dating about 
 1481. 
 
 The following is a list of all the books printed by Caxton 
 with woodcut illustrations : — 
 
 Parvus et Magnus Catho.) _ ^ r^ 
 
 3rd edit. ... :}U81? Two designs. 
 
 Mirrour of the World, 1st ) ^^ , . 
 
 Tj, y 1481 Numerous designs. 
 
 The Game and Play of the) ^ ^. 
 
 Chess, 2nd edit. . . .} 1481 ? Sixteen designs. 
 
 Grolden Legend .... 1484 Very numerous designs. 
 
 Canterbury Tales, 2nd edit. 1484 Yery numerous designs. 
 
 -T^ .^. r Yery numerous designs. 
 
 ^°P 1^8*1 Initials first used? 
 
 Order of Chivalry . . . 1484 Large floriated ^. 
 
 Eoyal Book 1487? Seven small designs. 
 
 Speculum vitse Christi . . 1488 ? Numerous designs. 
 
 Doctrinal of Sapience . . 1489 Two designs. 
 
 ^ 1 -.., . ^^ (^ fragment, with one 
 
 Hora=, 3rd edit. . ... 1490 ?| ^^/^^ 
 
 Servitium Transfiguratione 1490? One small design. 
 
 ^, ^.^, ^ , r The Crucifixion cut and 
 
 The Fifteen Oes. . . . 1490? { ^^^^^ 
 
 Divers Ghostly Matters . 1490 ? One small design. 
 
 Had Caxton's opportunities allowed, he would probably 
 have used the wood-engraver's art to a much greater extent. 
 The above table shows that in 1481, when he first employed 
 woodcuts, he also discontinued them : that in 1484 he again, 
 for one year only, used them ; and that in 1487 they took a 
 permanent position in his typography. This seeming capri- 
 ciousness was probably owing to the difficulty experienced in 
 obtaining the services of a wood engraver. 
 
 The engravings in 1481, 1484, and partly in 1487-8, 
 appear to have come from the hand of the same artist. In 
 the last year, however, we find considerable improvement, as 
 
THE MASTEE PRINTER. 187 
 
 shown in the illustrations to the " Royal Book," and " Specu- 
 lum VitsB Christi ;" but Caxton's best specimen of the wood- 
 engraver's art, and one which has been much praised by 
 Dibdin, and especially Jackson, for its composition and 
 feeling, is the well-known " Crucifixion." This design is fre- 
 quently seen in the books of Wynken de Worde, who received 
 great credit for it until its earlier use was discovered as a 
 frontispiece to Caxton's " Fifteen Oes." 
 
 The largest woodcut known to have been used in Caxton's 
 books is the Assembly of Saints, at the beginning of all the 
 editions of the " Golden Legend," and the smallest, of which 
 there are four, are found in illustrations to the text in the 
 " Speculum vitae Christi." 
 
 This portion must not, however, be dismissed without a 
 few words upon that most interesting of all Caxton's wood- 
 cuts, the large device. Caxton used but one; the small 
 device, of a similar design, which is commonly attributed to 
 him, and which is first seen in the "Chastising of God's 
 Children," being certainly not earlier than 1491. 
 
 The interpretation of the device offers a question by no 
 means of easy solution. The common reading W&i, (ft, 74, 
 meaning William Caxton, 1474, is, I think, correct, and we 
 may dismiss, as unworthy of serious notice, the suggestions 
 that the figures should be reversed to read 1447, or that the 
 74 or 47 refer to Caxton's age and not to a particular year. 
 The problem to be solved is, does the design mean 74, and if 
 if so, why did Caxton use the year 1474 on his device ? 
 Bibliographers have hitherto assumed that it must be in 
 reference to the introduction of printing into England, and 
 quote the colophon to the 1st edition of the " Chess Book " in 
 support of the argument. But, os already shown, the date of 
 the " Chess Book " refers to the translation of the work, the 
 printing having been certainly accomplished at Bruges, and 
 probably in 1476, Caxton's settlement at "Westminster not 
 having occm*red until late in that year, or in 1477. 
 
 On the whole it seems most natural that a date used in 
 that manner would refer to some turning point in Caxton's 
 typographical career; and I therefore believe that the old 
 
138 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 reading of 1474 is correct, and that the reference is to the 
 date of printing " The Eecuyell," which, although translated 
 in 1471, was circulated for a considerable time in manuscript 
 only. Caxton certainly learnt the art while assisting to print 
 this book: it appears also from his description that it was 
 the first-fruit of his authorship, and at the same time the 
 first book printed in his native language — all which circum- 
 stances might lead him to look back upon 1474 as an epoch 
 to be commemorated. 
 
 The theory has been started that the so-called figures are 
 not meant as such, but are only a fanciful interlacement of 
 lines, such as may often be seen in fifteenth-century merchants' 
 marks ; that Caxton did not make his figures like these, nor 
 would he have used Arabic figures but full Eoman numerals 
 for any date he wished to note. In fact that this design is 
 simply Caxton's trade mark, which he used as a merchant, 
 revived with ornamentations. The reader must judge for 
 himself: certainly, in the form adopted by Wynken de Worde, 
 who used them all his life, the 74 are much less like Arabic 
 figures than in Caxton's device. 
 
 The opinion that the interlacement is a trade mark only 
 is much strengthened by the discovery of its original use. 
 In 1487, Caxton wishing to print a Sarum Missal, and not 
 having the types proper for the purpose, sent to Paris, where 
 it was printed for him by W. Maynyal, who in the colophon 
 states plainly that he printed it at the expense of William 
 Caxton, of London. When the printed sheets reached West- 
 minster, Caxton wishing to make it quite plain that he was 
 the publisher, engraved his design and printed it on the last 
 page, which happened to be blank. This is the first occasion 
 on which it is known to have been used. The unique copy 
 of this Missal is in the possession of Stephen Legh, Esq., M.P. 
 
 The following list of books in which the device is found 
 shows that it was not until the end of Caxton's typographical 
 life that he adopted this distinguishing mark. 
 
 Missale ad Usum Sarum 1487 
 
 Speculum vitae Christi circa 1488 
 
 Doctrinal of Sapience 1489 
 
THE MASTBB TEDTTBR. 18ft 
 
 The History of Reynard the Fox, 2nd edition . circa 1489 
 
 Directorium Sacerdotum, 2nd edition .... circa 1489 
 
 Eneydos 1490 
 
 The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, 3rd 
 
 edition circa 1490 
 
 The Mirrour of the World, 2nd edition . . . circa 1490 
 
 Divers Ghostly Matters circa 1490 
 
 The Festial, 2nd edition circa 1490 
 
 Four Sermons, 2nd edition circa 1490 
 
 St. Katherine of Senis circa 1491 
 
 The magnum opus of Caxton was undoubtedly the edition 
 of "The Golden Legend," 1484. The translation alone of 
 this great work must have been no slight task, while, as to 
 number of leaves and size of both paper and printed page, it 
 far exceeded his edition of " King Arthur," which was the 
 next largest. The smallest pieces of his printing now extant 
 are " The Advertisement " and the " Indulgences." 
 
 The commercial results of Caxton's trade as a printer are 
 unknown ; but as the fees paid at his bm-ial were far above 
 the average, and as he evidently held a respectable position in 
 his parish, we must conclude that his business was profitable. 
 The preservation of the " Cost Book " of the Ripoh press has 
 already been noticed, and some extracts of interest translated 
 therefrom. We may presume that Caxton also kept exact 
 accounts of his trade receipts and expenditure, and if such 
 were extant the many doubts which now surround the opera- 
 tions of his printing-oflSce would be definitely solved. We 
 should then know the price at which he sold his books, how 
 many pence he asked for his small quarto " quayers" of poetry, 
 or his pocket editions of the "Horse" and "Psalter," how 
 many shillings were required to purchase the thick foUo 
 volumes, such as " Canterbury Tales," " King Arthur," &;c. 
 That the price was not much dearer than that paid for good 
 editions now, we may infer from the rate at which fifteen 
 copies of the "Golden Legend" sold between 1496 and 1500. 
 These realised an average price of Qs. Sd. each, or about 
 £2 135. 4:d. of modem money, a sum by no means too great 
 
140 
 
 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 for a large illustrated work. This, however, would depend on 
 the number of copies considered necessary for an edition, 
 which probably varied according to the nature of the work. 
 On a blank leaf in the 1st edition of "Dictes," at Althorp, is 
 written, apparently by Bagford, "IST.B. — Caxton printed 44 
 books, 25 of which were with Dates, and 19 without." One 
 would imagine that so definite a statement must have had 
 some foundation, but it appears to rest entirely on the writer's 
 bare assertion. Some foreign printers issued so many as 275 
 or 300 copies of editions of the " Classics," but it is not pro- 
 bable that Caxton ventured upon so large an impression, as 
 the demand for his publications must have been much more 
 restricted. 
 
APPENDIX TO BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 OEIGINAL DOCUMENTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE 
 LIFE AND TIMES OF WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
.,.A *..^. '^'*'^- -s:-^*^!^ 
 
 
 mm^. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 MERCERS' RECORDS.— WARDENS' ACCOUNTS. 
 
 (Mercers' Hall, London.) 
 
 FOLIO Volume in the Archives of the Mercers' 
 Company, written on parchment by yarions scribes 
 in the I4th and 15th Centuries, extending from 
 1344 to 1464. The contents of the volume include 
 — a rent-roll — the oath of householders — of linen 
 cloth meters — of liverymen — of brethren — of brokers 
 —of apprentices on their entry and issue — of free- 
 men — an almanack — and the balance-sheets of the 
 whole Company. 
 
 The accounts of the receipts and disbursements of the Company are 
 annual, and reckoned by the regnal year of the King. These accounts 
 are generally made up under the following heads :— The annual fee of 
 every liveryman — fees paid on the entries of apprentices — fees paid on 
 the issues of apprentices — fines — quit-rents — general expenses — and 
 foreign expenses. The last head comprises all payments made for goods 
 and service not included in the legitimate business of the Company. 
 
 Oath taken by Caxton on " issuing" from his apprenticeship. 
 
 Ye shall swere that ye shal be true vnto oure liege lorde the kyng 
 and to his heires kynges/ ye shall also be obedient & Redy to come at all 
 leffull Sumonns & Warnyng of the Wardenis of the mercery/ whan and 
 as often as ye be duly monysshed & warned by them/ or by any of them/ 
 by their Bedell/ or by ony other in their name/ leffuU excuse alwey 
 except/ All Ordynaunces & Rules by the ffeliship of the merceri 
 Ordeyned made and stablished and here after for the wele worship & 
 profitt of the seid feliship to be made/ ye shall holde and kepe/ All 
 coicacons necessarij Ordynaunces and Cowncels for the welfare of the 
 seid ffeliship and the secrets therof to you shewed/ ye shall kepe secrete 
 
144 WILLIAM CAXTON, 
 
 & holde for councell/ and them ne ony of theym to discoyer or shew by 
 ony meane or collour vnto ony persoone or persoones of ony other ffeli- 
 ship. Ye shall also be contributory to all charges to yon putt by the 
 wardeins & ffeliship & to here & pay yo"" parte of charge sett for yo' 
 degre like as other of the same ffeliship shall do for their degre. Moreou 
 ye shall not departe oute of the seid ffeliship for to serve ne ye shall not 
 accompany you w* ony persoone or persoones of ony other feliship wher- 
 through preiudice & hurte may in ony wise growe vnto the seid ffeliship 
 of the mercery And on this ye shall swere that during the tyme of your 
 seruyce ye shall neither bey ne sell for yo'* owne self ne for ony other 
 persone ne that ye shall Keceive ony goodes or marchandise by ony collour 
 belonging vnto ony other p'soon than oonly to yo"" maist whiche that ye 
 now serue or shall seme w^ynne the ffeliship of ye mercerie except by 
 his speciall license & will And also that ye shall not take ony shop hous 
 ch'mbre seller ne warehous by ony collo^ for to ocupie byeing and sellyng 
 vnto suche tyme as that ye have ben w* the wardeins of the mercery for 
 the tyme beyng and by oon of hem for shopholder amytted sworn and 
 entred Ne that ye shall take ne haue ony apprentice or ony se for to 
 ocupye vnto that he by yon vnto oon the seid Ward, for apprentice first 
 presented & by the seid Wardein so amytted All which poynts & eny of 
 hem to y"^ power wele & truly ye shall hold & kepe so help you god &c. 
 
 The oath administered to Caxton upon taking up his freedom. 
 
 Ye shall swcre that ye shal be good and trew vnto o"* liege Lord 
 kyng of Englond and to his Eyres kyngs/ obeisaunt & obedyent to the 
 Mayor &; to the minysters of this Cite/ The ffrunchises and Custumes 
 thereof ye shal maynteyne and the cite kepe harmles in that that in you 
 is/ ye shall be contributary to al man' charges w* in this cite as somons 
 watches contribucions taskes tallays lotte and skotte and all other charges 
 here yo' parte as ony other frema shall/ ye shall colo' no foreyns good 
 wherby the kyng might lose his custume or his auauntage/ Ye shall 
 know no foreyn to bey sell nor merchundise w* another fforeyn within 
 this Cite nor the fraunches therof but ye wame the Chaumberleyn therof 
 or some mynysters of the chamber/ ye shall emplede no frema out of 
 this Cite while ye mow have right & lawe here within/ ye shall take none 
 apprentice but if he be fre borne and for no lesse time than for vij yers/ 
 within the first yere ye shall do hym be enrolled and at the termes end 
 ye shall make hym fre if he have wele and truly served you/ ye shall also 
 kepe the peace/ in yo' owne persone/ ye shall know no gader}'ngs con- 
 venticles nor conspiracies made ayenst the peace but ye wame the Maier 
 thereof & let it to yo' power All these poyntes ye shall wele and truly 
 kepe accordyng to all the Lawes & Custumes of this Cite to yo'* power so 
 help you god and holidame &; by this Boke/ 
 
145 
 
 1348. 
 
 The Fellowship in the 22nd year of Etlward III numbered 4 Wardens 
 and 101 Liverymen, and in this year among those who paid their fees 
 appear — 
 
 Richard de Causton Theobald de Canston 
 
 Michael de Causton Nichol de Causton 
 
 William de Causton Roger de Causton 
 
 Henry de Causton 
 Also in the 2nd year of Henry VI. — Stevyn Causton. 
 
 1401. 
 
 Under the 2nd year of Henry IV, among the " Entrees des Appren- 
 tices," is — William Causton/ Appr. de Thos. Gedeney . . . ij s 
 
 1427—1428. 
 
 Under the 6th year of Henry VI the name of Robert Large appears 
 for the first time. 
 
 Cest la compte de John Whatley, Robert Large, Thomas Bataill, et 
 John Pidiuyll fait alffeste de Seint John Baptist Ian vj™« aps. le con- 
 quest en quils ils estoient gardeins de la mistere del mercerie come piert 
 apres. 
 
 Under the same year, among " Entrees des Apprentices," — 
 Robert Halle \a~. -tn^.x 
 Randolf Streete(^PP"'y'^"^°^^^^"^ ' ' ' "'J« 
 
 1430—1431. 
 
 Under the 9th year of Henry VI, among the " Entrees des Appren- 
 tices," — 
 
 Item ress. de Thoms Nyche appnt de Rob* Large . ij s 
 Item ress. de Rich Bonifaunt appnt de Rob* Large ) .... 
 Item de James heton appnt de dit Rob* . . . . ) ^ 
 
 1431—1432. 
 
 The following item is from the Warden's Receipts in the 10th ye^r 
 of Henry VI. — 
 
 Item. lis soy chargent qilz ount ressu de Thos. Staunton flfrere et 
 Attone de Robert Large de monye quil ad ressu outre mere en ptie de 
 paiement de les xli prestres a John Wavyn pics gardenis de Ian passe. • 
 
 1436—1436. 
 
 Among the Entries of Apprentices in the 14th year of Henry VI. — 
 It de Henr. Onkmanton le aprenticc de Robert Large ij s 
 
 L 
 
146 WILLIAIVI CAXTON. 
 
 1437—1438. 
 
 Among the Issues of Apprentices in the 16th year of Henry VI. — 
 It Randolffe Streete lappfitice de Robert Large . . ij s 
 
 Among the entries for the same year — 
 
 It John large ), ^,. ■, r^ ■, , -r 
 
 It Willm' Caxston 1 ^"' ^PP"^^^^^ ^e Robert Large . iiij s 
 
 1438—1439. 
 
 Among the Wardens' Receipts in the 17th year of Henry VI. — 
 
 It lis soy chargeont pour argent ressu p^ fynes de dius persones en 
 lo'^ temps p' ces qils fautent de chiuachier ouesqz le mair Robert large. 
 
 In the same account, under " fforein expenses." 
 
 Item paie a xvi trumpetts le xxix i'^ doctobre Ian xviij™^ du (jit Roy 
 Hen vj"»e pour le chiuachee de Robert large maij v li vi s viij d 
 
 1440—1441. 
 
 From the Warden's Receipts in the 19th year of Henry VI. — 
 It ils soy chargeont pour argent rescue des Executos Robert large del 
 legace du dit Robert xx li 
 
 In the same year under the Issue of Apprentices — 
 
 It Thomas Neche qui fuist appntice de Rob* large . . i j s 
 In the next year, under the Issue of Apprentices — 
 
 It Rich Bonefant q fuist appntice de Rob* large . . i j s 
 
 1442—1443. 
 
 Among the Issues of Apprentices in 21 Henry VI. — 
 
 Xrofer Heton appntice de Rob* large ij s 
 
 Among the Entries — 
 
 Richard large appntice de Geffrey Felding . . . . ij s 
 Among the Issues of Apprentices in 22 Henry VI. — 
 
 John Harrowe appntice de Robert large i j s 
 
 Among the Issues of Apprentices in 2.5 Henry VI. — 
 
 Richard Caxton* s'unt de John Harrowe i j s 
 
 1448—1449. 
 In Foreign Expenses for the 27th year of Henry VI. — 
 
 To Richard Burgh for berynge of a I're our the See vj s viij d 
 
 1450—1451. 
 
 Under Foreign Expenses in the 29th year of Henry VI. — 
 
 Item. Paid to John Stubbes for Perys to the Gentilwoman of the 
 
 Duchesse of Burgeyn vj d 
 
 Item paid to Hewe Wyche for a TVTit directe to Sandewyche for the 
 
 Gowmys of the Gentil womans of the duches of Burgeyn ij s vj d 
 
APPENDIX. ^ 
 
 1453. 
 
 Lan du grace m cccc liij Et del Roy Herry sizme puis le con- 
 queste xxxje 
 
 Under the heading "Entre en la lyvere pra' An" — 
 
 It Emond Redeknape vj 8 viij d 
 
 It™ Richaert Burgh v j s viij d 
 
 It™ William Caxton v j s viij d 
 
 These names have been erased with the pen, and the following memo- 
 randum added beneath — " qz int' debitores in fine copot9." 
 
 In the list of persona fined ''qils fautent de chiuachier ouesque le 
 mair Geffrey Felding" in the same year are the names of — 
 
 William Caxton iij s iiij d j Thomas Biyce iij s iiij d 
 Richard Burgh iij s iiij d I William Pratt iij s iiij d 
 
 1462—1463. 
 
 Under Foreign Expenses in the 2nd year of Edward TV. — 
 Item for botehyre for to she we to ye lords of ye coasell the I're y* 
 came from Caxton & ye felaship by yonde ye See vj d 
 
 1464—1465. 
 
 At the end of the Wardens* Account for the 4th year of Edward IV. — 
 
 Dettours. 
 Item. Ye ffelaship by yende ye see for yeir patents xlvij li x d 
 Among the Foreign Expenses for the same year — 
 Item to Jenyne Bakker, Currour, for berying of a letter to Caxton 
 ovir ye see xxviij s viij d 
 
 1465. 
 
 [Folio c xlj recto.] Anno xiiij« Ixv® . 
 
 Courte holden of the hole felyshipp the xvij*i» daye of octobr' the 
 yere aboue written. 
 
 **♦*♦♦ 
 
 A lettre sent ou Welboloned we grete you well certifiyng youe that 
 the see. as towchyng the convencion of the lordes that was 
 
 appoynted to begyn at sent Omers the first daye of 
 the p'sent moneth of October/ the whiche we trusted 
 vppon/ it is so that it holdith not/ Neu the lesse oure souaign lorde the 
 kyng Remembryng that thentrecourse expired the ffirst day of Nouembre 
 next comyug/ hath written a letter to the maire of london/ whereof ye 
 shall receyue a copye closed in this letter/ And where as the kyng by 
 his lettre willeth that suche a p'sone as shulde go in message for the bro- 
 gacion of thentrecours shulde be p'vided in suche fonrme as ye may con- 
 ceyve by the lettre it is thougth here that it is not oure parte here in the 
 Citie to take vppon vs a mater of so grete weyght where that all tymes 
 
 l2 
 
148 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 here to fore the kyng by thavise of his lords of his Councell have made 
 the p'vision in that behalfe and vppon this we have labored to the mayre 
 w* the wardens of dius felyshippes aventerers that he will write an 
 annsware to the kyng of his lettre in the most plesunt wise that he can 
 that it will pleas his highnes by thavise of his Councell to p'vide for this 
 mater for the weall of all his subietts/ wherfore consideryng that the day 
 comyth nygh vppon and how that the kyngs wrytyng and his message 
 shalbe spedde from hens we are not certen/ wherfor we pray youe for the 
 welle of alle the kyngs subietts by thavise of the felishipp there in as 
 goodly hast as ye can labo"" for a meane by the whiclie yo*" p'sones & 
 goods may be in suretie for a reasonable tyme/ and in the mene whyle 
 there com wrytyng from the kyng to the duke/ or eles from the duke to 
 the kyng if it will so happen for p'rogacion of the same/ and suche costs 
 as ye do vppon the suytt we will that they be generally levied there in 
 suche man and fourme as ye seme most expedient/ written &c. 
 
 John lambert John Warde | p . 
 a W. Caxton. John Baker John Alburgh ) ^"s'^ses. 
 
 1466. 
 
 [Folio C xliiij.] 
 
 Courte of adventcrers holden the iij*^ (.§/c) day of June Ao xiiijc Ixvj. 
 ffor a lettre send Hit is accorded by the said felishipp for by cause of a 
 from Caxton lettre send from William Caxton and theryn a Copye 
 Gouemo''- of a lettre sent to the said William by therle of 
 
 Warwike for thabstinens of bying Wares forboden 
 in the dukes londes of Burgoyne by acte of p'lement that a lettre shalbe 
 made and sent to the said William by the Custoses and Adventerers 
 whiche is made and sent in the fourme following &c. 
 
 A lettre send Right trusty Sir We grete youe well/ lettyng youe 
 ou to Caxton witt the dayc of makyng of this We receyved a lettre 
 gouno'"- from you directed to the mayre and vs written at 
 
 Brudgs the xxvij*^^ daye of maye last past and theryn 
 closed a copye of a letter directed to youe from oure good lorde therle of 
 Warwik whiche we haue well vnderstonde & conceyved/ and oppened it 
 to our felishipp for whiche we desire and praye youe/ in that youe is to 
 consider and fulfill thentent made by acte of p'lement and the speciall 
 desire of oure forsaid lorde for the publique weall of this lande and that 
 due inqueraunce be made there in that youe is for the complyshment of 
 the same/ as right requyreth/ we willyng in no kynde the saide acte to 
 be broken nor hurte by non of oure felyshipp in that vs is and that the 
 p'sones founde quycly yf any suche be as god forbede that ye do cor- 
 recion after th ordenauce there made and thentent of yo*" lettre and as 
 for yof desire of aunsware of the lordes intent here as yitt we can not 
 vnderstonde their disposicion but as sone as we have knowlege ye shall 
 
APPENDIX. 149 
 
 haue wittyng and as for the lettres that ye write ye shulde sent from 
 seint Omers we receyued non as yitt and as for any ioperdy that shulde 
 fall ye shall vnderstonde it ther soner than we here/ and if we knowe of 
 any ye shall have wrytyng &c. 
 
 Writ at london the iij''» day of June/ 
 
 J. Tate/ J. Marshall/ Ed. Betts & 
 J. Broun Custoses of the mercery 
 & thaventerers of the same, 
 a Willi" Caxton Gunor jg la nac9 deng^- 
 Envoye p' symond preste le iiij*^ io'' de June. 
 
 1468. 
 
 [Folio xij recto.] Anno xiiijo Ixviijo- 
 Parsonesassiged Courte holden the ix daye of Septembr the yere aboue 
 to go in ambas- writte hit was accorded and agreede thot for asmoche 
 sate by the as the kyng & his Counsell desyred of the felisshipp 
 kynges com- to haue certen p'sones of the same to go on in Am- 
 maundment. bassatt w* dins Enbassatos into fflaunders as for the 
 
 enlargjTig of WoUen clothe that theis persones vnder- 
 written shnlde be p'seuted to the kynges highnes & his Councell/ they to 
 do as shall pleas them/ 
 
 William Redeknape 
 John Pykeryng 
 William Caxton 
 [Same Folio and year.] 
 Mony assigned Courte holden the xxviij daye of Septebr' the yere 
 to the said am- aboue said 
 
 bassatos for hit is accorded that William Redenape and John 
 theire Costs. Pykeryng shall haue in honde xl li st'ling towarde 
 
 thoire costs & charges for thambassatt of thenlargyng 
 of Wollen clothe in the Duke of Burgun londes whiche shalbc leyde oute 
 of the cundith mony at this tymc receyued vnto the tyme another Courte 
 be had for the p'vision of the same by the advise of the Aldermen of 
 onre felyshipp. 
 
 MERCERS' RECORDS.—RENTER WARDEN'S ACCOUNTS. 
 
 {Mercers^ Hall, London.) 
 
 A folio Volume on paper, in the Archives of the Mercers' Company, 
 written in the 15th Century, being a continuation, on a different plan, of 
 the " Wardens' Accounts." 
 
 It appears that about 1463-4 the wealth of the Mercers, especially in 
 houses and lands, had so much increased, that it was found convenient 
 
150 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 to appoint one out of the four Wardens, whose business it should be to 
 keep an account of the Company's estate. Accordingly cA-^ery year a 
 "Renter Warden" was chosen; and from this period the Rent-roll is 
 the main feature in the books, the sum total only of the Fees and Ex- 
 penses of the Company appearing under their separate heads. 
 
 1463—1464. 
 
 Under " Qwj-terents." — 3rd Edward IV. 
 
 Item paid to ye Chamberleyn of Westm'" for ye pye at S Martyns 
 Otewich for iiij t'm^ at Est' A^ iij^" xxs 
 
 1464—1465. 
 4th Edward IV. 
 
 Item to ye m' of S Giles in ye ffeld for tents at S Martyns Oteswich 
 vj s viij d 
 Item to ye Chamberleyn of yabbey of Westm"" fer ye same xx s 
 
 1467—1468. 
 7th Edward IV. 
 
 Item paid for Rep'acs done at S Martyns Oteswich as ap'ith by ye 
 pap' of yacopts/ as in tyleng and oy^ yings xx s vj d ob9. 
 
 1475. 
 
 A^ xiiij c Ixxv. Under the head ** Discharge by Qwyterents of the 
 mercery." 
 
 Paid to the Chambleyn of West^" for the pye xx s 
 
 Same year. Under " Qwyterents of Whet' " (Whittington). 
 
 The Wards of O*" lady brethered of seint Margaret at Westm^ v s 
 
 1477. 
 
 A° xiiij c Ixxvij. Under " Qwyterents of Whetyngton." 
 It' of the Wardeyns of 0^ lady brethered of Seint Margarets at 
 Westminster v s 
 
 1484. 
 Under " Qwyterents." 
 
 Itm to the Chawmburleyn of wesf for the grehound iiij s vj d 
 
 Under '" Other paiements." 
 Eor a dener kept at the grehound at the visitacion of 
 
 the lyuelod xxvj s viij d 
 
 Itm for wesshyng of a tabyll cloth ij d 
 
 A" xiiij c Ixxxiiij Under the same. 
 
 It of the wards of o^ lady brethered of seint marg'ets at Westemesf 
 for their tenf in Aldermare v s 
 
APPE!n)IX. 151 
 
 THE WILL OF ROBERT LARGE, 
 
 Citizen of London and Mercer — dated 11th April, 1441 — translated from 
 the original copy in the book, called " Rouse," formerly deposited in the 
 Prerogative Court, Doctors* Commons, and now in the Probate Registry 
 of the High Court of Justice. 
 
 TEANSLATION. 
 
 3jx tfje l^ame of ©©IB ^mtn. On the eleventh Day of the month 
 of April in the Year of our Lord One Thousand CCCC and forty one 
 in the nineteenth Year of King Henry the Sixth after the conquest 
 I Robert Large Citizen and Mercer of the City of London being in 
 perfect health and memory do hereby make execute and ordain my Will 
 in this manner First I bequeath and commend my Soul to Almighty 
 GOD my Creator and Saviour to the Blessed Virgin Mary His Mother 
 and to all the Saints and my body to be buried in the parish Church of 
 St. Olave in the Old Jewry Londbn to wit in the same place in which 
 the body of Elizabeth my late wife lies buried which my body being 
 buried I will and bequeathe first and principally that all and singular my 
 debts shall be faithfully and entirely paid in full And afterwards I 
 bequeath to the High Altar of the said Church of St. Olave that the 
 Vicar of the same shall specially pray for the good of my soul C s Also 
 I bequeath for the use of the structure of the same church to be applied 
 wherever it shall be most requisite according to the sound discretion of 
 the parishioners twenty marcs Also I leave twenty pounds for my 
 executors to buy one set of vestments to be chosen according to the 
 judgment of the aforesaid parishioners and such set of vestments I will 
 to remain in the said church of St. Olave to serve for the glory of GOD 
 so long as they shall last Also I bequeath two hundred marcs for the 
 purpose of providing a Chaplain fit and honest and well instructed in 
 those things which pertain to the holy offices to celebrate mass at the 
 altar of the blessed Mary in the said church of St. Olave daily when it 
 shall be appointed or otherwise according to the discretion of my wife 
 and to be present at divine service at each hour appointed for prayer to 
 officiate to pray and to minister according to the discretion of four 
 approved most profitable for the salvation of my soul Also I bequeath 
 to Alice my daughter one hundred pounds to be paid to her when she 
 shall arrive at the age of twenty-one years to be spent in the purchase of 
 furniture and utensils most necessary for her house according to sound 
 advice and counsel Also I bequeath to Elizabeth my daughter five 
 hundred marcs sterling and I mil that the said Elizabeth my daughter 
 together with the aforesaid five hundred marcs left by me as above to 
 the said Elizabeth my daughter be and remain in the governance of the 
 aforesaid Stephen Tychemerssh until the said Elizabeth my daughter 
 shall arrive at the age of twenty years or be married he the said Stephen 
 finding sufficient security in the chamber of Guildhall in the City of 
 
152 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 London according to the custom and usage of the said City to deliver up 
 to the said Elizabeth my daughter the aforesaid five hundred marks 
 sterling when the said Elizabeth my daughter shall arrive at the afore- 
 said age of twenty years or be married without rendering any other 
 interest therefor only and except the reasonable support of the said 
 Elizabeth my daughtei* And if the said Elizabeth my daughter shall 
 happen to die unmarried or before the age of twenty years then I will 
 that two hundred and fifty marks of the aforesaid five hundred marks 
 left by me as above to the said Elizabeth my daughter revert to the said 
 Alice my daughter if she shall survive and if she be dead then the said 
 two hundred and fifty marks together with the other said two hundred 
 and fifty marks remaining be at the disposal of and distributed by my 
 executors in pious uses and works of charity for the good of my soul and 
 the souls above mentioned in manner as afore is set forth Also I be- 
 queath to the common box of the Mystery of Mercers of the City of 
 London for the support of the poor of the said mystery twenty pounds. 
 Also I bequeath ten pounds to be disposed of according to the discretion 
 of my executors in the purchase of a vestment to serve in the Mercers' 
 chapel in the church of St. Thomas of Acan London so long as it will 
 last Also I bequeath to each convent of the four orders of mendicant 
 friars in the City of London to pray for my soul forty shillings Also I 
 bequeath to the convent of friars of the order of St. Cross near the Tower 
 of London twenty shillings. Also I bequeath one hundred shillings for 
 the purchase of bedding linen and flannel according to the discretion of 
 my executors to serve in the Hospital of St. Bartholomew in West Smith- 
 field so long as they will last Also I bequeath one hundred shillings 
 wherewith to purchase in like manner bedding for the new hospital 
 called St. Mary Spital without the aforesaid thousand pounds left by me 
 to him the said Thomas my son be and remain in the safe charge and 
 government of the aforesaid Johanna my wife until the said Thomas my 
 son shall arrive at the age of twenty-four years she the said Johanna my 
 wife finding suflicient security in the Guildhall chamber of the city of 
 London according to the manner and custom of the said City to deliver 
 up to the said Thomas my son the aforesaid thousand pounds when he 
 Thomas my son. shall arrive at his aforesaid age of twenty-four years 
 without rendering any interest therefor only and except the reasonable 
 support of my said son Thomas Also I bequeath to Robert my son one 
 thousand pounds sterling and I will that the said Robert my son together 
 with the aforesaid thousand pounds so left by me as above to the said 
 Robert my son be and remain in the safe charge and governance of the 
 aforesaid Thomas Staunton my brother until the said Robert my son 
 shall arrive at the age of twenty-four years the said Thomas Staunton 
 finding sufficient security in the Guildhall chamber of the City of London 
 according to the manner and custom of the said City to deliver up to the 
 said Robert my son the aforesaid thousand pounds so left by me as afore- 
 said when the said Robert my son shall arrive at his aforesaid age of 
 
APPENDIX. 15S 
 
 twenty-four years without rendering any interest therefor only and 
 except the proper support of my said son Robert Also I bequeath 
 to Richard my son one thoosand pounds sterling and will that the 
 said Richard my son together with the said thousand pounds so be- 
 queathed by me to him as above shall be and remain in the safe custody 
 and governance of the aforesaid Johanna my wife until Richard my said 
 son shall arrive at the age of twenty-four years the said Johanna my 
 wife finding sufficient security for the said thousand pounds in the same 
 way as above specified And in case one or more of my said sons Thomas 
 Robert or Richard shall die before reaching the said age of twenty-four 
 years then I will and bequeath that the portion or ix)rtion8 of that my 
 son or those my sous so dying before the age of twenty-four years shall 
 revert to that one or thase of my said sons surviving And if all my said 
 sons shall die before arriving at the age of twenty-four years then I will 
 and bequeath that the said three thousand pounds shall be disposed of 
 and distributed by my executors in pious uses and works of charity for 
 the good of my own soul and the souls of my parents my wives and my 
 children also of my friends and benefactors for the souls of all I hold in 
 esteem and of all the faithful departed this life in such way as my execu- 
 tors may consider to be better for the pleasing of GOD and among poor 
 unmarried men and women desirous of marriage Also I bequeath to the 
 parish church of Shakeston where my father lies buried a vestment of the 
 value of ten pounds to serve in the same church to the glory of GOD so 
 long as it will last Also I bequeath to the parish church of Aldester 
 where my ancestors are buried a vestment of the value of ten pounds 
 Also I leave to the parish church of Overton where some of my relatives 
 are buried a vestment of the value of ten pounds Also I bequeath to 
 Thomas Nyche my servant 1 marks Also to Richard Bonyfaunt my 
 apprentice 1 marks Also I bequeath to Henry Onkmonton my appren- 
 tice 1 pounds Also I bequeath to Robert Dedes my apprentice xx marks 
 Also I bequeath to Christopher my apprentice xx pounds Also I be- 
 queath to William Caxton my apprentice xx marks Also I bequeath to 
 John Gode my servant x pounds Also I bequeath to William Brydde 
 my servant x marks Also I bequeath to William my kitchen servant 
 xl shillings Also I bequeath to Katherine my servant x marks and to 
 Isabella Lynde xl shillings Also I leave to William Sampson my ser- 
 vant at my manor of llorham five marks Also I bequeath to Peter my 
 servant at the same place xl shillings and to Thomas my servant at the 
 same place xxvj shillings and viij pence Also I bequeath to John de 
 Ramsey servant of Isabella Boteley x marks on his marriage Also I 
 bequeath to Richard Tumat the son of Johanna my wife xx pounds 
 Also I bequeath C marks to be divided by my executors among the 
 children of John Chirch Citizen and Mercer of the City of London 
 who shall be living at the age of xxiiij years Also I bequeath to 
 Thomas Staunton my brother if he will undertake the charge of exe- 
 cuting this my will and will act with good diligence in this office C 
 
154 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 pounds Also I bequeath to Arnulph Strete Mercer on the same con- 
 dition C marks and to Stephen Tychemerrsh on the same condition C 
 marks Also I leave to Katherine my mother C marks Also I bequeath 
 to Johanna my wife by way of gift and instead of her portion of all and 
 singular my moveable goods and chattels by law belonging to her four 
 thousand marks And in case that she Johanna my wife shall be dis- 
 satisfied with this my said legacy then I will that this my legacy to the 
 said Johanna do cease and become void in law and that then the said 
 Johanna my wife do have of my moveable goods and chatties only that 
 portion to which she is entitled by law without any addition or advan- 
 tage whatsoever Also I bequeath to Thomas my son one thousand 
 pounds sterling and I will that the said Thomas my son together with 
 parishioners of the aforesaid church for twenty years next after my 
 decease the said chaplain taking for his annual salary ten marks to be 
 paid and administered at the hands of my executors in order that he the 
 said Chaplain may specially commend to GOD my soul and also the souls 
 of Elizabeth and Johanna my wives Eichard Herry my late master and 
 the souls of all those whom I esteem and the souls of all the faithful 
 departed Also I bequeath to the high altar of St. Margaret in Lothbury 
 London C s Also I bequeath xx Pounds to be paid by my executors for 
 the purchase of one set of vestments according to the expressed choice 
 of the aforesaid parishioners which set of vestments I wish to remain in 
 the said Church of Saint Margaret to serve for the worship of GOD so 
 long as they shall last. Also I leave xx pounds to be disposed of and 
 divided by my executors among the more indigent poor men and women 
 of the ward of Coleman Street Also four pounds to be divided by my 
 executors among the Chaplains and Clerks in the Churches of St. Olave 
 and St. Margaret aforesaid within two years next after my decease that 
 is to say xl s each year in order that the aforesaid Chaplains and Clerks 
 may pray for my soul Also I bequeath for the new making and con- 
 struction of an aqueduct lately begun in the City of London CCCC marks 
 to be paid within four years according to the discretion of my executors 
 on condition however that the aforesaid aqueduct be completed within 
 four years next after my decease and not otherwise Also I bequeath for 
 the work of making and repairing London Bridge C marks to be paid 
 within four years according to the discretion of my executors Also I 
 bequeath for the cleansing of the Watercourse called Walbrook near the 
 church of St. Margaret Lothbury and for the enlargement and upholding 
 of the same church to be disposed of according to the wise discretion of 
 my executors and four approved parishioners of that Church CC marks 
 or more if necessary so that it do not exceed CCC marks Also I bequeath 
 C marks to be disposed of according to the wise discretion of my execu- 
 tors for the marriage of ten poor girls of good character namely to each 
 of these ten girls at her marriage ten marks whether in the country or 
 in the City of London Also I bequeath C pounds to be divided by my 
 executors among poor domestic servants in the counties of Lancashire 
 
APPENDIX. 155 
 
 and Warwickshire that is to 6&j one poor manservant ten shillings and 
 to another twenty shillings and to another forty shillings as occasion 
 may require so long as the said C pounds shall suffice Also I bequeath 
 XX pounds to be distributed by my executors where it may be most 
 needed Bishopsgate London so long as it will last. Also I leave five 
 marks wherewith in like manner to purchase bedding for the hospital of 
 the Blessed Saint Mary of Bethlehem without Bishopsgate aforesaid. 
 Also I bequeath forty shillings wherewith in like manner to purchase 
 bedding for the hospital of St. Thomas of Southwark near London. Also 
 I bequeath six pounds wherewith in like manner to purchase bedding 
 for the Lepershouses at Hakeney les lokes without the barriers of St 
 George Southwark and of St Egidius beyond Holbom London namely 
 to each of the said houses forty shillings Also I bequeath one hundred 
 shillings wherewith to provide and purchase food and other things most 
 necessary for the poor prisoners in Newgate London to be distributed 
 according to the sound discretion of my executors Also I bequeath one 
 hundred shillings to be distributed in like manner among the prisoners in 
 Ludgate London Also I bequeath for repairs in the nave of the church 
 of Thakstede five marks Also I bequeath for repairs in the body of 
 the church of Chawrey in the county of Essex forty shillings Also 
 I bequeath to Richard Foliet mercer twenty marks Also I bequeath to 
 William Halle mercer lately my servant twenty pounds Also I bequeath 
 to Agnes lately my servant forty shillings Also I bequeath to each of 
 my two said daughters Alice and Elizabeth three cups with covers from 
 among my cups called standing cups of silver-gilt whichever of such 
 cups with the covers shall weigh twenty-four ounces and * ♦ * ♦ 
 
 [^one leaf of tJie original is here mi^.ung'\ 
 the s"i Richard Tumat dying without male heirs lawfully begotten, then 
 I will that all the above lands and tenements with their appurtenances 
 shall revert to the male heirs of my before-mentioned son Robert Large. 
 Provided nevertheless that if the sA Richard Turnat shall take possession 
 of all the aforesaid lands and tenements in Newton that then he shall be 
 excluded entirely from the manor of Horham in the county of Essex 
 with the lands and tenements and appurtenances belonging thereto. 
 
 Then follows the Probate, dated May 6th, 1441, and proved before 
 Zauobio Mulakyn, Dean of the Church of St. Mary-le-Bow, London. 
 
 BRUGES RECORDS.— CIVIL JUDGMENTS. 
 
 (^The Archives, Bruges.') 
 
 The following document is found in one of the many volumes of 
 Records preserved in the Archives of the City of Bruges. Like the 
 other volumes of this interesting series it is in manuscript coeval with 
 
156 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 the history it elucidates. The title at the beginning of the book is as 
 follows : — 
 
 " Registre van alle zaken ghehandelt by Scepen van Brugghe, in huerl. 
 camere daer zy daghelicx vergaderen. Beghint in Septembre in 'tjaer 
 dunst vierhondert xlvij."; or, " A register of all matters brought under 
 the notice of the Councillors of Bruges, in their daily session assembled. 
 Begun in the month of September, in the year one thousand four hun- 
 dred xlvij." 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 To all who see or hear these Presents — the Burgomasters, Sheriffs, 
 and Council of the Town of Bruges send greeting. Be it known that 
 William Craes, an English Merchant, Complainant, of the one part, and 
 John Selle and William Caxton, English Merchants also, Defendants, of 
 the other part, have this day appealed for justice before Roland de Vos 
 and Guerard le Groote our Fellows, Sheriffs. The said Complainant 
 says, that John Granton, Merchant, of the Staple at Calais, was bound 
 and indebted to him in certain sums of money ; that is to say, firstly in 
 &60 sterling for and because of a certain obligation, and further, in the 
 sum of £50 sterling on account of a certain exchange which had taken 
 place between them, as well as for expenses and costs incurred in that 
 matter, amounting on the whole to £110 sterling. For this sum he had 
 caused the said John Granton to be arrested in the Town of Bruges, and 
 that the said John being arrested, the said John Selle and William 
 Caxton became sureties for him, in equity and law. 
 
 And because the said John had departed the Town of Bruges without 
 having paid and satisfied him, or appealed for justice, he demanded that 
 the said Defendants should be compelled and adjudged, as Sureties of 
 the said John, to pay the said claim, 
 
 The said Defendants, in answer, acknowledged that in the manner 
 aforesaid they had become Sureties to the said William Craes for the 
 said John Granton, but submitted that the said John was quite solvent, 
 rich enough, and would certainly pay the amount ; requiring therefore 
 that the said Complainant might seek his debt of the said John, who was 
 the real debtor, and that they might be discharged from their said surety- 
 ship : disputing also the sum demanded by the Defendant on account of 
 the said exchange, for certain reasons thereupon alleged ; the aforesaid 
 Plaintiff holding the validity of the said suretyship, and demanding as 
 aforesaid ; together with many other reasons submitted by the said par- 
 ties. And after hearing the said parties on the said questions, with their 
 arguments, as well as certain Merchants, that the said dispute had been 
 determined by our Fellows, Sheriffs, who had adjudged and decided : 
 That the said Defendants should, as the Sureties of the said John 
 Granton, pay and satisfy the said William Craes, firstly in the said sum 
 of £60, of which the said obligation made mention, and furthermore in 
 the sum of £35 sterling on account of the said exchange aad costs. 
 And that, upon the surrender of the said obligation, good and sufficient 
 
157 
 
 security amounting to the two said sums of £60 and £35 sterling should 
 be given ; that in case at some future time the said John Granton should 
 deny the debt of the said sums, or allege payment, that then, on the other 
 hand, the said Plaintiff should be sentenced to render and repay the said 
 two sums and more. Right of action being reserved to the said Defen- 
 dants against the said John Granton, the original debtor, as law and 
 equity direct. 
 
 In witness whereof, &c., 2 January (1449). 
 
 BRUGES RECORDS.— TOWN REGISTERS. 
 
 {The ArcJiiveg, Bruges.) 
 A Register written on paper in the fifteenth century, and containing 
 Civil Judgments, given in the Town of Bruges during the years 1465-9. 
 
 (Teanslation.) 
 
 Whereas Daniel, son of Adrien, called Sheriff Daniel, Plaintiff of the 
 one part, and Jeroneme Vento, for and in the name of Jaques Doric,* 
 Merchant of Genoa, Defendant of the other part, have promised and 
 agreed to leave all the differences between them to the judgment and 
 arbitration of William Caxton, Merchant of England, and Master and 
 Governor of the English Nation in these parts ; and of Thomas Perrot, 
 as Arbitrators, and amicable Umpires and common friends, the said 
 parties, and each of them, promising well and legally to abide by, 
 observe and perform all that the said Arbitrators shall decide and 
 adjudicate on the said differences, without opposition of any kind. And 
 that the said Arbitrators having heard the pleas of the said parties, 
 and formed thereon their sentence and judgment which they have 
 reported to the full chamber of the Sheriffs of Bruges, it has been 
 notified to the said parties, that, because the said William Caxton was 
 unavoidably absent from the said City of Bruges, the said parties have 
 been summoned before the said full chamber of the Sheriffs of Bruges, 
 and have appeared. To whom has been signified the arbitration and 
 judgment by the said Arbitrators, which was and is as follows ; that is 
 to say — That the said Jeroneme Vento, for and in the name of the said 
 Jaques Doric, shall pay to the said Scepheer Daniel promptly and in 
 current money the sum of £4 gross ; and that the said Jeroneme above- 
 named shall advance to the said Sheriff Daniel another £4 gross, the 
 said Scepheer Daniel, however, giving good surety to the said Jeroneme 
 that he will repay the said sum of £4 gross which he had advanced, 
 within the first four voyages, in whatever country it may be, that Sheriff 
 Daniel may make with his vessel, that is to say, on each voyage £1 gross. 
 
 * Perhaps one of the celebrated Doiia family of Genoa. 
 
158 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 Provided always, that in case the said Daniel shall not make a voyage 
 with his said ship within the next six months, and that the said 
 Daniel, or his sureties, shall be bound to pay aud restore to the said 
 Jeroneme Vento (without the said Jeroneme agree to a postponement) 
 the other payments above-named. The observance of which judgment 
 and arbitration by the said parties, and each of them, has been decreed 
 in the said full chamber of Sheriffs of Bruges. 
 Done the 12th of May, 1469. 
 
 ISSUE KOLL OF THE EXCHEQUER. 
 
 Under the date of '* Easter. 19 Edward IV, 15th June," is the fol- 
 lowing : — 
 
 To William Caxton. In money paid to his own hands in discharge 
 of 20 1, which the Lord the King commanded to be paid to the same 
 William for certain causes and matters performed by him for the said 
 Lord the King. 
 
 By writ of privy seal amongst the mandates of this term 20 1. 
 
 ST, MARGARET'S RECORDS.— CHURCHWARDENS' 
 ACCOUNTS. 
 
 ( J» the Vestry of St. Margarets Clmrch Westminster.) 
 
 A Volume of biennial Accounts of the Churchwardens, audited by 
 the chief Parishioners, Each Account is written on a quire of parch- 
 ment, complete in itself : they vary considerably in size, but have been 
 carefully bound in one Volume, and are in beautiful condition. The 
 period included in this Volume is 1464 to 1503. The contents consist of 
 — Receipts of Pees for Burials, Obits, &;c. — Rents — Legacies, and Gifts 
 — Payments for Repairs — Salaries — Pew-rents — Collections — and other 
 expenses. 
 
 1474. 
 
 " Compus Thome Frampton & Willi Stafford custod' bonor9 & oma- 
 mentor9 ecclie p'ochial' see margarete Westm' videl't a xvij^ die Maij 
 A" regis Edwardi quarti post conq'm AngF quarto vsqu xxij diem 
 einsdem » ♦ * * 
 
 In the List of Fees for Burial is — 
 
 '* It™ rec** de Oliver Cawston die sepult' p' iiij tapr' viij d " 
 
 Among the Miscellaneous Receipts for 1476 — 
 " It™ of a rewarde for a boke & a Chales lent to Sir 
 
 Ric' Wideuyle xx d " 
 
169 
 
 1478. 
 
 " Here folowith Thaccompt of John Wycam and of Nicholas Wolles- 
 croft Wardeins of the parisshe Churche of seynt margarete of Westm* 
 
 * * from the vij**» day of the moneth of may in the yere of our 
 lord god Me CCCC Ixxviij ♦ ♦ ♦ vnto the xviij*i» day of may in 
 the yere of our lord god M^ CCCC Ixxx " * * * 
 
 In the List of Fees for Burial in the first year — 
 
 " It™ the day of burying of William Caxton for ij torchis 
 
 and iiij tapirs at a lowe masse xx d " 
 
 The amount paid does not appear large ; but in a very long list of 
 burial fees there are only four equal in amount, the common rate of fees 
 being ij d, iiij d, or vj d. 
 
 1480. 
 
 The same Account. In the List of Fees for burial in the second 
 year — 
 
 " It™ the day of bureying of Jone large for ij tapirs iiij d " 
 
 1481. 
 
 The Audit at the end of the same Account is as follows : — 
 
 " The whiche some of xxiij li. X s v d ob. q* the forsaide wardeyns 
 
 haue paid and delyued in the fulle Audite vnto william Garard and 
 
 William Hachet their Successours togeder w* the tresoures of and in the 
 
 chirche aforeseid to them delyued in the begynn}Tig of this accompte 
 
 * * in the presence of John Randolf squyer Richard Vmfrey gen- 
 tilman Thomas Burgeys John Kendall notary William Caxton * ♦ - 
 with other paryshyns " ♦ * 
 
 1490-92. 
 
 In the Account for the years 1490-2, among the Burial Fees for the 
 first year — 
 
 *' Item atte Bureyng of Mawde Caxston for torches and tapres 
 
 iij s ijd " 
 In the second year — 
 
 •' Item atte Bureying of William Caxton for iiij torches vj s viij d " 
 " Item for the belle atte same bureyng vj d " 
 
 Here we remark again that in both these cases the fees paid are con- 
 siderably larger than usual. 
 
 In the Accounts for 1496-8 among thr Legacies, and their produce — 
 " It™ receyued by the handes of William Kyolle for oone 
 of thoo printed bokes that were bequothen to the 
 Churche behove by William Caxston vj s viijd '' 
 
 " It™ receyued by the handes of the said William for a 
 
 nother of the same printed Bokes called a legend vj s iiij d " 
 
160 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 " It™ by the hands of the parisshe prest for a nother of 
 
 the same legendes vj s viij d " 
 
 At the end of the Account — 
 
 " Memorand' there remayneth in store to the said Chirch " 
 " It™ in bokes called legendes of the bequest of William 
 
 Caxton xiij d " 
 
 Among the Payments at the end of the same Account — 
 " It™ paide for a supper gevyn vnto the Auditours herynge 
 and determenyng this accompt and to the newe 
 Chirchwardeyns as it hath ben vsed and accus- 
 tumed here tofore xx s " 
 
 In the Accounts for 1498-1500— 
 
 "The Receites of Bookes called Legendes in the first yere of this 
 accompte " — 
 
 " Fyrst Receyued of John Crosse for a prainted legende 
 "Item Receiued for a nother legende solde in West- 
 
 mynster halle 
 " Item Receiued of Willm geyfe for a nother of the same 
 
 legendes 
 "It™ receiued of the said Willm Geyfe for a nother 
 
 Legende 
 " Item R of Walter Marten for a nother legende 
 In the second year of the same account — 
 
 " Item R. of William Geiffe for ij legendes printed x s iiij d " 
 
 " It™ R of Daniell af orge for a printed legended v s x d " 
 
 *' Item R of William Geiffe for a printed legende v s " 
 
 " Memorand' ther remayneth in store to the saide chirch " * * * 
 " It™ in bokes called Legendes of the bequest of William Caxton iij " 
 In the Accounts for 1500-2 there are not entered any sales of 
 " Legends." 
 
 "Ther remayneth in store to the saide chirche " * * * 
 
 " Item a prjTited legende booke of the bequeste of Will'm Caxton." 
 
 vs 
 
 viij d " 
 
 TS 
 
 viij d " 
 
 VS 
 
 viijd" 
 
 vs 
 
 viij d " 
 
 VS 
 
 xj d" 
 
 ST. MARGARET'S RECORDS. 
 GUILD OF OUR LADY ; WARDENS' ACCOUNTS. 
 
 {In tlie Vestry of St. MargareVs Churchy Westminster). 
 A Volume of triennial Accounts of the Fraternity of our Blessed 
 Lady Assumption, beautifully written on vellum, and in excellent pre- 
 servation. It includes the period between 1474 and 1522, and is of very 
 great interest in illustrating the customs of that period. The earlier as 
 well as the later Volumes are not known to exist. The following are the 
 principal headings of the various Accounts: — Arrears of Members — 
 Rents received — Bequests and Gifts — Receipts for Obits of Members — 
 
APPENDIX. lei 
 
 Fees of new Members — Rents paid — Payments of Salaries — Wages — 
 Annuities to Almsmen and Women — House-repairs — Wax Candles, and 
 other expenses, for the Shrine of our Lady in St. Margaret's Church — 
 and Miscellaneous expenses. 
 
 (24th June, 1474, to 24th June, 1477). 
 
 The first Account is headed — 
 
 " This is thaccompte of maister William Thirleby heniy marble gen- 
 tilman and James Fytt maistres or Wardeyns chosen of the Frat'nte or 
 gylde of oure blessed lady seint mary the virgyn wtin the p'issh chirch of 
 peint margaret of the towne of Westm in the shire of midd' founded, that 
 is to say from the fest of Natiuite of seint John Baptist in the yere of 
 ye reigne of kyng Edward the iiij'^ after the conquest xiiij vnto the said 
 fest of the Natiuite of seint John the xvijt*» yere of the reigne of the 
 same kyng by three hole yeres as it p'ticulerly appiereth in p'cellez here 
 folowyng that is to wete." 
 
 Under Payments of Rent in the same Account — 
 
 " Also the said late maistres charge themsilf w* a certeyn quite rent 
 due by John RandolfF of london mercer for a licence of Pre entre of 
 comyng in and going out for his tenntes thurgh the gate and an Alley 
 called our lady Alley in the kynges Strete of the towne of westm'." 
 
 In the same Account, under " thentre of diues p'sones of new to the 
 said frat'nite is " John Caxston vj s viij d." 
 
 Also among the Payments — 
 
 '• Diuers payments by the said late maisters for the said Fratemite 
 * * * of the which thay axe to be allowed in this accompt." 
 
 " Of the money by them paid to the wardeins of the Craft of mercery 
 of london for certain quite rent going out of the ten't in the p'isshe of 
 Aldermarie Chirche of london at vs by the yere." 
 
 The Fraternity appear also to have held tenements in King Street, 
 Westminster, at Kensington, and at Stroud. 
 
 In the same Account, after the payment of six priests' salaries — 
 
 " Costes and p'celles allowed by the hole Brotherhode toward 
 
 thexpences of the geiiall fest in iij^^® yere of this accompt." 
 
 These " Costs and Parcels " occupy two full folio pages, and have 
 
 yielded the following items : — 
 
 " A tonn of wyne vj li " 
 
 '* Paide to John Drayton chief cok for his reward xxv s " 
 
 " Also for the hire of xxiiij doseyn of erthen pottes for 
 
 ale & wyne iiij s " 
 
 " Also for erthen pottes broken & wasted at the same fest vj s viij d " 
 " Also to iiij players for their labour xi j s xd " 
 
 M 
 
162 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 " Also to iij mynstrelles ix s x d " 
 
 " Also for the mete of diues of strangers xvj s " 
 
 " Also for russhes ij s iiij d " 
 
 " Also for yj doseyn of white cuppes iij s " 
 
 ****** 
 
 " Also for portage and botehjo-e of the Turbut iiij d " 
 
 " Also for ix Turbutts xv s ij d " 
 
 In addition to scores of " Capons, chekyns, gese, conyes, and peiones," 
 (pigeons), the chief " cok " provided them with *' swannys " and " herons," 
 with all sorts of fish, including oysters and " see pranys," or prawns, with 
 all kinds of meats and game, with jellies in *' ix dosen gely disshes," 
 and with abundance of fruits. The quantity of ale, wine, and ypocras 
 provided by the butler is marvellous, and one cannot wonder at the heavy 
 entries for '* pottes and cuppes broken, and wasted." The Cook seems 
 to have been paid much more liberally than the Wardens, who had but 
 XXX s between them *' for their dilligence." 
 
 In the Accounts for 1490-3 are the Receipts of Rent from tenements, 
 known as *' The Maidenhead," " The Sonne," " The Rose," and " The 
 Wolstaple." 
 
 Also, under payment of Rent — 
 
 " For a certayn Quit rent paid out of a litell tent in the wolstaple to 
 the mair of the staple at xxd by the yere." 
 
 " Also for a certain Quit rent paid out of the Rents in 
 
 Alderm'ay p'isshe to John More Renter of the Mercers xv s " 
 
 From " Rymer's Foedera." Folio. London. 1710. Vol. XI. 536. 
 (Teanslation.) 
 CONCERNING THE TREATY OF BURGUNDY. 
 The King to all whom it may concern, &c. Greeting. 
 
 Be it known that 
 Inasmuch as determinate arrangements concerning the intercourse of 
 merchandise between our subjects and the subjects of our well-beloved 
 Cousin the Duke of Burgundy have in a sure form and manner been 
 accorded and agreed to in times past and since that time often renewed, 
 We, 
 Wishing on our part to hold good and observe such arrangements, 
 and being well assured of the faithfulness and discretion of our well- 
 beloved subjects Richard Whetehill, Knight, and William Caxton, 
 
 Do make, ordain and constitute, by these presents, the said Richard 
 and William our true and accredited Ambassadors, Agents, Nuncios, 
 and several Deputies ; 
 
APPENDIX. 168 
 
 Giving and Granting to our said Ambassadors, Agents, Nuncios, and 
 Deputies, and to either of them, full power and authority and general as 
 well as special commandment to meet, to enter into treaty and to com- 
 municate with our aforesaid Cousin or his Ambassadors, Agents, Nuncios, 
 and Deputies delegated with suflRcient powers for this purpose by our 
 said Cousin, concerning and upon the continuation and renewal of the 
 aforesaid Intercourse, and, should occasion require, to make and conclude 
 new arrangements, 
 
 And to do and exercise all and singular other deeds which may be fit 
 or necessary. 
 
 Promising, in good faith and on our kingly word, always to hold as 
 ratified, acceptable, and binding, all and any the Acts and Deeds of our 
 said Ambassadors, Agents, Nuncios, and Deputies, or either of them, as 
 aforesaid, which may be done, performed, or done by procuration, in the 
 foregoing matters, or any portion thereof. 
 
 As witness our hand at Wycombe, this 20th day of October (1464). 
 
 A SHEET OF PAPER IN THE NATIONAL RECORD OFFICE. 
 
 The manuscript is — 
 *' To tharchedeacon of Westm' that nowe is and for the tyme shalbe. 
 We, Richard Fitz James, Almoner and Counsaillor unto ourc souverain 
 lord the King, and Richard Hatton, chaplayne and counsaillor vnto our 
 said souverain lord, greting in our Lord God euerlasting. And whereas 
 we, the said Richard and Richard, were appoynted, lymytted and assigned 
 by our said souverain lord and the l^rdes of his most noble counsaill to . 
 examine, determyne and pacific a certain variaunce depending betwene 
 Gerard Croppe of Westminster, taillour, of the oone partie, and Eliza- 
 beth, the doughter of William Caxton, wif to the said Gerard, of the othre 
 partie ; We, the vij^^ dale of May, the xj*>' ye re of our said souverain 
 lord, had the said parties before us in the Kinges Chapell within his 
 palois of Westminster at this appoyntement and conclusion by thcire both 
 assentes and aggrementes : — That noon of theim, ne any othre for theim, 
 shall fromhensforth vexe, sue or trouble othre for any maner matier or 
 cause theim concemying for matrimony betwix theim before had ; and 
 every of theim to lyve sole from othre, except that the said Gerard shall 
 mowe fynde the meanes to have the love and favour of the seid Elizabeth. 
 For thaccomplisshment of which aggrement eithre of theim of their owne 
 voluntarie willes bound theim self unto us by their faithes and trouthes, 
 and never to varie from their said promyses. And therupon the said 
 Gerard to have of the bequest of William Caxton, the fadre of the said 
 Elizabeth, xx** piynted legendes at xiij s iiij d a legend. And the said 
 Gerard to delyver a generall acquitaunce unto thexecutours of William 
 Caxton, her said fadre, for their discharge in that behalf. And besides 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 thies premisses both the said parties were aggreed before us to be bound, 
 eche to othre, in C.li. by their dedes obligatorie with the condicions above 
 wreten to perform e alle the premisses. In wittenesse whereof I, the said 
 Richard FitzJames, have to thies preseutes sette the scale of myn office. 
 And I, the said Richard Hatton, have setto my seal, and eithre of us 
 subscribed our names with oure owne handes, the xx*' daie of May the 
 xjth yere of the reigne of our said souverain Lord." 
 
DESCRIPTION OF BOOKS PRINTED 
 
 TYPE No. 1. 
 
EXPLANATION OF TERMS. 
 
 on, or QuiNTERNiON, means a section of five sheets folded together in 
 
 half =10 leaves = 20 pages. 
 4n, or Quaternion — 8 leaves = 16 pages. 
 3n, or Ternion = 6 leaves = 12 pages. 
 Eecto is the right-hand page of an open book. 
 Verso is the reverse, or the left-hand page. 
 A Director is the name given to the small letter placed where the 
 
 Illuminator was intended to paint in a large initial. 
 
 LIST OF BOOKS IN TYPE No. 1. 
 
 Ctxnili, 0'<f\ elc 1. The Recuyell of the Histories of Troy e . . .1474? 
 
 'A/.,^ar/$, 2. Le Recueil des Histoires de Troyes . . . 1476? 
 
 >', ^rnA, OkA 3. The Game and Play of the Chess Moralised . 1475-76 ? 
 
 '??' "/^'''y-'S *• ^®^ ^^^® ^^ prouesses du noble et vaillant Chevalier Jason . HI-? 
 
 >yi,r , ... 6. Meditacions sur les Sept Pseaulmes penitenciaulx . 1478? 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE No. 1. 
 
 No. 1. — The Recuyell of the Histories of Troy. 
 Translated 1469-71. Folio. Without Place or Date. 
 (1474?). 
 
 Collation. — Book I has fourteen 5°' and one 4"= 148 
 leaves, of which the first is blank. Book II has nine 5"", one 
 4", and one 3"= 104 leaves. Book III has ten 5"*= 100 
 leaves. Total 351 printed leaves and one blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — Type No. 1 only. Lines 
 of very uneven length ; full Hues measure 5 inches, but vary 
 in different parts from 4 J to h\ inches. 31 lines to a full 
 page. "Without signatures, catchwords, or numerals. Space 
 is left, with a director, for 3 to 7-line initials. As may be 
 seen by the collation, each book begins a fresh gathering, 
 probably for the convenience of binding in three separate 
 volumes. 
 
 Commencing the work with a blank leaf, Caxton's preftice 
 follows, printed in red ink, and occupying the second recto. 
 
 The Text beguis thus : — 
 
 ^xz begpnnett tije bolume intitulet anlr natnflJ 
 t) tf)e recu:DrU of tl)e 1)i0torgcs of Croge/ composftr 
 
 anti tJtatom out of tipucrre tookciss of latpn \\\ 
 to ixtxi%%%z tg tt)e t|)0t)t benrratle prrsone anlr toor^ 
 sftipfuU man , l^aoul le fffure . prrest antj rjaprlagn 
 bnto tf)e rgg1)t notle glorpoug anti tnj)gt)t5 prpnre m 
 \\% Xymz 13l)rUp tiur of ^ourpgne of -lijratanli ^^c 
 3i[n t1)e mxz of ^z SJnrarnacion of our lortj got! a tfiou^ 
 santi foure i^ontierti siitg anti foure / ^nTi translatelr 
 antj lirabjen out of fren^le in to englisste tp 2i2JliUpam 
 (JTaiton mercer of ^ cgte of Uontjon / at tije comautjemet 
 
168 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 Of tt)e rigljt ij^it mggjtg anti berttmuse ^tgncesse i):D0 
 tetiouttgti latig . jilargarete ip ti^e grace of gotj . ©u^ 
 ci^esse of Bcurgogne of Hotrgk of i^rafianti $^c/ 
 ^lHf)ic5c jsagti tcanslacion an^ bierlte toas tiegonne in 
 iSnigis in tf)c OTountee of dFlauntjrejs tfje fgrst trag of 
 mardje tf\t pere of tije 3Jncarnacion of our m^ lorti goti 
 a tjousanti foure i^ontfertr stxtp anti cggl^te / Enti entieti 
 antj fpnpssibitJ in t|e Ijolp cgte of (ITolen tf)e , xix ♦ tap of 
 septembre ti)e pere of our saptr lorti got a tfiousant 
 foure i)ontiert sia:tp ant eleuen $ct. 
 
 Ent on ti^at otfier ^ite of tf)i!5 (eef folobjetf) tfje prologe 
 
 Caxton's Prologue begins on the verso of the same leaf, 
 with space for a 4-line initial "W. 
 
 Jgan S rememtre tf)at euerp man is tounten 
 
 The first book commences on the fifth recto, with space for 
 a 7-line initial W. The second begins on the 149th, and the 
 third on the 2 5 3rd recto, the whole ending with some Latin 
 rhymes on the 352nd recto, the verso being blank. 
 
 Remaeks. — No one speaking the English language can 
 look at this patriarchal volume with indifference. Here, for 
 the first time, om- forefathers saw their language in print; 
 and, could our interest in any way have been heightened, it 
 would have been by knowing it to have been printed in our 
 o^vTi instead of a foreign land. The history of its origin is 
 shortly this. In the original French it was a favourite novel 
 of the English and Bm-gundian courtiers, for, although nomi- 
 nally an account of the Trojan wars, it is really a series of 
 love scenes mixed with mythology and knight-errantry. The 
 manuscript translation made by Caxton for the Duchess of 
 Burgundy, whose court was at Bruges, having excited great 
 interest, a demand arose for copies quicker than Caxton could 
 supply them. The printing-press having been just established 
 in that city by Colard Mansion, Caxton, whose thoughts were 
 now homewards, determined to use it as a means of multiply- 
 ing his translation, and of learning at the same time a new trade 
 which would support him on his return to England. This 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 1. 109 
 
 he did at a great charge and expense, and then, ha\ing pro- 
 cured a new fount of types and all the necessory material, 
 came over to England and erected his press at Westminster. 
 
 Fortunately this work cannot be reckoned among the 
 rarities of Caxton's press, as there are copies in the British 
 Museum, Sion College, College of Physicians, London, at 
 Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, and fourteen other libraries. The 
 Duke of Devonshire gave £1060 10s. for a copy in 1812, the 
 same copy having been purchased by the Duke of Roxburgh 
 a few years previously for £50. 
 
 No. 2. — Le Recueil des Histoires de Troyes. Cmnpose 
 en Van de grace 1464. Folio. Without Printer's 
 Name, Place, or Date. (1476 ?). 
 
 Collation. — Book /, twelve 5'"= 120 leaves, of which 
 the first and last are blank. BooTc II, eight 5°" and one 3"= 
 86 leaves. Book III, eight 5°' =80 leaves. Total, 284 
 printed and two blank leaves. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — Type No. 1 only is used. 
 The lines for the greater part are spaced out to one length, 
 being more even in this particular than the two English books 
 in this type. A full page has 31 lines, without signatures, 
 numerals, headlines, or catchwords. A space two to four lines 
 in depth has been left at the commencement of each chapter ^ 
 for the insertion of an illuminated initial, a director being 
 sometimes inserted. ^ 
 
 The Text, 31 lines to a page, which is divided into three 
 books, begins thus on the second recto, after a blank leaf: — 
 
 dftj) commenre le bolume :5tititule le recueil tjes ^istoireja 
 T>e Xtm% (Eompoise par beneratle l^omme raoul le feure 
 prestre riiappellain tie men tresretiouftte seisneur iHonsei^ 
 gneur le Buc ^i)flipp^ ^^ tourgoingne ^n Ian tie grace, 
 mil . cccc . liiiii . : . 
 
 and ends on the 286th verso. 
 
 antipfjo' le rog eiestori' le rog protfienor et le rog odtomr'. 
 * : * ijfriplicit * : * 
 
170 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Remarks. — The history of the Trojan War, a favourite 
 subject for several centuries with European writers, was the 
 foundation of numerous romances. Of these the chief were 
 the apocryphal history by Dares Phrygius, a Trojan priest, 
 celebrated by Homer ; the account of the same war by Dictys 
 Cretensis, a supposititious historian ; and the History of the 
 Siege of Troy by Guido of Colonna, a native of Messina in 
 Sicily, who wrote in the thirteenth century. The rise of 
 these histories, their growth under the editorial care of 
 successive scribes, the incorporation of incidents from other 
 romances, and their final development in the compilation of 
 "Le Recueil des Histoires de Troye," form a curious and 
 typical example of this class of literature. According to 
 the unanimous testimony of all printed editions and all 
 manuscripts of the complete work, "Le Eecueil" was the 
 composition of Raoul Lefevre, chaplain and secretary to 
 Philippe le Bon, Duke of Burgundy: but in a manuscript 
 copy of this work in the National Library, Paris, the first two 
 books are attributed to Guillaume Fillastre. And this is 
 remarkable — that Lefevre succeeded Fillastre (who was a 
 voluminous author) in the ofiice of secretary to the duke. 
 Probably, finding his predecessor's history unfinished, he took 
 it up, and, after adding Book III, issued the whole under his 
 own name. In that age a similar course was by no means 
 uncommon, nor was it an infringement of any recognised 
 literary right ; we can hardly, therefore, with M. Paris, call 
 it (even if true) " une grande fraude literaire." On the other 
 hand, several copies were issued with the name of Lefe^TC 
 while Fillastre was yet living, and Caxton, who was contem- 
 porary with both writers, ascribes the whole work to Lefevre. 
 Nor is there any noticeable variation in style between the two 
 portions, as might be expected if composed by two authors ; 
 indeed the style of " Le Recueil " is the same as that of " Les 
 fais du Jason," an acknowledged work of Lefevre. 
 
 Steevens asserts that Shakspere derived the greater por- 
 tion of his materials for the play of "Troilus and Cressida" 
 from Lydgate's metrical composition, "The last destruction 
 of Troy ;" but Douce, in his " Illustrations," is far nearer the 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPK NO. 1. 171 
 
 truth in tracing the incidents employed by our great poet to 
 Caxton's translation of " Le Recueil des Histoires de Troye." 
 The latter was popular, and frequently reprinted long after 
 Lydgate's laboured metre had become antiquated. 
 
 There is a perfect copy in the British Museum, besides a 
 large fragment. The National Library, Paris, has a copy, 
 and four others are in private libraries. A fragment of eight 
 leaves was purchased some years ago by a bookseller, and 
 made into four thick volumes, each volume having two 
 printed leaves with a hundred blank leaves on each side. 
 These were all disposed of as specimens to lie open in the 
 show-cases of museums. 
 
 No. 3. — The Game and Play of the Chess Moralised. 
 {Translated 1475). First Edition. Folio, WitJmit 
 Printer's Narmf Placey or Date. (1475-76 ?) 
 
 Collation. — Eight 4^" and one 5" =74 leaves, of which 
 the 1st and 74th are blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is only one type. 
 No. 1, used throughout the work. The lines are not spaced 
 out ; the longest measure 5 inches ; a full page has 31 lines. 
 Without title-page, signatures, numerals, or catchwords. 
 
 The volume commences with a blank leaf, and on the 
 second recto is Caxton's prologue, space being left for a 2-line 
 initial, without director. 
 
 The Text begins thus : — 
 
 <© tf)e rigfit noble/ xi^X earcellent $c bertuoug prinre 
 (George tiiic of Ollarence ©rl of ^IHartoglt anlr of 
 saltsturpe/ grete rjamfterlagn of iiriiglonli $c leutmant 
 of frelottti oltjrst trotirc of fei)nge iirtjtoaro tip ^t grace 
 of goti fegnge of (irnglantj anti of frauce / jour most 
 i)umtle seruant toiUiam OTaxton anionge otjer of j)ti\xx 
 seruantes senties tinto goto peas . ftelttie , S^oge anb birto:^ 
 rge bpon gour ilrnemges / i!\(gt)t i)igte pugssant ant> 
 
 The Text ends on the 73rd recto, 
 
 ^xCts gentje gob) t^accomplisstement of gour te^ witle . 
 
172 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 last trap of marc^e ti^e per of out lorti goli ♦ a ♦ tftousanti 
 foure i)ontrerti antr ixxiiiu \:.:.\ 
 
 The 74th leaf is blank. 
 
 Eemarks. — " Fynjsshid the last day of Marche the yer of 
 oure lord god a thousand foure honderd and Ixxiiii." The word 
 " fynysshed " has doubtless the same signification here as in 
 the epilogue to the second book of Caxton's translation of the 
 Histories of Troy, " begonne in Brugis, contynued in Gaunt, 
 and finysshed in Coleyn," which evidently refers to the trans- 
 lation only. The date, 1476-76, has been affixed, because in the 
 Low Countries at that time the year commenced on Easter- 
 day; this in 1474 fell on April 10th, thus giving, as the day 
 of the conclusion of the translation, 31st March, 1475, the 
 same year being the earliest possible period of its appearance 
 as a printed book. 
 
 The literary history of the " Game and Play of the Chess" 
 does not appear to have hitherto received that attention which 
 is its due. Before 1285, ^^gidius Colonna had composed 
 his renowned work entitled " De regimine principum," which 
 treats of self-government, domestic government, and national 
 government. The "Liber de ludo Scachorum" of J. de 
 Cessolis appears to have been based upon this work, its chief 
 originality being the representation of the several stations 
 and duties of life by the pieces used in chess. About the 
 middle of the fifteenth century two distinct French versions 
 were made. The earlier was probably that by Jean Faron, 
 in 1347, who translated it literally from the original Latin. 
 About the same time appeared the favourite and standard 
 work of Jehan de Vignay, who took great liberties with the 
 text, and added many stories and fables. Both these men were 
 of the order of Preaching Friars, and seem to have worked 
 quite independently of one another. Caxton's edition was 
 principally from the version of Jehan de Yignay, to whom he 
 gives the title of "an excellent Doctor of Divinity, of the 
 Order of the Hospital of St, John's of Jerusalem," which is 
 remarkable, as in his preface Jean de Yignay styles himself 
 
BOOKS FEINTED IN TYPE NO. 1. 
 
 173 
 
 " hospitaller de I'ordre de haut pas," and he is so termed in 
 all the manuscripts. On comparing the English and the two 
 French versions, it is evident that Caxton must have been 
 well acquainted with both. His prologue addressed to the 
 Duke of Clarence contains, nominis mutatis, the whole of 
 Jean de Vignaj's dedication to Prince John of France ; while 
 Chapters I and III are taken entirely from the translation of 
 Jean Faron. The remainder of the book is from the ver- 
 sion of Jehan de Vignay, with one or two special insertions 
 evidently from the pen of Caxton himself. 
 
 To show the curious way in which Caxton adopted and 
 adapted while translating, the dedication to the Duke of 
 Clarence, hitherto considered as his own composition, is here 
 given side by side with its French original. 
 
 Caxton's Prologue to " The 
 Game and Play of the 
 Chess." 
 
 TO the right noble /right 
 excellent & vertuous prince 
 George due of Clarence Erie 
 of warwyk and of/ salisburye / 
 grete chamberlayn of Eng- 
 lond & leutenant of Irelond 
 oldest broder of kynge Ed- 
 ward by the grace of god 
 kynge of England and of 
 frauce / your most humble 
 seruant william Caxton a- 
 raonge other of your seruantes 
 sendes vnto yow peas . helthe . 
 loye and victorye vpon your 
 Enemyes / Right highe puys- 
 sant and redoubted pryrice/ 
 For as moche as I haue vn- 
 derstand and knowe / that ye 
 are enclined vnto the comyn 
 wele of the kynge our said 
 
 Prologue of Jean de Vig- 
 NAY TO HIS French trans- 
 lation (A.D. 1860) OF THE 
 " LUDUS SACCORLTff " OF J. 
 DE CeSSOLIS. 
 
 A Tres noble & excellent 
 prince Jehan de france 
 due de normendie & auisne 
 filz de philipe par la grace de 
 dieu Roy de france . Frere 
 Jehan de vignay vostre petit 
 Religieux entre les autres de 
 vostre seignoire / paix sante 
 Joie & victoire sur vos en- 
 
174 
 
 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 saueryn lord . his nobles lordes 
 and comyn peple of his noble 
 royame of Englond / and that 
 ye sawe gladly the Inhabitans 
 of the same euformed in good . 
 vertuous . prouffitable and 
 honeste maners . Jn whiche 
 your noble persone wyth 
 guydyng of your hows ha- 
 boundeth / gyuyng light and 
 ensample vnto all other / 
 Therfore I haue put me in 
 deuour to translate a lityll 
 book late comen in to myn 
 handes out of frensh in to 
 englisshe/Jn which I fynde 
 thauctorites . dictees . and sto- 
 ries of auncient Doctours phi- 
 losophes poetes and of other 
 wyse men whiche been re- 
 counted & applied vnto the 
 moralite of the publique wele 
 as well of the nobles as of the 
 comyn peple after the game 
 and playe of the chesse/ 
 whiche booke right puyssant 
 and redoubtid lord I haue 
 made in the name and vnder 
 the shadewe of your noble 
 protection / not presumyng to 
 correcte or empoigne ony 
 thynge ayenst your noblesse / 
 For god be thankyd your 
 excellent renome shyneth as 
 well in strange regions as 
 with in the royame of england 
 gloriously vnto your honour 
 and lande/ whiche god mul- 
 
 nemis . Treschier & redoubte 
 seign''/pour ce que Jay en- 
 tendu et scay que vous veez 
 & ouez volentiers choses pro- 
 fl&tables & honestes et qui 
 tendent alinformacion de bon- 
 nes meurs ay Je mis vn petit 
 liuret de latin en francois le 
 quel mest venuz a la main 
 nouuellement / ou quel plu»- 
 sieurs auctoritez et dis de 
 docteurs & de philosophes & 
 de poetes & des anciens sages / 
 sont Racontez & sont appli- 
 quiez a la moralite des nobles 
 hommes et des gens de peuple 
 selon le gieu des eschez Ic 
 quel liure Tres puissant et 
 tres redoubte seigneur jay fait 
 ou nom & soubz vmbre de 
 vous pour laquelle chose 
 treschr seign' Je vous suppli 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 1. 
 
 175 
 
 teplye and encrece But to 
 thentent that other of what 
 estate or degre he or they 
 stande in . may see in tliis 
 sayd lityll book/yf they 
 gouerned them self as they 
 ought to doo/wherfor my 
 right dere redoubted lord I 
 requyre & supplye your good 
 grace not to desdaygne to 
 resseyue this lityll sayd book 
 in gree and thanke/as well 
 of me your humble and vn- 
 knowen seruant as of a better 
 and gretter man than I am / 
 For the right good wylle that 
 I haue had to make this lityll 
 werk in the best Avjse I can / 
 ought to be reputed for the 
 sayte and dede / And for more 
 clerely to procede in this sayd 
 book I haue ordeyned that 
 the chapitres ben sette in the 
 begynnynge to thende that 
 ye may see more playnly the 
 mater wherof the book treteth 
 
 & requier de bonne voulente 
 de cuer que il vo' daigne 
 plaire a receuoir ce liure en 
 
 gre 
 
 aussi bien 
 
 que 
 
 de vn 
 
 greign' maistre de moy/car 
 la tres bonne voulente que 
 Jay de mielx faire se je pouoie 
 me doit estre reputee pour le 
 fait/Et po' plus clerement 
 proceder en ceste ouure / Jay 
 ordene que les chappitres du 
 liure soient escrips & mis au 
 commencement afin de veoir 
 plus plainement la matiere de 
 quoy le dit liure p'ole. 
 
 &c. 
 
 Before concluding this article we must give an interpola- 
 tion of the text which has real interest as showing Caxton's 
 feelings towards " men of law." His author is regretting the 
 conduct of some lawyers of Rome and Italy, and Caxton adds 
 with a natural burst of indignation, which suggests that per- 
 sonal experience had something to do with it : — 
 
 " Alas ! and in England what hurt do the advocates, men 
 of law, and attorneys of court to the common people of the 
 royaume, as well in the spiritual law as in the temporal : how 
 turn they the law and statutes at their pleasure ; how eat 
 they the people, how impoverish they the community. I 
 
176 ~ WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 suppose that in all Christendom are not so many pleaders, 
 attorneys, and men of the law as be in England only, for if 
 they were numbered all that long to the courts of the Chan- 
 cery, King's Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer, Receipt and 
 Hall, and the bag-bearers of the same, it should amount to a 
 great multitude. And how all these live and of whom, if it 
 should not be uttered and told it should not be believed. For 
 they extend to their singular weal and profit and not to the 
 common." 
 
 There are ten copies known of this book, of which two are 
 in the British Museum, one at Oxford, one at Cambridge, and 
 six in private libraries. 
 
 No. 4. — Les fais et peouesses du noble et vaillant 
 Chevaliee Jason. Folio. WUfwut Printer's Name, 
 Place, or Dak. (147- ? 
 
 Collation. — Sixteen 4°^ and one 3''= 134 leaves, of which 
 the first and last two are blank. 
 
 Typogeaphical Paeticulaes. — There is no title-page 
 nor colophon. The type used is No. 1 only. The great 
 majority of the lines are fully spaced out, agreeing in this 
 respect more with the French editions of " Le Recueil " and 
 the "Psaulmes'* than the English "Recuyell" and the "Chess 
 Book." Full lines measure 5 and 5y\ inches ; 31 lines to a 
 page. Without signatures, numerals, head-lines, or catch- 
 words. 
 
 A blank leaf commences the book; at the head of the 
 succeeding recto, with space for a 4-line initial, and director. 
 The Text begins thus : — 
 
 I E gallee tie x(im m^in flotant na pa.-s long 
 
 temps en la parfontieur ties mers tin plniseurg 
 
 aneiennes f)istoire0 ainjsi comme ^t boulxjie me^ 
 
 net xmn esperit en port tie tepos / soutiainement 
 
 sapparu an pres tie mog bne nef continitte par bng Jomme 
 
 The text ends on the verso of the 131st printed leaf: — 
 
 ant a mon tienant tiit tresretionite seignenr / (&X atons ceitlc 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 1. 177 
 
 qtti le contmu lie ce present bolume liront . ou orront lire . 
 quil leur pimt te grace eictiser autant que men petit et ru 
 lie eitfiin na sceu touchier ne peu comprentire ^c • : . 
 O^acplicit 
 
 The existence of this edition was first made known in 
 England by a letter from M. Van Praet to Dr. Dibdin, who 
 sent an account of it to the "Gentleman's Magazine" for 
 July, 1812. 
 
 Remakks. — ^All the books printed with these types are 
 tra<;ed to Mansion, either alone or assisted by Caxton. In 
 this work and the " Meditacions," the even length of the lines 
 proves them to be later productions than those in which the 
 lines are more uneven ; and this is plain evidence that if these 
 two works were printed by Mansion (as doubtless they were) 
 it must have been after 1478, the year in which he adopted 
 the plan of even lines ; but if we attribute them to Caxton, 
 we must suppose him to have forsaken his own establishment 
 at the Red-pale, in or after the year 1480 (being the period 
 when he first adopted the practice of making his lines of an 
 even length) for the purpose of printing abroad what he had 
 every facility for printing at home. 
 
 Only three copies of this scarce book have been as yet 
 discovered. A magnificent one is at Eton College, another 
 in the National Library, Paris, which, when purchased in 
 1808, was bound up with " Le Quadrilogue," a work printed 
 by Colard Mansion in 1478, and a third in the Library of the 
 Arsenal, Paris. 
 
 No. 5. — Meditacions sue les Sept Pseaulmes Peniten- 
 CIAULX. Folio. Withotit Printer's Narm, Plucky or 
 Date, (1478 ?) 
 
 Collation. — Three 4"" and one 5° =34 leaves, of which 
 the last only is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — ^There is no title-page. 
 The only type used is No. 1. The lines are for the most part 
 fiilly spaced out, though now and then there is a deficiency in 
 this respect, which only occurs, however, on the verso of the 
 
 n 
 
178 WILLIAM CAXTOIT. 
 
 folios, the recto throughout being folly spaced. This pecu- 
 liarity is observable to a greater or less extent in all the 
 French books printed in this type. The full lines measure 
 5 inches, and 31 lines make a ftdl page. There are no signa- 
 tures, folios, nor catchwords. 
 
 The text begins on the first recto, — 
 
 E brage penitance t^t comme aucune t^tfjitlU 
 I . par laquelle lomme pecjeur qui jselcn la patatole 
 tre leuuartflille trescentJg tie Sfjtxmalm. en 3f{ietico 
 monta tie tecjief tie Sf^txita en SUfierusalem / eejst abision tie 
 
 And ends on the 33rd verso, with a full page, followed by a 
 blank leaf, — 
 
 exultacuin tie leesee espitituelle/ ^Juis encores stl te plaint 
 me tronne que par ee septenuaire tier pjseaulmes tie penitent 
 ce lesquel^ correspontient aux gept affect^ tie Icimme prinjs 
 pour leg sept tiegre^ tie lesc!) telle tie penitence St puiiessie mo- 
 ter et paruenir atog en cette tant glorieuse cite tie f tierusa^ 
 lem en laquelle tu i)al)ite0 et te of rir auec leg sains et ie? 
 neure^ le sacrifice tie loenge sans fin / : ^M^^ 
 
 Remarks. — This work is a translation from the original 
 Latin of Cardinal Pierre d'Ailly, entitled " Meditacions Circa 
 Septem Psalmos Penitentiales." It was composed about the 
 end of the fourteenth century, and translated shortly after 
 into French, but by whom is uncertain, although from the 
 style it is supposed by several of his biographers to have been 
 from the pen of the Cardinal himself. The Comm6ntary on 
 the Penitential Psalms, printed by "Wynken de Worde was 
 composed by Bishop Alcock, and has nothing in common with 
 this. 
 
 In all typographical particulars this work agrees with the 
 French edition of "Jason," already described, and there is 
 little doubt was printed by Colard Mansion at Bruges, about 
 1478. 
 
 The only Existing Copy at present known was discovered 
 in the General Library of the British Museum, in 1841, by 
 Mr. J. Winter Jones, bound up with " Les Quatre Derrenieres 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 1. 179 
 
 Choses." It K^ijerfect, in an excellent state of preservation, 
 clean, and free from all disfigurements. It has the final blank 
 leaf, the verso of which is covered with quotations in the 
 handwriting of the fifteenth century. These quotations are 
 extended over the first recto (which is also a blank) of the 
 book mentioned above as being bound up with it, proving 
 that they were bound together soon after printing. For an 
 article on both works, from the pen of Mr. Jones, see 
 " Archaelogia," vol. xxxi, page 412. 
 
 n2 
 
A 
 
 DESCfilPTION OF BOOKS PRINTED 
 
 IN 
 
 TYPE No. 2. 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE No. 2. 
 
 ::37^r* - 
 
 6. 
 
 ^.^-h ^^ 
 
 ^.1. 
 
 37^r Ck^ 
 
 -. I : 8. 
 
 ISadi. 
 
 9. 
 
 ^ 2*^ dCy J^£ 
 
 -'^;io. 
 
 /6 v" « c <? -r . 
 
 11. 
 
 3«. -' • - ■ 
 
 12. 
 
 £>^T <?-, • • 
 
 13. 
 
 S^o - - - - 
 
 14. 
 
 ^i:;-<?-'^>r4.:r c 
 
 15. 
 
 r'^.^.:^. 
 
 16. 
 
 /v.».^.r«^^-. 
 
 '■17. 
 
 ^:'^..,^.... 
 
 18. 
 
 Ca-f^Z- 
 
 19. 
 
 C^r^-a • 
 
 20. 
 
 '\'0Tt • • ' 
 
 21. 
 
 Car^^.l.- 
 
 22. 
 
 ^cT ^5 i • • • 
 
 23. 
 
 r<5/77^--- 
 
 . 24. 
 
 '^.o-y/, A'.'7jr'-/r^>^25. 
 
 - ^^>./i, :5^/^/A26. 
 
 r^inv,-, ?/>-?"■' 
 
 a, 27. 
 
 rj 7*^. ^^y/</; 
 
 28. 
 
 ^^7 • • . 
 
 29. 
 
 ^r,cn, Sp<C> 
 
 30. 
 
 %a,.^^Cyf.? 
 
 31. 
 
 ^,^trn^ 
 
 32. 
 
 »>, A- . - - 
 
 33. 
 
 7-»/". •?>■/•• ■ - 
 
 '« 34. 
 
 'BnrI', S^ '.. • 
 
 /.'''• 
 
 Les Qnatre Derrenieres Choses 
 
 The History of Jason . 
 
 The Dictes and Sayings. First Edition 
 
 Horae ..... 
 
 The Canterbury Tales. First Edition 
 
 The Moral Proverbs of Christine 
 
 Propositio Johannis Russell 
 
 Stans pner ad Mensam 
 
 Parvus Catho. First Edition 
 
 Ditto Second Edition . . , 
 
 The Horse, the Sheep, and the Ghoos. First Edition 
 
 Ditto ditto Second Edition 
 
 Infancia Salvatoris .... 
 
 The Temple of Glass .... 
 The Chorle and the Bird. First Edition 
 
 Ditto ditto Second Edition . 
 
 Thef' Temple of Brass, or the Parliament of Fowls 
 The Book of Courtesy. First Edition 
 Queen Anelida ..... 
 Boethius ..... 
 
 Corydale ..... 
 Fratris Laur. Gulielmi de Saona Margarita 
 The Dictes and Sayings. Second Edition 
 Indulgence .... 
 
 Parvus et Magnus Chato. Third Edition 
 The Mirrour of the World. First Edition 
 Reynard the Fox. First Edition . 
 Tully of Old Age 
 The Game and Playe of the Chesse. Second Edition 
 
 1476 ? 
 
 1477? 
 
 1477 
 
 1478? 
 
 1478 ? 
 
 1478 
 . 1478 ? 
 ante 1479 
 ante 1479 
 ante 1479 
 ante 1479 
 ante 1479 
 ante 1479 
 ante 1479 
 ante 1479 
 ante 1479 
 ante 1477 
 ante 1479 
 ante 1479 
 ante 1479 
 
 1479 
 1479-10 ? 
 
 1480? 
 
 1480 
 
 1481? 
 
 1481? 
 
 1431 
 
 1481 
 
 1481? 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE No. 2. 
 
 No. 6. — Les quatre derrenieees choses advenib. 
 FoUo. Without Printer's NamCy Date, or Place. 
 (1476?) 
 
 Collation.— Nine 4"= 72 leaves, of which the first only 
 is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — Type No. 2 only is used. 
 The lines are of very irregular length, 28 to a page. With- 
 out signatures, folios, or catchwords. Commencing with a 
 blank leaf, the table follows on the second recto, the first 
 three lines being in red ink. 
 
 The text begins : — 
 
 (tt present tratctte t%X tftutse en (^uatre parttes prtnetpa 
 W : ^t%%Mt\\t% ct)a$(cune tmXitnX ttow auttes singuli / 
 res parties en la (ourme qui sensuit : 
 
 and ends on 72nd verso : — 
 
 quilf pourueissent aux eposes trerrenieres/ tiont la frequete 
 menwire et recortiaeion ICapelle ties peej^ie^ a culpe mx ber 
 tus et confenne en fiounes oeuures /par quog on paruient a 
 la gloire etemelle :^men 
 
 illFxplicit liter Ire 
 
 quatour i^ouissimis 
 
 An important typographical peculiarity in this work is 
 the mode in which the printer has employed red ink for the 
 title-lines or chapters. The inodus operandi and how the red 
 ink overlies the black, is explained at p. 52, ante. This curiouB 
 and primitive practice is not seen in any books except that 
 under notice, and those printed by Colard Mansion of Bruges. 
 Another typographical characteristic which intimately con- 
 nects this book with those printed in Type No. 1 is the exist- 
 
184 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 ence of two small holes on the outer margin of each leaf, 
 made by points in use by the pressman. These, it should be 
 noticed, occur in all the works for which type No. 1 was used, 
 but none, except the present, printed with type No. 2, nor 
 indeed in any English printed books. Again, we find among 
 the undoubted first issues of the press at "Westminster that 
 the books in folio, such as " The Life of Jason," " Dictes," 
 " Canterbury Tales," " Cordyale," &c., have all 29 lines to the 
 page, while "Les quatre derrenieres choses" has but 28. 
 On taking, however, the actual measurement, it will be seen 
 that the depth of the page is exactly the same as in the type 
 No. 1 books. Evidence has been already produced to show 
 that the five books in type No. 1 were printed in Bruges by 
 Colard Mansion alone, or assisted by Caxton ; and to the same 
 source we have no hesitation in ascribing " Les quatre der- 
 renieres choses." 
 
 Remakks. — The title, "De quatuor novissimis," was 
 applied to many religious treatises of the fourteenth and fif- 
 teenth centuries ; and so many Latin manuscripts of distinct 
 works have come down to us that it is difficult to distinguish 
 between them : nor were the early printed editions less nume- 
 rous, Hain, in his "Repertorium Bibliographicum," giving 
 the titles of twenty-one editions printed in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury. They all agree, however, in one particular, viz. — that 
 no copy gives the name of its author. The Latin original of 
 one work on this subject is attributed to " Denis de Leewis, 
 natif de Rikel," who died in 1471 : it was printed at Antwerp 
 about 1486. But the Latin original of this particular version 
 is given to Gerardus a Yliedenhoven, of which Mr. Holtrop 
 gives an account of three editions. There is a fourth in the 
 University Library, Cambridge, besides which there are four 
 Dutch editions. Early French anonymous versions were also 
 very numerous, and it is fortunate that a manuscript in the 
 Royal Library, Brussels, has preserved the name of the author 
 to whom we are indebted for the present translation. It 
 bears the following colophon : " Cy fine le traittie des quatre 
 dernieres choses, translate de latin en fi'ancois par Jo. Mielot 
 I'an de grace mil cccc liij." 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 185 
 
 Philippe le Bon, as is well known, employed many secre- 
 taries for the purpose of adding to the treasures of his library 
 by translations, collations, commentaries, &c. In this way 
 were employed Guy d'Angers, David Aubert, de Hesdin, 
 Droi'n Ducret, de Dijon, and others. They brought into use 
 that peculiar style of writing termed " grosse bAtarde," which, 
 at a later date, Colard Mansion took as a pattern for his 
 types. Among the duke's secretaries, one of the most inde- 
 fatigable was Jean Mielot. He united in himself the quali- 
 fications of author, translator, and scribe, as he lets us know 
 in the manuscript, " Traite de vieillesse et de jeunesse," now 
 in the Royal Library, Copenhagen. 
 
 The only Existing Copy known of this edition was dis- 
 covered by Mr. J. Winter Jones while re-cataloguing a 
 portion of the old royal library in the British Museum. It 
 was bound in the same volume as the " Meditacions," already 
 described at page 177, to which the reader in referred for 
 further particulars. 
 
 No. 7. — The History op Jason. Folio. Without Printer's 
 Name, Plaice, or Date. (1477 ?). 
 
 Collation. — Eighteen 4"" and one 3°= 150 leaves, of 
 which the first is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — ^There is no title. The 
 only type used is No. 2. The lines are very uneven in 
 length, the longest measuring 5 inches. A fiill page has 29 
 lines. Without signatures, folios, or catchwords. Space is 
 left at the commencemeut of chapters for the insertion of a 
 2-line initial, with director. 
 
 The Text begins thus, on the second recto, the first leaf 
 being blank : — 
 
 ( <©r mxm^t as late bjf tje comautjement of tf)e rtgtjt 
 
 tge ^ notle princesge mg rigf)t retioubtflj latjg / ^g 
 
 lalj:p iEargarete ip t^e grate of go^ Huctesse of iiJour^ 
 
 and ends on the 149th verso, 
 
 among tlje most toortijp * Enti after tt)i0 present life eu^ 
 lasting life \x^ Jeuen tofto grant t)im ^ bs ti)at fjougftte bs 
 toitl) i)is tlootie tlessgtj 3ilt)us Unten -♦-^♦jrw 
 
^IM WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Kemarks. — ^As already noticed when treating of the 
 original French version of " Jason," its compiler was Raoul 
 Lefevre, secretary to the Duke of Burgundy, and while in the 
 service of the duchess, it seems most probable that Caxton 
 became possessed of a copy. The date of imprint has been 
 generally attributed by bibliographers to the year 1475, but 
 this is, I think, too early. The features of Caxton's history 
 about that time seem to point to 1476-77 as the date of his 
 settlement in England; and November 18th, 1477, is, as we 
 know, the day on which the printing of " Dictes " was finished. 
 Now the typographical appearance of "Jason" proves it to 
 have been one of the very earliest products of the West- 
 minster press; and Caxton's remarks in the prologue to 
 "Golden Legend/' show the translation to have followed 
 "The Recuyell" and "Chess Book." The evidence, there- 
 fore, seems to point to a date immediately preceding " Dictes" 
 or the early part of 1477, when the young prince, to whom it 
 was dedicated, would be six years old, and much more likely 
 to make use of the work than if presented to him two years 
 earlier. 
 
 Gerard Leeu, at Antwerp, reprinted this English text in 
 1492, a fact noticed thus by Gerard Legh in "The Accidence 
 of Armory," 1576 — "The History of Jason, which was trans- 
 lated out of Frenche, and printed at Andwarpe by one of my 
 name." 
 
 Of the six known copies there is one in the British 
 Museum, one in the Bodleian, and four in private libraries. 
 
 No. 8. — The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers. 
 Folio. ^^ Enprynted hj me William Caxton at West- 
 mestre" 1477. First Edition; without Colophon. 
 
 ^^ Collation. — ^Nine 4"" and one 3°= 78 leaves, of which 
 the first and two last are blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 Only type No. 2 is used. The lines are of very uneven length, 
 the longest measuring 5 inches; 29 lines to a fuU page. 
 Without folios, catchwords, or signatures. Space is left at 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 187 
 
 the beginning of chapters for the insertion of 8-line initials, 
 with director. 
 
 Commencing with a blank leaf, Earl Eivers's prologue 
 follows. 
 
 The Text begins thus, on the second recto : — 
 
 Jgere it 10 j(o tf)at euetp fjumapn (ftxtdituu bp tt)e 
 tD mWxmtt of our lorli go^ is torn ^ or^eigneti to 
 
 tt mtqettt anti ti^ral bnto tf)e stormes of fortune 
 Entr 330 in trinerse ^ mang sontrri? togseg man is perplei^: 
 
 The work concludes on the verso of the 73rd folio at foot, 
 and is followed on the 74th recto by Caxton's epilogue and 
 additions, commencing with space for 3-line initial. 
 
 (&xt entiett) tf)e toofe nametr ttje tifcteg or sapengis 
 f) of ti&e pi)ilogopf)res enprgntetr /tg me toiUiam 
 
 O^axton at toestmestre tt)e pere of our lorli * M * 
 (^(B(t(t * Hxibir * Mafiicte toolt is late translated out of 
 
 The Text ends on the 76th verso, Avith a short page of 
 sixteen lines — 
 
 posieion in tijis toorltr/EnlJ after tftgs Igf to Igue euer^^ 
 lastgnglp in fieuen ^men 
 
 a^t m est fini^ r r 
 
 Remaeks. — ^This book is remarkable as being the first 
 which bears a plain statement of the place and time of its 
 execution. It is thought by some to be really the first book 
 printed in England. A few of the quai-to pieces may perhaps 
 have preceded it, but there is none that can be proved of 
 earlier workmanship ; and if, as there seems good reason for 
 supposing, Caxton did not settle at Westminster before 
 1476-77, he would not have had time to produce much. 
 
 The history of the English translation of this work is 
 interesting. It appears that Earl Rivers, moved thereto by a 
 remembrance of relief from many worldly adversities, deter- 
 mined to pay his vows at the shrine of St. James of Com- 
 postella. In the British Museum (C. 18. e. 2) is "An Abbre- 
 viation of the graces and indulgences which Alexader vj 
 
l^S WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 granteth to all true believing people of every sexe or com- 
 munitie of the grete hospytall of Saynt James of Cdpostella." 
 This shrine had been for many years the favourite resort of 
 those who intended a short pilgrimage. Many ships, and 
 those of the largest burthen, were engaged in this passenger 
 traffic, the chief port of embarkation being Southampton. 
 Thence in the year 1473 the earl sailed, and while on the 
 voyage Lewis de Bretaylles, a Gascon knight celebrated for 
 his great prowess, at the court of Edward lY, showed the 
 earl a copy, in French, of " Les dits moraux des philosophes," 
 with which Lord Rivers was greatly delighted, retaining it 
 for more intimate perusal. On his return to England, in the 
 same year, the king appointed him one of the governors of 
 the Prince of Wales ; and now, having more leisure, the earl 
 began a translation of the work into EngMsh, which, however, 
 notwithstanding the assistance of an earlier translation by 
 Scrope, occupied him some years, supposing it to be com- 
 pleted only a short time previously to its being printed in 
 1477. Earl Rivers evidently had a good opinion of Caxton's 
 literary abilities, for he requested him "to oversee" his trans- 
 lation before printing it, and the result was the addition of a 
 chapter " towching wymmen," introduced by a very character- 
 istic prologue from Caxton's own pen. This prologue is 
 replete with a quiet humour, which reveals to us more of 
 Caxton's real disposition than all his other writings. It 
 proves also the intimate terms which must have existed 
 between Lord Rivers and himself. 
 
 "We may infer from this, the first edition, had a rapid sale, 
 as about 1481 a second edition (described further on) was 
 produced in the same type, and page for page, the same as 
 the original. 
 
 There is an oft-quoted but much overrated manuscript of 
 this translation in the Archiepiscopal Palace, Lambeth. It 
 is on vellum, and has one inconsiderable illumination, famous 
 only on account of giving the sole representation known of 
 Edward V. Earl Rivers is presenting a copy on bended 
 knee (probably this very one) to the prince, who is seated on 
 his throne. By the earl's side is pourtrayed an ecclesiastic 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 189 
 
 with shaven crown, probably "Haywarde," whose name 
 appears at the end of the volume as the writer. We may 
 suppose the earl to be in the act of reciting the metrical 
 prologue which appears at the commencement, and the first 
 five lines of which are — 
 
 This boke late translate here in sight 
 By Anthony Earl (erasure) that vertueux knyght 
 Please it to accepte to youre noble grace 
 And at youre conueniens leysoure and space 
 It to see reede and vnderstonde 
 
 The writing is the usual secretary hand of the fifteenth 
 century, and the date of transcription, as given in the colo- 
 phon, is December 29th, 1477, or about six weeks after the 
 publication of Caxton's printed edition, of which it is a ver- 
 batim copy, with the addition of the metrical prologue already 
 noticed, and the following paragraph which precedes Caxton's 
 prologue to the chapter on women — "And suffice you with 
 the translation of the sayinges of thes Philosophres, And one 
 William Caxton atte desire of my lorde Ryuers / emprinted 
 many bokes after the tonour and forme of this boke / whiche 
 Willm saide as foloweth :" then comes Caxton's chapter. 
 
 A different and somewhat earlier translation is in the Ms. 
 department of the British Museum (Harl. 2266), "late trans- 
 latyd out of frensh tung in to englysh the yer of our lord 
 M cccc 1 to John Fostalf knyght for his contemplacion and 
 solas by Stevyn Scrope squyer sonne in law to the seide Fos- 
 talle." Literary taste is not often associated with the name 
 of Sir John Falstaff. 
 
 Thirteen copies of this edition are known — Two in the 
 British Museum, one at Cambridge, and the remainder in 
 private libraries. The Rev. T. Corser's copy, sold in 1868, 
 wanting three leaves, sold for £110. 
 
 No. 9. — Fragment op a " HoRffi." Octavo. Without 
 Printer's Name, Place, or Date. (1478 ?) 
 
 Four leaves only. Type No. 2. Lines very uneven in 
 length, the longest measuring 2^ inohes; twelve lines to a 
 fiill page. Without signatures, catchwords, or numerals. 
 
190 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 From the small portion remaining of the original work, 
 it is impossible to state with accuracy under what par- 
 ticular class of service-books it should be ranged. To all 
 appearance it is part of a primer, or "Horae secundum 
 consuetudinem Angliae ;" though its diminutive size renders 
 it improbable that it contained, as well as the Hours, the 
 Litany, the Vigils of the Dead, and all the miscellaneous 
 prayers usually found in this class of books. The above 
 fragment will be found to include the following portions of 
 Suffi-agia at Lauds : — St. Thomas of Canterbury (the last few 
 words only), St. Nicholas, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Katha- 
 rine, St. Margaret; after which, in the four leaves that are 
 wanting, there is room for All Saints, the Prayer for Peace, 
 the Versicle and Eesponse, Benedicamus domino, Deo gracias, 
 and the commencement of the Suffragia of the Three Kings, 
 the rest thereof occupying, as above, the head of the second 
 portion of the fragment. Then follow the Suffragia of St. 
 Barbara ^nd the concluding verse Benedicam' dno Deo gs, 
 with which the service ends. On comparing this with the 
 Horae of the same period it will be seen that these prayers 
 always occur at the end of Lauds, and are peculiar in their 
 order to the English Church, with the exception of the Three 
 Kings and St. Barbara, which, in this sequence, are peculiar 
 to this fragment. Suffragia of the Three Kings, and of St. 
 Barbara, are found amongst the miscellaneous commemora- 
 tions in most of the English primers; but those of St. 
 Barbara, as found in this fragment, differ altogether from 
 those which occur elsewhere. The evidence which a perfect 
 volume might afforcf being wanting, the following suggestion, 
 by Mr. Bradshaw, of Cambridge, is offered : — It is well known 
 that the Esterlings were a thriving and influential corporation 
 in Caxton's time, consisting of German merchants from the 
 City of Cologne and the other towns in the Hanseatic League, 
 and occupying the Steel Yard in Cannon Street as their 
 London residence, with All Hallows the Great as their parish 
 church, and St. Barbara as their patron saint. Now in their 
 accustomed service, comprising Matins and Lauds, the Suf- 
 frages of the Three Kings of Cologne, which, as already 
 
BOOKS FEINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 191 
 
 remarked, do not commonly occur at those hours, would be 
 most appropriate, not on account of the name so much as the 
 subject of the prayer, which is for success in trade, and for 
 peace and health in travelling ; — " concede propitius .... 
 ut itinere quo ituri sumus, celebritate, letitifi, gratia et pace, 
 ad loca destinata in pace et salute et negotio bene peracto 
 cum omne prosperitate, salvi et sani redire valeamus." This 
 aJone proves very little ; but when we find that the next suf- 
 frages ai-e those of St. Barbara, whose name never occurs in 
 the English Lauds, but to whom the Esterlings prayed as 
 their patron saint, it becomes probable that the fragment 
 before us was part of an Anglican primer (or Horae), with 
 additional prayers, for their especial use. And if these 
 German merchants, in whose country the typographic art 
 had made great progress, wished to have this, their daily 
 service, printed, to whom could they go but to Caxton, the 
 only printer then in England. 
 
 Should this view be correct it considerably increases the 
 bibliographical value of the fragment, which is otherwise of 
 great interest as being, in all probability, the earliest English- 
 printed service in existence, and which, from the unevenness 
 in the printing and the early types, must have been one of 
 the first products of the Westminster press. 
 
 The fragment on which the foregoing remarks have been 
 founded is in the Bodleian Library (Douce Fragments). 
 When originally extracted from an old book-cover it formed 
 a half-sheet, but now two quarters. 
 
 No. 10. — Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Folio. Sine 
 ulld mtd. First Edition. (1478 ?) 
 
 Collation. — Forty 4°", one 3°, one 5°, one 3°, one 6", 
 one 3°, one 5°, and one 2°, making together 372 leaves, of 
 which the first only is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — ^There is no title-page. 
 The only type used is No. 2. The lines in the prose portions 
 are very unevenly spaced, but the longest measure 5 inches ; 
 29 lines to a fiill page. Without folios, signatures, or catch- 
 
192 WILLIAM CAXTON*. 
 
 words. The book commences with a blank leaf, after which 
 the Text begins thus : — 
 
 38an ti&at Ipprill Mtf^ W sijouriis 0ote 
 to Entr tje Ijrougfite of marcfte i^atS pcitj ge rote 
 
 EntJ tatrilr euerp begne in suci^^ licout 
 <©f to!)icf)e bettu engentJtitJ is tije flout 
 
 On the 372nd leaf recto are the following lines, being the 
 conclusion of the Parson's tale : — 
 
 tificacion of ^i^nnt / Co tfiat l^f fte bss ttgnge ti&at tougi^t 
 toiti) j^is precgous tlootr Emen. 
 
 Q^x^litii Ctactattis ^alftgtji O^i&aucer tie 
 ^enitencia bt tricitut pro fatula iiectoriss* 
 
 The reverse is occupied by what is called Chaucer's retrac- 
 tion, commencing — 
 
 n (©b) prag S to fiem alle ti&at i^erlteiie tftis litil treatpse 
 
 and ending — 
 
 tietig ♦ ^er omnia gecula siectilojES ^men» 
 
 which concludes the volume. 
 
 Nine copies are known, of which two are in the British 
 Museum, one at the Bodleian, one at Merton College, Oxford, 
 and the others in private libraries. 
 
 No. 11. — The Moral Peoverbs of Cristyne. Folio. 
 " Enprinted dy Caxton At Westmesfre," 1478. 
 
 Collation. — Two sheets, or four leaves, all printed. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — The only type used is 
 No. 2. 28 lines to a page. Without signatures, catchwords, 
 or folios. 
 
 The Text begins, with a head-line on the first recto, 
 thus : — 
 
 Ci^e morale prouertes of (Eristpne 
 
 i W St^te bertuj8 of oure eltiers notable 
 
 <©fte to remembre ijs tijing profitable 
 an liappp Jou0 iisi ♦ tojere bbjelleti^ prubence 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 198 
 
 and ends on the fourth verso, 
 
 at toestmestre . of feuerer tf)e . xx . "bage 
 Enti of kpng (fB^jtoarti / tt)e . ibir . B^e brage 
 
 iil^nprinteTr tjD (Kaarton 
 3Jn feuerer tf)e colTre season 
 
 Remarks. — Cristyne de Pise was) with the single excep- 
 tion of Joan of Arc, the most famous woman of her age. She 
 was bom A.D. 1363, in Italy, and, at the early age of fifteen, 
 married Etienne Castel. After a few happy years her hus- 
 band was taken from her by death; and now, although, to 
 quote her own words, " nourri en delices et mignottemens," 
 she found herself ahnost in destitution, with aged parents and 
 three young children dependent upon her. Fortunately her 
 father, who had been physician to Charles V of France, had 
 taken great pains in her education, by which she had well 
 profited. Urged on by necessity, she devoted herself to a 
 literary life, and soon became famous. Her writings, which 
 show a vast amount of reading, were ever on the side of 
 virtue, morality, and peace. Her unimpeachable life assisted 
 the tendency of her writings, and both were an honour to the 
 age in which she lived. For many years her labours were 
 incessant. After a last song of rejoicing on the victories of 
 the French arms under " La Pucelle" she retired to a convent 
 for the remainder of her days. The date of her death is 
 unknown. The biogTaphers of Cristyne vie with one another 
 in her praises. There is a charming monograph upon her, 
 by M. Raimond Thomassy, entitled "Essai sur les Ecrits 
 Politiques de Christine de Pisan." 8vo. Paris, 1888. See 
 also " Les Msc. Franc," vol. iv, p. 186 ; and " Mem. de I'Acad. 
 des Insc," vol. ii, p. 762. 
 
 "Les prouerbes moraulx" were originally composed as a 
 supplement to " Les enseignemens moraux," written by Cris- 
 tyne for the instruction of her son, Jean Castel, who passed a 
 part of his youthful days in the service of the Earl of Salis- 
 bury, in England. 
 
 The translation of these proverbs into English by Earl 
 
 o 
 
194 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Elvers appears to have taken place about the same period as 
 his longer eifort the " Dictes of the Philosophers." And here 
 we may notice that the earl has been credited by Horace 
 Walpole and Dr. Dibdin with the pedantic design of making 
 nearly all the lines of his translation end with the letter " e." 
 A very cursory examination of the poetry of the fifteenth 
 century would have shown that the terminal e was common 
 in all writings of that period. 
 
 In the "Fayttes of Arms," translated and printed by Caxton 
 at a later period, we meet -with another production of the 
 same authoress. The only copies known are in the libraries 
 of Earl Spencer, Earl of Jersey, and Mr. Christie-Miller. 
 
 No. 12. — Propositio Joha^nis Russell. Quarto. Without 
 Printer's Nanie, Date, or Place. (147- ?) 
 
 Collation. — Four printed leaves, the recto of the first 
 and the verso of the last being blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 Only one type. No. 2, is used. The lines are very irregular 
 in length, a fall line measuring 4 inches. A full page has 22 
 lines, Avithout signatures or catchwords. The speech, which 
 is all in one paragraph, bears evidence of having been printed 
 a page at a time. It commences with a 2-line space for the 
 insertion of an initial, with a small director, and has been 
 reprinted in fuU by Dr. Dibdin. 
 
 The Text begins on the first verso : — 
 
 iianttijs ^mmW tiecretorum troctoris ac atitimc 
 amta^siatorig xpianissimi Megis (i^^titoartJi 
 
 and ends with twelve lines on the fourth recto, of which the 
 last three are — 
 
 TjfyBXt all tiei lautiem / et exaltationem finti xpta 
 ne/no0tti q^ %mmm\m tegiis rotur^solacium re 
 uelationem q^ / et glotiam pleftig sue » amen 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 195 
 
 In the eighth volume of the " Censura Literaria," page 
 851 , appeared the first public notice of this tract, which till 
 then had been mistaken for a manuscript. Whether printed 
 at Bruges, which is not unlikely, or at Westminster is difficult 
 to decide. 
 
 John Russell, "Orator clarissimus," Bishop of Lincoln 
 and Lord Chancellor, held many offices of trust under three 
 sovereigns. He was bom in the parish of St. Peter's, Win- 
 chester, in the beginning of the reign of Henry VI, and com- 
 menced his education there. At an early age he went to the 
 University of Oxford, where he obtained the degree of Doctor 
 of Decrees. In 1449 he was made fellow of New College ; 
 was afterwards appointed to a prebendal stall in Salisbury, 
 and in 1466 to the Archdeaconry of Berkshire. On the latter 
 appointment he removed to court, where he was much noticed 
 by Edward IV. In September, 1467, he was commissioned 
 by the king, together with Lord Hastings, Lord Scales, and 
 others, to conclude a treaty of marriage between the king's 
 sister Margaret and the Duke of Burgimdy. A few months 
 later he was engaged in arranging the trade relationship 
 between this country and Flanders. It was probably then, if 
 not at an earlier period, that he became acquainted with our 
 printer. His name appears often after this as assisting in 
 the negotiation of various treaties. In February, 1469-70, 
 " Messire Galiard, chevalier ; Thomas Vaghan, Escuier et Tre- 
 sorier de la Chambre ; et Jehan Russell, Docteur en Decret, 
 Arcediacre de Berksuir," accompanied by Garter King at 
 Arms, were commissioned by King Edward IV to invest the 
 Duke of Burgundy with the order of the Garter. On this 
 occasion the oration which forms the foundation of the pre- 
 sent article was delivered. The investiture took place at 
 Ghent, and here, if Caxton were present, of which however 
 there is no positive evidence, he would again make acquaint- 
 witli John Russell. In 1476 the Archdeacon was raised to 
 the bishopric of Rochester, and in 1480 translated to Lincoln. 
 In March, 1483, he appeared as "Orator" before Po|)e Sixtus 
 IV (see Harleian MS. No. 433), and was probably in Rome 
 when his Sovereign, Edward IV, who had appointed him one 
 
 2 
 
WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 of his executors, breathed his last. In the short reign of 
 Edward V he was appointed Lord Chancellor, to which 
 office he was re-appointed by Richard III. In 1485 he 
 retired to private life, and died in January 1494. He was 
 interred in Lincoln Cathedral, under an altar tomb in the 
 Chantry Chapel, founded by him on the south side of the 
 Lady Chapel. 
 
 He was the first Chancellor of Oxford appointed for life, 
 in which university he was very popular. England also 
 should keep his name in memory if only for the great change 
 he iniated in promulgating the statutes of the realm in the 
 vulgar tongue, instead of Latin or French, a practice con- 
 tinued ever after. Sir Thomas More thus draws his character: 
 " A wyse man and a good, and of much experyence ; and one 
 of the best learned menne undoubtedly that Engiande had in 
 hys time." 
 
 An interesting autograph, as showing the Archdeacon at 
 Bruges in 1467, when Caxton was governor, occurs in a 
 volume of "Cicero de Officiis," in the Public Library of 
 Cambridge: — " Empt' p Jo. Rnscel . archidiaconu berk- 
 shyrie apud oppidu bruggense flandrie a° 1467 mens' Ap4' 
 17° die." 
 
 A fine uncut copy is in the magnificent library of Earl 
 Spencer. It appears to have been bound up by mistake in a 
 volume of blank paper intended for manuscript alone, being 
 in the original binding, and the whole volume otherwise con- 
 sisting of the common manuscript hand of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, which aflPord no indication of local execution. It was 
 discovered in cataloguing the library of John Brand, which 
 was sold in 1807, and where it appeared among the manu- 
 scripts (Part I, Lot 30) " A work on Theology and Religion, 
 with five leaves at the end, a very great curiosity, very early 
 printed on wooden blocks or type." The Marquis of Bland- 
 ford bought it at the reasonable price of £2 5s. At the sale 
 of his library in 1819 (Lot 5752), Earl Spencer was obhged 
 to give £126 for it. It was for many years considered as 
 unique, until another copy was discovered in the library at 
 Holkham. 
 
BOOKS rniXTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 197 
 
 No. 13. — Stans Puer ad Mensam — Moral Distichs — 
 SaTjVE Regina. Quarto. Sine ulld tiohi. {Ante 
 1479). 
 
 Collation. — Foiu* leaves, all printed. 
 
 There is no title-page. Type No. 2 only is used. There 
 are 23 lines to a page, or tlu-ee stanzas in " Balad Royal," ^'' 
 with a blank line between the stanzas. Long lines measure 
 4 niches. Without signatures or catchwards. 
 
 The Text begins, on the first recto, thus ; — 
 
 • Stanis puer a^ mensam . 
 m W trere cf)ilTje first ti^g selfe enable 
 
 515Eiti) all tfiin jierte to bertuo' tJisciplme 
 ^fore ti)g soueragn stonligng at tje tatile 
 
 The poem concludes with two stanzas on the third recto, 
 the latter of which is : — 
 
 <!lo litill iplle Jarepn of eloquence 
 ^rag png rf)iltjren tjat i^t sijal see or retie 
 Cftougf) ti)ou be not compentiious of sentence 
 <©f ti)e clatoses for to take ftetje 
 5l2aticj)e to alle bertue si)al tjg pougtf) letie 
 <©f tije bjrgtgng tf)oug1) tjer be no tiate 
 gf ougf)t be amps put tie faute in legate 
 . (JBxplicit . 
 
 Moral Distichs immediately follow the al)ove, and fill 
 up the page. The whole is here given. 
 
 ^rgse erl8 ^ntr argse temperatlp 
 
 3btx\xt got( lieuoutlB ^^^ to tf)p soup soberla 
 
 W^z toorlti besilg ^nli to tj^ betJ merilg 
 
 .^ 4^00 tt)8 toag salilB Entj be tjere iocontjlg 
 
 anstoere tiemurelg EntJ slepe setorlg 
 i^o to ti^B mete appetentlg * (iB^iplicit . 
 
 (1) "Ballad Royal" was the title of a particular rythm, each stanza 
 of which, consisting of seven lines, rhymed as follows : — a — h — a — h — 
 h — c — c. 
 
198 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 The Salve Regina begins on the verso of the preceding, 
 at the head of the page. 
 
 , En iiolg Sailue tegina in m^lmf^ . 
 
 Elue toitl^ all otei^ance to ooti i i&timilegse 
 MeQina to tegne eugt more in tl^psge 
 ifEater to ctist as toe bgleue exjptesse 
 
 The " Sahie" ends at the foot of the 4th recto, 
 
 if^ater of Igf anti etetne creaeion 
 
 Saltie euer as Uix as toe can suffgse ♦ Emen* 
 
 The reverse of this leaf gives the following : — 
 
 ^IHptte i&ati^ toontier anti fepntre ne ean 
 Jgoto maptien is motjer anti gotf is man 
 Hene ti)gn asfegng antr telene ti)at toontrer 
 dFor mggiit i&atij maistrg ^ sItgU gotft bntier 
 ♦ Beo laus ^e » 
 
 This is followed by six proverbial couplets, the last being — 
 
 Unotoe n t!)ou Itngtte ^ tf)an tf)ou maist slalie 
 gf tf)ou ifengt et tjou Itnotoe tf)an it is to late 
 
 This finishes the Text as it stands in the only two copies 
 known. 
 
 From the absence of the word d^x^Ucitf or any other 
 similar ending which Caxton made a rule of placing at the 
 end of his works, great and small, it is not unlikely that this 
 piece is imperfect. This is rendered more probable by the 
 absence of the blank leaf at the begimiing, which, supposing 
 a printed leaf wanting at the end, would be its counterpart. 
 At the same time it should be noticed that the only two 
 known copies agree in this deficiency, and that Wynken de 
 Worde, who reprinted from Caxton's edition, concludes in the 
 same abrupt way ; though it is not impossible that he printed 
 from an imperfect copy, and did not know it, as in this very 
 tract he has reproduced, with his usual carelessness, an acci- 
 dental error of Caxton's edition. Caxton, in printing, had 
 transposed the two pages of the second leaf, proving that, 
 even in the quarto size, he had not arrived at the art of 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 199 
 
 printing more than one page a time, and Wynken de Worde 
 blindly repeats the mistake. 
 
 Among the many pieces which make up the catalogue of 
 Lydgate's works must be included " Stans Puer ad Mensam," 
 as the t»'0 concluding lines prove : — 
 
 " Of the writing, though there be no date. 
 If ought be amiss put the fault in lydgate." 
 
 Dan John Lydgate, who knew Chaucer in his old age, 
 and may have been acquainted with Caxton in his youth, was 
 an indefatigable rhymester. Ritson gives a list of 251 pieces 
 attributed to his pen. The dates of his birth and death are 
 equally obscure, and the only fact concerning him, of any 
 certainty, is that he was bom at Lidgate, near Bury St. Ed- 
 munds, whence he doubtless derived his name. {Harl. MS. 
 2251, foHo 283). 
 
 The "Stans Puer" is a translation of the "Carmen juve- 
 nile de moribus puerorum" of Sulpitius, of which the first 
 edition was probably printed at Aquila in 1483." But the 
 type used for Caxton's tract (the last dated use of which in 
 its first state was in 1479), proves it to have been printed at 
 least some years previous to the impression at Aquila ; so that 
 we may fairly consider this as the "editio princeps" of the 
 tract. It was reprinted by Wynken de Worde three times 
 early in the succeeding century. 
 
 The " Salve Regina," in its style and metre, closely resem- 
 bles the acknowledged pieces of Lydgate, and was also, in all 
 probability, fi-om his pen. 
 
 The copy in the University Library of Cambridge is the 
 only one knoi^Ti, and though now in a separate binding, was 
 formerly in a volume of poems all printed by Caxton, of which 
 an account is here appended. 
 
 Bishop Moore's library, rich in old black-letter poems, con- 
 tained, among its other treasures, one priceless httle volume, 
 in quarto, bound in plain hrowD. calf, and lettered on the back 
 " Old poetry printed by Caxton." The collection appears to 
 have been made before it came into the bishop's possession ; 
 but the fact of the poems being bound together led Middleton 
 and all succeeding writers to describe them as one w^ork. Mr. 
 
200 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Bradshaw's careful examination, however, showed that the 
 volume contained eight distinct publications, which have 
 since been bound separately. Some of these are unique, and 
 some are found alone in other collections. Before re-binding, 
 the volume contained the following pieces in the following 
 order : — 
 
 I. Stans Puer ad Mensam; Moral Distichs; The Salve 
 Eegina. II. Parvus Catho and Magnus Catho. III. 
 The Chorle and the Bird. IV. The Horse the Goose 
 and the Sheep; Stanzas; The proper use of certain 
 nouns; The proper use of certain verbs. Y. The 
 Temple of Glass. YI. The Temple of Brass ; A trea- 
 tise which John Skogan sent unto the lords and 
 gentlemen .... exhorting them to use virtues in their 
 youth; The good counsel of Chaucer; Balad of the 
 village without painting. YII. The Book of Courtesy. 
 YIII. Anelida and Arcyte and The Complaint of 
 Chaucer to his purse. 
 There is nothing to show in what order these tracts were 
 printed. Being all in verse we can draw no conclusions from 
 irregularity of spacing, and even where two editions were 
 printed it is sometimes impossible to say which had pre- 
 cedence. That they were all printed before February 2nd, 
 1479, we may safely assume, as they are, without exception, 
 in the early state of type No. 2, which then made its last 
 dated appearance in " Cordyale ;" and that many were among 
 Caxton's first essays seems probable from their popular nature, 
 and the small amount of labour required in their production. 
 For these reasons they are treated consecutively, together 
 with three other editions, in Nos. 14 to 25, those pieces whose 
 longest lines all measure 4 inches being placed before those 
 measuring 3J inches. 
 
 No. 14. — Parvus Catho. — Magnus Catho. Quarto. First 
 Edition. Sine ulld notd. {Aiite 1479). 
 
 Collation. — Three 4"* and one 5°=.- 34 leaves, of which 
 the first was doubtless blank, though wanting in the only 
 known copy. 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 201 
 
 There is no title-page. The type is No. 2 only. Full 
 lines measure 4 inches, and each page contains 28 lines, 
 counting the blank line between the stanzas. Without signa- 
 tures or catchwords. 
 
 The Text commences with title-Une on the second recto, a 
 blank leaf having origmally preceded it — 
 
 . Wc S^tipit patutis atatjo . 
 
 OTu aiatititete qua plurimos f}om guitet errare 
 Maf)an $ atiuette to mp xtmtmtxmct 
 ^ntJ see i)ob) fele folfeejsf etren grewouslg 
 
 "Parvus Catho" terminates in the middle of the third 
 recto, 
 
 JlHftan ge it telie let not pour i&ert te tfjense 
 ii3ut tioti) as ti)is saiti) \iyitii al pur ijole entente 
 
 . Jgic finis parui catfionis . 
 
 making in all seven stanzas, in " Balad Royal." 
 
 " Magnus Catho " immediately follows on the verso, with 
 space left for the insertion of a 2-line initial ^, ^nth director. 
 
 . I^ie S^mt magnus (l[ratf)o . 
 
 t S ^^us est aimus notis bt earmina trieut 
 Jfeic tihi preeipue fit pura mente colentius 
 JFox ti&g tjat goTj is intoartilp ti^e Mt 
 
 The Text ends on the 34th verso, 
 
 Jftere taue § fontie tfiat sfial gou guplre ^ Utt 
 Streigjt to golie fame ^ leue gou in f^ix jous 
 . (i^xplieit OTatfio . 
 
 The work is in four books, containing 42, 39, 27, and 52 
 stanzas of "Balad Royal," each of which is headed by a 
 couplet from the original Latin. 
 
 The "distichs" of Cato were very popular for many cen- 
 turies. Their author, and even the origin of their title, is 
 entirely lost, though some of their stanzas are traced as far 
 back as the second or third century of the Christian era. In 
 
202 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 the middle ages they were used as a school-book, to teiich 
 Latin, as well as to inculcate moral maxims ; so that to be 
 unacquainted with "Cato" was synonymous with general 
 ignorance. Chaucer continually mentions the work. " He 
 knew not Catoun, for his wyt was rude," says the miller of 
 the rich "Gnof." These remarks apply to "Magnus Cato" 
 only. About 1180 Daniel Churche, an ecclesiastic attached 
 to the court of Henry II, added a few Latin precepts as intro- 
 ductory to the original, and from that period the two were 
 mostly transcribed together, being distinguished as " Parvus 
 Cato " and " Magnus Cato." Of the English version of these 
 **distichs" we cannot have a better account than that given 
 us by Caxton himself in his preface to "Cathon" glossed; 
 ** which book," he says, " hath been translated out of Latin 
 into English by Master Benet Burgh, .... which ftiU craftily 
 hath made it in Balad Boyal for the erudition of my Lord 
 Boucher son and heir at that time to my Lord the Earl of 
 Essex." This translation of Benet Burgh is the text printed 
 by Caxton, twice in quarto, and once in folio with woodcuts, 
 before he undertook the translation of the extensive French 
 Oloss, which wiU be brought to the reader's notice under the 
 year 1484. 
 
 "Maister Benet Burgh" was Vicar of Maiden, in Essex, 
 when he translated " Cato," as we learn from the colophon in 
 Harl MS., No. 271. He afterwards fiUed the offices of Arch- 
 deacon of Colchester, 1464 ; Prebendary of St. Paul's, 1472 ; 
 and soon after High Canon of St. Stephen's, Westminster. 
 He appears to have been an author as well as a translator. 
 The following is the title of a poem in Harl. MS. 7333, folio 
 149 & — "A cristemasse game made by Maister Benet: howe 
 god almyghty seyde to his apostelys and echeii off them were 
 baptiste and none knew of othir, &c." He also appears to 
 have written a considerable portion of the poetical translation 
 of "De regimine principum" attributed to Lydgate, as we 
 infer from Harl. MS. 2251, folio 236, in which occurs this 
 side-note, in the same handwriting as the body of the poem — 
 " Here deyde the translate^ a noble Poet Dane John Lydgate 
 And his folower gan his prolog in this wise p' Benedictu 
 
BOOKS FEINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 208 
 
 Burgh." He or Lydgate also wi-ote an original fourth book 
 to " Catho Magnus," which, although not printed by Caxton, 
 may be seen in several manuscripts. Ritson, indeed {Bib. 
 Foet.y page Q^), ascribes the whole to Lydgate. 
 
 It does not seem improbable that the printing of " Parvus 
 et Magims Catho" was undertaken by desire of " High Canon 
 Burgh," who, holding a canonry in Westminster, was likely 
 to have become acquainted with Caxton. 
 
 The only Existing Copy is in the Public Library, Cam- 
 bridge (AB. 8. 48. 2). It is perfect, but without the original 
 blank leaf, and measures 8J x 5^ inches. For an account of 
 the volume which contained it, see page 200 ante. 
 
 No. 15. — Parvus Catho. — ^Magnus Catho. Quarto. Se- 
 cond Edition. Sine ulld notd. {Ante 1479). 
 
 Collation. — Tliree 4"* and one 5° = 34 leaves, of which 
 the first was doubtless blank, although wanting in the only 
 known copy. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — The variation in this 
 edition is only typographical. The poem is reprinted page 
 for page, and line for Une, yet the composition of the type is 
 different throughout. 
 
 The only Existing Copy known is in the library of the 
 Duke of Devonshire, at Chatsworth, where it is bound with 
 tiie quarto edition of " Stans Puer," already described. It 
 came from the old library at Hardwicke Hall. In the 
 Harleian Catalogns (iii. 6202) the above two tracts appear 
 together — ^probably this very copy. 
 
 No. 16. — The Horse, the Sheep, and the Goose. — 
 
 Various Stanzas. — The proper application of 
 
 CERTAIN Nouns substantive, and Verbs. First 
 
 Edition. Qiuirto. Sine ulld notd. {Ante 1479). 
 
 Collation. — One 4° and one 5°= 18 leaves, of which the 
 
 first was doubtless blank, although wanting in the only known 
 
 copy. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is all No. 2. Full lines measure 4 inches, and each 
 
204 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 page contains 23 lines, inclusive of the blank line bet^^'cen 
 the stanzas. Without signatures or catchwords. 
 
 The Horse, the Sheep, and the Goose commences on 
 the second recto, the first leaf being blank. 
 
 The Text begins, with space for a 2 -line initial, with 
 director, 
 
 t (©tttreber^ies / plees anti tJiscorties; 
 13itb)ate petsoneie; toere ttoo or tf^xt 
 5)0ugt)t out ti)e grountreje; te tecortes 
 Ci)(s teas ti^e custom of antiquite 
 
 On the fourteenth leaf verso, 
 
 ^lU in one bessell to speke in bortieisi plegn 
 Ci^at noman sjoltre of otfier Jaue triistiagn 
 
 . Wf^m cntreti^ tf^t ftorse tje gfioosi ^ tf)e sjeep , 
 
 There are in this poem 77 stanzas of scA^en lines each. 
 
 Various Stanzas follow, ending on the sixteenth recto, 
 the verso being occupied with short sentences, as " An herde 
 of Hertes. A murther of crowes. A byldyng of rooks," &c. 
 The whole ends on the eighteenth vereo — 
 
 a dO^ong bnlacetJ gf i)e take tjc lontie f)e 
 
 a ?IJeron tiigmembritr tleetf). drxplicit. 
 
 The only Existing Copy is in the Public Library, Cam- 
 bridge (AB. 8. 48. 4), and was formerly bound, with other 
 pieces in a volume already described at page 51. 
 
 The whole of these fugitive pieces are attributed to the 
 prolific pen of Dan John Lydgate. 
 
 No. 17. — The Horse, the Sheep, and the Goose. — 
 
 Various Stanzas. — The proper application op 
 
 certain Nouns sutsstantive and Verbs. Quarto. 
 
 /Second Edition. ( J.?^/e 1 4 7 9 . ) \ 
 
 Collation. — One 4" and one 5" = 18 leaves, of which the 
 
 first is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — These are the same as 
 in the first edition, with the exception of the orthography 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 205 
 
 and the use of a title-line, which in the other edition is 
 altogether wanting, a sufficient reason for attributing this to 
 a later period ; for, had the first edition been printed with a 
 head-line, we may certainly assume that the improved appear- 
 ance would not have been omitted by Caxton in the reprint. 
 In this edition we find the sixth leaf, noticed as wanting in 
 the only known copy of the first edition. 
 The text begins on the second recto, 
 
 <©ntrcberstei3 . plees kvlH ^moxtit^ 
 
 i3ttb)ene persones toere ttoo or tf)re 
 Sougi)t out tfie grounljes tie recortjes 
 Ci^iis teas ti)e custom of antiquite 
 
 and ends with dFxplicit on the eighteenth recto. 
 
 There is a fragment of six leaves in the University Li- 
 brary, Cambridge, and a perfect copy, with the original leaf, 
 in the Cathedral Library, York, a reprint of which was pre- 
 sented by Sir M. M. Sykes to the members of the Roxburgh 
 Club. 
 
 No. 18. — Infancia Salvatoris. Qitarto. Without Printer'' s 
 Nanw, Date, or Place. (147-?). 
 Collation. — Eighteen printed leaves, unsigned, with a 
 blank both at beginning and end. 
 
 The type is all No. 2. There are 22 lines of uneven 
 length to a full page, and a long line measures 3J inches. 
 "Without signatures, folios, or catchwords. 
 
 The Text begins thus on the recto of the first printed 
 leaf; — 
 
 Wt Sncipit Cractatus qui SJntitulatut: 
 a^nfancia saluatoris . 
 
 Xi\X etiictu a (Eesare Eugusto bt Ire 
 e scriberetur bniujsius orbig Jgee autem 
 tie«cripcio prima facta est a presitie , 
 Sirie Olirino . m ibant oms ut pfiterentur 
 isinguli in ciuitatem sua Escenbit et ^osepft 
 and ends with a full page on the eighteenth recto. 
 
206 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 i aSttlmmiiti bijo . Ski fiUi iiU mi . txutii 
 
 illDS ^t curba illos a ptiericia illos . St filie 
 tihi isint / jserua corpus Ulas et mn o^ttntimt 
 f^ilmtxa iuitm tuam ati tUasi . (^regotius ♦ 
 iguauis q'j5 iugtus sit ♦ tu in f)ac bita no tietet 
 esse secttt? q^ nescit quo fine sit terminantjus ♦ 
 
 This printed tract differs entirely from the MS. in the 
 British Museum, Eoyal 13 A xiv, "De Xti infantia," but 
 agTees partially with the "Evangelium Infantile" attributed 
 to St. James, and printed in vol. i of the " Codex apocryphus 
 Novi Testamenti," by Fabricius. 
 
 The only Existing Copy kno\\Ti is in the Eoyal Uni- 
 yersity Library, Gottingen. It is in good condition, and was 
 purchased in 1746 of Osborne, for this library, at 15s (?). 
 Ames described this very copy when in the library of Lord 
 Oxford, but neither Herbert nor Dibdin could hear of its 
 existence, nor discover it in the Harleian Catalogue. It is 
 there nevertheless, among the "Libri Latini. Quarto," and 
 thus described, "Infantia Salvatoris Tractatus, corio furcicOy 
 dmuraf. Lond. a^md Caxtoii, skw LocoT (See Catalogus 
 BibliotJiecm Harleianmy vol. v, page 252, No. 7008). 
 
 No. 19. — The Temple of Glass. Quarto. Sine ulld mta. 
 {Ante 1479.) 
 
 Collation. — Three 4^"^ and one 5°, unsigned, or 34 leaves, 
 of which the 1st is (?) blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is No. 2 only. Full lines measure 4 inches, and 
 each page contains 23 lines. Without signatures or catch- 
 words. 
 
 After the blank the poem commences on the 2nd recto, 
 with space for a 2 -line initial, with director : — 
 
 , Cf)e temple of 0las . 
 
 i #r ti)ougf)t eonstre:5nt ^ greuous i)euBnes 
 
 dFot pensifi)eti antJ fiigi^ tiistres 
 Co teti % bjent nob) tf)is oti)er nB0f)t 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 207 
 
 The Text ends at the foot of the 84th recto, 
 
 § mene tijat benjpgne antj gootilg of face 
 i^oto go tt)p toag anti put ti)e in ftn* grace 
 
 . (irx^iitit tf)e tetnple of glas ♦ 
 
 There seems no doubt that this was one of the less favonred 
 compositions of Dan John, although by some ^vriters it has 
 been attributed to Hawes. It was reprinted by Wynken de 
 Worde. 
 
 The only Existing Copy is in the Public Library, Cam- 
 bridge (AB. 8. 48. 5). It is perfect, excepting the blank (?) 
 leaf, and was formerly bound with other pieces in a volume 
 already described at page 51. Measurement 8j[^ x 5J inches. 
 
 No. 20. — The Chorle and the Bird. Quarto. First Edi- 
 tion. Sine ulld nota. {Ante 1479.) 
 
 Collation. — One 5°, or 10 leaves, of which the Ist is 
 blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type used is No. 2 only. Full lines measure 4 inches, 
 and each page contains three verses of " Balad Royal," or 23 
 lines, including a blank line between the stanzas. Without 
 signatures or catchwords. 
 
 After the blank the poem commences on the 2nd recto, 
 space being left, with a director, for the insertion of a 2-line 
 initial. 
 
 The text begins thus : — 
 
 p i^oilemeg of oltie lifenes antj ftgureief 
 5l2ai^icf)e pwuglr ben fructtir of sentence 
 
 The Text ends on the 10th verso, 
 
 <!^oo litell quaper anti tecomantie me 
 ?anto mg maister toiti) tumble affection 
 iijeseke Jgm lotolp of meccp anti piPte 
 <©f ti)5 rube makjpng to baue compajijsion 
 
208 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 ilnti as touci^ing tJs ttanslacion 
 (T^ut of frenssf) / i)oto ti)at i)it englissjiti te 
 Elle tiding is mxh bntier correction 
 5l2aitS siipportacion of j&ts icnggnBte 
 
 . inexplicit ti)c ci^orle antj ti^e iirtjc , 
 
 This fable is always included among the compositions of 
 Lydgate. It was reprinted by Pynson, and a copy in the 
 Grenville library (11226), has the following autograph note — 
 " The same story is told by Alphonsus in his fable of the 
 labourer and the nightingale, and in Gresta Romanorum, cap. 
 169." A perfect copy is at Cambridge, taken from the volume 
 of poems already described at p. 200, and a fragment is in the 
 British Museum. 
 
 No. 21. — The Chorle a^d the Bird. Quarto. Second 
 Edition. Sim ulld notd. (Ante 1479.) 
 
 The similarity of these two editions is exact so far as the 
 number of stanzas, number of lines to a page, and the general 
 state of the text; but there is an evident variation in the 
 typographical minutise, such as the omission of the director, 
 the use of full-points and colons as ornamentation, and above 
 all the constant variation in orthography. Take the 1st line 
 as an example : — 
 
 Ed. 1. p Hotlemes of oltic liifenes antj figures 
 Ed. 2. rotlemes of oltie liltnes antr figures 
 
 and the last line, 
 
 Ed. 1. , (&x}^litii tf)e cf)orle antJ tfte tirtre . 
 Ed. 2. (iiexplicit tje O^i^orle antr ti)e birte . : . 
 
 The only known Existing Copy is in the Chapter Library 
 at York. It i& perfect, with the original blank. A reprint from 
 this copy was presented to the Roxburghe Club by Sir M. M. 
 Sykes. 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 209 
 
 No. 22. — The Temple of Brass, or the Parliament op 
 Fowls. Some Balads. Envoy of Chaucer to 
 Skogan. Quarto. Sine- ulld rwtn. {Ante 1479). 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type used is No. 2 only. Full lines measure 3} inches, 
 instead of 4 inches, as in the former pieces, and each page 
 contains 23 lines. Without signatures or catchwords. 
 
 The Text begins on the first recto, without a blank leaf, — 
 
 tie Ipf 00 si)ort ti^e craft go loge to Xtxm 
 W^mmi^t 00 1)att» 00 gjarp tie conquering 
 
 On the 17th recto, 
 
 ^XTfiitii ti^e temple of tras 
 
 The Tract ends on 24th verso, 
 
 5l2aais; neuer erst scogan blametj for f)i0 toge 
 
 Doubtless the poem did not end here, but the copy at 
 Cambridge is imperfect, having only 24 leaves, besides which 
 there are a few leaves at the British Museum, but no perfect 
 copy has yet been discovered. 
 
 No. 23. — The Book of Courtesy. Quarto. First Edition. 
 Sine ulld notd. {Ante 1479). 
 
 Collation. — One 4^" and one 3"= 14 leaves, of which the 
 last is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is all No. 2. Full lines measure 3j inches. 23 lines 
 to a page, including a blank line between the stanzas. With- 
 out signatures or catchwords. 
 
 The Text begins thus : — 
 
 I Ptj^l f of)n sgti^ Bour tentire enfancpe 
 StontJet^ as get bntjer / in tiifference 
 Co bice or bertu to meugn or applpc 
 
210 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 The Text ends on the 13th recto, 
 
 ^ntr !)otD to i^utte / l^etj euer in a toagte 
 Mept gour qnagec / tjat it ht Mi tf)er tapte 
 
 <3!^a:plicit tj^e t)00k of cttttegge. 
 
 The 13th verso, and the 14th leaf are blank. 
 
 The only Existing Copy is in the Public Library, Cam- 
 bridge (AB. 8. 48. 7), and was formerly in the volume of 
 tracts described at page 51. 
 
 No. 24. — Queen Anelida and False Arcyte. — The com- 
 plaint OF Chaucer to his Purse. Quarto. Sim ulld 
 notd. {Ante 1479). 
 
 Collation. — One 5"" or 10 leaves, all printed. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is No. 2 only. Full lines measure 3| inches, 23 
 lines to a page. Without signatures or catchwords. Space 
 is left at the commencement for a 2-line initial. 
 
 The Text begins :— 
 
 t f)ou fters fiotr of atmes / mats tf)e retre 
 Ci)at in tje frosts contre calleli trace 
 ^aitfttn ti)s grgslg temple ful of tiretie 
 
 The Text ends on the 9th recto, 
 
 Jgob) tf)at arcite / aitelitia so sore 
 Jgati^ tf)irlet» toitf) ti)e pegnt of remefirace 
 
 C!)us entieti^ tf)e complegnt of anelitia 
 
 On the same page is Chaucer's " Complaint to his Purse," 
 in three stanzas of " Balad Royal," the tract ending ^vith , -■ 
 
 a^t sic est finis. * . * 
 
 on the 10th recto. 
 
 The only Existing Copy known is in the Public Library, 
 Cambridge, and was formerly in the volume of tracts described 
 at page 51 . 
 
BOOKS FEINTED Ilf TYPE NO. 2. 211 
 
 No. 25. — BOETHIUS DE CONBOLACIONE PHILOSOPHIC, TRANS- 
 LATED INTO English by Geoffrey Chaucer. Folio. 
 ^, "/ William Caxton have done my devoir to enprinte it." 
 
 in WitJwut Place or Date. {Ante 1479). 
 
 * ' Collation. — Eleven 4" and one 3" = 94 leaves, of which 
 the first is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — Without title-page, sig- 
 natures, catchwords, or folios. Two types No. 2 for the body 
 and No. 3 for the Latin quotations, are used. The lines are 
 not spaced to one length. Full lines measure 5 inches, and 
 there are 29 to a page. Space has been left at the commence- 
 ment of chapters for the insertion of 2-line initials. 
 
 After a blank leaf the Text commences with the title in 
 Latin in type No. 3, on the 2nd recto, the English translation 
 being uniformly in type No. 2 : — 
 
 ISofciug ^t congolacione pf)ilo0opf)u 
 
 ♦ (Karmina qui q^uontiam stutJto florcnte pctegi 
 iFUiiilig i^eu mestos cogor inixt mobo0 
 
 a Ulas 3? toepging am constraineti to beggnne bew; 
 of soroufull maters . Ctjat 5]2at)glom in flouriisstmg 
 jstutipe matie tirlitatle tJiteejs; / jFor lo ren^gng musesi of 
 
 On the 93rd recto, third line, 
 
 epen of ti)e fugge tf)at seetf) anti also ti)at tjnnetj alle 
 
 %ngei3 / 29ro gractas 
 
 Explicit tioecius tre 
 consolacione pftiloj(opf)ie 
 
 Caxton has added an interesting epilogue, which occupies 
 the remainder of the recto and the whole of the verso, being 
 followed, on the 94th recto, by the "Epitaphiii Galfridi 
 Chaucer," printed in type No. 3, which concludes on the 
 verso, and the last few lines of which are : — 
 
 ¥o0t oiitum €^axton bolutt te biucre cura 
 W&ii\U\m\ , Otfiaucer dare poeta tur 
 ^am tua non jsolum compregsit opuscula formis 
 l^as quoq? %^ laulieg . tusstt ^it rssc tuas 
 
 p 2 
 
212 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 This epitaph was WTitten by a brother poet, Stephen 
 Surigo, Lie. Deer., of Milan, and is most interesting as show- 
 ing, in connection with the previous epilogue (given in Vol. I, 
 page 149), that not only did Caxton perpetuate the memory 
 of the great poet by printing his works, but that he also 
 raised a public monument to his memory before St. Benet's 
 Chapel, in Westminster Abbey, in the shape of a pillar sup- 
 porting a tablet upon which the above "Epitaphye" was 
 written. 
 
 There are few ancient authors, whose works received 
 greater attention in the fifteen century than those of Boethius. 
 M. Paris gives an account of five different translations of the 
 " De Consolatione " into French verse, all of that age, and 
 contained in the Bib. Imp., Paris. 
 
 Every library of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, of 
 which we have any account, appears to have contained a copy: 
 many had several. In the Ducal Library, Bruges, 1467, was 
 a manuscript with this title, "Boece de Consolacion en 
 englois," which is not unlikely to have been the translation 
 of Chaucer. 
 
 Some writers, and among them Dibdin (" Typ. Ant." Vol. 
 I, page 306), have doubted whether Chaucer was the real 
 translator of the version under review, but none of the manu- 
 scripts attribute it to any other writer ; and, not to quote the 
 express mention of it in the " Eetractation," Chaucer himself 
 includes it among his works in the following couplet (line 
 425) from the " Legend of Good Women," — 
 
 And for to speke of other holynesse 
 He hath in prose translated Boece. 
 
 In this translation Chaucer appears to have chosen the 
 original Latin for his text. He certainly did not take it fi-om 
 any of the French versions noticed above, nor from those 
 described by M. Paris ; nor is it, as Dibdin suggests, from the 
 anonymous translation, printed by Colard Mansion in 1477. 
 But from whatever source derived, it was, if we may judge 
 from the many copies extant, very favourably received. Our 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 218 
 
 printer especially took great delight in what he terms the 
 " ornate and fayr " language of the poet, and in the epilogue 
 to his edition he has left us a most interesting tribute of his 
 admiration. 
 
 There are three copies of this book in the British Museum, 
 one at Cambridge two at the Bodleian, one at Exeter, and 
 one at Magdalen College, Oxford ; one at Eipon Minster, one 
 at Sion College, London, and six in private hands. The copy 
 discovered at the St. Alban's Grammar School was sold to the 
 British Museum, and was remarkable for the largest "find" 
 of printed fragments in the boards with which the book was 
 bound, ever recorded.* 
 
 * An account of this discovery may be found interesting, showing 
 strongly the importance of examining the covers of old books before 
 rejecting them. In the summer of 1858 I inspected the old library in 
 the Grammar School attached to the Abbey of St. Albans. I found a 
 few valuable books all contained in an old deal cupboard, upon which 
 the leakage from the roof had dripped, apparently for years. It must 
 have been long since any one had touched a book there, and the amount 
 of dust and decay was certainly enough to deter even a bibliomaniac 
 from so doing. After examining a few interesting books 1 pulled out 
 one which was lying flat upon the top of others. It was in a most 
 deplorable state, covered thickly with a damp sticky dust, and with a 
 considerable portion of the back rotted away by wet. The white decay 
 fell in lumps on the floor as the unappreciated volume was opened. It 
 proved to be Geoffrey Chaucer's English translation of " Boecius de 
 Consolatione Philosophise," printed by Caxton, in the original binding, 
 as issued from Caxton's workshop, and uncut I I On examining the 
 amount of damage it had sustained, I found that the wet, which had 
 injured the book, had also, by separating the layers of paper of which 
 the covers were composed, revealed the interesting fact that several 
 fragments, on which Caxton's types appeared, had been used in their 
 manufacture. After vexatious opposition and repeated delays the Acting 
 Trustees were induced to allow the book, which they now prized highly, 
 to be deposited in the care of Mr. J. Winter Jones, of the British 
 Museum, for the purpose of rebinding. On dissecting the covers they 
 were found to be composed entirely of waste sheets from Caxton's press, 
 two or three being printed on one side only. The two covers yielded no 
 less than fifty-six half-sheets of printed paper, proving the existence of 
 three works from Caxton's press quite unknown before. The following 
 is the list of the fragments, all genuine specimens of England's first 
 printer, though unfortunately mostly in very poor condition : — 
 
214 
 
 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 No. 26. — CORDYALE, OR THE FoUR LaST ThINGS. Folw. 
 
 With Printefs Name, hut ivithout Place. March 24:th, 
 1479. 
 Collation. — Nine 4''^ and one 3" = 78 leaves, of which 
 the 1st and last are blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 Two types are used, Nos. 2* and 3, the latter for proper names 
 and Latin only. The lines are not spaced out to one length. 
 A full line measures 5 inches. Mostly 29 lines to a page, but 
 sometimes 28. Without signatures, catchwords, or folios. 
 Space left for the insertion of 3 and 4-line initials, with 
 director. Commencing with a blank leaf the prologue of the 
 translator follows on the 2nd recto, space being left for a 
 4-line il» 
 
 The Text begins thus : — 
 
 prologue of tje Ctattslator* 
 
 IL IJngratitvtre btterlg setting apart / toe otoe 
 a to talU to our mgtitreg tf)e manpfoltie ggfteg 
 
 of grace / toiti^ tje ftenefaittis ♦ tf)at our lortre 
 of i^ts moost plentiumse ionte f)ati^ :pmen bs 
 toretcfies m tfjis present transitoire lit ♦ 5l2Ef)iei)e ^emem 
 
 The text ends with twenty lines on the 77th verso, the 
 last eisrht of which are — 
 
 1. The English *' Jason," 
 
 leaves. 
 
 2. " Dictes," three leaves. 
 
 3. " Chronicles," six leaves. 
 
 4. " Description of Britain," eight 
 
 leaves. 
 
 5. "Works of Sapience," (ex- 
 
 tremely rare), two leaves. 
 
 6. " Tulle," seven leaves. 
 
 7. Lydgate's "Life of onr L.ady," 
 
 two leaves. 
 
 11. 
 
 13. 
 
 "Assembly of Fowls," fourteen 
 leaves. 
 
 " The Chorle and the Bird," 
 two leaves. 
 
 " The Horse, the Sheep, and 
 the Goose," four leaves. 
 " Horfc beata Virginis " 
 (unique), four leaves. 
 " Pica Sarum " (unique), eight 
 leaves. 
 
 " An Indulgence of Pope Six- 
 tus V," (?) two slips of parch- 
 ment (unique). 
 
BOOKS FEINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 215 
 
 lasting permanence in fieuen amen . 51Hf)tcf)e toerlte pre^ 
 ^mt § tegan tfje morn after ti)e sai^e IJurificacionof out 
 mismtj ilatijD.^51ii)irt)etoa3 tf)ett)e Trage of Se in tillage 
 li?i!Ssf)op anti Maxtix . ant fiinssjelr on tf)e enen of tijan 
 nunciacion of our mti hilmits Hatig fallgng on tt)e toeb 
 nesMg tf)e ixiiij tjape of M^xcf^t , ^n tfte lii peer of 
 Itgng (J^litoartietijefourtfie 
 The 78th leaf, which closes the volume, is blank. 
 
 The French edition of this work (see page 188, anfs) was, 
 if similarity of workmanship in all points may justify the 
 conclusion, before the printer while at work upon this the 
 English edition. 
 
 Dr. Dibdin, to whom the French edition was unknown, 
 says that Earl Rivers translated from the Latin ; but as all 
 the other productions of the Earl's pen, printed by Caxton, 
 were from the French, there would be strong grounds for 
 supposing that this had come through the same channel, were 
 not the fact established by its not being a literal translation 
 of any Latin edition, while it is an accurate reproduction, 
 line for line and almost word for word, of the French edition. 
 
 About the date also there has been some confusion. 
 Maittaire and Panzer attribute the printing to 1478, Lewis 
 to 1479, Dibdin to 1480 ; and Lord Orford thinks Caxton, 
 unless he was two years employed upon it, has made a typo- 
 graphical error in the date. The dates in reality are very 
 plain. Caxton says that Lord Rivers delivered the English 
 translation to him to be printed, upon the day of "The 
 Purification," which is further stated to have been the 2nd 
 day of February, 1478 ; but as the year did not then begin 
 until the 25th of March, it would, according to the present 
 reckoning, be February, 1479. The printing was begun the 
 very next day, on the " morning after the said Purification," 
 and completed upon the 24th day of March, in the nineteenth 
 year of Edward IV. This regnal year was comprised between 
 March 4th, 1479, and March 3rd, 1480, thus again giving 
 the year 1479 for the completion of the book. From this it 
 is evident that instead of taking over two years for the print- 
 ing it occupied Caxton just seven weeks. In Vol. I, page 
 
216 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 149, may be seen the entire epilogue, as written and printed 
 by Caxton. 
 
 For the literary history of " Cordyale," see the remarks on 
 " Les Quatre Derrenieres Choses," already noticed. 
 
 Copies are in the British Museum, Cambridge, Bodleian, 
 and Hunterian Museum, Glasgow. Five are in private 
 libraries. 
 
 No. 27. — Frateis Laurentii Gulielmi de Saona Mar- 
 garita ElOQUENTI^ CASTIGATiE AD ELOQUENDUM 
 
 DiviNA ACCOMMODATA. FoUo. Sine ulld notd. (1479- 
 80?) 
 
 Collation. — One 3", one sheet, eleven 5"% and one 3" = 
 124 leaves. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 Type No. 2* only is used. The lines, of which there are 29 
 to a page, are in most cases of uneven length, although in 
 some pages they are spaced out very regularly. Long lines 
 measure 5 inches. Without signatures or catchwords. Space 
 is left, with a director, for the insertion of initials 3 or 4 Unes 
 in depth. The hyphen is in this volume not unfrequently 
 nsed instead of the / or / , as a mark of punctuation. Chap- 
 ters generally commence with a line, or two or three words, 
 in capital letters ; and the ends of paragraphs are often orna- 
 mented with an array of points ; for instance, .:*:.:*:. 
 The Text begins on the 1st recto, with the prohemium, — 
 
 dFratris lautencij guilelmi tie saona crtjints 
 mio fac^ tf)eo« tioctois y^^mm i noua rti^oica 
 t 
 
 (©gitanti mtcji sepenttmero-ac TJiligenci' con^ 
 templati q)tu comoljitatis q)tuq^ jiplentjoris ^ glotie af erre 
 
 On the 5th verso, 
 On the 53rd recto, 
 
 Uixitt facultatis : Jin quo gpecialitet auctor agit ^t f^m que 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO 2. 217 
 
 The Second Book ends and the Third begins on the 88rd 
 
 recto, 
 
 S^(S:WW ttf iJd!^ imim riietorice factilta 
 
 On the 135th recto is a concluding chapter, the Text 
 ending, on the verso of the 136th leaf, thus : — 
 
 in trinitate perfecta uiuit et tegnat per inftnita fiecwla gecti^ 
 lorum . 
 
 (Explicit liter itxcim : et opus r^etorice farultatis p fra 
 tre laurentiu <^uilelmi tje S^cna ortiinis minor saere pa 
 gine pfessore ex tiictis testimonijisq^ sacratissimar scriptu- 
 rar/ tioetorq^ ptatigsimor compilatu et 9ftrmatu : quitujf 
 ex eaugis renguit appellantiu fore ifHargaritam eloquentie 
 castigate at» eloquentru tiiuiita aecomotiatam 
 
 (K'ompitatu aitt^ fuit i^oc optis in alma uniuersitate dfTan 
 taftrigie ♦ ^nno ^ni . i4'^8 . tiie et . 6 . gulii . quo Tjie 
 festum Sanete i^artf)e recolitt. Sut) protectione S)tnim 
 mi regis anglorum Cf^uarti quarti 
 
 Eemarks. — There can be no doubt in the mind of any 
 one acquainted with the Westminster books that this issued 
 from Caxton's press. It agrees with them not only in charac- 
 ter of type, but in length of line, depth of page, and other 
 typogi-aphical peculiarities. Nor is there much uncertainty 
 about the date. It was not written till July, 1478, and the 
 first dated book in the types with which it is printed (Type 
 No. 2*) made its first appearance in March, 1479, the latest 
 dated book in the preceding Type (No. 2) being February, 1478. 
 In 1480 Caxton discontinued entirely the practice of leaving 
 his lines of an uneven length, but the majority of pages in 
 this volume have their lines uneven. The book was therefore 
 printed after July, 1478, and before or very early in 1480. 
 
 It is worthy of notice, that about the same time that 
 Caxton, at Westminster, was engaged upon this work, the 
 printer-schoolmaster at St. Alban's was also making it one of 
 the first essays of his press. There certainly was not a longer 
 period than two years and a half between the two editions, 
 
218 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 which, so far as the text goes, agree very closely, the St. 
 Alban's printer haying apparently reprinted from the edition 
 by Caxton. 
 
 It is also very remarkable that this work should have 
 been known and described for more than 150 years, yet never 
 till October, 1861, recognised as the production of Caxton's 
 press. In the Public Library, Cambridge, is a volume of 
 documents relating to Corpus Christi College, which was used 
 by Strype for his Life of Archbishop Parker; and among 
 them is a catalogue of the books bequeathed by the Arch- 
 bishop to the library of that College. At folio 255 is the 
 following entry under the general head of " Books in parch- 
 ment closures as they lye on heaps on the upmost shelves : " — 
 "Rethorica nova impressa Canteb.fo. 1478." Strype, in his 
 Life of Parker, misled by this entry, attributed the book to 
 an early press at Cambridge ; and Bagford, ^Titing to Tanner 
 in 1707, says, " I cannot but impart unto you, that very lately 
 good Mr. Strype hath gave me an account of a booke which 
 archbishop Parker gave to the Publick library of Benet college, 
 and is a piece of rethorick, by one Gul. de Saona, a minorit, 
 printed at Cambridge, 1478." Ames, who only knew the book 
 from these accounts, and a facsimile of the beginning and end 
 sent him by Mr. North, placed this work at the head of the 
 list of Cambridge books, in his Typographical Antiquities, 
 1749, and gave an engraving of North's facsimile; which led 
 him to state that " the types were much like Caxton's largest." 
 Herbert merely repeated the account of Ames ; and thus it 
 was reserved for Mr. Bradshaw in consulting the library of 
 Corpus Christi College for another purpose, to examine the 
 volume and to recognise the interesting fact that, although 
 compiled at Cambridge in the year 1478, it was printed with 
 the unmistakeable types of Caxton, and agreed in typo- 
 graphical particulars with the books issued from the West- 
 minster press between 1479-80. 
 
 Laurentius Gulielmi de Traversanis, of Saona (or Savona, 
 as it is more commonly called), vvas born about 1414. His 
 native city, not very far from Genoa, is better known as the 
 birthplace of Christopher Columbus. He entered the Fran- 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 219 
 
 ciscan Convent there under Francesco di Revere, afterwardB 
 Pope Sixtus IV. He studied at the universities of Padua, 
 Bologna, Cambridge, and Paris, and seems finally to have 
 retired to his own convent at Savona, where he died, and to 
 which he was a great benefactor. Wadding (Scriptores Ord. 
 Min. folio, Romse, 1650) mentions several of his works. 
 
 Besides the copy mentioned above, there is one at the 
 University Library, Upsala, both being in perfect condition. 
 
 No. 28. — ^The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers. 
 " Emprynied ly me William Gaxfon at Westviesfre." 
 Folio. Secmid Edition. Dated 14:11 y lut printed about 
 1480. With Colophon. 
 
 Collation. — Eight 4"', and two 3''" = 76 leaves, of which 
 the 1st is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 Type No. 2* only is used. The lines are nearly always spaced 
 out to an even length, and measure 5 inches ; 29 lines to a 
 full page. Without signatures, folios, or catchwords. Space 
 is left at the beginning of chapters for the insertion of 3-line 
 initials. 
 
 The difference between this and the 1st edition (see page 
 186, ante) is considerable. That was printed from the original 
 foimt of type No. 2 ; this fi'om a re-casting of the same fount, 
 showing many alterations in the punches. (See the preliminary 
 chapter to this volimic). That has the pages throughout the 
 volume very uneven as to the length of the line ; this nearly 
 always even. Thaty with the unique exception of the Althorpe 
 copy, is without the colophon ; this has the colophon, of which 
 a facsimile is given in the annexed plate, in every copy. 
 Lastly, the orthogTaphy varies throughout the whole volume. 
 
 We must here notice the first instance of a practice com- 
 mon among the early printers, and doubtless inherited from 
 the scribes, namely, that of reprinting in subsequent editions 
 the colophons and dates strictly applicable to the 1st edition 
 only. Thus the three editions of "Dictes and Sayings," 
 which issued from Caxton's printing office, all bear the same 
 date of imprint, November, 1477, while we know that type 
 
220 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 JSTo. 2*, in which the 2nd edition is printed, was not used till 
 after February, 1478, and type No. 6, in which the 3rd edition 
 is printed, was not in use till about 1488. 
 
 The literary history of " Dictes and Sayings " has been 
 already recounted at page 188, ante. 
 
 Copies are in the British Museum, Trinity College, Dublin, 
 and the library of the Duke of Devonshire. 
 
 No. 29. — Letters of Indulgence issued by John Ken- 
 dal IN 1480, BY AUTHORITY OF POPE SiXTUS IV, 
 
 FOR Assistance at the Siege of Rhodes. On 
 parchment. 
 Typographical Particulars. — The type is No. 2* only, 
 but from the warping of the skin assumes in many parts a 
 very deceptive appearance. The lines, which are considerably 
 extended, but all of one length, measure 9;^ inches. The large 
 4-line wooden initial is to be noticed as being in all probability 
 the earliest instance of printed initials in this country ; they 
 certainly do not appear in any book for which this type was 
 used. The whole of the document occupies 19 long lines, of 
 which the following are the beginning and end : — 
 
 l^ater 3>oftanne0 kentrale Curcipelerius W^M u 
 ^ commissatius E sanctissitiw in xw^Xfi patre | et 
 
 tiomino nostro tiomituj Stxto tiiuma ptouitiencia 
 papa quarto tX bigore littetatum suatum pro expe^ | 
 tritione contra perft^os turcfio^ xpristtani nominis ftostes ♦ 
 in tiefensionem inmXt W^M ^ ft^ei catjoli^ | tt facta tX 
 facicntia concessarum atr infraisctpta p brtiuersum orbem 
 
 tiCputatUS ♦ Bilect' mW in ipo | Symoni Mountfort et 
 
 Emms vxori ei' Salutc in tjtto sctttpitcrtta ^Prouenit tx Xnz 
 tjcuottoniis afcctu po romaita | 
 
 3ln quor' ftticm Jas Vim nostras Sigilli nostri ap | 
 pensionc munitas Utxi inmimm atq^ mantjauimus , Bat' 
 
 ultimo die Mesis inarcij EnitO tJOttlini | JHillesimo pat^ 
 
 rmgcntc0imo octoQcsimo 
 
 Remarks, — The following particulars concerning John 
 Kendal are gathered from an article in ArcIuBologia, vol. xxvii, 
 
BOOKS PRnn'ED IN TYPE NO. 2. 221 
 
 page 172, written by Sir F. Madden, and entitled "Docu- 
 ments relating to Perkin Warbeck." 
 
 In a deposition made by ^one Bernard de Vignoles, at 
 Rouen in 1495, concerning a plot against the king's life, one 
 of the persons implicated was John Kendal, Grand Prior of 
 the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England. He is also 
 remarkable as having been the subject of the earliest contem- 
 porary English medal in existence, which is dated 1480, the 
 period of the Siege of Rhodes. On this he is styled " Turco- 
 polier," or General of the Infantry of the Order, the office of 
 which was annexed to that of Grand Prior of England. Yet 
 although the medal so designates him, it is not probable that 
 he was actually present at the siege, as in that very year 
 {RymeVy April, 1480) Edward IV ordered all persons to assist 
 John Kendal, in Ireland, in procuring aid and money against 
 the Turks. In this proclamation he is styled " Turcopolier 
 of Rhodes, and locum tenens of the Grand Master in Italy, 
 England, Flanders, and Ireland." In Browne- Willis (Mit. 
 Abb.) Kendal appears in 1491 and 1501 as Prior of the 
 Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in London. He was lieu- 
 tenant of the Grand Master in Italy, England, Flanders, and 
 Ireland, and was amply furnished with indulgences and par- 
 dons for all who give personal service. In this office of 
 recruiting he was occupied at the time of the celebrated Siege 
 of Rhodes in 1480. His arms, impaled with those of England, 
 may still be seen on the walls of an hotel at Rhodes. 
 
 In the Numismatic department of the British Museum is 
 a medal connected with John Kendal. Ohv. Bust of Kendal 
 in armour marked with the cross of the Knights of St. John ; 
 head bare ; hair straight and long ; legend, lo. kendal rhodi 
 TVRCVPELARivs. Rev. Arms of Kendal. Cross of St. John 
 in Chief. Legend, ^ tempore obsidionis tvrchorvm 
 
 MCCCCLXXX. 
 
 There are probably two Existing Copies, although but 
 one is a present known. This is in the British Museum (C. 
 18, e. 2), and was purchased in 1845. The blank space for 
 the name is filled in with " Symoni Mountfort et Emrm vxori 
 ei% and it is dated the last day of March, 1480. 
 
222 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 The Rev. Joseph Hunter noticed the existence of this 
 " Indulgence," and wrote to Herbert about it, but it was not 
 then recognised as a production of Caxton's press; and, 
 although the same document, must have been another copy, 
 as the blanks were filled in with the names of Eichard Cattlyn 
 and John Cattlyn, April 16th, 1480. 
 
 No. 30. — Parvus et Magnus Chato. Folio. Sim ulld notd. 
 With Woodcuts. Third Edition. (1481 ?) 
 
 Collation. — a i C 4"', li 2" = 28 leaves, of which a ( is 
 blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 Two sizes of type occur. No. 2* and No. 8, the latter being 
 used for the Latin couplets as well as the "Incipit" and 
 " Explicit " lines. Length of long lines 4 J inches ; 29 lines 
 to a page. Signatures are met here for the first time, lower- 
 case letters and Roman numerals being used. "Without folios 
 or catchwords. 
 
 Commencing with a blank leaf the title-line follows, on 
 a ij recto, in type No. 8. The Text begins thus : — 
 
 ?gic tncipit patuus (Ki^ato 
 
 ( Woodcnt of Four Pupils, one of ivhom wears a fooVs cap, kneeling 
 before a Tutor, wJio, rod in hand, sits in a higli-hacked chair). 
 
 Wim aia ^^uttUxt quami&oies gtauitet: errata 
 512Ej&an % atmerte in mg tememtraunce 
 EtttJ see f)ob3 fele (olfees erren gteuouslg 
 
 On sig. a Hi) recto, 
 
 512aftan ge it tetie let not gout f)ette ie tjence 
 ^ut tiotf) as tf)is saptf) toiti^ al gour entente 
 Jgie Uni^ parui eatf)onis 
 
 ( Woodcut of Five Pupils kneeling before ilieir Tutor, who, seated in 
 a chair, is teaching them from a book upon a lectern before him), 
 
 " Parvus Chato " contains 7 stanzas, and is followed, on 
 Big. a Hi verso, by 
 
 J^ic imiTi^iX magnus O^fiato 
 
BOOKS FEINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 228 
 
 The Text ends, on 4th recto of sig. ti — 
 
 Jgere f)me S ^onti tjat sfial ge gtti?tie antj le^e 
 Streggfit to fiootJ fame ^ leue sou in t)Br t)ous 
 
 il!^ipUcit (2^5ato 
 
 Remarks. — ^The Text is evidently a reprint from one of 
 the early editions in quarto (see pages 200 and 203, ante)y and 
 was by no means intended as a kind of supplement " to the 
 " Cathon glossed," printed a year or two later by Caxton, as 
 supposed by Dr. Dibdin in Tyjp. Ant, vol. i, page 201. 
 
 Two woodcuts add to the interest of this volume ; one 
 being at the beginning and one at the end of the " Parvus 
 Chato." (See Plate 27.) The same cuts also appear in the 
 " Mirrour of the World," which raises the question of pre- 
 cedency. Here, at first sight, one would give priority to 
 the "Mirrour," as the cuts appear newer and cleaner; but 
 this is very deceptive, depending more upon the amount of 
 ink and pressure used than on the condition of the cuts. 
 The breakage of some of the lines in the " Mirrour " is a much 
 more sure sign, and this tells strongly in favour of " Parvus 
 Chato." The greater appropriateness of the designs to the 
 "Parvus Chato," a boy's book, than to the illustration of 
 grammar and logic as in the " Mirrour," leads to the same 
 conclusion. It is therefore considered that these two cuts 
 were designed originally for the " Parvus Chato," which 
 in that case must have been printed previously to the 
 "Mirrour," 1481. 
 
 There is nothing to induce us to attribute to foreign 
 artists the production of these woodcuts, which show no 
 amount of skill either in design or execution, which is not 
 far surpassed in the undoubted productions of English scribes 
 and miniature painters of the same period. They may, there- 
 fore, be considered as probably the earliest specimens of wood- 
 engraving in England. 
 
 Two perfect copies are known : one in St. John's College, 
 Oxford, and the other at Althorpe. 
 
224 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 No. 31. — The Mirrour of the World. Folio. First 
 Edition. Translated 14:81. Woodcuts. Without Printer's 
 NavMy Date or Places but in 1481. 
 
 Collation.— a ictiefgi^ifelmare 4^^% n is a 2° = 
 100 leaves, of which a 1 and the verso of n 4 are blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The only type used is No. 2*. A full page contains 29 hnes, 
 which are fully spaced out and measure 4| inches. Without 
 folios or catchwords. Signatures in lower-case letters and 
 Arabic numerals. The number of woodcuts is 34. After the 
 first (blank) leaf the " Table " commences on sig a 2 recto. 
 
 The Text begins thus : — 
 
 J^ere beggnnetib tje taile of tt^t ruiticeg of tt^i^ presen 
 it bolume namta tt^t Miuoux of tfie toorltr or ttigmage 
 of tfie eame 
 
 ends on the 4th recto of sig. n, the verso being blank, 
 
 teltje / antr after ftfi^ si&ort ^ transitorge Ipf i&e trgnge 
 f)gm anti be in to i^is relcstgal blgsse in fieuene Emen/ 
 
 Remarks. — The origin of this work cannot be traced very 
 satisfactorily; but as showing a much better acquaintance 
 with the cosmology of the world than any previous compo- 
 sition, it may be interesting to examine the evidence of its 
 authorship. 
 
 Vincent de Beauvais, of the Order of Preaching Friars, 
 who, from the dedication attached to several of his produc- 
 tions, appears to have flourished in the reign of St. Louis, 
 composed an extensive work in Latin, consisting of four 
 parts — " Speculum Naturale," " Speculum Doctrinale," " Spe- 
 culum Historiale," and " Speculum Morale." The whole was 
 entitled " Speculum majus," for the follomng reason, given in 
 the third chapter of the First Book, "Majus autem, ad differ- 
 entiam parvi libelli jamdudum editi, cujus titulus Speculum 
 vel Imago mimdi, in quo scilicet hujus mundi sensibilis dis- 
 positio et omatus paucis verbis describitur. M. Daunou thinks 
 that the " parvus libeUus " here referred to was the " Imago 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 225 
 
 Muudi" from which "Lyraage du Monde" waa translated, 
 and that it was a previous composition of Vincent de Beau- 
 vais ; and Montfaucon quotes a manuscript in the St. Germain 
 collection (Fonds Latin, 92G) in support of the same view, in 
 which we read " Iste liber intitulatus Speculum vel Imago 
 Mundi editus a fre. Vincentio ordinis fratrum predicatoram." 
 But Vincent's reference to a Speculum Mundi, " jamdudum 
 editus," by no means suggests that he wrote that as well as 
 his own; and unfortunately as no copy is known, the fact 
 even of its agreement with " Lymage du Monde " cannot be 
 verified. The manuscript quoted by Montfaucon is no evidence 
 at all, as M. Paris, on examination, found it to be identical 
 with the " Speculum Historiale," or the Third Part of Vin- 
 cent's " Speculum Majus," which is by no means " a rational 
 description of the world and its products shortly described." 
 The compilation of " Speculum Mundi," from Vincent's " Spe- 
 culum Naturale," as suggested by Greswell, is equally far from 
 the truth. Although no copy of the Latin " Speculum vel 
 Imago Mundi," referred to by Vincent, is known, there appears 
 little reason to doubt that it existed in the thirteenth century. 
 Perhaps an earlier copy of the Latin manuscript in the Cotton 
 Library, already described, may have formed the foundation 
 of the French version, although in that case, as in Vignay's 
 translation of the " Chess Book," considerable additions have 
 been made. The history of the " Mirrour of the World" may 
 be sunmied up thus: — Before the middle of the thirteenth 
 century an unknown author wrote in Latin " Speculum vel 
 Imago Mundi;" of this no copy has yet been recognised 
 {Cottony Vesp. E iii ?) In 1245 this was turned into French 
 metre for the Duke of Berry, of which manuscripts in several 
 libraries attest the popularity {Sloane 2435 ; Royal 20, A iii). 
 Shortly afterwards the French metre was turned into French 
 prose, probably by " Maistre Gossonin." (Eayal 19, A. ix ; Bib. 
 Imp., Paris, No. 7070). Here we find the Text used by Caxton 
 for his translation, who even adopted a considerable portion 
 of the French prologue (see ante Vol. I, page 153). Who 
 this " Gossouin " or " Gossevin " was, and whether he was the 
 author or only the scribe is qnite unknown. 
 
 Q 
 
22Q WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 The celebrated Cardinal Pierre d'Ailly compiled, in 1409, 
 a work entitled " Tractatus de ymagine mundi " {Harl. MS. 
 637), which, however, is principally astronomical, having a 
 portion of the same as the work under review. 
 
 The publishing of this book was not a speculation on 
 Caxton's part. He was employed, as we learn from the pro- 
 logue (printed verbatim in Yol. I), to translate and probably 
 to print it by Hugh Brice, citizen and alderman of London, 
 who wished to make a present to Lord Hastings. To adom, 
 as well as illustrate the pages, the art of the wood-engraver 
 was employed, and we may consider the figures here displayed 
 as some of the earliest specimens of that art in England. The 
 designs were borrowed from the manuscript copy, the illumi- 
 nations in the French manuscripts showing the same treat- 
 ment. All the copies issued from Caxton's press have the 
 words necessary for the explanation of the diagrams inserted 
 with the pen, instead of being engraved on the wood, wiiich 
 may perhaps be an argument for their home execution, as the 
 Flemish artists were certainly well skilled in engraving words 
 in their blocks. They all appear to have been perfected by 
 the same scribe, which probably induced Oldys to assert that 
 they are in Caxton's autograph. Of this there is no evidence. 
 Hugh Brice, of the same county as Caxton, where he held 
 the manor of Jenkins {LysonSy vol. iv, page 75), Avas also of 
 the Mercers' Company, although Stow calls him a goldsmith 
 {Thoms's Stow, page 77). He was knighted about 1472 ; and 
 in that year accompanied John Kussell and others on a trade 
 embassy to Bruges. John Russell was the orator whose cele- 
 brated speech, upon the reception of the Order of the Garter 
 by the Duke of Burgundy, is one of the earliest pieces attri- 
 buted to the press of Caxton. In 1473, Hugh Brice, who is 
 called " Clericus in officio Contrarotulatoris Monetas nostras," 
 was sent on a similar embassy, " De difficultatibus super inter- 
 cursu BurgTindiae removendis ;" and on both occasions would 
 necessarily become personally acquainted with Caxton, who at 
 that time was in the service of the Duchess of Burgnindy at 
 Bruges (Rymer, edit. 1727, vol. xi, page 738, &c. &c.) He 
 also held the offices of Keeper of the King's Exchange, 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 227 
 
 London ; Governor of the King's Mint in the Tower, under 
 Lord Hastings; and Mayor of London, 1494. He died in 
 1496. 
 
 Fifteen copies are knowTi : British Museum (2), Cam- 
 bridge, Bodleian, St. George's, Windsor, and ten in private 
 libraries. 
 
 No. 32. — The History of Reynard, the Fox. First 
 Edition. Folio. Translated in the Alley of Westmin- 
 ster hy William Caxton, 1481, lut ivithout Printer's 
 Name^ Place, or Date. 
 
 Collation.— a t C t( e f g J i are 4^", fe and I are 3°% a 1 
 and I 6 being blank. Between the leaves f) 8 and i 1 is in- 
 serted a leaf half printed on both sides. This was probably 
 owing to the accidental omission of a page by the compositor. 
 Total, 84^ leaves, of which the first and last are blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is No. 2*, none other being used throughout the 
 volume. The lines are spaced out to one length, and measure 
 4| inches. A full page has 29 lines. Without folios or catch- 
 words. Arabic figures are used in the signatures. Spaces 2 
 lines deep are left for the insertion of initials. 
 
 The Text begins, on sig. a 2 recto, thus : — 
 
 W^\% i% ^t table of tje iiistorge of tegnart tfie foare 
 
 ending half-way down sig. a 3 recto, 
 
 Jgoh) tje foxe toiti^ W ftenties tieparteti itoblg fro tt)e 
 kgnge ^ \x\mXt to W pastel malepertiugs / capitulo x\\\\ 
 
 On the verso begins the story — 
 
 ?&»er teggnnetf) ttpstotse of xmwCts ti^e foxe 
 
 ending half-way down the verso of the 5th folio of sig. I, 
 
 ?12af)ere tfieg s^al fpntie faute /jFor S !)a«e not dXtsfn ne 
 mpnussjeti tut i)aue folotoeti as npgfie as 3 can mp coppe 
 tottcSe teas m tiutcfie / anti tig me toillm OTaiton trans^ 
 latetJ in to tt)is tutie ^ sprnple englpssi) in tt)atieg of bent? 
 
 Q2 
 
228 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 mestre . fsnpssjeti tje br tfage of ^ugn tje pete of our 
 lortj * IE , afarorar . Hxxxi . ^ tfie xxi gere of tf)e tegne of 
 fegnge ©titoarti ti^e iiijtf) / 
 
 Jgere entretf) tfte Jistorge of i^egnattJ tje foxe ^c 
 
 Remarks. — The date of printing this book is nowhere 
 stated, though it was probably put to press directly after if 
 not dui'ing the translation, which was finished on the 6 th of 
 June, 1481. The literary history of this fable is very obscure. 
 It appears to have had great popularity for some centuries 
 previous to Caxton's time, as quotations from it appear so 
 early as the twelfth century. Caxton's translation was made 
 from " Die Historic van Reinaert die Yos, ghepreiit ter goude 
 in hoUant by mi gheraert leeu Jnt iaer Mcccc en Lxxix," or 
 perhaps from the still earlier edition in Dutch, discovered in 
 1854, and described in K. Godike's Deutsche Wochenschrift 
 for that year, Heft 8, page 256. 
 
 Copies are in the British Museum, Eton College, and two 
 private libraries. 
 
 No. 33. — TuLLY OF Old Age ; Tully of Friendship ; The 
 Declamation of Noblesse. Folio. " Emprynfed hy 
 7iie symple persons William Gaxtonr No Place. 1481. 
 
 Collation. — Old Aye : sigs. 1 and a are 3"% with 1 1, 
 and a 6 blank — t) e ti e f g 1^ are 4*^' — ( is a 2% with l 4 blank. 
 Friendship and the Declamation : a t) e iJ e f are 4"^, with no 
 blanks. The first section in the " De Senectute " is signed in 
 Arabic numerals only, thus : 1 2 — 1 3 — 1 4, the rest of the 
 work being signed in letters and Arabic numerals. The three 
 tracts together have 117 printed and three blank leaves. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page to 
 any of the three treatises. The type is all No. 2*, except 
 where Latin quotations or proper names are introduced, when 
 Caxton's largest type, No. 3, is used. The lines are fully 
 spaced out, and the long lines measure 4 J inches ; 29 lines 
 make a fall page. Without folios or catchwords. Space is 
 left at the beginning of the chapters with a director, for the 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 229 
 
 insertion of 2 fco 5-liue initials. The peculiar ^c belonging 
 to tyi)e No. 1 is used in this book. 
 
 After a blank leaf the Text begins on sig. 1 2, space being 
 left for a 2-line initial Jt^ with director, 
 
 i) (i^xt tjeggnnetf) ti^e proftemge upon tje retiucmge/ 
 iotf) out of latgn as of frenssfie in to our mfilgggf) 
 tongue /of ti)e polgtgque took nametJCu I Uu0 tjc geneci 
 
 tute , tof)ici)e tjat CulUus torote bpon t^e Ijisputacong ^ 
 
 The treatise "De Senectute" ends, with the following 
 colophon, at the head of the 3rd recto of sig. i, 
 
 ^f^m entietf) tf)e bolte of CuUe of oltie age translatel» 
 out of latgn into frensi&e bp lautence tje primo farto at 
 tf)e comaunljement of tt)e noble ptpnce Hobogsi Buc of 
 13urbon / anb enprgntetJ b^ ^^ spmple petsone MEilliam 
 iHaxton into d^riQl^mi^t at tije plaj)0ir solace anb reue^ 
 rence of men grobjgng in to olbe age tf)e lij bag of ^xi^ 
 gust ti)e pere of our lorb . iE , ararorar . Imj : 
 
 A blank leaf, and then the " De Senectute " begins with a 
 new series of signatures on a j, the whole work ending on the 
 8th verso of sig. f, 
 
 tf)at toe at our bepartgng mage beparte in 0ucf)e togse/ tjat 
 it mage please our lorb gob to recegue bs in to i)is niir^ 
 lastgng blgsse , Emen : 
 
 O^xplicit ^er Olaxton 
 
 Although in three distinct treatises, Caxton intended them 
 to form but one volume, as is plainly stated in the epilogue, 
 which renders it difficult to imagine a reason for his printing 
 the volume with two sets of signatures. 
 
 We learn from Caxton's own pen, that the translation of 
 Cicero's " De Senectute" and " De Amicitid" into French was 
 made by the command of Louis Duke of Bourbon, in 1405, 
 by Laurence de Premierfait. This learned priest was a native 
 of the city of Troyes, and obtained great celebrity by his 
 niunerous translations. 
 
280 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 To Jean Mielot we must attribute the French version of 
 " The Declamation," in which he styles the author " Surse 
 Pistoie, Docteur en Loix, et grand Orateur." This was one of 
 the first books that issued from the press of Colard Mansion 
 at Bruges. 
 
 The English translation of the " De Senectute " was accom- 
 plished, as we learn from the first prologue, at the ordinance 
 and desire of Sir John Fastolfe. It has been ascribed by 
 Leland to the Earl of Worcester, and by Anstis to Wyllyam 
 de Wyrcestre ; in both cases without eyidence. We have seen 
 already that the"Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers" 
 had been translated in 1450 for Sir John Fastolfe, by Stephen 
 Scrope, his son-in-law (see page 180, ante), and this possibly 
 came from the same pen. Whoever the translator may have 
 been he took for his text the work of Laurence Premierfait, 
 of which this version is a most literal translation, notwith- 
 standing his assurance (see the end of the first prologue) that 
 " this book is more amply expounded and more sweeter to the 
 reader, Izee'ping the just sentence of the Latin." The English 
 version of " De Amicitia " and the " Declamation " are attri- 
 buted by Caxton to the Earl of Worcester, a great traveller, 
 a great collector of books, and a great orator. The Earl's 
 history and acquirements have been 'described by Fuller, Dr. 
 Henry, and many others ; Caxton's admiration for him is 
 expressed in the most touching and characteristic terms. Pro- 
 bably their love of literature was a friendly bond. The Earl 
 also translated, at a later period, Caesar's Commentaries, which 
 Rastell printed. 
 
 Of 22 copies extant, twelve are in the chief corporate 
 libraries in England, and ten in private hands. 
 
 No. 34. — The Game and Play of the Chess. Second 
 Edition. Folio. Woodcuts. ^'Explicit per Caxton.'' 
 Without Place or Date. (1481 ?) 
 
 Collation.— a t) c ti e f g i^ i are 4"^ fe I are 3"^ = 84 
 
 leaves, of which the first is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulaes. — There is no title-page. 
 The only type used is No. 2*. The lines are spaced out to 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 231 
 
 an even length, and signatures are used. A full page has 29 
 lines, and a full line measures 4J inches. Space left for the 
 insertion of 2 or 3-line initials, with director. Without folios 
 or catchwords. 
 
 After the blank leaf the prologue of Caxton commences 
 on sig. a ii). 
 
 The text begins thus : — 
 
 J8e f)olp appo0tle antj tioctour of tijt ptpit gagnt 
 
 t ^oule sagtl) in Jis qj^stle , ^Ue t1)at is torsten 
 
 ij3 torgten bnto our Tjoctrgne ant for our ler^ 
 
 n^riQ . WBf^ntfaxt mang notle clerlus 1)aue entjeuogretr 
 
 The table of chapters follows on the verso, and ends on 
 a Hi recto, the verso being blank. On a Hi} recto, the first 
 chapter commences, and is illustrated with a woodcut repre- 
 senting King Evilmerodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar, " a joUj 
 man without justice who did do hew his father his body into 
 three hundred pieces." 
 
 The Text ends on I 6 recto, the verso being blank — 
 
 man (jut as a teste . Ctjenne late euerp man of tof)at 
 contigcion f)e he tiiat retjgtf) or fteritt) t'^i^ litel toofe retJtie • 
 tafee ti)erbB ensaumple to amentie tgm * 
 
 dlrxplieit per dUaxton. 
 
 The woodcuts in this volume number only sixteen, not 
 twenty-four, as Dibdin and other ^Titers say, eight of them 
 being impressions from blocks used for previous chapters. As 
 already noticed, there seems a probability that the two 
 cuts for " Parvus Chato," third edition, were the earliest used 
 by Caxton. These were soon after printed again, mth the 
 addition of many others in the " Mirrour of the World." The 
 present cuts were perhaps the third essay of Caxton in this 
 department, and for these, judging by the general style, and 
 greater breadth of treatment, he appears to have employed 
 another artist. 
 
 The literary history of the work has been given under the 
 fii*st edition, but we must notice that the original prologue 
 
WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 " EVILMERODACH, A JOLLY MAN WITHOUT JUSTICE WHO DID DO 
 HEW HIS FATHER IN PIECES." 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2. 238 
 
 dedicated to the Duke of Clarence, the major portion of which 
 was a translation from the French, has been superseded in 
 this edition by a prologue from Caxton's own pen, the ideas 
 in which, with the exception of the first few lines, and almost 
 the very words, are often met with in manuscripts of that age. 
 
 The year in which this edition is generally considered to 
 have been issued seems to me very incorrect. Ames assigns 
 no date to it, but Dibdin, probably misled by Bagford's obser- 
 vations, thinks it one of Caxton's earliest efforts, while in 
 sume remarks attached to a reprint of this edition by Mr. 
 Figgins, it is considered as the earliest specimen of the West- 
 mhister press, and to have been printed from md metal types. 
 An examination of the work, however, with a tj'pographical 
 eye does not afford a single evidence of very early workman- 
 sliip. All Caxton's early books were uneven in the length of 
 their lines — this is quite even. Not one of the early works 
 had any signatures — this is signed throughout. These two 
 features alone are quite sufficient to fix its date of impression 
 at least as late as 1480, when Caxton first began the use of 
 signatures. 
 
 Copies are in the British Museum; the Pepysian and 
 Trinity, Cambridge ; Bodleian and St. John's, Oxford ; Impe- 
 rial Library, Vienna ; and six in private hands. 
 
A 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF BOOKS PRINTED 
 
 IN 
 
 TYPE No. 3. 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE No. 3. 
 
 if»,r, Tie^Uj^' • 35. An AdTertisement ...... 1477-78? 
 
 CBl^f, 36. Directoriuni. First Version . . . 1477-78? 
 
 J<^Vv^ 37. Horae. Second Edition . . . . . ]480? 
 
 S^V . 38. Psalterium, &c 1480-83 ? 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE No. 3. 
 
 No. 85. An^ Advertisement. Octavo. Westminsfer. No 
 Bate. (Abmd 1477-78.) 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — ^The type is all No. 3, 
 the whole advertisement being in one paragraph of seven 
 lines, unevenly spaced, the longest measuring five inches. 
 The verso is blank. 
 
 Sf It plcse ong man gpirituel or temporel to ige on? 
 pges of tb30 antj ttire comemoracios of galisburi b0e 
 enprgntili after tf)e forme of tjis preset lettre toSiefte 
 ben toel anti trulg eorreet / late !)pm eome to toestmo- 
 nester in to tt)e almonesrge at tt)e reetr pale mti ije stial 
 t)aue tj^em goolr cftepe , * . * 
 
 Supplieo jitet ce^ula 
 
 Remarks. — This is an interesting relic, not only as giving 
 us the name of the house inhabited by our first printer — the 
 Red-pale (" reed " was commonly used by Caxton for " red ") 
 — ^but also as a specimen of advertisements in the fifteenth 
 century. Although small in size it may also be considered as 
 the earliest instance known of a " broadside " printed in this 
 country. 
 
 Our printer was not alone in advertising his books, 
 although, from the fugitive nature of such productions, speci- 
 mens are very rarely to be found. An interesting list of 
 books printed by Coburger, at Nuremberg, in the fifteenth 
 century, is in the British Museum (C. 18. e. 2. 27), to which 
 is attached the following heading : — " Cupientes emere libros 
 
238 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 infra notatos venient ad hospicium subnotatum Yenditorem 
 habituri largissimiiin," &c. 
 
 The " Pye " * was a collection of rules to show the priest 
 how to deal (under every possible variation in Easter) with 
 the concurrence of more than one office on the same day. In 
 reading Caxton's Advertisement the question arises, " In what 
 respect did the " pyes of two and three commemorations of 
 Salisbury use " differ from the ordinary pyes of Salisbury use ? 
 The very RcA^erend Canon Rock, D.D., has kindly placed at 
 my disposal for an explanation which confines the "pye of 
 two commemorations " to the rules for Easter and Whitsun- 
 tide, and the " pye of three commemorations " to the rules 
 for Easter, Whitsuntide, and Trinity, f Caxton's Advertise- 
 ment, therefore, refers to separately published portions of the 
 common " Directorium sen Pica Sarum," applicable, perhaps, 
 to the current year only. In the succeeding article is de- 
 scribed a " Pica," which, in some particulars, agrees entirely 
 with. Caxton's description. 
 
 * The Pica type of printers is commonly supposed to derive its name 
 from having been used for printing the early *' Pica sen Directorium." 
 I have searched in vain among the earliest editions of the Directorium 
 for a copy printed in types approaching the size of Pica. They are 
 mostly the size of modem Brevier. 
 
 f " Easter being a moveable feast, and ruling the time for Septua- 
 gesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Sundays, and the beginning of 
 Lent, as well as the Sundays for Whitsuntide and the beginning of 
 Trinity, makes great and ever-recurring alterations in the Service of 
 the Calendar on Saints' days. Hence was it to show the Cleric at a 
 glance how to commemorate the Saints' days that came in the ever- 
 changing times of Lent, Easter, "Whitsuntide ; and the Octave of the 
 Trinity, the Pica began by giving a table of the Dominical letters, 
 which make the keys of all the rest of the Pica ; and after such a way 
 no matter what month or week Easter might fall on, the manner of 
 commemorating the Saints' days happening then, or of putting them 
 off till another time, was accurately described for all variations. But as 
 the chief variations in keeping the Saints' days happened at Easter 
 and its following week — at Whitsuntide and its week or Octave — and at 
 Trinity and its Octave ; and, as during these three great feasts, with 
 their Octaves, the occurring feast itself was chiefly celebrated with 
 mere mention, or Collect, or Commemoration ; and as people in Caxton's 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 8. 289 
 
 A poor copy is among the Douc^ fragmentB in the Bod- 
 leian ; and a good one, formerly in Dr. Farmer's library, at 
 Althorpe. 
 
 It has been suggested that the first line being very short, 
 the syllable co has accidentally dropped out, and that the text 
 should read " to buy any copies," &c. ; but the word " copy," 
 in that sense, was unknown in the fifteenth century. 
 
 No. 36. — DiRECTORiUM, SEU PiCA Sarum. First Version. 
 Quarto. Sine ulld nofd. (About 1477-8.) 
 
 No perfect copy of this book being known, the Collation 
 is necessarily omitted. The four fragments from the covers 
 of the St. Alban's " Boethius " are from separate half sheets 
 in quarto, making a total of sixteen pages. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — Only one type. No. 3, is 
 used in these fragments. The lines are not spaced out to one 
 length. The longest measure 3f inches. A full page has 22 
 lines. Without signatures, or catchwords, or printed folios 
 to the leaves. There are no initial letters, nor is there any 
 space left for them. The whole is in very contracted Latin. 
 
 Remarks. — There can be no doubt that this was the pro- 
 duct of Caxton's press, as all the circumstances connected 
 mth it tend to prove. It was extracted from the covers of a 
 book which was evidently bomid in Caxton's workshop, and 
 for the binding of which he had used waste sheets from the 
 press (see ajite, page 214). The fragments belonging to known 
 books were all printed by Caxton before 1481; while the 
 "Advertisement" and " Directorium," reasoning from the 
 
 days had not printed but handwritten Breviaries without the Plea or 
 Pj/e in them, Caxton printed, to supply their want, " pyes of two and 
 three commemorations," — that is to say, directions for saying tlie whole 
 office of two Octaves or Commemorations, say of Easter and AVhitsun- 
 tide, and of three Octaves, Easter, Whitsuntide, and Trinity. It should 
 be borne in mind, as I have pointed out in t. i, p. 139 of " The Church 
 of our Fathers " that the Laity as well as the Clergy used to say the 
 Breviary. Hence Caxton's invitation to buy his '' pyes " to the Laity 
 too. — Extract from a Utter to J. F. Goulding, Esq., from the Very 
 B&i'. Canon JR^ch. D.D. February ^ 1 862. 
 
240 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 measurement of the lines and their uneven length, were cer- 
 tainly printed before 1480, and probably about the same time 
 as the later set of quarto poetic pieces, i. e. about 1478. 
 
 This " Directorium" is not the same version as that printed 
 by Caxton, about 1486, in type No. 5, and a second edition 
 of which was issued a few years later in type No. 6. These 
 last are the text revised for Bishop Eotherham, founded upon 
 an earlier version, of which latter the leaves under notice 
 appear to be a portion. 
 
 Formerly in the library of the St. Alban's Grammar School ; 
 they are now in the British Museum. 
 
 No. 37. — HoR^ AD USUM Sarum. Second Edition. Quarto. 
 (1480-83.) 
 
 No perfect copy being kno^\Ti, the Collation is of neces- 
 sity omitted, and the following remarks are made from three 
 fragments rescued from the St. Alban's " Boethius," already 
 noticed. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — The only type used, 
 judging from these fragments, was No. 3. The lines are 
 spaced out, and measure 3| inches. A full page has 20 lines. 
 The initials and paragTaph marks are not inserted. 
 
 The first fragment, a quarto leaf printed on both sides, 
 but very defective, contains part of the " Suffragia of the 
 Three Kings," which are among the additions to the first 
 part of the " Primer ;" and in an early edition by Wynken 
 de Worde, immediately precede the Latin " Fifteen Oes." 
 
 The second fragment is also but one leaf, and contains 
 the commencement of Part II of the " Horse," the " Ne 
 Reminiscaris " being the anthem belonging to the Seven 
 Penitential Psalms. 
 
 The third fragment consists of two pages of prayers, con- 
 taining the first of the " Fifteen Oes " in Latin, and some 
 prayers near the end of the Litany. 
 
 Remarks. — As all the " Fifteen Oes " and the Litany, as 
 well as other prayers, intervene between the tAvo pages of the 
 third fragment, it is evident they were not intended to be 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 8. 241 
 
 printed on one sheet ; this, added to the fact that the paper 
 is printed only on one side, makes it clear that these are 
 proof pages. 
 
 This edition of " Horse " is entirely unknown to any of 
 our bibliogra})hers, and was doubtless a second edition of that 
 akeady noticed at p. 189. 
 
 These fragments, now in the British Museum, were pur- 
 chased in 1874. They were formerly in the library of King 
 Edward VI Grammar School, St. Alban's. 
 
 No. 88. — PsAi.TERiiTM, ETC. Quarto. Sine ulld mtd. (1480- 
 83?) 
 
 Collation.— a ictiefgi) ifelmnoiJqtJStttiXB 
 
 are 4°% with a 1 blank ; but as only one copy is known to be 
 in existence, and that imperfect, no complete collation can be 
 given. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — ^There is only one type, 
 No. 8, used throughout the work, excepting for the signatures, 
 where the Arabic numerals belong to type No. 2. The lines, 
 which are spaced out, measure 3| inches, and a full page 
 has 20. "Without printed folios or catchwords. Space for 
 the insertion of 2 to 4-line initials, generally without director, 
 is left at the beginning of paragraphs. The signatures are 
 in letters and Arabic numerals, a mode of signing used by 
 Caxton only between the years 1480 and 1483. 
 
 The book doubtless commenced with a blank leaf for a 1, 
 which is wanting in this copy. 
 
 The Text begins at the head of a 2 recto, thus : — 
 
 f Seronimus tie lauTre ^zi supe. 
 pgalterium 
 
 3^cf)il enim est m f)ac bita 
 M mortali in quo possumu0 fa^ 
 
 miliarius interrrr tJfo q) W 
 vix\m lautiitius. i^uUus r'm mor- 
 
 " Jheronimus super Psalteriimi " ends on a 6 recto, and 
 is followed by two prayers and a metrical hymn. 
 
 R 
 
242 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 The Psalter finishes on sig. t 3 recto, and is followed by 
 the Canticles, Te Deum, Athanasian Creed, a general Litany, 
 including most of the prayers now in use, and ends imper- 
 fectly on sig. g 7 verso. There is an eighth leaf, which at 
 first sight is very defective, seeming to be g 8; in fact it is 
 an intercallary leaf, consisting of two pages accidentally 
 omitted between x 7 and x 8, and bound up wrongly after 
 g 7, the real g 8 being absent. 
 
 The only copy at present known is in the British Museum, 
 having formed a portion of the old Eoyal Library. It was 
 recognised as being printed with Caxton's types by Mr. Bullen, 
 through whose hands it passed for re-cataloguing. 
 
"I ^^ f li. f .«♦■<. f.X's t Y f \ y\ i,\>\<\ \. 
 
 !P 
 
 A 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF BOOKS PRINTED 
 
 IN 
 
 TYPE No. 4. 
 
 r2 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPES No. 4 AND 4*. 
 
 0-n>.A, tr-^!/, - ■ 
 
 39. Chronicles. First Edition . 
 
 Type 4 
 
 1480 
 
 W, Cs,7^ S. Cn e,^ 
 
 40. Description of Britain . 
 
 . Type 4 
 
 1480 
 
 hv,. Hf Spfi^c, 
 
 41. Curia Sapientiae 
 
 Type 4 
 
 1481 ? 
 
 {AT.(%r.^&, 
 
 42. Godfrey of Bologne 
 
 . Type 4 
 
 1481 
 
 7:Ar' ■ - ' ■ 
 
 43. Indulgence. First Edition . 
 
 Type 4 
 
 1481 
 
 'i'i^t't ^^^n^r^^j,.: 
 
 44. Ditto Second Edition . 
 
 • Type 4 
 
 1481 
 
 
 45. Chronicles. Second Edition 
 
 Type 4 
 
 1482 
 
 46. Polychronicon . . . . 
 
 . Type 4 
 
 1482 
 
 .1, inr.H^lS,O^J^ 
 
 -< 47. Pilgrimage of the Soul 
 
 Type 4 
 
 1488 
 
 ..-., ^M'-'-- /5&v-^-^^ 
 
 48. A Vocabulary .... 
 
 . Type 4 
 
 1483? 
 
 M. T^QciL Jj^i^^i'. 
 
 P49. The Festial .... 
 
 Type 4* 
 
 1483 
 
 \:.i, r' -./■-,. ^v-T'** '■ 
 
 60. Four Sermons .... 
 
 . Type 4* 
 
 1483? 
 
 3->l ^ 
 
 61. Servitium de Visitatione 
 
 Type 4 
 
 1483? 
 
 J^rJ^:Uu^t^^( 
 
 62. Sex Epistolae .... 
 
 Type 4 and 4* 
 
 1483? 
 
 r^v.,-, P^.^.l-U, (rf< 
 
 V; 63. Confessio Amantis . 
 
 Type 4 and 4* 
 
 1484 
 
 M . G.v^.tv Cxi ' 
 
 54. The Knight of the Tower 
 
 Type 4 and 4* 
 
 1484? 
 
 M, {\\Jy. C^f'^ 
 
 66. Caton .... 
 
 Type 4* 
 
 1484 
 
 
 66. Golden Legend .... 
 
 Type 4 and 4* 
 
 1484 
 
 67. Death-bed Prayers . 
 
 Type 4* 
 
 1484? 
 
 usiu.. fiM. ^^^^■ 
 
 68. ^sop ..... 
 
 . Type 4* 
 
 1484 
 
 
 69. Order of Chivalrye . 
 
 Type 4* 1483-85 
 
 60. Canterbury Tales. Second Edition 
 
 . Type 4* 
 
 1484? 
 
 -}. C/"tut.-t^/ l'(f U'\''./ v'' 
 
 ? 61. Book of Fame 
 
 Type 4* 
 
 1484? 
 
 l^H, ^yv^^^s- 
 
 62. The Cuiial .... 
 
 . Type 4* 
 
 1484? 
 
 3,M, Cyif£'fh^M''' 
 
 63. Troilez and Cresside 
 
 Type 4* 
 
 1484? 
 
 
 64. Life of our Lady 
 
 . Type 4* 
 
 1484? 
 
 66. St. Winifred 
 
 Type 4* 
 
 1485? 
 
 ■ 3 M " 
 
 66. King Arthur .... 
 
 . Type 4* 
 
 1485 
 
 67. Charles the Great . 
 
 Type 4* 
 
 1485 
 
 
 68. Paris and Vienne 
 
 . Type 4* 
 
 1486 
 
 69. The Golden Legend. Second Edition 
 
 Type 4* 
 
 1487 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE No. 4. 
 
 No. 39. — The Chronicles op England. Folio. **Bm- 
 prynted hy me William Caxton in thabley of West- 
 mynstre" June 10th, 1480. First Edition, with short 
 commas. 
 
 Collation. — Prologue and table a 4'', signed J, i\\, and 
 tilt, the first leaf being blank, a (a j blank) 5 c tr e f B f) i 
 ItlmnolJqtJJtUiare 4"*; p is a 8°. Total 182 leaves, 
 of which two are blank. 
 
 Typograpical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 Type No. 4 only is used. There are forty lines to a ftdl page. 
 The lines are spaced out to an even length, and measure 4} 
 inches. The signatures are in lower-case letters and Arabic 
 numerals. Spaces left for the insertion of initials. Without 
 folios or catchwords. 
 
 Commencing with a blank leaf, the prologue follows on 
 sig. i\ recto, the Text beginning, with a space for a 5-line 
 initial, 
 
 $1 ti&e sete of tfigncarnacion of out lort» f Ju tx\%X M* 
 O^atata^ , \xxx , Unt in ti)e xx , gere of tf)e i^egne of 
 
 3f Itpng (irtihjarti tje fourtfie / Ette tequejJte of bguwe 
 genttlmen § fiaue entieuourt me to enprinte tf)e cro- 
 nicies of ^nglonli as in ti^is toolte stall ig tje suf^ 
 
 fraunce of goti folotoe/ Enti to i^trCHt ttiat euerg mon mas 
 
 see antr 
 
 The Chronicle ends on the sixth recto of sig. g, the verso 
 being blank, 
 
 Cf)tis entieti^ tiftis present toolte of tje ctonicles of 
 englontj/ enpn | tth bp me toilliam OTaxton S^ ttjaifteg of 
 toestmpnstre bg lontjon | dF8nBSSi)it( anti aecomplissSOj 
 
24 G WILLLiM CAXTON. 
 
 tje X ♦"bap of 3fu3)n f^t gere of tf^in^ \ carnacion of our lottj 
 gotr M ♦ (S:(t(EQt . Ixxx . ant» in tf)t xx . gm of | tje tegne 
 of Itgng iStitoattr tje fotitti^ 
 
 Kemakks.^— The use of short commas, which characterises 
 the early state of this type, would induce us to give priority 
 to this edition over the other, in which the long commas are 
 used, independently of any printed date. 
 
 The history here printed by Caxton differs but little from 
 the "Cronicle of Brute," one of the most popular of the 
 fifteenth and sixteenth century books. It is, however, carried 
 further than any manuscript chronicle I have seen, and it 
 appears probable that, as any writer who felt competent made 
 his own additions in transcribing, so Caxton added more or 
 less to his copy, and brought the history down, as he acknow- 
 ledges having done in " Polycronicon," to the battle of 
 Towton. The old " Cronicle of Brute " was so called from 
 the opening chapter which describes the settlement of Brutus, 
 the descendant of the iEneas in Britain. The respective parts 
 due to Nennius, Douglas of Glastonbury, and Geoffrey of 
 Monmouth, are probably too obscure to determine. The St. 
 Alban's Chronicle, printed two or three years later, and in 
 types somewhat resembling those of Caxton, is the same text, 
 interpolated throughout with a history of the Popes and 
 ecclesiastical matters. This, and the edition of Machlinia 
 (Caxton's text), about the same date, are not unfrequently 
 catalogued erroneously as from Caxton's press. 
 
 This work is often called " Caxton's Chronicle " by old 
 writers, probably from the publicity he gave it both as editor 
 and printer, and he is often blamed for its inaccuracies, 
 although, with the exception of the last few pages, he had 
 nothing to do with its compilation ; nor indeed does he in 
 any way lay claim to it. 
 
 Of this edition with the short commas there are copies 
 at Cambridge, Bodleian (2), St. John's, Oxford, Hunterian 
 Museum, Glasgow, and Lambeth Palace. Six are in private 
 hands. 
 
BOOKS FEINTED IN TYPE NO. 4. 247 
 
 No. 40. — The Desceiption op Beitain. Folio. "Fynyshed 
 by me William GaxtonJ' No Place, l^th Augmt, 
 1840. 
 
 Collation.— Three 4"" and one 3^ unsigned. Thirty 
 leaves, the last being blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulaes. — ^There is no title-page. 
 Type No. 4 only is used. There are forty lines to a fiill page. 
 The Hues are spa<;ed out to an even length, and measure 4J 
 inches. Spaces left for the insertion of initials. Without 
 signatures, folios, or catchwords. The signatures were pro- 
 bably omitted on account of the limited extent of the 
 work. 
 
 The text begins, on the verso of the first leaf, thus : — 
 
 3^it is so ti^at in manp antj tjiuerse places ti)e comgn 
 ctonicles of englon^ ten Jat^ antr also noto late enptinte^ 
 at hjestmgnstre 
 
 and ends on the 29th recto, 
 
 lateti ti^e fioolt of ^^olietonicon into engliss^ / dFgnpsstietJ 
 Jg me toilliam i?raa:ton tf)e ibiir . Irag of August tf)e gere of 
 our lortr golJ M ♦ (t(^(ft(^ . \xxx . anb tje xx . gere of tje 
 regne of Itgng (frtrtoartr tje fourtjie . 
 
 Remarks. — " The Description of Britain " is one of the 
 chapters out of Ralph Higden's " Polycronicon." Caxton 
 printed it as a supplement to the Chronicles, and evidently 
 intended it to follow on after the termination of that work. 
 The blank leaf at the end instead of the beginning favours 
 this idea. 
 
 It is improbable that a second edition of " The Description 
 of Britain " was issued, as no copy with the long commas ( / ) 
 has yet been found. 
 
 Copies are in British Museum, Cambridge, Oxford (3), 
 St. John's, Oxford, Lambeth, Glasgow, and four in private 
 libraries. 
 
248 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Ko. 41. — Cuba Sapienti^; or the Court of Sapience. 
 Folio. Without Printer's Name, Place, or Date. (1 48 1 ?) 
 
 Collation. — a f) C t are 4"", e is a 3'' = 38 leaves, of 
 which the first is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is No. 4 throughout. The whole work is in " Balad 
 Eoyal," or stanzas of seven lines, of which there are five to 
 each page. Without folios or catchwords. Space is left for 
 the insertion of 3-line initials. 
 
 After a blank the Text begins on a \\ recto, with space 
 for a 3-Kne initial, with director, 
 
 lie latere' $c g^ most merueglo' toetifees 
 <©f sapience sgn firste regtieti nature 
 t M^ purpos iis to tell as toriten clerltes 
 ^nti specBallg t)er moost notatle cure 
 
 The Text ends half-way down the second column, on the 
 sixth verso of the same signature, 
 
 Ifiupng / netieful toerfees/ antr 
 tiretieful tietjes of toge anti of 
 pegne 
 
 Remarks. — The only manuscript copy of this poem is 
 preserved in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge. It 
 belonged formerly to John Stow, who has noted several omis- 
 sions in the text, as compared with some other copy, probably 
 the printed edition ; and who has written over the top, " By 
 John Lydgate." The poem itself is headed " Here beginneth 
 a brief compiled treatise called by the xiuthor thereof Curia 
 Sapientim." 
 
 The following description by Oldys is taken from Bii. 
 Harl. Vol. Ill, No. 3313 : "Though neither the author's nor 
 printer's name appears to this poem, it was visibly enough 
 printed by Caxton and composed by Lidgate, had we not the 
 authority of John Stowe for it, in the catalogue of his writings. 
 The author tells us it was written at the command of his 
 Sovereign (perhaps King Hen. V), and it seems to be one of 
 the scarcest of his pieces extant. There seems to be more 
 invention in it and variety of matter than in most other 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4. 249 
 
 poems of his composition, displaying, after a copious debate 
 between Mercy and Truth, Justice and Peace, a distinct sur- 
 vey throughout the palace and domains of Sapience, of all 
 the products of nature, in distinct chapters, and of arts and 
 sciences ; with his further reference, at the end of each, to the 
 authors who have written on them." Ames says ( Typ. Ant, 
 page 67), after quoting the whole of the " Prohemium," " I 
 take Caxton to be the poet or author, by the above verses." 
 This opinion was perhaps too readily adopted. Although there 
 is a curious parallel between the poet's statement of his rude 
 and corrupt speech, and the apology of Caxton in his addi- 
 tions to "The Recuyell" for his " vnperfightness " in English, 
 owing to his having been educated where was "spoken as 
 brode and rude englissh as is in ony place of englond;" 
 and although we know that Caxton could put together a few 
 verses, as in the instance of the last two stanzas of " Moral 
 Proverbs;" yet, judging from the literary ability of his 
 known works and translations, we should hardly be justified 
 in ascribing the authorship of "Curia Sapientiae" to him. 
 The plan of this work, in which theology, geography, natural 
 history, horticulture, grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, 
 music, and astronomy are all in turn described, was certainly 
 too high a flight for our printer. 
 
 The titles given to this book, " The werke of Sapience " 
 and " Tractatus de Fide et Cantus famule sue," adopted by 
 Ames and other bibliographers, were taken from the first and 
 last lines of the poem. The proper title, "Curia Sapientiae," 
 appears at the end of " Liber Primus." 
 
 Caxton's edition is very scarce. St. John's, Oxford, and 
 Earl Spencer, have copies, and fragments are in the Bodleian 
 and the British Museum. 
 
 No. 42. — The History of Godfrey of Boloyne ; or the 
 
 Conquest of Jerusalem. Folio. Printed the 20th 
 
 November, in the Abbey of Westminster, by William 
 
 Gaxtm, 1481. 
 
 Collation. — a is a 8", with a ; blank ; b a 2°, 5 1 being 
 
 blank; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 
 
250 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 16 are all 4°% 17 is a S'' = 144 leaves, of which two are 
 blank. Excepting the first two gatherings, the signatures are 
 entirely in Arabic numerals. Dibdin corrects Ames, and says 
 he counted 146 leaves, but Ames was right. 
 
 Typographical Paeticulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is entirely No. 4. A full page has forty lines, which 
 are of an even length, and measure 4| inches. Without folios 
 or catchwords. Space at the commencement of chapters is 
 left for the insertion of 3 to 7-hne initials. 
 
 The volume commences with a blank leaf, after which fol- 
 lows the prologue, the Text beginning on a 2, with a space 
 for a 4-Hne initial, 
 
 W Jge couraggouis fagtes / anti balpaunt attm oi 
 
 t mUe SUmtxom ant bertuous pensonneis ten yii^nt 
 
 to te mountetr / put in memotge/ anti toteton. tci ti)ente 
 
 tf)at tjer ma:D ie gguen to tf)em name Jfnmortal tg ^o- 
 
 ueragn lante antr pregsgng* ^nt» also for to moeue antr 
 
 tentlah) | 
 
 ending half-way down the recto of the sixth folio of sig. 17, 
 the verso being blank, 
 
 mgng, tofticje tmot S i^flan in marcje tj&e xii trape antr 
 fgn^S' I sf)fitr tSe bir trap of f ugn/ tfte pere of out lortr* 
 ifE . (EOrarai: * Ixxxj l ^ tje tje xir sere of tf)e tegne of our 
 sapti saueragn lortr Itgng ^ | toarti ti&e fourtj , ^ in tjis 
 maner gette in forme ^ enprgnteti tje | xx tiag of nouem:^ 
 fire tf)e gere a forisagtJ in tjatfiag of toestmesiter | fig tj^e 
 saitJ bjglliam OTaxton 
 
 In the British Museum is a splendid manuscript of this 
 work, a large folio, on vellum, fifteenth century, with nume- 
 rous illuminations. The character of the writing is very 
 similar to the large type of Colard Mansion, and it begins 
 " Les anciennes histoires diet que eracles fut moult bon x'pien 
 et gouuemeur de lempire de romme." The text is without 
 doubt the original of Caxton's translation, with which it 
 agrees chapter for chapter, but is carried much further than 
 the death of Godfrey, with which Caxton concludes. The 
 author appears to be unknown. , 
 
BOOKS PRDTTED VS TYPE NO. 4. 251 
 
 An edition was printed at Paris, in 1600, with the title 
 " Les faits et Gestes dc preux Godefroy de Bovillon et de ses 
 chevalereux freres Baudouin et Eustache." 
 
 Copies are in the British Museum, Cambridge (2), Impe- 
 rial Library, Vienna, Hunterian College, Glasgow, Baptist 
 College, Bristol, with four in private libraries. The copy 
 belonging to S. Holford, Esq., is specially interesting ; it is 
 in its original vellum cover, and contains the following inter- 
 esting notice : — " This was king Edw. y* fourth Booke." Also 
 the autographs, " p'tinet Rogero Thorney," and " Rob* Well- 
 borne." The former of these names is worth a comment, 
 because it throws some doubt upon the accuracy of the pre- 
 vious notice. Roger Thorney, like other literary mercers of 
 his time, was probably a friend and supporter of Caxton : he 
 certainly patronised his successor, Wynken de Worde, as the 
 following lines from the " Polychronicon " of 1495, show : — 
 
 this bote of Policronicon 
 
 " Whiche Roger Thorney Mercer hath exhorted 
 " Wynken de Worde of vertuous entent 
 " Well to correcte, and gretely hym comforted, 
 " This specyal boke to make and sette in prente." 
 
 How then did Roger Thorney become possessed of the copy 
 of " The History of Godefroy of Bulloyn," belonging to his 
 king ? On the inside cover is also the book-plate of Sir John 
 Dolben, Bart., of Finedon, in Northamptonshire. This volume 
 was sold among the books of Secondary Smyth, in 1682, and 
 passed into the library of the Earl of Peterborough. It was 
 afterwards in the Vernon collection, which is now included in 
 that of Mr. Holford. 
 
 No. 43. — Lettees of Indulgence feom Johannes de 
 Leigliis, alias De Liliis, issfed in 1481 on the 
 authority of Pope Sixtus IV, for assistance 
 AGAINST THE TuRKS. Oil Parchment 
 
 This Indulgence is represented by two slips of parch- 
 ment, extracted from the St. Alban's " Boethius." (See ante, 
 page 214). 
 
WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Originally in one, the document was cut in two pieces by 
 Caxton's binder, who- used them for strengthening the back 
 of the book. They were pasted, one at the beginning and 
 one at the end, down the whole length, inside the boards. 
 When the volume was dissected they were, unfortunately, 
 subjected to the usual soaking in water. This has entirely 
 changed their original appearance, as the print has necessarily 
 participated in the shrinking of the parchment. From per- 
 sonal examination, while the volume was in its original state, 
 the following particulars are obtained : — 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — The Type is all No. 4. 
 The lines, which are spaced to an even length, measured nine 
 inches. The complete document, apparently, contained 13 
 lines. 
 
 The second slip containing the date, is as follows : — 
 
 mutate lifiere tt lititt | . ti jiinguloru t^it pxt^ 
 
 senteis gigilli Qtntsjsicnis intinlgeciaru tt Wpmmcmu 
 jiancte cruciate qu , . | mm et (ecimuis appensione com 
 ♦ ♦iri/lBatum ^ie mentis | 
 
 oroi^arat , Ixxxi . Ec pontitcatuis pvefati sanctiisjiimi Ircmmi 
 nostri ^0 ♦ ini Aixti pape . . 
 
 The two slips, now measuring each 7j x 1 inches, were 
 originally about 11x2 inches. They are now in the British 
 Museum. 
 
 No. 44. — Letters of Indulgence issued m 1481, on the 
 
 authority of Pope Sixtus IV, for assistance 
 
 AGAINST the Turks. Second Edition. On parchment. 
 
 1481. 
 
 The type is all No. 4. The lines are spaced to an even 
 
 length. The whole document is printed on one side of a slip 
 
 of paper. 
 
 The only two copies known are pasted inside the " Royal 
 
 Book " printed by Caxton, and now in the Bedford Library, 
 
 Bedford. They measure 8x6 inches. A slip of parchment 
 
 containing four lines was discovered by Mr. Bradshaw in the 
 
 Library of King's College, Cambridge. 
 
BOOKS FKimTED IN TYPE NO. 4. 258 
 
 No. 46. — The Chronicles of England. Folio. ** Em- 
 
 prynted by me william Caxton In thahbey of west- 
 mestrey" October Sth, 1482. Second Edition^ with Imuj 
 commas. 
 
 Collation. — Prologue and title a 4", signed if, {{], and 
 itij, the first leaf being blank, a (a \ blank) i}Ctiefgi)ife 
 I m n p q r t U X are 4*"; p is a 3''. Total 182 leaves, of 
 which two are blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 Type No. 4 only is used. There are forty lines to a full page. . 
 The lines are spaced out to an even length, and measure 4| 
 inches. The signatures are in lower-case letters and Arabic 
 numerals. Spaces left for the insertion of initials. Without 
 folios or catchwords. 
 
 The above collation and particulars are identical with 
 those of the first edition, described at page 245, ante. 
 
 Commencing with a blank leaf, the prologue follows on 
 sig. \\ recto, the Text beginning with space for a 4-line initial, 
 
 la tfte pere oC ti)pncarttacpon of our lortr f t)u crtgt M 
 (^(t(t(t I Xxxx I ^xCts in tfte xx pere of t1)e Itegite of 
 
 X fepngiSl^titoartJttefourtJ/iEtte request of tiguerse gen 
 tgimen 3 iftaue entjeugrgtj me to enprpnte t^e ai:ro:= 
 
 ngcleg of ©nglonVa^ iit tftis toolt j^fial tip tt)e suffraunee 
 
 of got( 
 
 The Text ends on the sixth recto of sig. g, the verso being 
 blank, 
 
 Cf)ui8 entretift tfim preisent ioolt of t^e Otronpcles of ->t^AA 3 A' 
 (l!^nglonV<5Ttpr:pnteti ip tne ?15aiUiam (ttaxton gjn tfjabiirp v;?,^ ^ . tt 
 of toejstmegtretiglontJon/dFpngssfietj/anli aecomplgsgfts^ -t.^ /v <"vA '^' 
 tje / biij / bag of (©ctobre / W^t gere of tf)e Snearnaegon of v4f ivT/t #^v 
 our lortj (goti / M I (^(t(t(t I \xxx\\ ^nli in t^e iiij gere of ^y^ 4.^ /„ v^ U^. 
 tfie regne of fegng O^toartx tf)e fourth a../v,. »/-cal 
 
 Copies are in the British Museum (2) and Oxford, with 
 three in private libraries. ^ r cr u ji^ ( t--^-^ ^4. >-* ' 
 
254 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 No. 46. — PoLYCRONicON. Folio. ''Imprinted and set in 
 forme hy me William Caxton^ Without place or Date. 
 Translation ended 2nd July, 1482. 
 
 Collation. — a i) are 4''', with the first leaf of a blank ; 
 (?^ is a 2° ; sigs. 1 to 28 are 4% the first and 5th leaves of 
 sig. 1 being blank ; sig. 28 is followed by an unsigned single 
 sheet, of which but one leaf is printed, the other being blank ; 
 29 to 48 are 4"^; 49 a 2^^; 50 to 55 are 4^^^ with the last leaf 
 of 55 blank ; sig. 50 is followed by 52, sig. 51 being accident- 
 ally oniitted=450 leaves, of which five are blank. 
 
 Typooeaphical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is all No. 4. The lines, which measure 4| inches, 
 are fully spaced out, and forty make a full page. Space is 
 left at the beginning of the chapters for the insertion of 
 initials. The first gatherings have the signatures in Roman 
 numerals, but all the rest are signed with Arabic numerals. 
 After the introductory matter folios are introduced, although 
 with many errors. 
 
 The Text, preceded by a blank, begins on sig. a 2 recto, 
 with space for a 4-line initial, 
 
 Ig ten f)ountje to geltje antt offre bnto bjtgters of Jps:: 
 
 totpegi / b3lj(ci)e gtetelg i^aue prouf gtetr cure mortal 
 
 Igf/tjat !5f)eh)e bnto tje xt^stx% antJ ^txtx% bg tf)e 
 
 ensampleg of tlj^nges passgti/bjjat tftgnge is to tie treispretj/ 
 
 The Text ends on the recto of 55-7 ; the verso and 55-8 
 being blank. 
 
 totptpnge / Q^nt»etJ ti)e secontr tfag of gngll tje xxi\ pere 
 of ti)e tegne of ttgnge i]|^t(h)artJti&e fourtf) ^ of tf)e Jfncar^ 
 nacion of oure lottr a ti^oujsantr four fiontiertr foure score 
 antJ tbegne/ 
 
 dFpnsssftelJ pet daxton 
 
 Remarks. — Few of Caxton's books have excited more 
 interest and research than the " Polycronicon." It appears 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4. 355^ 
 
 to have had its origin with Roger, Monk of St. Werberg, in 
 Chester, who, about the beginning of the fourteenth century, 
 made an extensive compilation in Latin from several of the 
 old chronicles and works on natural history then in existence. 
 Ralph Higden, of the same monastery, who died before 1360, 
 amplified this compilation, entitling his work, "Polycronicon;" 
 and this, judging from the numerous copies still extant, had a 
 very extended popularity. In 1387 Trevisa, chaplain to the 
 Earl of Berkeley, translated the Latin of Higden into English 
 prose. An account of Trevisa, with a history of his works, is 
 given by Dr. Dibdin, in Typ. Ant. vol. i, page 140, who, how- 
 ever, has not included in his list Trevisa's English translation 
 of the Gospel of Nicodemus {Addit MS. 16165). Trevisa's 
 translation of the Bible is expressly mentioned by Caxton in 
 his prologue. Nearly a century later, Caxton revised the 
 antiquated text of Trevisa, which, together with a continua- 
 tion of the history to the year 1460, was finished on July 
 2nd, 1482, and printed soon after. Caxton entitled his 
 continuation "Liber ultimus," and it is most interesting as 
 being the only original work of any magnitude from our 
 printer's pen. 
 
 Caxton tells us very little of the sources of his information. 
 He mentions two little works, "Fasciculus temporum" and 
 "Aureus de Vniverso," from which, however, he certainly 
 obtained but little material for his " Liber ultimus," which 
 treats almost entirely of English matters. 
 
 As a specimen or the alteration made by our printer, when 
 he " a lytyl embellyshed " the text as rendered by Trevisa, the 
 following quotation is given, in which the consequences of 
 Man's fall are graphically described. The embellishment 
 chiefly consists in modernising the old English, although here 
 and there Caxton added sentences to the text. 
 
 ■>«i 
 TREVISA'S TEXT, 1387. CAXTON'S TEXT, 1483. .ij 
 
 (Harleian MS., No. 1900, fol. 94*). (Sig. 10 4 verso). 
 
 From that day forthward Fro that day forth the body 
 ye body y* is corrupt by syne that is corrupt by synne greu- 
 
256 
 
 WILLIAM CiXTOX. 
 
 greuey y® soule / Ye flesche 
 couetiy azen' y® soule / and 
 manes wittes tomey & as- 
 sentith liztlich to euel A 
 manes owne meynal wittes 
 bey his owne enemyes |[ So 
 y* al a manes lif is tempta- 
 cion while he lyuey here in 
 erye Also man is eu failynge 
 and awey ward . he may nouzt 
 stidfastlich abide he falliy 
 liztliche bot he may nouzt 
 lightlich arise . P'fite is of 
 birye sorowe & care i lyuyng/ 
 and man mot nedes deye 
 And thouz alle oy* yat bey 
 made haue schelles • ryndes * 
 skynnes • wolle . heer . bristels ' 
 fethers • wynges other skales* 
 man is y bore wiyout eny 
 helyng / naked & bar . anone 
 at his birye he gyney forto 
 wepe atte bygynyng liche to 
 a best . but his lymes failey 
 hym & may nouzt help hym- 
 self . But he is febler yan any 
 oy' beste • he kan noon helpe • 
 he may nouzt do of hymself 
 but wepe wiy al his myzte. 
 No best hay lif more brutel 
 and vnsiker Noon hay seke- 
 nesse more greuous * noon 
 more likynge to do oy'wise 
 than he sholde / noon is more 
 cruwel Also oy"" bestes louey 
 eiieche oye of ye same kynde 
 & woney to gedres & bey 
 nouzt cruwel but to bestes 
 
 eth the soule The flesshe 
 coueyteth ayenste the soule 
 and mannes wyttes tome and 
 assente lightly to euyl A 
 mannes oune meynal wyttes / 
 be his owne enemyes / so that 
 al mannes lyf is in temptacion 
 whyle he lyueth here in erthe . 
 & the disposipon of the soule 
 ruleth meynteneth / helpeth 
 and conforteth the body / But 
 ayeinward the wretched dis- 
 posicion of the bodye dis- 
 tourbeth the soule • Also man 
 is euer fayllyng and wayward 
 he may not stydfastly abyde / 
 he falleth lightly but he may 
 not lightly aryse / Profyt of 
 byrth is sorow and care in 
 lyuyng and man must nedes 
 dye And thaugh oil other 
 that be made haue shelles 
 ryndes skynnes . wolle heer 
 bristels feders wynges owther 
 skals / Man is born withoute 
 ony helyng or keueryng 
 nakede and bare / anone at 
 his birth . he gynneth for to 
 wepe atte begynnyng lyke a 
 beest but his lymmes fayllen 
 hym and maye not helpe hym 
 self "but he is febler than ony 
 other beeste / he can noon 
 helpe / he may nought doo of 
 hym self but wepe with al his 
 myght No beest hath lyf 
 more brutyl & vnseker / None 
 hath sekenesse more greuous 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4. 257 
 
 of other kynde y* ben con- noon more lykyng to do other- 
 
 trairie to hem But man wyse than he shuld . none is 
 
 tomey y* maner doyng vpso- more crael Also other bestea 
 
 dou & is contr'ie to hym self loue eueryche other of the 
 
 & cruel to oy' men same kynde . and dwell to 
 
 gyder and be not cruel / but 
 
 to beestes of other kynde that 
 
 be contrary to hem / But man 
 
 tometh that maner doyng vp 
 
 so downe and is contrary to 
 
 hymself and cruel to other 
 
 men/ 
 
 This is one of the most common of Caxton's works, at 
 least thirty copies being known, of which half are in various 
 public libraries. 
 
 No. 47. — ^The Pilgrimage of the Soul. " Emprynted at 
 westmestre by William Caxtoriy and fynysshed the sixth 
 day of June" 1483. 
 
 Collation. — An unsigned 2", with the first leaf blank ; 
 abctiefgtlfeltttnare 4^, with a ) blank ; O is a 3°, 
 with the last two leaves blank. Total 114 leaves, of which 
 four are blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type throughout is No. 4. The lines are of an equal 
 length, and measure 4J inches. A full page has forty lines. 
 There is a running head to the pages, and the leaves have 
 printed folios, numbered very carelessly. Space has been left 
 for the insertion of 2, 3, and 6 -line initials. Commencing 
 with a blank, the title and table follow on folio tj, which is 
 unsigned. 
 
 The Text begins, on the second leaf, thus : — 
 
 Cftis boolt is mtgtleti ti)e pglgremage of tf)e sotole/trans- 
 latiti II oute of dFrenssftc \x\. to (i?ngli)S0f)e / toijirSe tooli \% 
 ful of tieuonte || maters touciigng tfte sotole/ anti manp quejj^ 
 
258 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 tgons assogUtf to ca || use a man to Igue ti)e tetter in tf)<s 
 ii3orlti/Enti it contegnetf) fgue || toofees/as it appeteti^ fjer^ 
 after ig <tti)ap:ntrejc( 
 
 The text ends on the fourth leaf of sig. 0, and the verso of 
 
 folio ari, 
 
 Jt^re entiett) tf)e tireme of pglgremage of tf\t soule trans^ 
 latitr II oute of dFrenissJe m to (Jrnglgsiste b3itf) i3omb3f)at of 
 atitiieionis/tje :pere of our lotti / MMdKEd!. / ^ tf)grten/ 
 anti entietS in tje migg || le of segnt iSarttolometo 
 
 iirmprgntetr at bestmestre 1)^ ^IHiUiam Olaxton / Entr 
 fgnsssi^e^ II tje sixti^ tiap of S^pn / tf)e gere of our lorti / 
 MMiSiEQt / Ixxxiii \\nn\i ti)e first gere of tf)e regne of 
 fjpnge O^litoarti tf)e fgftje/ 1| 
 
 This is the only book from the press of Caxton having the 
 name of Ed^vard V in the colophon. 
 
 Remarks. — The common custom among preachers of the 
 Middle Ages of engaging the attention of their hearers by 
 spiritualising tales and even jests current among the people 
 is well kno\^Ti. This practice seems to have suggested to a 
 monk named Guillaume de Deguilleville the idea of moralising 
 tlie celebrated " Roman de la Rose." His poem was divided 
 into three parts, and completed about 1335. It contains 
 more than 30,000 hues, and its title is " Le Romant des trois 
 Pelerinages." These three pilgrimages are " Le pelerinage de 
 la vie humaine ;" " Le pelerinage de I'Ame ;" and " Le pele- 
 rinage du Jesus Christ." Brit. Mus. Addit. MS. 22937 con- 
 tains the three parts complete. None of these appear to have 
 ])een printed. Not satisfied, hoAvever, with the result of his 
 labours, Guillaume again set to work and recast the whole 
 poem, with many amplifications and additional verses. This, 
 which was finished about 1850, and of which a manuscript 
 copy is in the Bib. Imp. Paris, 6988^ is the text of which 
 several editions were issued from the early French press. 
 
 Nearly a century passed when another monk, Jehan de 
 Gallopes, transposed the rhymes of Deguilleville into French 
 
BOOKS PRINTED Of TYPE NO. 4. 269 
 
 prose. This was with the object of modernising the old lan- 
 j^uage, or, as he says, "pour esclaircir et entendre la matiere 
 la contenne." Gall opes, however, apparently extended his 
 labours no further than "The Pelerinage de TAme," and 
 here we find the text used by the translator of "The Pyl- 
 gremage of the Sowle," printed in 1483 by our William 
 Gaxton. Manuscripts of the prose "Pelerinage de TAme" 
 are very scarce, but a perfect copy is in Bih. Imp. Paris, 
 No. 7086. 
 
 Of the author and translators mentioned above, but little 
 can be said. Guillaume de Deguilleville was monk, and 
 afterwards prior, of the Abbey of Chalis ; and this seems all 
 that is known of him. His name appears in the later manu- 
 scripts as Guillaume de GuiQeville, and is mostly so printed, 
 but is spelt correctly in some of the early French printed 
 editions. In a fourteenth century manuscript, already noticed, 
 the name appears " de Deguilleville," and that this is the true 
 orthography is placed beyond question by an acrostic, con- 
 sisting of two "chansons" in the French text. Here the 
 author has veiled himself in the initial letters of each line, 
 and by putting these together we obtain his real name, 
 " Guillaume de Deguilleville." 
 
 " Jean de Gallopes, dit le Galoys," as we learn from the 
 prologue to his French prose version, was the " humble chapel- 
 lain" to John, Duke of Bedford and Regent of France, for 
 whom the translation was undertaken. It was, therefore, 
 executed before the death of the Regent, in 1435, and there 
 seems reason to suppose that its author was an Englishman. 
 In the Imperial Library, Paris, is a manuscript, mentioned 
 by M. Paris {Les Msc. Fran^.y vol. v, page 132), entitled 
 " Vie de Jesus Christ," which is attributed also to Gallopes, 
 but which appears to be a different work from the third 
 " Pilgrimage" of Deguilleville. 
 
 To John Lydgate, monk, of Bury, is generally attributed 
 the English version of " The Pylgremage of the Sowle," and 
 probably with trath, as some of the additional poems found 
 here form a part also of Lydgate's well-known poem "The 
 Life of our lady." He is also supposed, from internal 
 
 s2 
 
260 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 evidence of style, to be the author of "The Pilgrimage of 
 man" {Cotton MSS., Yitel. C. xii), an English metrical trans- 
 lation of Deguilleville's " Pelerinage de la vie humaine." 
 
 The numerous copies of the " Pilgrimages " still extant in 
 our old libraries prove that they must have attained a con- 
 siderable amount of popularity. In France there were several 
 printed editions; but in England, probably owing to the 
 growth of the Reformation, "The Pylgremage of the Sowle," 
 printed by Caxton, is the only known edition. 
 
 Copies are in the British Museum, St. John's, Oxford, and 
 Sion College, London; also in the Althorpe and Britwell 
 Libraries. 
 
 There is no connection whatever between this work and 
 Bunyan's " Pilgrim's ProgTCSs." Caxton's book treats of the 
 journey and trial of the soul affsr death, the only point in 
 common being that both are supposed to happen in a dream. 
 "The Pilgrimage of man" is nearer in idea, but equally dis- 
 tinct in treatment. 
 
 No. 48. — A VOCABULAEY IN FRENCH AND ENGLISH. Folw. 
 
 Sine ulU notd. 1483 ? 
 
 Collation. — Two 4'"' and one 5", unsigned = 26 leaves, 
 the first being, doubtless, blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title of any 
 sort. The type is No. 4 throughout. 42 lines in double 
 column (84 lines) make a full page, and the long lines 
 measure 2§ inches. The words "Frensshe" and "Englissh" 
 appear as head-lines to every page. Without foHos, catch- 
 words, or initials. 
 
 The Text begins, in double column, on the 2nd recto, 
 thus : — 
 
 atg commence la tatle Jgier iegpnneti^ ti^e tatle 
 
 lie cest ptouffptatle tiocttme <Biti^i» prouffgtatle letngnfie 
 ^oux ttoutiet tout pat ortrene dFor to fpntie all tp ottite 
 (ft$ que on boultrra aptenlice Ci)at tof)icf)e toen toglle letne 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4* 261 
 
 The Text ends, vdth seven lines on the 26th recto, thus : — 
 
 Ua (^race tie sainct esperit Ci)e grace of tf)e i)olp gt)oo0t 
 5aeul enluminet leg cures MEplle enlpgf)te ti)e t)crteji 
 HBe ceulx qui le aprentiront (©f tf)cm ttat 01)^11 lerne it 
 m nom Mmt perscuerance ^ntj bs gjoue perseueraunce 
 (&n fjottnes operacions Jn gooli tocrfeeis 
 
 ®t apres ceste bie transitorie Enti after ti)i!3 Igf transitorie 
 Ha partiiiratile ioge ^ glorie Ci)e euerlastgng loge anti glorie 
 
 "A Book for Travellers" is the title given to this work in 
 Typ. Ant. vol. i, page 315, but as there is no especial suit- 
 ability in it for the use of travellers, and as from its composi- 
 tion it appears to have been formed with a scholastic aim, it 
 has been thought advisable to change so evident a misnomer. 
 
 No manuscript of this compilation in French or English 
 is known to exist, nor is there any clue to the author. 
 
 A copy is in each of the four following libraries — Ripon 
 Cathedral, Bamborough Castle, Earl Spencer, and Duke of 
 Devonshire. 
 
 No. 49. — The Festial (Liber Festialis). First Ediiion. 
 Folio. "Enprynted at Westmynster by Wyllyam Caxton 
 ths laste day of Juyn^ 1483." 
 
 Collation.— a if c t( e f g ft i ^ ^ tK n are 4°% a f being 
 blank; and p are 3'^=11G leaves, of which one is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title of any 
 sort. The type is entirely No. 4*, which here appears for the 
 first time. The lines, which are fuUy spaced out, measure 
 5 inches. A full page has 38 lines. Without folios or catch- 
 words. Space left for the insertion of 3 to 5-line initials, 
 with director. 
 
 Commencing with a blank leaf, the sermon for the First 
 Sunday in Advent follows on sig. a if, space being left for the 
 insertion of a 5-line initial. 
 
 The Text begins thus : — 
 
262 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Jgis tJas is callptj tje first isontiag of abuent / ti^at 
 is t^e sontjap in cristgs comgng / Cfterfore i)olg 
 t ciftirc!)e tjis tiag malteti) mencioit of ij compnges 
 Cf)e first compng teas to tge manfegrtlre out of ion 
 tjage of ti)e tinigU anti to irgnge manngs sotole to 
 ilgsse / Enti tf)is otijer compng sf)al te at ti)e tiag of tjome 
 
 The Text ends on the sixth recto of sig. p, 
 
 bs tfiat for bs tregetJ on tt)e rooti tree / d^ni cum tieo patre ^ 
 spu II sancto biuit et regnat teus ^M^M I 
 
 ([Explicit 
 
 ©nprpnteb at ^IMestmgnster 1)8 to:Dlbam OTaiton tfje laste 
 tiag of ^\x^xi Enno tomini M OTifaraJ Hxxxiij 
 
 The compiler of " The Festial," John Mirkus, was a canon 
 of the Monastery of Lilleshul, an old foundation in Shrop- 
 shire, as we learn from a MS. copy of his Avork in the Cot- 
 tonian Library. He says that, finding many priests, fi'om 
 incapacity, were, like himself, unable to teach their parish- 
 ioners properly, he had taken pains to compile sermons for all 
 the principal feasts of the year, which he had extracted chiefly 
 from the " Golden Legend." The omission of the prologue, 
 by Caxton, as well as the sermons on Burial and Paternoster, 
 mentioned above, makes us suspect that our printer had a 
 copy imperfect at beginning and end. The subject of nearly 
 every chapter in "The Festial" may also be found in the 
 " Golden Legend ;" but, taking the two books, as printed by 
 Caxton, for comparison, it will be seen that the sermons for 
 the Moveable Feasts, with which each work commences, have 
 nothing in common but their subject, and that the histories 
 of the saints are treated very differently, and often disagree 
 even in their supposed historical facts. The " Gesta Romano- 
 rum" furnished many stories for the "Golden Legends," but 
 in "The Festial" that mine of anecdotes has contributed 
 still more largely to the illustration and enforcement of the 
 preacher's remarks. "The Festial" is yet further removed 
 from our Book of Common Prayer, with which it has been 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4 * 268 
 
 associated. With the exception of the names in the calendar 
 there is nothing in common between them. 
 
 Although in Caxton's edition of this work it is entirely 
 without a name, there seems no reason for giving it the Latin 
 title by which it is generally known, "Lil^er Festivalis." 
 John Mirkus, its compiler, who wrote it in English, says, " I 
 will and pray that it be called a Festial ;" and, accordingly, 
 it was so called by "Wynken de Worde in several editions, by 
 Rood of Oxford, and by other early printers. 
 
 Copies are at the British Museum, Bodleian, Lambeth, 
 and Althorpe. 
 
 No. 50. — Four Sermons, etc. (Quatuor Sermones, etc.) 
 First Edition. Folio. " Enprynted hij Wylliam CaxUm 
 at WesUmstre:' Without Dats. (1483?) 
 
 Collation. — a t C are 4°% Xr a S'^siSO leaves. No blanks. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title. The 
 ty[)e is entirely No. 4*. The lines are fully spaced out, and 
 measure 5 inches. A full page has 88 lines. Without folios 
 or catchwords. In this book a\c find, for the first time, the 
 paragraph mark |[ used — a mark whicli never appears in 
 the early state of this type. 
 
 The Text begins on sig. a j, with space for a 3-line initial, 
 without director, 
 
 ,j Jge mapter of %tnXtmt in tf)e seconli tone anti tfte 
 
 '" " first tijDStgnftion/saptft tf)at tt)c soueragn cause/ 
 
 toftp gotj matje al creatures in ftenen ertte or toater/ 
 
 teas Jts oune gooli || nes / tg tje toi&ictie f)e tool^ tftat some of 
 
 c On Big. li i\\ recto, 
 
 C ^fte i^eneralle Sentence 
 
 <©oti men antr togmmen g tio pou to bntierstontie tt)at 
 
 g ^IHe tf)at i)aue cure of pour sotolgs tie commaumtigti of 
 
 our ortjenartes anti bp tt)e copstgtucions anti ti^e laJL^Ie 
 
 of t)olg ct)irti^e to sjetoe to pou foure tgmes tg tfte gere 
 
 in eci)e a quarter of t1)e gere ongs tojen ti)e peple is most 
 
264 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 The Text ends on the sixth verso of sig. tl, 
 
 xtmxxtttinni^ gloria intet santtos et elector tuo^ xtmmieiti 
 tegpi II tent /per xprisitum trominm nostrum ^men/ 
 
 (Jl^nprsnteti tp toplltam Olaxton at bestmestre/ 
 
 Remarks. — The name of the writer of these homilies is 
 not known, nor do they appear attached to any of the manu- 
 scripts of the Festial above noticed. That they were, how- 
 ever, printed by Caxton at the same time as the Festial 
 appears evident from the identity of their typographical 
 arrangements, strengthened by the fact of their being, in 
 several instances, under the same cover. That Caxton also 
 intended to allow their separate use may, nevertheless, be 
 deduced from the first gathering having a for its signature, 
 and from the existence of some copies unaccompanied by the 
 Festial. In the Lambeth copy the sermons precede the 
 Festial. 
 
 The four sermons are thus apportioned : — 
 
 1. On the Paternoster, the Creed, and the Ten Command- 
 ments. 
 
 2. The Seven Sacraments, the Seven Deeds of Mercy, and 
 ^he Seven Deadly Sins. 
 
 3. A continuation of the subject of Deadly Sins. 
 
 4. On Contrition, Confession, and Satisfaction. 
 
 After the sermons are " The Ceneral Sentence or Commi- 
 nacion," and two forms of bidding prayer, called " The Bedes 
 on Sondaye." 
 
 Every priest was obliged by the Canon Law to read the 
 "Modus Fulminandi," or Commination, and to preach at 
 least one sermon every three months, and these were probably 
 compiled for that purpose. 
 
 Nine copies are known, of which two only are in private 
 hands. 
 
 No. 51. — Seevitium de Yisitatione B. Maei^ Virginis. 
 Quarto. Sine ulld notd. (1481-3). 
 
 Collation. — One 4''=8 leaves, of which the last is blank. 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4. 265 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — The type is entirely 
 No. 4. The lines, which are fully spaced out, measure 3J 
 inches in length ; there are 26 lines to a fiill page. Without 
 signatures, folios, or catchwords. 
 
 The first leaf is wanting in the only copy known. The 
 second recto commences with space for a 2-hne initial, with 
 director, 
 
 p Hima aut mii)i tunc atitora refulsit $c 
 
 f)(}uiW polo fugientit^ bmtiris celo tu 
 
 tt^ttnU tiie btninqf a nocte tjwtinari . tut quo 
 
 followed, on the same page, by — 
 
 Hectio sexta 
 
 On the verso is — 
 
 Eectioties tie Omer . p octauaj; prima bie 
 
 giving the lessons for the week. On the fourth recto is — 
 
 ^tJ missam f ntroitus 
 
 The sixth verso, which is given entire in the accompany- 
 ing plate, begins — 
 
 (©ratio sanctisgimi . ti . n , Skixti pape quarti 
 
 The Text ends on the seventh verso, two lines short of a 
 fiill page, 
 
 et exultatioe ppetua renascamur . ?3er ipm 
 tiominu nostra 
 
 The only Existing Copy is in the British Museum (C. 
 21. c), and, although wanting the first leaf, has the final 
 blank. Measurement, 8| x 5f inches. 
 
 No. 52. — Sex perelegantisseob Epistoks per Petrum 
 Carmelianum emendate. Quarto. Per Willelmum 
 Caxton. In Westnumasterio. (1488). 
 
 Collation. — a t C are 4°' = 24 leaves, of which a F is 
 blank. 
 
266 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The types used are Nos. 4 and 4*. The hnes, which are 
 spaced to an even length, measure ^^ inches, and there are 
 26 to a page. Without catchwords or folios. The whole 
 appearance of the print is like the " Servitium de Visitatione" 
 and the " Order of Chiyalry." 
 
 The use of types 4 and 4* together points unmistakably 
 to 1483 as the period of issue; and this date, gathered from 
 the typographical particulars only, is completely verified by 
 the letters themselves, the dates of which range from Decem- 
 ber 11th, 1482, to February, 1483. 
 
 The Text begins on a ( j recto, with an introduction which 
 occupies three pages. 
 
 f) (i^xcult^ tiui jfnxmt in to tmcatu 
 benetotu armts constitutuie; paulo post 
 betotissimug eorum biolat immunitates / 
 init foetjus cum Cj)ertiinatttJO l^ege ilea^^ 
 politano JHetiiclanenismm tiucc / et floren- 
 tinoium repu/qtiotr per beneta foetioi:^ no 
 Utth&t/Wimtti propria reposcnnt/ ille ter^ 
 giuerssari / Xgstus pontifex partus / relir:^ 
 Cfjertiinatfi foetJ ^c. 
 
 The six letters begin on sig. a if j verso. Ou c 8 recto is 
 the following colophon : — 
 
 dFiniunt sex p^elefiantissime epistole/ 
 quarum trig a summo ^ontiftee ^iito 
 O^uarto et Saero OTartrinalium (Eollegio 
 atj 0Uustrissimum ^aenetiarum Irucem 
 Soannem JEocenigum totiliem(|^ at ipso 
 Bute ati euntiem ^ontificem et OTartiina^ 
 les/otdFerrariense tellum suseeptum/eon^ 
 scripte sunt/f mpresse per bjillelmutn (Eax^ 
 ton/et tiiligenter ementjate per ^^etrum 
 Olamelianu ^oetar^ Haureatum in WRt^U 
 monasterio 
 
 Beneath this is a Latin quatrain, beginning 
 
BOOKS pRnrrED nr type no. 4. 2C7 
 
 ft)llowed by 
 
 SKntetpretatio magnarum litterarum punctatarum pania^ 
 rutttque- 
 
 The text ends with 23 lines on the verso of the same leaf. 
 
 Remarks. — These six letters passed between the Sacred 
 College of Cardinals on one side and the Doge of Venice on 
 the other, the subject being the necessity of closing the war 
 with the City of Ferara. 
 
 Petms Carmelianus, the editor of these letters, is noticed 
 by Mr. Gairduer, in his preface to the " Memorials of King 
 Henry the Seventh," published in ] 858, for the Master of the 
 Rolls, as having been in England from the time of Edward 
 the Fourth. He may, therefore, have personally employed 
 Caxton to print his " Sex Epistolfe." The title " Brixiensis" 
 sometimes attached to his name shows that he was a native 
 of the town of Brescia. He seems to have taken an interest 
 in educational matters, as verses by him to John Anwykyl 
 and to WiUiam Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester, are prefixed 
 to the " Compendimn totiiis grammaticae," printed at Oxford 
 about 1482-83. Some more of his poetry is printed in the 
 Oxford "Phalaris" of 1485. Tanner assigns to Carmelianus 
 the following promotions — Rector of St. George's, Southwark, 
 1490 ; Prebend of York, 1498 ; Archdeacon of Gloucester, 
 1511 ; Prebend of London, 1519. Being in such favour, no 
 wonder that he waxed rich, and that when, in 1522, "an 
 aimual grant was made by the Spirituahty for the King's 
 personal expenses in France for the recovery of the Crown," 
 the name of "Mr. Petrus Carmelianus" appears among the 
 "Spiritual Persons" for the handsome sum of £333 6s 8d. 
 In the Calendar of State Papers, where he is called " Latin 
 Secretary of King Henry the Seventh," mention is made of a 
 letter sent to him from Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, 
 thanking him for his services, and promising him favour and 
 reward. On the projected marriage of Prince Charles of Cas- 
 tile with the Princess Mary of England he wrote a poem in 
 Latin, printed by Pynson about 1514, of which a unique copy 
 
268 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 is in the Grenville Library (see ArcJmologia, vol. xviii). In 
 the same library is a manuscript poem on the birth of the 
 Prince of Wales (1486), another copy, beautifully illuminated, 
 being among the royal MSS. in the British Museum. Both 
 are evidently in the handwriting of Carmelianus, the latter 
 being his presentation copy to the king. The argument of 
 this poem is so characteristic of the age that it is worth 
 noting. Almighty God, compassionating the miserable state 
 of England lacerated with civil war, convoked a meeting of 
 the Saints in Heaven to ask their opinions as to how the long 
 standing dispute between the Houses of York and Lancaster 
 might be composed. The saints reply that, if the Omniscient 
 Deity cared for any of their counsels, no one was better quali- 
 fied to state how the wars might be terminated than King 
 Henry the Sixth (already in heaven), who knew the country 
 and the causes of dissension, and they recommended that he 
 should be appealed to. Hemy is accordingly called upon to 
 reply to the Supreme Being, and proposes that the two houses 
 should be united so as to be one house, for which an oppor- 
 tunity then offered by the marriage of the Earl of Richmond 
 with the Princess Elizabeth. The Deity approves and decrees 
 its execution, the marriage takes place, and the poem termi- 
 nates mth an exhortation to England to rejoice on account of 
 the prince's birth. Carmelianus died August 18th, 1527; 
 John de Giglis, Bishop of Worcester, in 1497, his contem- 
 porary and countryman, also employed Caxton to print 
 Indulgences. 
 
 A manuscript, "Carmen de Yere,"* in the British Mu- 
 seum, which is dedicated to Edward Prince of Wales (after- 
 wards Edward V), dated April 1482, affords some information 
 from the pen of Carmelian himself. He says that for the 
 previous ten years he had been travelling about the world, 
 having very lately arrived in England, with the intention of 
 proceeding to Germany and Switzerland ; but, captivated by 
 the pleasantness of the country, he had been unable to leave 
 
 * Reg. 12 A xxix, the particulars of which were kindly communicated 
 by Mr. Bond, keeper of the MSS, 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4. 269 
 
 it. He adds that his poem was written to gain the favour of 
 the prince. Whence his dignity of Poeta laureatus was ob- 
 tained is not known. 
 
 The only copy known of this tract was discovered in the 
 year 1874 by Dr. G. Konnecke, archivist of Marburg, in an 
 old volume of seventeenth century divinity, in the Hecht- 
 Heinean Library at Halberstadt. It was described in the 
 "Neuer Anzeiger" of Dr. Julius Petzholdt for October 1874; 
 also in the Athenaeum for February 27th, 1875. 
 
 No. 53. — CoNFESSio Amaih'IS. Large Folio. " Enprynted 
 at Westmestre by me Willyam Caxton the ij day of Sep- 
 temh-e / a thousand j CCCC Ixxxxiij (a typographical 
 error for Ixxxiij). 
 
 Collation. — A 4°, signed ij, itj, \i\\, the first and eighth 
 leaves being blank, followed by a 4", signed on the second 
 leaf only 1 2, the first leaf being blank ; then i) C )l e f g j^ t 
 itlmnopqr0tUJg?aj:ai3all 4°"; © a 3°, with the 
 sixth leaf blank. In all 222 leaves, of which four are blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 Type No. 4 is used for sigs. 1 to i ; sigs. ^ to (?r, as well as 
 the introductory matter, are in type No. 4*, while sigs. p and 
 ^ are partly in one and partly in the other. Where type No. 
 4 is used there are 46 lines to a column, and 44 lines of type 
 No. 4*. On sig. ^ i\i\ recto the two types appear in the same 
 page, the first column being in No. 4 and the second in No. 
 4*. Without catchwords or folios. Space left for inserting 
 2 to 6-line initials, with director. The signatures at the 
 beginning of the volume are irregularly printed, and show the 
 want of a settled plan in the printer's mind. The first 4", 
 which, as it includes the index, must have been printed last, 
 is properly signed ; but, on beginning the book, it appears as 
 if the compositor thought there could be no use for signatures 
 if every leaf had a printed folio, and accordingly they were 
 omitted except on the second sheet, which is signed in Arabic 
 numerals only. The inconvenience of this being seen, the folios 
 were omitted, and the signatures printed in the second 4°, Jb ; 
 
270 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 while in sig. c both plans are united, and we have signatures 
 and folios too to the end of the book — the latter, however, 
 with continual errors. The introductory 4'' is not included 
 in the enumeration of the folios. Note that sig. lb 4 is printed 
 2 4, and that from sig. p to the end the Arabic numerals used 
 in the signatures give place to Roman numerals. The book 
 is in double column throughout. The date in the colophon 
 is printed a thousand CCCC Ixxxxiij, a typographical error, 
 which would have led to some confusion had not the regnal 
 year, " the first year of the reign of King Eichard the third," 
 been also added, fixing the right date as 1483. 
 
 Commencing with a blank leaf, the paragraph title and 
 table follow on sig. i j, space being left for a 3-line initial, with 
 director. 
 
 The Text begins thus : — 
 
 Jgi's took is intituletr Job) tje tocrltj bag first of 
 
 t ronfes II m amantis / goitre / ^ |i after altoeg berse 
 
 tjat is to sage || in ^ toerse folio bf 
 englgssje tf)e confessgon of || 
 tje louer maati arih rom^ 
 PBletr tg II Soian (Joiner 
 
 squger borne in toalps jj ^Jtis entietj tje stologue 
 
 The Text ends on the verso of sig. Qt 5, ^OllO (ft([tX} 
 with colophon in first column, 
 
 d^nprpntetr at toestmestre 
 txi mtWWBrili^am OTaxton 
 antu fgngssjetr tje i j || trag of 
 Septemfire tt)e fgrst gere of 
 tf)e II regne of iltgng i^iejartr 
 t^e ti^grtr/ttellpere of our 
 lortiatJousanti/ariEarai:/ 
 Ixxxxiii I 
 
 Remarks. — The life and poetical writings of the " moral 
 Gower" have received frequent illustrations from modern 
 critics. His chief work, the *^ Confessio Amantis," appears to 
 have been begun about 1386 and completed in 1892-3. It 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4. 271 
 
 was originally dedicated to Richard II, but, on the wane of 
 that monarch's power, Gower suited himself to the changing 
 times, and recast his prologue. The copies made after this 
 version are termed Lancastrian. The Latin verses and the 
 marginal index are in some manuscripts, as in Caxton's 
 printed edition, included in the text. They were. Dr. Pauli 
 believes, the original composition of Gower, abounding, like 
 his other poetry, in instances of false prosody and even bad 
 grammar. The verses are imitations in the manner of 
 Boethius, but often unintelligible. 
 
 Seventeen copies are extant. British Museum (3); Cam- 
 bridge ; Pembroke College, Cambridge ; Hereford Cathedi-al ; 
 Lambeth ; Queen's College and All Souls, Oxford ; and eight 
 in private libraries. 
 
 No. 54. — The Book w^hich the Knight of the Tower 
 
 MADE TO THE " ENSEYGNEMENT " AND TEACHING OF 
 
 HIS DAUGHTERS. Folio. " Emprynted at Westmyn^tre 
 the Jaste day of Janiier the fyrst yere of the reyne of 
 Kynyp Rychard the thyrdJ' (i.e. 1484.) 
 
 Collation. — A 2", signed on second leaf only a j ; a ft C 
 ^ e f g f) i k I m are 4"* ; n a 3% with the last two leaves 
 blank. In all IOC leaves, of which two are blank. 
 
 Note — sig. c Hi] is wTongly printed ll Hi), and the first 
 leaf of tJ is \dthout any signature. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type, as far as sig. f, is No. 4, and forty lines, each 4J 
 inches long, make a full page. From sig. f j to the end the 
 type is No. 4*, ^\^th 38 lines, each 4f inches long, to the 
 page. The lines are fully spaced out. Without folios or 
 catchwords. Space is left for 3, 4, and 6-line initials, with 
 directors. 
 
 Commencing a blank, the prologue follows on an unsigned 
 leaf, with space for a 3-line initial ^, 
 
 Hie bertuouse tiortrpne ^ tecf)]Dnge fiati ^ letnrtr of 
 a suci^e |, ais Jaue enljfuouretj ti^em to lent for a remem^ 
 traunre . 
 
272 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 On sig. a i recto, 
 
 Jgm tieggnnetf) tfie toolt tofiicje tje ltn:50f)t of tf)e toure 
 matje/Eitti spefeetJ) of mang fapre ensamples anti tf^m- 
 sggnementgs anti tecjgns of ijis tJOUQljters 
 
 The Text ends on the fourth verso of sig. n, 
 
 i^ere fj)ngj5sf)eti tlje tooke/ b)f)icf)e tf)e knpgtjt of tJeCoure 
 ma II tje to tf)e enseggnement anti tecfjgng of ijts tougfyttx^ 
 trans || latetj oute of dFrenssI) in to our maternaU i*rnQlpsii8!)e 
 tongue ig || me 5lMilliam Olaiton / b35tcl)e took iuas entJeti 
 ^ fgngssiieti tf)e || fgrst tiag of IJwgn/ tije :nere of oure lotti 
 
 ia orararai: iixa:iij 
 
 ^nti enprgntetJ at hjestmpnstre tf)e last trag of i^Janguer tf)e 
 fgtst gere of tje regne of kgnge Kgcf)atti ti)e tjgrti 
 
 Remarks. — In the department of " Maine et Loire," be- 
 tween Chollet and Yezins, may still be seen the ruins of an 
 ancient chdteau, called " Latour-Landry." Archaeologists 
 ascribe the structure to the twelfth century. The place 
 originally bore the name of "La Tour" only, the old family 
 name of the owners being " Landry ;" but eventually the two 
 were combined, and " De la Tour Landry," became the patro- 
 nymic of a long race of knights. The earliest instance of the 
 double name is found in a document dated 1200. Passing 
 over the history of the family, we will confine ourselves to 
 Geoffrey and his book, "pour I'enseignment de ses filles." 
 The date of neither his birth nor death is known. He was at 
 the seige of Aiguillon in 1346, when he must be supposed to 
 be at least of the age of twenty years. He tells us he wrote 
 his book in 1371, which would make him, at the youngest, 45 
 years old, though he was probably older. In aU the illumi- 
 nated copies of his work he is represented as discoursing with 
 his three daughters, for w^hose instruction in their journey 
 through life it was written, as the knight himself in a preface 
 informs us. But he had also sons, as we learn that a similar 
 work had previously been undertaken for their instruction, 
 " as hit is reherced in the booke of my two sonnes, and also 
 in an Euangely." (See Caxton's edition, sig. n 4.) Neither 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4. 273 
 
 of these compositions of the knight are known now to exist. 
 We also learn that in the compilation of this work he called 
 to his aid two priests, who read to him the Bible, the " Gesta," 
 and various chronicles of France, England, and other coun- 
 tries. To this may, perhaps, be attributed the predominance 
 of the ecclesiastical element in this book. The knight origi- 
 nally intended to WTite the whole work in verse, but finding 
 that method necessitated a less concise narration, he soon 
 changed his composition into prose. In the original French, 
 however, a considerable portion of the introduction, though 
 prose to the eye, will be found to have retained its metrical 
 form. Several writers have denounced the work as obscene, 
 and more fitted for the corruption than the instruction of 
 youth, while others, taking into consideration the manners of 
 that age, have arrived at the very opposite conclusion. At 
 any rate, it is plain our Caxton thought highly of it : he says 
 in his preface, " I advise every gentleman or woman having 
 children, desiring them to be virtuously brought forth, to get 
 and have this book, to the end that they may learn to govern 
 them virtuously in this present life." He tells us also the 
 occasion of liia translating and printing it, which was " at the 
 request of a noble lady which hath brought forth many noble 
 and fair daughters, which be virtuously nourished." (See an 
 article in the Retrospective Review: New Series, 1827; vol. i, 
 part ii, page 177. Also, Le Livre du Chevalier de la Tour 
 Landry, par M. Anatole de Montaiglon. 12mo. Paris, 
 1854.) 
 
 "We must here notice that, although the anonymous En- 
 glish translation {Harl. 1764) preceded that by Caxton, a 
 comparison of the two versions makes it evident that our 
 printer owed nothing to his predecessor. M. Montaiglon, 
 indeed, gives a decided preference to the earlier text. The 
 following amusing extract is suggestive of Shakspere's 
 " Taming of the Shrew." Act V, Scene II. 
 
274 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 CAXTON, 1484. 
 
 How a woman sprange vpon the table * Capitulo xviij. 
 
 N a tyme it happed that Marchauntes of Fraunce cam 
 J from certayn Fayres / where as they sought Draperye / 
 
 and as they cam with Marchaundyse fro Roan / that 
 one of them said / it is a moche fayre thynge a man to haue 
 a wif obeysaunt in alle thynges to her husbond / Yerayly 
 sayde that one / my wyf obeyeth me well / And the second 
 said . J trowe / that my wyf obeye me better / ye sayd the 
 thyrd / lete laye a w^ger / that whiche wyf of vs thre that 
 obeyeth best her husbond / and doeth sonnest his commaunde- 
 ment that he wynne the wager / wherupon they waged a 
 Jewele / and accorded al thre to the same / & sworen that 
 none shold aduertyse his wyf of this bargayn / sauf only to 
 saye to her / doo that whiche J shall commaunde what soeuer 
 it be / After when they cam to the first mans hows / he sayd 
 to his wyf Sprynge in to this bacyne / and she answerd / wher- 
 fore or what nede is it . And he said by cause it playsyth me 
 so / and J wyll that thou do so / Truly said she J shall knowe 
 fyrst wherfor J shaU sprynge / And soo she wold not doo it * 
 And her husbond waxe moche angry and felle / and gafe her 
 a buffet / After thys they cam to the second marchauntes 
 hows / and he saide to his wyf lyke as that other saide / that 
 she wold doo his commaundement / And it was not long after 
 that he said to her Sprynge in to the basyn / And she de- 
 maunded hym wherfore / And at the last ende for ought that 
 he dyde / she dyd it not / wherfore she was beten as that 
 other was / Thenne cam they to the thyrd mans hous And 
 there was the table couered * and mete set theron And the 
 marchaunt said to thother marchauntes in theyr eres / that 
 after dyner he wold commaunde her to sprynge in to the 
 bacyn / And the husbond said to his wyf / that what someuer 
 he commaunded her she shold do it / his wyf whiche that 
 moche louyd hym and dred hym herd wel the word . And it 
 was so that they bygan to ete / and there was no salt vpon 
 the table / And the goodman sayd to his wyf / Sail sur table 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4 * 275 
 
 And the good wyf whiche hadde fere to disobeye hym / sprang 
 vpon the table and ouerthrewe table / mete / \vyn / and platers 
 to the ground / How said the good man / is this the manere / 
 Cone ye none other playe but this / are ye mad or oute of 
 youre wy t . Syre said she / J haue done youre commaiidement / 
 haue ye not said that youre commaundement shold be done 
 what someuer it was . Certaynly J haue it done to my power 
 how be it that it is youre harme and hurte as moche as myn . 
 For ye sayd to me that J shold spryge on the table / J said 
 he / J sayd ther lacked salt vpon the table / Jn good feyth J 
 vnderstode said she for to spryng / thene was ther laughter 
 ynouz & al was taken for a bourd and a mocquerye / Thenne 
 the other two Marchauntes said it was no nede to late her 
 sprynge in the basjn / For she had done ynongh / And that 
 her husband had wonne the wager . . . And thus ought euery 
 good woman to fere and obeye her lord & husbonde and to do 
 his commaundement is hit right or wrong /yf the commaunde- 
 ment be not ouer outrageous / And yf ther be vyce therin / 
 she is not to blame / but the blame abydeth vppon her lord 
 and husbonde. 
 
 There are two copies in the British Museum, one at Cam- 
 bridge, one at Oxford, and two in private libraries. 
 
 No. 55. — Caton. Folio. WitJwut Printer's Name, Place, or 
 Date. " Translated . . . by William Caxtan in thahheij 
 of Westmynstre the yere of our lord M CCGG Uxxiij'' 
 (1484?) 
 
 Collation. — ^The prologues and table a 3", signed i\ and 
 ii) on the second and third rectos, the first and last leaves 
 being blank : then a t C ti e f g t) are 4°' ; i a 5° ; a j and 
 ilO being blank. In all eighty leaves, of which four are 
 blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 Two sizes of type are used : No. 2 for the Latin headings, 
 and No. 4* for the Text. The lines, which are fully spaced 
 out, measure 4f inches, and there are 38 to a full page. 
 Without folios or catchwords. Space is left for the insertion 
 
 T 2 
 
276 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 of 3-lme initials, sometimes with and sometimes without 
 directors. Commencing with a blank leaf, Caxton's short 
 prologue and his dedication to the City of London follow on 
 sig. if. 
 
 The Text begins thus : — 
 
 C Jgm ieggnnet^ tf)e prologue or proSemge of tfte tioolt 
 rallit»||ai:aton/tof)icf)e toofee f}ati) tm txamMtH in to O^n^ 
 filpssje ig 1 Mm^ttx 13enet Burgf) / late Erejetrefeen of 
 (Eolei^estre aitti || f)ge cjanon of saint stepljenss at hjestmestre/ 
 W4 fwl craftlg ifjati) matie it in ialatie rgal for tje erutri^ 
 eion of mg lortJ l3oii 1| sf)er/Sone ^ i&egr at ti^at tgme to mg 
 lorti tje erle of Q^mex \\ Enti ig cause of late cam to mg 
 iianti a toofe of ti^e saiti OTaton 1| in jFrenssJe / tDf)icf)e 
 ref)ercetf) manfi a fagr lempnge anti nota || tie ensamplcs/ 
 g f)aue translateti ft oute of frenssfie in to d^n \\ glpssje/ 
 as al along ftere after si&alle appiere/b3f)icf)e S presente 
 unto tf)e ^^tt of lontion/ 
 
 Jtnto tf)e notle auncgent antr renometJ Olgte/tfte 
 b Olgte II of lontion in (&ng,im\i / § MEilliam (H:axton 
 
 Olgte^egn || ^ coniurge of tl)e same / ^ of tje f raters 
 ngte antj felausjip || of tje mercerge otoe of rggjt mg 
 serugse ^ gooti bgll / anti of 
 
 The table follows, making, with the introductoiy matter, 
 eight printed pages, the whole concluding on the fifth verso, 
 with the sixth blank leaf. After another blank is the Gloss, 
 headed by a quotation of seven lines of Latin in type No. 3, 
 with a if for the signature. 
 
 The Text ends on the ninth recto of sig. i, the tenth leaf 
 being blank, 
 
 tf)gnge men mag intgtule tjis Igtell boolt tje mgrour of tje 
 re II ggme ^ gouernement of ti&e totJg antr of tje sotole/ 
 
 J^ere fgngssi^etj tjis present toofe tDf)ieie is sagtJ or 
 calletj II (^att^m translated! oute of dFrenssi^e in to (f^nglgssje 
 tg WBill II iam Olaxton in ti)atteg of iuestmgnstre tfjt gere 
 of oure lorti || M (t(^(^^ Ixxxiii / Enti tje fgrst gere of tf)e 
 regne of ltgnge||i^gci)artr ti^e tftgrli tfte xxiii tiag of tiecemtire 
 
BOOKS FEINTED IN TYPE NO. 4. 277 
 
 In his prologue Caxton says, " To the end that the histories 
 and examples that be contained in this little book may be 
 lightly found . . . they shall be set and entitled by manner of 
 Rubrics . . . and they shall be signed as that followeth of the 
 number of leaves where they shall be wTitten." Accordingly 
 the numbers given in the table agree with their proper folios, 
 but these folios are not inserted, either in print or manuscript, 
 in the body of the work, rendering the table almost useless. 
 
 Caxton says in his preface that he translated from a 
 French copy, "which rehearsed many a fair learning and 
 notable example ;" and some portions of his own introductory 
 matter suggest also a French original. Were a manuscript to 
 be found, its title would probably agree v;ith Caxton's con- 
 cluding description of the work — " the mirror of the regime, 
 and government of the body and of the soul." 
 
 The year 1483 is usually assigned to the printing of this 
 book ; but, as the translation was not ended till December 
 23rd, it seems improbable that it was printed till 1484. 
 
 As already noticed, this "Caton" is a very different work 
 from the composition known as " Catho Magnus," the distichs 
 of which serve here only as a text whereon to hang an exten- 
 sive gloss. A short notice of " Mayster Benet Burgh" has 
 already been given. 
 
 There are copies in the British Museum, Cambridge, 
 Glasgow, Oxford, Exeter College, Oxford, and seven in private 
 hands. 
 
 No. 56. — The Golden Legend. Largest Folio. First Edi- 
 turn. ^^ Fymjsshed at westmestre the twenty day of 
 noimmbre / the yere of our lord M / CCCC j Ixxxiij / 
 By me Wyllyam Caxtmy (1484 ?) 
 
 Collation. — An unsigned 3°, with first and sixth leaves 
 blank; a b clrefgf)ifelmnop^(|t lE^tttxp^ ^ are 
 4"»; 9 a 3^ a IS or 10 ([^ J^ (B je 3J it H JH i^ © 
 
 ^ 05 1^ <S C 5a are 4^^^ X a 3"; g is a single sheet, fol- 
 lowed by a single leaf, the back edge of which is sometimes 
 returned round 8, and sometimes sewn separately-, aa tt CC 
 
278 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 lllr tZ ff are 4°^; gg a 3°; i^i^ ii 4°«; ftit a 3^ Itit 6 being blank. 
 In all 449 leaves, of which three are blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 There are two sizes of type, No. 3 being used for head-lines 
 and headings to chapters, while No. 4* is used for the text. 
 The whole is in double columns, and the lines, which are fully 
 spaced out, measure three inches ; 55 lines in a column, and 
 110 to a fall page. There are folios throughout, but num- 
 bered yery irregularly. Space is left for the insertion of 3 to 
 6-line initials, with directors. There are no catchwords. 
 "Woodcuts are used throughout, apparently from the hand of 
 the same artist who engraved the cuts for the second edition 
 of the " Chess Book." 
 
 The first edition is principally distinguished by the use of 
 Type No. 3 for head-lines, &c., and also by a variation in the 
 signatures X and '§>. Both this and the second edition are 
 printed upon very large sheets of paper, larger indeed than 
 Caxton ever used before or after. The edition of 1493 is 
 upon the usual size. 
 
 The first leaf is blank; on the second recto is a large 
 woodcut of Saints, 9 x 6 J inches, under which the Text begins 
 thus, making a ftdl page : — 
 
 (^Woodcut of Saints). 
 
 t tioctout II mm '^^m toerltsis || ^ te^torges trans^ 
 gaptib tjps aitcto || tgte / ^^^^^ ^^^ ^^ ixt\xm\^t \\ in to 
 
 toetlte/to tSente tf)at tf)e ^^^ gentplmen / 11 as t^. 
 
 beupl fgntie II tf)e not stile/ ^^^^^ ^^ ^fie tecugel of 
 
 Entitf)ef)olptJoctour||sagnt Crose/ltlje took of tl^e 
 
 au0tgn sagtf) in tje boolt ci^esise/tfjeljgistorBeof ||Sa^ 
 
 of ti)e II laiour of monfees/ son/CJe ijptorge of tje 
 
 tf)at no man stronge || or msrrour || of tje tootltr / t^e 
 
 wggi&tg to latoure ougf)t to ib fiooltes of J^eta^ || inor^ 
 
 be stlellfor toftie!) cause pjeseosinto^geiie tieeneon- 
 
 tofien 3J i^atr parfour^ || me^ tegneti || 
 
BOOKS KEtlNTBD IN TYPK NO. 4. 279 
 
 '* This prologue finishes, half-way down the second column, 
 on the verso of the same leaf. On the third recto is another 
 woodcut, 8x4^ inches, of a horse galloping past a tree, 
 l)earing a lable, J^lp CtUISte 3^0 (see a facsimile in Dibdin's 
 Typ. Ant.y vol. i, page 186). Underneath this commences 
 Caxton's own prologue, with space for a 3-line initial E, 
 
 iat» for m mocje as also fiaue eitprpnteti it in tt)e 
 
 tf)is II sagti \x^txkz teas moost best || W^j)%t ti)at 3f 
 
 grete $c ouer || ctatfle- i^aue coulje or mpgi^t / anti || 
 
 atile to me taeeomplisste || f presente tf)is saptj toook to 
 
 fergtr me in ti)e begenngng ^is gootJ ^|| noble lorTJSf)gp/ 
 
 of tt)e II as efjgef eauser of t!)e || 
 
 This occupies the whole page. On the third verso the 
 table is begun, ending on the sixth recto, with sixteen lines 
 in the first column, the rest of the page being blank. The 
 last line is — 
 
 Sues folio arorararnbir 
 
 iil^xplieit 
 
 On sig. a j the original Text is begun, space being left for 
 a 6-line C, 
 
 Ji^e tgme of tftatruet qugsst)it» of ignorance ^ 
 gmpuissauce / 1| to ge pf t)e 
 
 or comgng of our i)ati so eome to fore/pauen^ 
 ture II man mgg!)t sage pt tg 
 
 lorti in to tijis toorlti ftis otone merites || 
 
 The Text ends on fell 5 recto, half-way down the second 
 column, 
 
 afore is matre menepon/ 
 Mat)ict)e toerliellil f)aue 
 accomplissfteti at t^e eom- 
 maun^lltiementeanti requeste 
 of tje noble antj ipupssaunte 
 erle / anti mg special gootJ || 
 lor^ ?l2iJpllgam erle of aron^ 
 ^el / ^ Saue || fgngss t)et» it at 
 
280 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 of nouemtre / tt)e ^txt of our 
 
 lorbiiE/orai^arar/iiiaciu/ 
 
 ^ttef8t0tserc||ofti)etegpe 
 of msngiaBd)artr t|e |1 tiifirti 
 
 13g me bJgUsam OTaiton 
 
 In the latter half of the thirteenth century. Jacobus de 
 Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa, who died in 1298, compiled 
 a book called "Legenda Aurea," in which the lives and 
 miracles of numerous saints were narrated. This was found 
 very useful to the priests in their sermons, and soon become 
 so popular that it was translated into nearly every European 
 language. The Latin text of " Voragine " has been reprinted 
 from an early manuscript, and edited by Dr. Th. Graesse, 8vo, 
 Lipsige, 1840. It has also received a modern French dress 
 under the title " La L6gende doree, par Jacques de Voragine, 
 traduit du Latin, par M. G. B., 8vo, Paris, 1843." In the 
 early part of the fourteenth century, Jean Belet, an author 
 but little known to modern bibliographers, though often 
 quoted by the -writers of his age, translated the Latin of 
 Jacobus into French, not, however, without embellishing it 
 with many new additions. Shortly after the production of 
 Belet, Jehan de Yignay, who has been already noticed as trans- 
 lating the Book of Chess, undertook a new version in French 
 of " La Legende doree," which he accomplished before 1380, as 
 he dedicated it to " Jeane, royne de France." His translation, 
 however, was founded on the previous labours of Belet, which 
 he amplified, adding about 44 new legends. About the middle 
 of the fifteenth century, certain " worthy Clerks and Doctors 
 of Divinity" compiled a " Book of the Life of Saints," which 
 they describe as " drawn into English after the tenor of the 
 Latin." These worthy Clerks and Doctors, however, would 
 have given a much more true account of their labours had 
 they stated that, with the exception of some additional fables 
 not traceable in the original Latin, they owed the whole of ' 
 their compilation to "La Legende doree" of Jehan de 
 Vignay. 
 
BOOKS PRnrrED in type no. 4. 281 
 
 It is probable that in Caxton's time the English version 
 here noticed was well known ; indeed we may infer this from 
 the a<x;ount given by our Printer of the origin of his oi^n 
 text : " Against me here might some persons say, that this 
 Legend hath been translated tofore, and truth it is; but 
 forasmuch as I had by me a Legend in French, another in 
 Latin, and the third in English, which varied in many and 
 diverse places; and also many histories were comprised in 
 the two other books which were not in the English book, 
 therefore I have T\Titten one out of the said three books." 
 Caxton, with his Latin, French, and English copies before 
 him, found a prologue ready to his hand in the version by 
 Jehan de Vignay. This, as was his wont, he translated lite- 
 rally, merely changing two or three of the inapplicable proper 
 names, and adding some personal observations of his own. 
 The bulk of his text comes also from the same source, being 
 nearly identical with that of the English manuscript already 
 noticed ; although to Caxton may be given this praise, that 
 in several places where the " worthy doctours of divinite " 
 had inserted in their English version some stories more in- 
 credible or more filthy than usual, he very discreetly con- 
 siderably modified or altogether omitted them. The reader 
 curious in this matter may compare the tales about Nero in 
 the " Life of St. Peter," as narrated in Harl. 630, with folio 
 202 in Caxton. How much he took from the Latin is impos- 
 sible to say; nor have I been able to trace to their origin 
 the curious explanatory derivations of the name of each 
 saint, which form the first paragraph in every " Life." As in 
 " The Festial," many saints in the " Golden Legend " have 
 their lives illustrated or interwoven with tales from the "Gesta 
 Romanorum." 
 
 This work may be considered the most laborious, as well 
 as the most extensive, of all Caxton's Hterary and typo- 
 graphical labours. The compilation of the text only must 
 have been a most arduous task, and the very extensive use of 
 woodcuts must have been extremely expensive and trouble- 
 some. Caxton, indeed, confesses that he was " in a manner 
 half desperate to have left it," when the Earl of Arundel, who 
 
282 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 apparently suggested the undertaking, sent John Stanney to 
 him, promising the Printer a small annuity, and to take a 
 "reasonable quantity " of copies when completed. The annuity 
 was to be a buck in summer and a doe in winter ; but it is 
 not improbable that these presents were commuted into a 
 fixed sum of money, as was certainly the practice with the 
 Gifts of Wine, which, in the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- 
 turies, were so frequently bestowed as rewards for services 
 rendered. As a memorial of the Earls connection with the 
 work, Caxton placed the Arundel device " My truste is " after 
 the preface. 
 
 Although, from the numerous copies still extant, it is 
 evident that this edition must have been larger than usual, no 
 perfect copy has yet been discovered. The Legend of St. 
 Thomas of Canterbury has been a special object of destruction, 
 being, in nearly every instance, torn out of the volume. 
 
 This is one of the most common of the productions of 
 Caxton's press, and probably a larger number than usual was 
 printed. Of the thirty known copies sixteen are divided 
 between the British Museum, Cambridge, Corpus and Pem- 
 broke, Cambridge, Oxford, Glasgow, Logonian Philadelphia, 
 King's CoUege, Aberdeen, Lincoln, Hereford and Bath 
 Cathedrals, Eawlett's Library, Tamworth, and the others in 
 private libraries. 
 
 While making every allowance for the rudeness of the age 
 and the plain speaking then customary, the tendency of many 
 of the " Lives " here narrated is so immoral, that many per- 
 sons have doubted whether these legends were really read to 
 congregations of men and women. But the legacy of several 
 copies of this work to the parish church of St. Margaret's, as 
 already noticed (p. 159), and the following extract from the 
 will of Queen Margaret, prove that the "Golden Legend" 
 was reckoned among the Church Service Books : — " Item, I 
 will that mine executors purvey a complete Legend in one 
 book, and an Autiphony in another book ; which books I will 
 be given to abide there in the said church to the worship of 
 God as long as they may endm-e. (Norf. and Norwich Arch. 
 Soc., Dec. 1850, fol. 163.) 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4» 288 
 
 No. 57. — Death-bed Pbayees. A Folio Broadside. (1484?) 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — Types No. 3 and 4* are 
 used. The lines are spaced to an even length. It is half a 
 sheet of paper printed on one side only. 
 
 From the language of these prayers it is evident that they 
 were intended for use by the death-bed. They were probably 
 printed in this portable form for priests, and others, to carry 
 about with them. 
 
 Although short their interest is great, and the reader may 
 not be displeased to read them in the following more modem 
 dress than that of the original. 
 
 glorious Jesu! meekest Jehu! most sweetest 
 Jesu! I pray thee that I may have true confession, con- 
 trition, and satisfaction ere I die ; and that I may see and 
 receive thy holy body, God and man. Saviour of all mankind, 
 Christ Jesu without sin. And that thou wilt my Lord God 
 forgive me all my sins, for thy glorious wounds and passion. 
 And that I may end my life in the true faith of all holy 
 church, and in perfect love and charity with my even* Chris- 
 tians as thy creature. And I commend my soul into thy holy 
 hands through the glorious help of thy blessed mother of 
 mercy, our lady Saint Mary, and all the holy company of 
 heaven. Amen, f The holy body of Christ Jesu be my 
 salvation of body and soul. Amen. The glorious blood of 
 Christ Jesu bring my soul and body into the everlasting bliss. 
 Amen. I cry God, mercy ! I ciy God, mercy ! I cry God, 
 mercy ! "Welcome my Maker ! Welcome my Redeemer ! 
 Welcome my Saviour ! I cry thee mercy with heart contrite 
 of my great unkindness that I have had unto thee. 
 
 thou most sweet spouse of my soul, Christ Je^u, desiring 
 heartily evermore for to be with thee in mind an^ will, and 
 to let none earthly thing be so nigh my heart as thou, Christ 
 Jesu ; and that I dread not for to die for to go to thee, Christ 
 Jesu ; and that I may evermore say unto thee -with a glad 
 cheer, my Lord, my God, my sovereign Saviour Christ Jesu, 
 
 * " Even " = *' fellow." The gravedigger in Hamlet, act y, sc. 1, 
 uses the same phrase ** eyen Christian." 
 
284 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 I beseech thee heartily take me, sinner, unto thy great mercy 
 and grace, for I love thee ^ith all my heart, Tvith all my 
 mind, mth all my might, and nothing so much in earth nor 
 above earth as I do thee, my sweet Lord, Christ Jesu. And 
 for that I have not loved thee, and worshipped thee above all 
 things as my Lord, my God, and my Saviour, Christ Jesu, I 
 beseech thee "with meekness and heart contrite, of mercy and 
 of forgiveness of my great unkindness, for the great love that 
 thou showedst for me and all mankind, what time thou offerdst 
 thy glorious body, God and man, unto the Cross ; there to be 
 crucified and wounded, and unto thy glorious heart a sharp 
 spear, there running out plenteously blood and water for the 
 redemption and salvation of me and all mankind. And thus 
 having remembrance steadfastly in my heart of thee, my 
 Saviour Christ Jesu, I doubt not but thou wilt be full nigh 
 me, and comfort me both bodily and ghostly with thy glorious 
 presence, and at the last bring me unto thy everlasting bliss, 
 the which shall never have end. Amen. 
 
 The only Existing Copy known is in the library of Earl 
 Spencer, where it is bound up in a copy of Caxton's " Pilgrim- 
 age of the Soul." It is in perfect condition, and measures 
 
 II X 8 inches. 
 
 Xo. 58. — The Fables of ^sop; of Avian; of Alfonse; 
 
 AND OF POGE, THE FLORENTINE. FoIiO. " EmpryuM 
 
 hy me William Caxton at Westmynstre . . the xxvj dmje 
 of Marche the yere of oure lord M GCCG Ixxxiiijr 
 
 Collation.— a i) c tl e f Q f) i fe I in n p q t are 4°^ 
 
 the last two leaves of g being blank. In all 144 leaves, of 
 •which two are blank. 
 
 Note. — The first leaf of a is not signed, being printed only 
 on the verso. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page, 
 unless we call the great cut of ^sop by that name. The type 
 is of two sorts. No. 3 used in three places at the beginning 
 of the work for headings, and No. 4*, in which is the whole 
 text and the head-lines. The lines, which measure 4f inches, 
 are fully spaced out, and in those few pages where there is no 
 
BOOKS PBINTED IN TYPE NO. 4 * 286 
 
 woodcut there are 37 or 38 lines. There are head-lines and 
 folios throughout, except in sig. n, which has folios only. 
 Woodcut initials are used throughout,, and on the verso of 
 sig. a ijis a large floriated ^, afterwards used in the " Order 
 of Chivalry." 
 
 The first recto of sig. a is blank. Upon the verso is a 
 large woodcut (4f x Cf inches), of ^sop, suiTounded by the 
 subjects of his fables, with the word ESOPVS at the top. On 
 the second recto, which is signed a ij, the book commences 
 with the following title, in large type, No. 3 — 
 
 C dFoIio Ha 
 C l&n:e tiegBunetf) tfie toofe of tfie suitpl tpstorpeis 
 antr J^atles of (&^ovt tDf)id&e toere translatcti out 
 of JFttm^f^t in to (l^nglpjssfte b? toplliam OTaiton 
 at bjestmBnstre 3fn tt)e gere of oure HorTic , M . 
 
 . aroTifl^ar . ixxxm . 
 
 ^St^t ieggnnetf) t^e Igf of (f^sope b3itt) alle !)ts fortune 
 ' Job) |)e toas 0ut)tgll/b)5i3e/antJ tome in i&mt/notfmt 
 fro Croge tfte graunt in a Cotoue nameti Hmoneo/ 
 b)f)icl)e ioas amonge ott)er trgfformc^ anti eugUe 5l)apen/dFor 
 
 The whole is finished by an epilogue, \NTitten by Caxton 
 himself, which begins on the recto, and concludes on the verao 
 of sig. j8 6. 
 
 stoere of a gooti precst antj an fionejat/Hnlj f^txt toit|ft '^ i^:: 
 ngssfje X\^\% tioofe / translateti $c cmprpnteti bg me ^IHiUiam 
 (ttai^llton at toegtrngnistre in tf)at)taB/lnlj fgnpjsijSteti tfte 
 xibj tiage II of iHarcje tf)e gere of oure lorti M (t(t(t(t 
 liixiiij /^nli ttje || fgrst pere of tje regne of fegng i^gcjarti 
 tf)e ti)BrtJtJe 
 
 The woodcuts by their treatment evidently came from the 
 hands of the artist who had preAiously illustrated the " Game 
 of Chess." It is perhaps impossible to decide whether they 
 are of Flemish or English origin. The following represents 
 ^sop beaten by his master. 
 
 Caxton himself tells us at the beginning of the book that 
 
286 
 
 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
BOOKS FEINTED IN TYPE NO. 4.» 287 
 
 it was a translation of his own from the French. It is rather 
 remarkable that although the fables of -^sop, in French, were 
 found in all the great libraries of the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 centuries, and as many as three or four different copies in 
 some, yet none apparently have descended to our time. No 
 trace of an English translation previous to that of Caxton has 
 been discovered, and he must therefore have the credit of 
 introducing these fables to his countrymen in the English 
 tongue. They were reprinted in London, with scarcely any 
 alteration, for nearly two centuries. Whether translated from 
 a manuscript, or an early French printed edition, it is now 
 impossible to say. 
 
 This is a very rare book, the only perfect copy known was 
 devised by Mr. Hewett, of Ipswich, to King George III, and 
 is now in the Royal Library, Windsor. Imperfect copies are 
 in the British Museum and at Oxford. 
 
 No. 69. — The Order op Chivalry. Quarto. Withcmt 
 Printer's NanWy Place, or Date. Translated by Caxton 
 and presented to Richard III. (1483-5). 
 
 Collation.— a t C tl e f are 4", aj being blank ; g a 2°, 
 with the last leaf blank ; in all 52 leaves, of which two are 
 blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars.— There is no title-page. 
 The type is No, 4*, but two headings at the beginning of the 
 work are in type No. 3. The lines, which measure 3^ inches, 
 and of which there are 26 to a full page, are fiilly spaced out. 
 Without folios or catchwords. Initial letters cut in wood are 
 used. 
 
 Commencing with a blank leaf the work opens with a short 
 preface, on sig. a ij, the first four lines being in type No. 3. 
 The Text begins thus .'7— 
 
 C ISere iegpnnetj t^e Cable of 
 ttits present ioofee 3>ntgtletr t^e 
 iSoolte of tfte ortjre of c^gualrp 
 ot ifen^g^tj^o^e 
 
288 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 The Text ends:— 
 
 bettuouse IretJe / ant» 31 si^alle pmg alm^^ 
 tg got! for f)is long Ipf ^ prosperous \xitU 
 fare/^ t^at f)e mag fiaue bictorg of al i^is 
 enemies/ antJ after tf)is s!)ort ^ transitory 
 Igf to ftaue euerlastgng Ipf in fteuen / b3f)e=: 
 re as is 3?oge anTr tigsse bjorlti bitjout 
 entfeEmen/ 
 
 The date of printing, which was in the reign of Eichard 
 III, must have been between June 26th, 1483, and August 
 22nd, 1495. The "Order of Chivalry" has no connection 
 with "L'ordene de chevalerie." Dibdin, in the Typ. Ant., 
 and Moule in Bib. Herald^ both err in this matter. 
 
 Two copies are in the British Museum, and two in private 
 libraries : no others are known. 
 
 No. GO. — Chaucer's Cai^terbury Tales. FoUo. Second 
 Edition, ivith Woodcuts. ^' By Wylliam Caxton.'^ 
 Without Place or Date. (1484 ?) 
 
 Collation.— a betiefgi^ifelmnopqrstare 4^^^ 
 with a I blank ; b a 3^^ ; aa bt) ce bb ee ff gg f)i& are 4°" ; a a 
 8^ a i3 or B ii^ dF <© ?§ f i^ are 4-; E a 2^ In aU 
 312 leaves, of which one is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type of the Text is No. 4*, the heads being all in No. 2*. 
 The lines in the prose portion are spaced to an even length, 
 and measure 4J inches. 38 lines to a page. Without catch- 
 words or folios, and almost without punctuation. 
 
 This second edition, Caxton tells us, was printed six years 
 after the first. Having fixed the year 1477-8 as about the 
 date of the first, that "v^ill give about 1484 for this. 
 
 Commencing mth a blank leaf, the prohemye follows on 
 aij. 
 
BOOKS FAINTED IN TYPE NO. 4*. i69 
 
 i^ete tfjanfees latolje antr i^onour/oufii^t to be gj^ 
 uen bnto tf)e cletfeeisf/poetes/antf ftistoriograptis 
 g ti^at t)aue toreton mane noble toltes of topgrtom 
 of tf)e lguefii/pa00io3c;/-&mBraclr0 of 1)01? gapntes 
 of tgstorges / of notle artti famous ^rtes / anij 
 faittes / EntJ of tfte crongcles sitt) ti^e tegpitnpng 
 of tje creaciott of ti^e toorlTi/bnto ti)p present tgme/bg toSgcfje 
 
 The proheme, which is an excellent and indubitable speci- 
 men of Caxton's own composition, and reflects as much credit 
 upon his disposition as upon his literary abilities, finishes on 
 the verso of sig. a if — 
 
 after tjgs si^ort antr transitorge Igf lue mas ««i^ to ener- 
 lastgng II Igf in Jeuen / ^men 
 
 i^s 2l2agUiam (Braxton 
 
 On sig. a Hi recto, with room for a 4-line initial, 
 
 3^an tfiat ^prgll toptf) figs siiouris sote 
 to CJ)e tirougi&te of marcte t)ati& percgti t^e rote 
 ^nti bati^gtr energ begne in suciie Ipeour 
 <©f toftgefie bertue engentjrgti is tje flour 
 Hajanne j^epjerus efee togtj) figs sote bretf) 
 
 The Parson's Tale finishes on sig. H iij verso, and is fol- 
 lowed by the Retraction. 
 
 The Text ends with seven lines on sig. It 4 recto, 
 
 tt one of f)em at tje tiag of trome tjat sftal ie saupti/@ui 
 eumllpatre et spiritu saneto biuit et regnat tjeus/^Per omnia 
 seeula || seeulorum ^M^B^I 
 
 The verso is blank. 
 
 The wood-cut illustrations appear to be by the same artist 
 that was engaged upon -ffisop. The wife of Bath is repre- 
 sented thus : — 
 
 V 
 
S90 
 
 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 "THE WIFE OF BATH." 
 FROM THE SECOND EDITION OF CHAUCER'S "CANTERBURY TALES.' 
 
BOOKS PBINTBD TS TYPE NO. 4*. 291 
 
 Two copies are in the British Museum, and one in each of 
 the following libraries — Magdalen and Pepysian, Cambridge ; 
 St. John's, Oxford; Royal Society, London; Earl of Ash- 
 bumham, and Earl Spencer. In the year 1858 I discovered 
 a copy in the Library of the French Protestant Church, in a 
 torn and dirty state, having been used for some time to light 
 the vestry fire. I drew attention to its great value and inte- 
 rest, and it was doubtless saved from further mutilation. 
 Some time afterwards it disappeared from the library alto- 
 gether, and no one now knows what has become of it. For 
 identification the following particulars are here given: — it 
 wants all before sig. f) 5 ; p 7 ; 1 8 and b ij ; ttl if and tiTl 8 ; 
 E f; ^iii and 4 ; and all after (^S. In the original binding. 
 Tom, dirty, and ill used. Measurement, lOf x 7}. Auto- 
 graph "• • Rawlinson A*" 1717." Also, "Ex dono * • * 
 Bateman Bibliopola." 
 
 No. 61. — The Book of Fame. Folio, "Emprynisd hy 
 wylliam Caxfm" Without Place or Date. (1484 ?) 
 
 CoLLATiON.-^a f) C are 4"% a r being blank ; tj a 3°, tJ 6 
 being blank = 30 leaves, of which two are blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is entirely No. 4*. In the epilogue, which is the 
 only prose part, the lines are fiilly spaced out, and measure 
 4| inches. 38 lines to a page. Without folios or catchwords. 
 Space left for the insertion of 2 or 3-line initials, with 
 directors. 
 
 Commencing mth a blank leaf, the Text follows on sig. 
 a \S recto, 
 
 Ci)e \m\ of dFame matie tg <^ef ereg Ol^ftaucer 
 
 <©ti tome t» euer^ trreme to gootr 
 dFor it is bjonlrer tf)gttg tg tlje rooti 
 
 Co mp topt / tof^at causjpti) stoeiienps 
 €^n ti)e mototoe / ot on euengs 
 
 TT 2 
 
292 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 The poem ends on sig. t( 5 recto, 
 
 Ci^us in bremgng antJ in game 
 iil^nljeti) tjgs Igtgl toofe of dFame 
 
 The epilogue immediately follows, the Text ending, 
 
 § fiumblg fiesecfie ^ ptage polu /nnonge pour ptaget0/to 
 temem^llto Jgs soule/on b)f)8cf)e/ant( on alle ctfisten 
 souliis / f tesecfie aU \\ m^g^t^ gotr to iiaue mercg Emen 
 iirmprfintetr tg bglliam Olaxton 
 
 The epilogue has considerable interest, as showing Caxton's 
 opinion of Chaucer, and is here given verbatim. 
 
 " J fjnde nomore of this werke to fore sayd / For as fer 
 as I can vnnderst5de / This noble man Gefferey Chaucer 
 fynysshyd at the sayd conclusion of the metyng of lesyng 
 and sothsawe / where as yet they ben cheldied and maye not 
 departe / whyche werke as me semeth is craftyly made / and 
 dygne to be ^^Teton & knowen / For he towchyth in it ryght 
 gi-ete wysdom & subtyll vnderstondyng / And so in alle hys 
 werkys he excellyth in myn oppyny / on alle other wryters in 
 in our Englyssh / For he wrytteth no voyde wordes / but aUe 
 hys mater is ful of hye and quycke sentence / to whom ought 
 to be gyuen laude and preysyng for hys noble makyng and 
 wrytyng / For of hym alle other haue borowed syth and taken / 
 in alle theyr wel sayeing and wrytyng / And I humbly beseche 
 & praye yow / emonge your prayers to remembre hys soule / 
 on whyche and on alle crysten soulis I beseche almyghty god 
 to haue mercy Amen " 
 
 As will be seen by the list of Existing Copies, the printed 
 text of Caxton is almost as rare as manuscript; so is the 
 reprint by Pynson in 1526. Manuscripts of this poem were, 
 probably, even in our printer's time, difi&cult to obtain. The 
 copy used by him was certainly very imperfect. Many lines 
 are altogether omitted, and in the last page Caxton was 
 • evidently in a great strait, for his copy was deficient 66 lines, 
 probably occupying one leaf in the original. We know from 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4*. 29S 
 
 his own writings the great reverence in which our printer 
 held the " noble poete," and we can imagine his consternation 
 when the choice had to be made, either to follow his copy and 
 print nonsense, fi'om the break of idea caused by the deficient 
 verses, or to step into Chaucer's shoes and supply the missing 
 links from his own brain. He chose the latter course, and 
 thus instead of the original 66 lines, we have two of the 
 printer's own, which enable the reader to reach the end of the 
 poem 'without a break down. These lines are in the following 
 quotation printed in italics ; the entire extract being the first 
 six lines of the last page : — 
 
 They were a chekked bothe two 
 
 And neyther of hym myght out goo 
 
 And wyth t?ie noyse of themtvo Caxton 
 
 J Sodeynly awoke anon tJw 
 
 And remembryd what I had seen 
 
 And how hye and ferre I had been 
 
 It should be noticed that Caxton has here placed his name 
 in the margin to make known his responsibility to his readers. 
 The " out " not having been hitherto noticed, the position of 
 his name there has been a puzzle to the bibliographers, until 
 explained by Mr. Bradshaw. 
 
 Copies are in the British Museum ; Cambridge ; Imperial 
 Library, Vienna, and Althorpe. 
 
 No. 62. — The Ctjrial. "Translated thus in En^hjsshe hj 
 wylliam Caxionr Without Printer's Namey Place, or 
 Date. (1484 ?) 
 
 Collation. — ^A 3°, signed j, ij, and i\), without any blanks. 
 In all six leaves. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is entirely No. 4*. The lines, which are spaced to 
 an even length, measm-e 4J inches, and there are 38 to a full 
 page. Without catchwords or folios. 
 
 The Text begins on sig. f recto, 
 
 Jgere foiotoetf) tfie copge of a lettre toftpc^e maistre 
 aiagn II (t^uzXitx totot^ to Jbs brotjer / tofigctie ^mxtti to 
 
294 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 come titoelle in \\ Olourt/ in b35scf)e ^e xef)erseti) mang mg^ 
 
 The " Curial " finishes on the sixth recto, 
 
 to fioti g comantje ti&e ig ti)gs birgtsng bfigdje gfiue Qe ftps 
 
 gta||a/^men 
 
 Ci&us entietf) tf)e a]:urial matie ig magstre ^lain 
 Otjarcetier || ^tanslateti ifjm in (f^nglgssi) ig toplliam 
 O^axton 
 
 On the verso Caxton has given us his translation of a 
 ballad, written by Alain Chartier, consisting of 28 lines. It 
 has a burthen : — " Ne chyer but of a man Joyous," and com- 
 mences thus : — 
 
 Cf)er ne is ^angger / tut of a bglagn 
 j}le prg^e / tut of a poure man entgcf)et» 
 
 The Text ends on same page, with Caxton's name at foot, 
 
 Efitx is no 0peci^e/f)nt it te curtogs 
 iae pregsgng of ram / tut after tj^egr Igf 
 iBte ci&ger tut of a man Jfogous 
 <3!laa:ton 
 
 Eemarks. — Caxton translated the Curial from the French, 
 *' for a noble and virtuous Erie " probably Lord Rivers, who 
 was beheaded at Pomfret, on June 13th, 1483. 
 
 Alain Chartier, born in Normandy about 1386, earned for 
 himself the appellation of " excellent orateur, noble poete, et 
 tres-renomme rhetoricien." He held the office of " Secretaire 
 de la Maison " to both Charles VI and Charles VII. He died 
 about 1457. The most complete editions of his works are 
 those by Galiot du Pre, IGmo, Paris, 1529 ; and by Duchesne, 
 4to, Paris, 1617. In the former, however, is an error which 
 has led to some confusion, as " Li\Te de I'Esperance " is there 
 entitled " Le Curial," the real Curial being a much shorter 
 piece, and totally different in design. By the " Curial " being 
 addressed to his brother it is supposed to have been written 
 by Alain to Jean Chartier, known as the author of " Histoire 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO 4*. 295 
 
 de Charles VII." As an instance of the great repute, in which 
 the writings of Chartier were held in his age, it is reported 
 that Margaret, the wife of the Dauphin of France, afterwards 
 Louis XI, finding liim one day asleep in his chair, kissed his 
 lips to the great astonishment of her attendants. " Je ne baise 
 pas la personne mais la bouche dont estoient sortes tant de 
 beux discours," she exclaimed. There is a painting in Add. 
 M.S. 15300, vividly depicting this scene. 
 
 Of the only two known copies, one is in the British 
 Museum, and the other at Althorpe. 
 
 No. 63. — Troylus and Creside. Folio. Without Printer's 
 Name, Place, or Date. (1484 ?) 
 
 Collation. — a i c tr e f g are 4°% the first leaf of a being 
 blank; f) a 5°; i fe I m It are 4°"; p a 3", with the last two 
 leaves blank. In all 120 leaves, of which 3 are blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type throughout is No. 4*. Each page contains five 
 stanzas of seven lines each, with a blank line between each 
 stanza. Without folios or catchwords. 
 
 Commencing with a blank leaf, the poem follows on sig. 
 a ij recto, beginning thus : — 
 
 t t Jfte tiouile sorobj of Cropluis to telle 
 
 iK;sng ^tBamus gone of Croge 
 3fn lougng/ftoto t)p auentures felle 
 dFrom tooo to toele / anti after out of 3Joge 
 MVi purpog ijs / or ti^at S parte froge 
 
 Book I ends on sig. h 8 verso ; Book II on f j recto ; Book 
 III on i^ 10 recto; Book IV on m f recto ; Book V on p 4 
 recto. On sig. p 4 recto is also Chaucer's dedicatory stanza 
 to the " Moral Gower." 
 
 The Text ends on the same page, 
 
 So malte bs §f\tm for ti^g ntercp tipgne 
 JTor loue of magtien/ .&: motier tjgn benpgne 
 Jftere enTjeti) Croplujs / as touci)pna OTresetje 
 ^xpUdt per OTaxton 
 
296 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Remaeks. — ^A good account of the source of this poem, 
 and a comparison between it and Shakspere's " Troilus and 
 Creside," with which, however, it appears to have had little 
 connection, will be found in Bell's edition of Chaucer's works. 
 
 Two copies are in the British Museum, one at St. John's, 
 Oxford, and one at Althorp. 
 
 No. 64. — The Life of our Lady. — Folio. ^^ Empryntyd by 
 WyUyam Caxtonr Without Place or Bate. (1484 ?) 
 
 Collation. — Two unsigned leaves ; atictiefgi^iltl 
 are 4"^; m a 3", the last leaf being blank. In all 96 leaves, 
 of which one is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is entirely No. 4*. A page has five stanzas of 
 seven lines each, the space of one line being left between each 
 stanza. The lines in the prose part measure almost 5 inches. 
 Without catchwords or folios. Space left for the insertion of 
 initials of one to three lines deep, with directors. 
 
 The Text begins, with a space for a 3-line initial, on the 
 recto of the first leaf, 
 
 t Jgis Uot bjas compBletJ tg tian §of^n legate montt oi 
 tux^t I at ti^e ocitacion anH jstBtgitg of tf)e noUt antr 
 bictotpous prgnce / i^png fiarrg ti)e fgftje / in tjonoute 
 
 filotge ^ xtmxmtt at tfjt tgrti)e of our moste ilessptr 
 
 latrg/magtie || iugf /antj motitx of our lorti §f)tm rr^st/ 
 
 cf)apgtretJ as folobetj || ts tjis taUe 
 
 The table follows immediately, finishing with nine lines 
 on the verso of the second leaf. 
 
 The poem commences on sig. a J recto, with space for a 
 2 -line initial, 
 
 Cf)ougtful fitxtt plunggtr in tistreisse 
 
 ^Mitf^ ^Wtxt of sloutj tf)is long bgnteris nggjt 
 
 On the lower half of the fourth verso of sig. m, 
 
 Jgere tntsttt) tt^t toolt of ti)e Igf of our latjg 
 malre is tjan gjotjn Igtigate monlte of turg / 
 at tfignstaunre of ti)e moste crgsten tgnge / 
 itpng fiarrg tiie fgftj^ 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4*. 297 
 
 <Soo litgl took antj submptte tje 
 Mnto al tf)em / tftat t^e j^tial xtht 
 <Bt f^txt I prageng i)em for d^arite 
 Co partjon me of ti)e ruliefietie 
 i©f xdi^n enprpntgng / not tafegng Jetie 
 ^n^ pf ougfjt tie Ijoon to tt)epr plespng 
 Sap ttieg tfjgjie balatieg folobJBng 
 
 The Text ends on the fifth recto of sig. m, the whole page 
 being as follows : — 
 
 16\tm^ tt tf)e stoettest name of our lortr 
 3fi)ei3u crtst/ antj most glorious marie 
 Jt^is tlessgti motier / toitt) eternal aecortJ 
 iHore tftan euer / tentiure in glorpe 
 antr toitf) f)ir meke sone for memorge 
 l^lesse bs marie / tf)e most i)olg birgpne 
 Cftat toe regne in i^euen toitj ti&e ortires npne 
 
 ^^nprgntptj bg HEgllgam (?^axton 
 
 " The Lyf of our Ladye " appears to have enjoyed, for a 
 long period, a considerable popularity. It was composed, as 
 the manuscripts and printed edition both tell us, by John 
 Lydgate, at the excitation of King Henry V. The envoy 
 commencing, " Goo lytyl booke," is doubtless a specimen of 
 Caxton's own powers of versification, as perhaps are also the 
 two ballads which follow it. Although the division of the 
 poem into chapters by Caxton does not agree with any of the 
 above manuscripts, yet he probably had a copy so divided, 
 for, as we have seen, the original poem was not chaptered 
 at all, and later scribes would divide it after their owd. 
 judgment. 
 
 It would have surprised our worthy printer could he have 
 foreseen the grave charges of carelessness to be brought against 
 him in future ages, with reference to this production. Ames 
 gives a very slight account of " The Lyf of cure Ladye," but so 
 far as it goes, it is correct. Herbert enlarged Ames's article, 
 but unfortunately wrote his description from a copy deficient 
 eight leaves in the middle of the poem, an imperfection which, 
 
298 WILLIAM CAXTOIT. 
 
 notwithstanding the consequent irregularity of signature, he 
 ascribes to carelessness on the part of Caxton; and, worse 
 still, makes Caxton himself confess that he was aware of the 
 blunder he had made before the conclusion of the printing, 
 but thought that to ask the reader's pardon was sufficient 
 reparation ; a conclusion dra^n from the deprecatory stanzas 
 quoted above, beginning, "Goo lityl book" — a style of 
 " envoy " very common to all Writers of that age. Then fol- 
 lows Dr. Dibdin, who, as usual, did not make an independent 
 examination, but was content with reprinting his predecessor's 
 remarks. The paragraph reads thus : — " This [the omission 
 of several chapters] must be attributed to carelessness, which 
 Mr. Caxton himself ingenuously acknowledges in one of the 
 concluding stanzas. — Typ. Atit. vol. i, page 340, and Bih. 
 JSpenc. vol. iv, page 333. 
 
 Both Herbert and Dibdin give the heads of all the chap- 
 ters in this poem, excepting, of course, those contained in the 
 eight missing leaves of their copy. These are, therefore, 
 supplied here from the table, which differs slightly from the 
 heads in the body of the work. 
 
 How the chyef temple of rome fyl the nyght of crystes 
 
 byrthe / and other wonderful tokenes capitulo L 
 
 How the nyght of cristes byrthe a welle in rome 
 
 ranne oyle capitulo Lj 
 
 How the senatours of rome wolden haue holden Octauyan 
 
 theyr emperour as for her god capitulo Lij Liij 
 
 How the romayns whan they had domynacion ouer alle 
 
 the world made an ymage & callyd hit theyr god capitulo Liiij 
 
 How wyse sybyle tolde to the senate of rome 
 
 the byrthe of cryst capitulo Lv 
 
 How the prophetes prophecyed the byrthe 
 
 of cryst capitulo Lvi 
 
 A questyon assoyled whiche is worthyest of kyng 
 
 wyne or woman capitulo Lvij 
 
 Existing Copies: — British Museum, Bodleian, Exeter 
 CoUege, Oxford, Glasgow, and four in private hands. 
 
BOOKS PBINTBD IN TYPE NO. 4*. 299 
 
 No. 65. — The Life op the holy and blessed Virgin 
 Saint Winifred. Folio. Without Printer's Nairn, 
 Date or Place. *^ Reduced in to Englysshe by me 
 William Caxton" (1485 ?) 
 
 Collation.— a and h are 4*" = 16 leaves, of which the 
 first is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is entirely No. 4*. There are 38 or 39 lines to a 
 full page, and they are spaced to an even length. Without 
 folios or catchwords. 
 
 Commencing ^vith a blank leaf, the Text follows on sig. a if, 
 
 C 38ere beggnnetf) tje Igf of tf^t !)olg ^ hltm\i bptgpn 
 gagntllMaenefrplre/ 
 
 On sig. h recto, 
 
 C ^!)U0 tntittt^ tte trecoHacion / tf)e Igf after / anti tje 
 transla^ II cion of isagnte ?l?aenrfrrtc birgpn anti martir/ 
 toi)icf)e toajs rep || jsetj after tjat f)er iietie f)al» be stnjpton of 
 tt)e 0paee of ib sere || retiucetj in to iJrnglgssfie bp me 
 5l2aiUiam<0:axton/ 
 
 The Text ends, with ten lines on the recto of sig. t 8, the 
 verso being blank, 
 
 eelebramnis translacionem / ctinetorum abipisei inereamur 
 pec^: II catorum remijtgionem / i3er bominum nostrum /et 
 cetera/ 
 
 Remarks. — Caxton's translation gives all the particulars 
 of the birth, parentage, dedication to God, decollation by 
 Prince Caradoc, restoration to life " after her head had been 
 smyton oif the space of xv year," and subsequent canonisation 
 of St. Winifred; followed by the service in Latin for her 
 " commemoration." 
 
 The earliest existing notice of this saint is found in Cotton 
 MS. Claud. A. v, which begins " Incipit Vita sancte Wenefrede 
 virginis et martyris." The character of the ^mting is of the 
 twelfth century, but the Holy Well in Flintshire, dedicated to 
 her as well as the existence of chapels and other places in 
 
300 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 "Wales bearing her name, prove her fame to have been spread 
 for some centuries earlier. The Cotton MS. itself was pro- 
 bably copied from a much older original. Historians have 
 therefore agTeed to consider her as having lived in the seventh 
 century. Being a Welsh saint, her name does not at first 
 seem to have been received with any great veneration outside 
 her own country, and this may account for the entire absence 
 of all notice of her in the early historians. The Cotton MS. 
 has a memorandum in a more modem hand, stating it to be 
 the composition of St. Elerius. For this, however, there 
 appears to be no other reason than the mention of this saint 
 as St. Winifred's confessor. It has, however, been adopted 
 by Leland, Bale, Pits, and other writers. A second life of St. 
 Winifred was undertaken in the year 1140 by Robert, a 
 Welsh monk of Shrewsbury, who compiled his account from 
 MSS. then extant, with the addition of all the floating details 
 which, in the course of centuries, the legend had developed. 
 The fame of the saint at that time was rapidly increasing, 
 partly owing to the grand ceremonial Tvdth which her relics 
 had been, in 1138, translated to the Benedictine Abbey in 
 Shrewsbury. The variation in these two accounts, especially 
 as to the length of time she lived after her decollation, has 
 induced a belief that they are independent productions. Had 
 the second history been shorter and less miraculous than the 
 first, there might be some reason for the opinion. 
 
 In " Liber Festivalis," and in the " Golden Legend," both 
 printed by Caxton, are short notices of St. Winifred ; but in 
 1484 Caxton himself set about " reducing into English " her 
 Life. It is unfortunate that he makes no mention of the 
 language in which his original was written. There is no 
 reason to suppose that Caxton understood Welsh, or else 
 doubtless he could have obtained several MSS.* Again, it is 
 very improbable that Caxton translated from his usual source, 
 the French, as the saint was unknown across the Channel. It 
 is therefore most probable that the Latin account of Eobert, 
 already noticed, was Caxton's original, a probability we are 
 
 * Llwydh, in his Catalogue of Welsh MSS., mentions two. 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4*. 801 
 
 not able to verify by collation, as no manuscript appears to 
 be known. 
 
 Caxton's edition has the Latin commemoration of the 
 saint at the end, which was ordained with great ceremony by 
 Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1391, who, at the 
 same time, removed the day from June 24th to November 
 8rd. This shows how the fame of St. Winifred had in- 
 creased. All the old legends state that on the spot where 
 Prince Caradoc decapitated the Virgin, there immediately 
 sprung up an impetuous stream of healing water. The famous 
 Holy Well is on this spot, and thence flows " St. Wenefrede's 
 Stream," which empties itself at the mouth of the Dee. 
 The fame of wonderful cures effected by these waters spread 
 all over England, and greatly enhanced the shrine of St. 
 Winifred. Holywell became the most favoured goal of 
 pilgrims to the north. Caxton could not perhaps have chosen 
 a more popular life when he undertook his translation. Henry 
 VII built an octagonal well over the source of the stream, 
 with conveniences for using the waters, and over this a 
 beautiful chapel. 
 
 The shrine was plundered at the dissolution of the monas- 
 teries, and a portion of the ruins was, in 1811, and is pro- 
 probably still used as a free grammar school. 
 
 In Caxton's " Polycronicon," in the metrical account of 
 Wales, there are twenty-two lines of curious matter concern- 
 ing the Holy Well, and the awful fate which befel the 
 descendants of Prince Caradoc. 
 
 Only three copies of this edition are known. There is a 
 fair specimen in the King's Library, British Museum, a poor 
 one at Lambeth, and a good one at Ham House, Surrey. 
 
 No. 66. — The noble Histories of King Aethur and of 
 CERTAIN OF HIS Knights. FoUo. "Emprytifed in 
 thabbey of westtmstre, the last day ofJuyl the yere of 
 our lord M CCCC Ixxxv.'' 
 
 Collation.— The prologue and table take up a 4° and 5°; 
 the first leaf in the 4" is blank, the next 3 are signed if, i\U 
 
302 WILLIAJ^I CAXTON. 
 
 Hi}; the first four leaves only of the 5° are signed b, bt, bif, 
 
 aa tt CC titl are 4"'; tt is a 3". In all 432 leaves, of which 
 one is blank. 
 
 Note. — Sig. S> ii} is printed M Uh and C (j is printed 
 
 Sir. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type throughout is No. 4*. The Hnes are spaced out to 
 an even length of 4f inches, and 38 make a full page. With- 
 out folios, head-lines, or catchwords. Initials in wood of 
 three to five lines in depth. 
 
 Commencing with a blank leaf, Caxton's prologue follows 
 on sig. ii, with a 3-line initial in wood. The Text begins 
 thus : — 
 
 )§i i&gstorges as bjel of contcmplacpon as of otiier i)»i8to 
 
 rgal antJ biorltilg actes of grete conquerours ^ prpn 
 
 ces/antJ also certegn ioofees of ensaumples antr troctt^ne/ 
 
 The Text ends on the recto of the sixth leaf of sig. tt, the 
 verso being blank. 
 
 C ^i^us entietf) ti^gs noble anb SKogotis boofe entptletr le 
 morte || Harti^ur / ^otbjgttstontigns it treateti^ of t Je bgrtj / 
 Ipf/antJ II actes of ti^e sagti Itgng Ertjut/of jis noble 
 Itngg^tesof ti^ellrounbe table /tfiegrmernagllous enquestes 
 anb abuentures / 1| tbac^peugng of tbe sangteal/ ^ in tftenbe 
 ti^e bolorous betf) $c \\ bepartgng out of tjgs bjotlb of tjem 
 al / b3f)iei^e boofe bias re 1| buceb in to englpssi^e bp s^r 
 Ciftomas iHalorg Itnggfit as afore || is sagb/antr bg me 
 bengbetJ in to nf booltes cljapgtreb anb enprpnteb/anb 
 fgnpssjeb in tfiabbeg bjestmestre tje last bap || of 3?u5l tje 
 gere of our lorb / M I (^(^(t(^ I Ixnb / 
 
 C (Braxton me fteri fecit 
 
 Remarks. — There does not appear to be any trace in the 
 collections of the British Museum, or elsewhere, of a manu- 
 script of Sir Thomas Malory's text. Of Sir Thomas himself, 
 
BOOKS PBINTBD IN TYPE NO. 4*. 808 
 
 all we know is contained in the last sentence of his own book : 
 ** This book was ended the ninth year of the reign of King 
 Edward the fourth by Sir Thomas Malory, Knight ;" that is 
 about 1470. Caxton tells us in his prologue, that Sir Thomas 
 had " reduced it from certain books in French." These books, 
 judging from the conduct of the story, were the celebrated 
 romances of Merlin, Launcelot, Tristram, the Quest du S. 
 Graal, and Mort Artus, on the origin of which romances very 
 little appears to be known, though much has been written. 
 Manuscript copies of all of them are in the British Museum. 
 Caxton's edition was reprinted several times, the last being 
 the well-known 4to. volume, edited by Robert Southey, who 
 has prefixed a learned dissertation on the rise and de- 
 velopment of the story. A very interesting essay upon the 
 character, epoch, and authors of the various romances of the 
 Round Table is contained in Les Msc. Frang.y par M. Paris, 
 vol. i, page 160. See also the introduction of Thomas Wright 
 to his reprint of the 1634 edition, entitled The HisUrry of 
 King Arthur, 3 vols. London, 1858. Also Les Homam de la 
 Table Ronde et les Confes des anciens BretonSy par M. le, 
 Vicomte Hersart de la Villemarqu6. 8vo. Paris, 1860. 
 
 The only perfect copy known is in the library of Earl of 
 Jersey ; Earl Spencer has a copy, and a fragment is in the 
 British Museum. There is not a copy at Lichfield, as stated 
 by Mr. Botfield. 
 
 No. 67. — ^The Life of the noble and Christian Prince, 
 Charles the Great. Folio. *' Explicit per William 
 Caxton." Without Place. "Enprynted thefyrst day of 
 : demnhre / M CCCC Ixxxv:' 
 
 Collation.— a ficlrefgjifelm are 4"». In all 96 
 leaves, of which a j and m 8 appear to have been blank. The 
 last leaf, however, may have had the device. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is all No. 4*. The pages have two columns, with 
 39 Unes to a column. Tlie lines, which are spaced to one 
 length, measure 2f inches. Without folios or catchwords. 
 Woodcut initials three lines deep. 
 
304 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Commencing with a blank leaf, the prologue of the French 
 translator follows, on sig a ij, with a 3-Hne printed initial. 
 The Text begins thus : — 
 
 ^gnt ^oul tjoctour of somme toerltes Jaultagne 
 
 ' bergte sagtt to bs tjat tioon || $c compseti 5g tjeir 
 
 al tf)gngeg ti^at ten re^ grete strengti^ || ^ tggfit at- 
 
 Irucetr tg torgtgng / ten tiannt courage /to ti)e||ex^ 
 
 torgton II altaegon of tje etgsten f agtj 
 
 This preface finishes with five lines down the first column 
 of the verso, and is followed by Caxton's prologue, in the same 
 column, which is finished on the 26th line of the opposite 
 column. 
 
 C3 
 I 
 
 'JtKnne/for asmocftelJ 
 
 'late f)atj fgngssiietr in 
 ntprgntge tje toolt of tiie 
 notle ^llbgctorgous Itgng 
 ^ttfiur fgrisit II 
 
 The Text ends with the following colophon, 
 
 212af)pci)e bjetlte teas fg^ 
 npsisietr || in ti)e tetiuepng of 
 jft in to en || glpsissi^e tf)e ibiij 
 tiag of Stign tje || secontr 
 gere of Itgng l^pcfiattJ || tfie 
 ti}vxti I ^ntJ tf)e pere of our || 
 lorti m (t(^(^(t Irab/ 
 ^nti II enprgntetr tje fgret 
 tag of tre^ || eemtre tje same 
 gere of our lortr || ^ tfie fgrst 
 gere of Itpng JgarrgHtJe 
 seuentj l\\ 
 C ^x)^\itit p toilliam Olarton 
 
 Remarks. — Histories and romances of " Karlemaine," in 
 French and in Latin, in prose and in verse, existed so early 
 afi the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. These became incor* 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4*. 806 
 
 porated later in the general histories, such as the " Speculum 
 Historiale," the " Fleur des Histoires," &c. The compilation 
 of the romance under notice is recounted by the anonymous 
 Author himself in his preface and envoye. From these we 
 learn that Henry Bolomyer, Canon of Lausanne, regretting 
 the existence of several " disjoined " accounts of Charles the 
 Great, "excited" our anonymous Author to compile a con- 
 tinuous history of the first Christian King of France. This 
 he did, and the sources of his narration, as well as the con- 
 tents, cannot be described better than in his own words, thus 
 translated by Caxton (sig. ttl, 7 recto), " it is so that at the 
 requeste of the sayd venerable man to fore named Maister 
 henry bolonnyer chanonne of lausaune J haue been Incyted 
 to translate & reduce into Frensshe the mater tofore reduced. 
 As moche as toucheth the fyrst & the thyrd book / J haue 
 taken & drawen oute of a book named myrrour hystoryal for 
 the moost parte / & the second book J haue onely reduced it 
 out of an olde romaiice in frensshe." 
 
 On comparing the first and last books of the text under 
 notice with the chapters devoted to Charlemagne, in Verard's 
 edition of the Speculum Historiale (vol. iv, book 25), it is 
 evident that the compiler did not confine himself to the 
 account of Vincent de Beauvais. The Second Book, he tells 
 us, was taken from an old romance in French ; perhaps the 
 same as is still extant in Royal MS. 4 C. xi. 10, or the manu- 
 script in the Imperial Library, Paris, No. 6795. 
 
 It is the French compilation of Henry Bolomyer which 
 Caxton was requested by "some persons of noble estate 
 and degree " — " my good singular lords and special masters " 
 as he calls them — to reduce into English. Among these his 
 good friend Master WiQiam Daubeny, treasurer of the king's 
 jewels, who is the only one mentioned by name, seems to have 
 most influenced him. 
 
 The only Existing Copy at present known is in the Bri- 
 tish Museum, King's Library (C. 10. b. 9). It is perfect, and 
 in excellent preservation. Measurement, lOj x 7} inches. 
 
306 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 No. 6S. — The knight Paeis and the fair Yienne. Folio. 
 *^ Explicit per Caxton. Westminster. December l^thy 
 1485." 
 
 Collation.— a i t are 4°', tj and z 3°' = 36 leaves, of 
 which the last only is blank. 
 
 Note. — tf \ is misprinted c i. 
 
 Typograpical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is all No. 4*; in double column, the lines being 
 spaced to an even length, and measuring 2| inches ; 39 lines 
 to a column. Without folios or catchwords. Woodcut initials. 
 
 The Text begins on sig. a \ recto, 
 
 C W^t JeggnnetS tj^stotge mag or ougf)t to Jaue / W^z 
 
 of II tf)e not)le rggjt balgaunt sagtj || tiaulpl^gn tjenite anti 
 
 $c toor- II tSs ltnpfif)t ^Pargs / ti^is notle || lai:D trgane hjere 
 
 anlr of tje || fap mgene/ bij gm to gg^ 1 W tofitjowte 
 
 tie tiaulpJeng tou^ Ugl^ter of ^%mz tjat mocje || tjeg tJe^ 
 
 bgennogsi / tfte b)f)gcf)e || sgreti to f)aue / antr pragetr || 
 
 jsuffreli mang atrtieregtees our lorti Jiotje nggi^t ^ trag 
 
 tjg'llrauge of tjegr true tftat || tfieg mggi)t f)aue cftgl:: 
 
 loue or ti^eg II coutie enioge tiren plag||saunt anti tetig 
 
 ti^e effect tjerof of || eeje to figs beugne || iserugce / 
 
 otfier/ antj our lorti tjorugf) || 
 
 The Text ends thus, on sig. e 5 recto, with sixteen lines in 
 the first column, 
 
 mag aeeompange tjem in ti&e 
 per II truraile glorge of teuen 
 ^men/ 
 
 C ^!)us enteti) ti&gstorge of 
 tt)e II noble anti balgaunt 
 ltng8f)tpa'||rg!S/anti ti)e fagr 
 bgenne bougf) || ter of tfte 
 tjoulpjgn of ^gen^ II nogg / 
 translatetj out of frensslie || 
 in to englgsisfie bg bjgUiam 
 (tda:^ II ton at bjesttnestre 
 fgngssjeb tje || (aist Ijag of 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 4*. 807 
 
 aiigu0t tje jere of || our lotti 
 itt arorarar uixb/aniJii 
 
 oipipnteti tt)e xir tjag of 
 tecem^ il tre tt)e same pere/ 
 anlK tfte fprst || gete of tte 
 regne of fepng Jljarrp || tf)e 
 seuenti^/ 
 
 C Explicit p OTaxton 
 
 Remarks. — Although frequently copied in manuscript, 
 and often printed in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, 
 there are few romances so rare as " Paris and Vienne." Trans- 
 lated into the " langage provengal," from the original compo- 
 sition, which was in " Catalane," it was turned into Latin, 
 French, Italian, Flemish, and English. The French, which 
 was the translation Caxton used, was accomplished about the 
 beginning of the fifteenth century, by Pierre de la Sippade, 
 of Marseilles. The first printed edition was in Italian, at 
 Trevise, 1482; the second, Caxton's, 1485. G. Leeu, at 
 Antwerp, 1487, brought out two impressions, one in German 
 and one in French. Wynken de Worde made an early reprint 
 of Caxton's edition. The admiration which Jean de Pins, 
 Bishop of Rieux, one of the most elegant scholars of his age, 
 conceived for this romance, induced him to turn it into Latin, 
 for the instruction of the children of his friend the Chancellor 
 Duprat. It was printed in 151G. The Jesuit Charron, in his 
 Memoirs of Jean de Pins {Avignoiiy 8vo, 1748), speaks thus of 
 this romance: "As for children, it would be impossible to 
 find a work more fitted to imbue the mind with correct taste 
 and elegance of style, to influence then- characters by the 
 wisdom of its reflections, or to forearm their hearts against 
 those assaults of passion which blindly precipitate the young 
 into the abysses of misery. The work is truly admirable. The 
 situations are so interesting and the denouinent so happy, that 
 their conception would reflect honour on the best writers of 
 the most renowned ages." (See Histoire du Chevalier Paris, 
 et de la belle Vtentie, 8vo, Paris, 1835). 
 
 The only Existing Copy is in the British Museum. It 
 
 x 2 
 
308 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 FIRST EDITION. 
 
 sig. X, 6 leaves ^ 
 unsigned 1 „ J 
 
 was formerly in Ames's possession, but after the issue of " The 
 Typographical Antiquities," passed into the library of Sir 
 Hans Sloane, and thence into the King's Library, St. James's. 
 
 No. 69. — The Golden Legend. Largest Folio. Second Edi- 
 tion. Small Head-lines. (1487 ?) 
 
 Collation. — The same exactly as the first edition, with 
 the exception of sigs. X and g, in which appears the follow- 
 ing variation : — 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 sig. X = 8 leaves. 
 
 signed to X liij, and followed 
 
 by sig. aa. 
 
 In order to get the matter of the two signatures into one, 
 the sixteen pages of X in the second edition are all made a 
 line longer than in the first. This arrangement was evidently 
 considered as an improvement, and therefore was later in point 
 of time than the edition in which it does not occur. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — These in the main are 
 identical with the edition already described, the chief pecu- 
 liarity being that the head-lines of the pages and the head- 
 lines of the various lives, which in the first edition are all 
 in type No. 3, are in the second edition all in type No. 5. 
 We must also notice that in places {e.g. sig. X \ recto) the 
 large capital letters, used in type No. 6, make an accidental 
 appearance in the head-lines, where they were occasionally 
 used instead of quadrats. This evinces a much later period 
 for the impression than the first edition. 
 
 Ebmarks. — The absence of any complete copy, or indeed 
 of any copy having prologues or colophon, suggests the idea 
 that certain sheets only may, for some reason, have been re- 
 printed to supply deficiencies ; if so, the reprint is so exten- 
 sive, that, for the sake of accuracy, it is better to look upon it 
 as a separate edition. 
 
 Existing Copies. — British Museum, Cambridge, Oxford, 
 Duke of Devonshire. 
 
A 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF BOOKS PRINTED 
 
 IN 
 
 TYPE No. 5. 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE No. 5. 
 
 fa V. V (>, r^^/tv.iS-iA^./*. 70. Good Manners ..... May 11th, 1487 
 ;B H> (A^vU^r^^'^'^^^' 71. Speculum. First Edition ..... 1487? 
 "B h.f/^^^C'^*"^'^ 72. Directorium. First Edition .... 1487? 
 
 ^ ^>l 73. Horaj. Third Edition . . . . . 1488? 
 
 'BM c>*vu>"; 74. Royal 1488? 
 
 CcLy^x^Cj- '' 75. Image of Pity ...... 1489? 
 
 Cft^..J> C-J:k'^.i^^^i''^^-^OQ\xmQ\ ..... May 7th, 1489? 
 
 ? . 77. Speculum. Second Edition .... 1490 ? 
 
 CA^^ia' 78. Commemoratio ...... 1491 ? 
 
 3 • M ^ 79. Transfiguratione ...... 1491 ? 
 
 3^K ' 80. llor* 1491? 
 
M 
 
 (D 
 
 I— I 
 P4 
 
 ^6 
 
 ^ 
 ^ 
 
 St 2 x: iw 
 
 jC^ 4>^ <S» -«^ 
 
 
 n ^ ^ a 
 
 S iS u« su 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE No. 5. 
 
 No. 70. — The Book of Good Manners. Folio. " Explicit 
 et hie est finis per Caxton." Without Place. " En- 
 prynted the xj day of May e'^ the year of our Lord 1487. 
 
 Collation. — a i c t» e C fl are 4"' ; ]^ a 5° = CG leaves (no 
 blanks). 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type throughout is No. 5. The lines are spaced to an 
 even length, and measure 4| inches. A page has 33 lines. 
 Without catchwords or foHos. Woodcut initials of two to 
 three lines in depth. 
 
 The Text begms on sig. a ( recto, 
 
 ^^comj)n II people tDi)ift)e b)itf)oiit enfonnacion ^ Icntpng 
 ten tutje || anti not manecli Igke bnto teestis brute aeortgng 
 to an oltie || 
 
 making a fuU page. On the verso, with 2-line wood initial, 
 
 Jkdf^te tieggnneti) tfje table of a boofe nameb ^ gjntgtuletj 
 ^tf)e II took of fioot( maners ti^e tof)tct) teas matje ^ eom^ 
 poseti II tg tt)e benetatle ^ tjgserete persone dFrere 3Jaques 
 le graunt Ig || eeejDat ixi Cfteologge religgougi of tfte orbce of 
 sagnt augustgn || of tfte eontient of parps . 
 
 and ends on tenth recto of sig. J, the verso blank, 
 
 C <^xplicit/et t)te est ftn!0/per OTaxton ^^e 
 
 C dFfingssi&eb anb translatetJ out of frensi^e in to englBSSfte 
 t1)e II bill tjag of Mm tie gere of our lorb iH Hi] OT Lriibr / 
 anXi II tije first gere of tije regne of kgng fiarrfi tlje bij / Hnb 
 enprgn^ IJtetJ tfte xj bag of ittage after /^e 
 
 Itaus beo 
 
312 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Jacques LegTand was an Augustin friar, and is stated by 
 several writers (though upon what authority does not appear) 
 to have been a native of Toledo, in Spain, confessor to Charles 
 VII, and to have refused a bishopric. He is known to have 
 been the author of the " Sophologium," originally written in 
 Latin, and translated by himself into French for the Duke of 
 Orleans, son of Charles Y. He also was the author of " Le 
 livre des bonnes meurs," which he dedicated to the Duke de 
 Berri. 
 
 In an interesting prologue appended by Caxton to his 
 English translation of this work (see Vol. I, page 186), we 
 are informed that he undertook the task at the desire of Wil- 
 liam Praat, a fellow mercer. The terms in which Caxton 
 speaks of Praat as " an honest man " and " a singular friend 
 of old knowledge," whose death-bed request it was that the 
 book which had pleased and instructed his own mind should 
 have greater currency among the people by means of his 
 friend's new Art of Printing, prove the close amity which must 
 have existed between the two Mercers. Caxton, according to 
 his friend's wish, translated and printed it " for the amend- 
 ment of manners and the increase of virtuous living." 
 
 Only three copies are known — one at Cambridge, one at 
 the Royal Library, Copenhagen, and one at Lambeth. 
 
 No. 71. — Speculum Vitje Christi. Folio. '^ EmprynUd 
 hy wyllyam Caxton^ Without Place or Date. Edi- 
 tion A. (1487?) 
 
 Collation.— a ictietgtifelmncipqttjs; are 4"% 
 with the first leaf of sig. a blank ; t a 2^ with the fourth leaf 
 blank. In aU 148 leaves, of which two are blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — Without title-page. The 
 type throughout is No. 5. The lines are spaced to an even 
 length, and measure 4f inches. A page has 33 lines, exclusive 
 of the head lines, and one line space between. Without folios 
 or catchwords. There are side notes throughout the volume, 
 a rare practice with Caxton, who, however, probably followed 
 his copy in this particular, as side notes ai-)pear in nearly all 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 5. 813 
 
 the manuscript versions. An initial, cut on wood, begins 
 every chapter. 
 
 Commencing with a blank leaf, the Text begins thus on 
 sig. a ij recto : — 
 
 C §ncipit Speculum bite aTristi . 
 
 ^ C tfie ttqi^nni^nQt of tf)e prot)emg of tt)e tooke tt)at m 
 ^ clepeTr tt)e mgrroure of t^e tlessgti Igf of M^m OTrpste 
 tt)e fgrst parte for t1)e monetiage / C ^ iJeuoute tnetig^ 
 tacion of tfte grete councegU in i)euene for tje rejstorgnge of 
 man || antr f)p sauaegon . iiHapitulum primum . C^^tfjt 
 manere 
 
 At the head of sig. h ij recto, 
 
 Me lune C $ttitta par^ ca I . 
 
 tfome all tf)e OTourte of fteune toontirgnge anti commentipng 
 tje jsioueragne togsetiome asjaentetr toel i)ere to/ tut fertijer^ 
 morel 
 
 At the head of sig. f 6 verso, 
 
 C <lla / J^b C lit> iHercurir C Cereia paru 
 
 parauentur tjere hjitf) a fetoe smal fpssftes tjiat oure latig 
 jatr II ortiegnetr ti&eme as gotJ b)ollr/& 000 tfiertoitt) t^e 
 aungeljs co^ || 
 
 The " Speculum" ends at foot of sig. i recto, 
 
 lorti i^tm mti fiig motier ^arg note anli euer toit^oute 
 entie ame 
 
 C ii^xplicit speculum bite Qtxi^ti . 
 
 On the verso begins a treatise on the Sacrament of Christ's 
 body, 
 
 C ^ sftorte treatpce of tje iiBftest antj most toorttijp sarra^ 
 mente || of crgstes Utm^ boig . antj tje meruepUes tjerof . 
 
 which finishes on sig. 1 3 recto TNith the follo^nng imprint : — 
 
814 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 There appear to have been two, if not more, original works 
 on the " Life of Christ " in the Hbraries of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury. One by Father Ludolphe, or Rudolphe (Addit. 16609), 
 was translated, as already noticed, into French, and thence 
 into English ; but this is an entirely different work to that 
 printed by Caxton. St. Bonaventure, in 1410, wrote "The 
 Life of Christ" in Latin {Royal 17, D. xvii), which became 
 very popular, and was translated several times into French, 
 with amplifications more or less. In the early part of the 
 fifteenth century Jean de Gallopes, already noticed as the 
 translator of " The Pilgrimage of the Soul " (ante page 259), 
 made a French prose translation of Bonaventure's Latin work 
 {Royal 20, B. iv). This bears a close resemblance to the 
 English text as printed by Caxton, was dedicated by Gallopes 
 to Henry Y, and probably had considerable currency among 
 the English, to whom Gallopes, if not an Englishman himself, 
 was well known from his connection with the Duke of Bed- 
 ford. The author of Caxton's English text is unknown, but 
 he professes to have borrowed largely from the Latin of Bona- 
 venture. 
 
 Of the "Speculum vitas Christi" two distinct editions 
 Avere issued, both printed with the same types, page for page, 
 line for line (with few exceptions), and nearly letter for letter. 
 The typographical minutiae do not enable us with facility to 
 determine which edition has the better claim to priority of 
 workmanship. The greatest variations will be found in the 
 head-lines, where, from sig. fe to the end of the volume, there 
 is a difference in every page ; one edition (A) using the word 
 ill a in the heads, while the other (B) has the full word (Eapi- 
 tUlUttl, In the University Library, Cambridge, there is a 
 copy of each edition. 
 
 There is a curious transposition of pages in the copy belong- 
 ing to W. E. Watkyn Wynne, Esq., proving that even so late as 
 1489, the practice of printing one page at a time was retained. 
 This is shown by the verso of sig. t lit j being printed on the 
 recto of sig. 1 6, and vice versa. In sig. z there are several 
 instances of the side notes having been blocked out in the 
 printing. Pressmen call it " a bite." 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 5. 815 
 
 Existing Copies. — British Mnseum (2); Cambridp^e (2); 
 Hunterian Museum, Glasgow; Lambeth, and six in private 
 libraries. One of the copies in the British Museum is on 
 vellum, and has quite a romantic history. 
 
 No. 72. — DiRECTORiuM Sacerdotum, una cum Depensorio 
 
 EJUSDEM ; ITEM TrACTATUS QUI DICITUR CREDE 
 
 MIHI. Folio. Second Version^ First Edition. Per 
 1- William Caxton apud ivesfmonesteriu. WitJwut Date. 
 
 (1487?) 
 
 Collation.— Kalendar a 3°, signed \ \\ \\]\ a ll C tr e f g 
 ft i fe I m n p q are 4"" ; t a 5° ; t are 4°^ In all ICO 
 leaves. In the only copy known the whole of the kalendar is 
 inserted between the firet and second leaves of sig. a, making 
 a j appear as the first leaf in the book. 
 
 Note. — The signature to e j is not printed. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — Without title-page. The 
 type is all No. 5. The lines, which are fully spaced out, 
 measure 4f inches. Exclusive of head-lines there are 33 to 
 the page. Without folios or catchwords. A few 2-line wood- 
 cut initials. 
 
 The work conmiences with a kalendar of the months, a 
 month to a page, each being headed by a Latin couplet on 
 unlucky days, and a woodcut KL. 
 
 The Text begins on sig. f recto, 
 
 m\M \ ^^^w^3i^^^^^weit0ij{,&3s;eptimatruncatbtcngi0 
 
 ■ ^1 ^ l^anuariug ftet ^m xxx\ / luna be to xxx 
 
 m a Sanuarij (Hircusicio lim tiup fm ix Vt 
 
 The Text ends on sig. 1 8 verso, 
 
 tje mict)i/illa qui preticajs rcgulas mrmoritec tenet bix pote:= 
 nt errare in seruicio biuino / ©eo gta^ / 
 
 C (JfTajrton me fieri fecit 
 
816 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 The, engraying, which is really on sig. a } verso, is here 
 transposed, very naturally, to precede the Kalendar, which at 
 first misleads one to believe that it does not belong to the 
 volume. It measures 9 x 5| inches, and occupies the entire 
 page, being thus described by Herbert — " In the middle part 
 Christ is seen naked, half length, as at a window, with his 
 arms across and his head inclined, showing the wounds on his 
 hands and under the right breast ; a spear erect on the right 
 and a sponge on the left ; over his head is a tablet with INRI. 
 On a tablet beneath the window the title appears evidently to 
 have been printed, but from this copy has been indiscreetly 
 cut out. About this middle part are 28 square divisions, each 
 containing some symbol of the passion, forming a kind of 
 border." An engraving similar in design was used for the 
 " Hora3," described at page 318 post. 
 
 There was another edition of this work printed in 1489 
 (see page 341), but the present edition, from the type being 
 earlier, and from the absence of the almanac at the beginning, 
 appears to have been the first. In both the Latin is printed 
 with many contractions. In the various editions of " Typo- 
 graphical Antiquities," the two editions being treated as one 
 has led to several errors. 
 
 The numerous and constantly varying alterations in the 
 daily order of Church Service must have rendered, in all ages, 
 a book of directions most necessary to all officiating priests. 
 But the introduction of new Feasts and Commemorations 
 would, in course of time, render any such book incorrect. 
 Thus it happened that Clement Maydestone, a monk of the 
 order of St. Bridget, and a priest, finding, as he tells us in his 
 prologue, that one of the most important festivals in the year, 
 that of Corpus Christi, with its Octave, was, according to the 
 written directions, celebrated aim regimine chor% while the 
 admitted and general custom of the Salisbury rule was to 
 celebrate that festival sine regimine cJmi; finding also several 
 necessary things omitted altogether, and a WTong disposition 
 made of others, determined, by the consent of his superiors, 
 to correct and supply all defects. Allien Clement Maydestone 
 had thus refonned and renewed the Pica, he gave his work 
 
BOOKS PRUITED IN TYPE NO. 5. 817 
 
 the now reoognised title of " Directorium Sacerdotum." This 
 
 is the text as printed by Caxton. 
 
 Clement Maydestone appears to have been the son of 
 Thomas Maydestone (probably of Hounslow, Middlesex), and 
 flourished in the reign of Henry V. An account of the mar- 
 tyrdom of Archbishop Scroop is also ascribed to him. 
 
 In the latter half of the fifteenth century the reformed 
 Pica of Maydestone was again collated with the true " Sarum 
 Ordinale," by one Clarke, a singing man of King's College, 
 Cambridge, by order of the University, which at this period 
 evidently followed the Salisbury use. A notice of Clarke's 
 work may be seen in the prologue appended by Pynson to his 
 "Directorium" of 1497. In the copy of this edition, lately 
 purchased of Mr. Maskell for the British Museum, are nume- 
 rous notes in the autograph of Bishop Wagstaffe, the nonjuror, 
 which have supplied material for some of the above remarks. 
 
 The only Existing Copy at present known is that in the 
 King's Library, British Museum (C. 10. b. 16), which is per- 
 fecty in fair condition, and measures 10^x7^ inches. On a 
 fly-leaf is the autograph " W. Bayntun, Gray's Inn, bought of 
 a man introduced by Doctor Nugent." This copy, which is 
 catalogued by Dr. Middleton as being in the University 
 Library, Cambridge, was stolen thence between 1772 and 
 1778. Before 1787 it was purchased by W. Bayntun — and 
 probably (though, of course, in ignorance) from the thief 
 himself. 
 
 No. 73. — HoKas — ^A Fragment. Third Edition. 8vo. Sine 
 ulld notd. (1488 ?) 
 
 The Collation cannot be given, eight leaves, or the whole 
 of sig. m being all that is known at present. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — The type is No. 5 only. 
 The lines, of which there are seventeen to the page, are fully 
 spaced out and in length measure 2f inches. Large full-faced 
 capital letters are used. 
 
 On sig. m \ recto the Text begins, 
 
 laott Umxi 
 
318 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 The first words on the recto of each leaf is— 1, noit; 2, 
 petjanc ; 3, Jaiitatlile ; 4, a MOXO -, 5 (injured); 6, woodcut ; 
 7, IBomine ; 8, S tones ; the last word on the eighth verso, 
 coispui. 
 
 The woodcut on in 6 recto is an " Image of Pity," very 
 similar in treatment to that noticed on page 316. It occupies 
 only the depth of ten lines of text, and beneath, in six lines, 
 is the following : — 
 
 Co if)tm tf)at before * * * * pma 
 ge ofpgte tjeuoutl^ seg ♦ b ♦ ^'r 
 no«;ter/b-^upesi ^ a * * * * pg- 
 teouslg tejoligng ****** of 
 Xp^s passgon at graunteti * * * * 
 ifE / bit , of ^ Jb / gwsi of partion 
 
 These unique leaves, which have evidently been rescued 
 from the binding of an old book, were presented, in 1858, by 
 Mr. Maskell to the British Museum (C. 35. a). Measurement 
 55- X 4 inches. They are in the same binding as the fragments 
 of another Hor83 described at p. 328. 
 
 No. 74. — The Royal Book or Book foe a King. Folio. 
 Without Prmter's Name, Places or Date, " Translated 
 out of frenssJie into englysshe hy tne wyllyam Caxton / 
 whiclie translacion was fynysshed the xiij day of sep- 
 tembre in the yere of our lord M / CCCG . Ixxxiiijr 
 (1488 ?) 
 
 Collation.— a iclrefQflifelmnopqtJSltare 4"% 
 the first leaf of a being blank ; U a 5°, with the last leaf blank. 
 In all 162 leaves, of which two are blank. 
 
 Note. — ni \\S is wrongly signed m if ; and n ] is wrongly 
 signed n Xii]. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is entirely No. 5. The lines are fully spaced out, 
 and measure 4f inches, 33 forming a full page. Without 
 folios or catchwords. 2-line initials in wood are used at the 
 commencement of the chapters. There are six small vignette 
 illustrations in wood, all of which, however, except the first. 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. f). 819 
 
 which appeared in the " Golden Legend," are from the " Spe- 
 culum" just described, where they are suited to the text, and 
 not, as here, used without any reference to fitness. 
 
 Commencing mth a blank leaf, the prologue follows on 
 a i) recto, with a 2 -line initial. 
 
 The Text begins thus : — 
 
 jfWJ^an W xmmtxt antj take f^tht of tf)e cmun^acm 
 ^^of II bs tfiat Igue in tf^m toretcijetr Igf . in b3f)icf) is no 
 mxttt II nt statle abgtjgng ♦ ^nH also ti&e contgnuel besgnes 
 of etterg 
 
 The Text ends, with a full page, on sig. u 9 recto, 
 
 ^Pftelgp of dFraunce m tfte gere of ttgncarnacgon of our 
 (oiti / ifa ♦ 010^ • Ixjix , $c translateti or tetiuceli out of 
 frenssfie in || to englgsste bg me togUgam OTaarton . atte 
 requejste of a toor^ || sftipful marcjaunt ^ mercer of lonljon . 
 tofticje Ifnstauntlg re^ 
 
 to be calleti Ugall / as tofore is sagt» . to^iefie translation or 
 re=: II trucgng oute of frenssfte in to englgssfte toos artgeueti . 
 fgngs II si^eti $c accomplgssftetr tje xiii tiag of ^eptemtre in 
 tje gere of tftgncarnacgon of our lortr .M/ (tdtdtiS: . Ixxxiiii / 
 Enlr in tf)e || seconTi gere of efie Hegne of i^gng i^gcfiartr 
 t!)eti)grti/ 
 
 In Caxton's printed epilogue (ante vol. i, page 187) we 
 thus read: — "Which book is called in French "Le livre 
 Royal," that is to say the royal book, or a book of a king ; for 
 the Holy Scripture calleth every man a king which wisely and 
 perfectly can govern and direct himself after virtue." But " Le 
 li\Te Royal" was by no means the title by which Caxton's con- 
 temporaries knew this work. The most common name is that 
 found in Royal MS. 19 C. ii "Le livre des Vices et des 
 Yertus ;" although it was sometimes entitled " La Somme de 
 Roi," or " La Somme des Vices et des Vertus." By whatever 
 name known it was for centuries a favourite book, as is proved 
 
320 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 by the numerous copies still extant. Its author is said to be 
 " Frere Laurent de I'ordre des predicateurs et confesseur de 
 Phillippe le Hardi " {Les Msc. Frang. t. iii, page 388), but his 
 name does not appear in any of the above-mentioned manu- 
 scripts of the work. Very soon after its appearance it was 
 favourably received in England, where, in the year 1340, it 
 was translated by a priest of Kent, for the purpose of being 
 read to the people in their own dialect. This was called " The 
 Ayenbite of Inwdt," and was printed from the Arundel MS. 
 (No. 57) in the British Museum, in 1855, for the Roxburghe 
 Club. Another and purer translation into English (Addit. 
 17013) was also made in the fourteenth century. 
 
 Existing copies — Bedfordshire General Library, British 
 Museum, Cambridge (2), and four in private collections. 
 
 No. 75. — Image of Pity. Qnurto Broadside. Sine ulld 
 notd. (1489 ?). 
 This is a woodcut measuring 5^x31 inches, printed on 
 one side of a quarto. Like the folio woodcut described at 
 page 315, and the 8vo cut described at page 318, there is a 
 central figure of our Saviour upon the Cross, surrounded by 
 eighteen smaU compartments, each having some reference to 
 the Passion. Beneath the central figure the block has been 
 cut, and the following sentence inserted in type No. 5 : — 
 
 Co tftem ti^at before 
 ti^is pmage of pgte tre 
 tioutlB isage b ^t xa 
 b ^ues $c a Olretio PB:= 
 teuouslp fiei&oltigttfi X\)zu 
 ar of Xp0 passio at 
 grautelr xxxi].MM\M 
 $c Ib-geres of pattJon* 
 
 No. 76. — The Doctrinal of Sapience. Folio. '' Caxton 
 me fieri feciV Without Place or Date. Translated 
 May 7th, 1489. 
 Collation.—^ 13 0^ IB <1[^ dF <^ ?& 3 are 4"^ 3K: and 
 it 5"'. In all 92 leaves. No blanks. 
 
BOOKS PRDmED IN TTFE NO. 5. 821 
 
 C 
 
 Typographical Paeticulars. — ^There is no title-page. 
 The type throughout is No. 5. The lines, which are spaced 
 to an even length, measure 4f inches, and there are 33 to a 
 page. Without folios or catchwords. There are side-notes, 
 which, however, never exceed the three letters (&XAy which 
 are placed in the margin whenever an " Example " occurs in 
 the Text. Two woodcuts and printed initials. 
 
 The Text begins on sig. ^ } recto, with a 3-line initial, 
 
 i)ij3 ti&at ij3 toriten in tf)ti8 Igtjpl bofee ougt)t tt)r prestrw 
 to lerne anli ttci^t to ti)egr pargsstejs : ^nti also it is ne- 
 cessatg for sgmple prestes ti)at bnlietstotie not t^r scrip 
 
 This prologue is followed by the table, which commences 
 on the bottom line of sig. H j verso, and finishes at foot of 
 ^ iij recto ; and on the verso, with a woodcut down the side 
 of the type, and a 2-line initial (&, is the conunenocment of 
 the work. 
 
 , : (f^^erg crpsten man ^ 
 
 I Woodcut from '^ Speculum;* tooman ougl)t to hi 
 
 I of Jesws in the Temple. leue Utmti^ tJC XU artp^ 
 
 cUs of tftc^ rristen fritj . 
 
 On ^ jis another woodcut, the Crucifixion, also from the 
 " Speculum." On the verso of sig. JJ if, the 64th chapter is 
 thus dismissed : — 
 
 C ®f tije neclpgences of tf)e masse anti of tt)e remcljpes 31 
 pas II se ouer for it appertegnetf) to prestes ^ not to laie 
 mm . <K . IxiiiF 
 
 The Text ends on the tenth recto of sig. II, 
 
 sotj t)W fitace graunte for to gouuerne bs in sucije topse 
 anb II Igue in tt^i^^ sftort Ipf ti)at toe mag rome to ftps blgsse 
 for to Ig II ue anb regne ti)ere bjgttjout enbe in secula seru^ 
 lorum ^men 
 
 C ^bus enbeti) ti)e boctrinal of sapgence tfjt tofjgebe is 
 rpgi)t II btile anb prouffgtable to alle crpsten men / tobgcbe 
 
322 WTLLTAJVI CAXTOX. 
 
 115 tran0lateti || oute of dFteitsfie in to engl^ssi&e tig togllBam 
 iKaiton at hjestme || sster fgnggstjetJ tje . bij , tjag of mag 
 tt)e gm of our lorti /M/ cm \\\xxx ix 
 
 (ftaxton mt fitxi Utit 
 
 On the verso is Caxton's large device. 
 
 Remarks. — The "Manipulus Curatorum," conipiled in 
 the early part of the fourteenth, was printed frequently in the 
 fifteenth century. Grreswell mentions — " Savilliani anno 1470; 
 Aug. Vindel 1471, Gering at Paris 1478 ;" and several times 
 later. In these, as in all the early French editions, the author- 
 ship is ascribed to Guy, Archbishop of Sens, who died 1409. 
 This has been adopted by the compilers of the Harleian 
 Catalogue (iii. 1552), and from them by all subsequent 
 bibliographers. That it is, nevertheless, erroneous, appears 
 from the extracts given above. In no manuscript copy is the 
 authorship attributed to Guy de Roye: in fact, it was well 
 known before his time, for it was " envoie k Paris," by Blanche, 
 Queen of France, who died in 1 3 7 . The archbishop was, never- 
 theless, the cause of its being circulated in the French language; 
 for about the year 1388 he employed several doctors of divinity 
 to translate it from the original Latin, and promoted its use 
 by the clergy in all the parishes of his diocese. Further than 
 this he appears to have had no direct connection with it. 
 
 It was known in France under the titles of "Livre de 
 Sapience" and "Doctrinal de la foy catholique," but most 
 commonly as " Le Doctrinal au simples gens." 
 
 The following remark of Mr. Douce is written in his copy 
 of the " Doctrinal." " The Sermons of Yitriaco," or some other 
 of his works, much quoted in " Scala Coeli," seem to have been 
 used in the " Doctrinal." 
 
 ExiSTixa Copies. — Cambridge and Oxford (2), and seven 
 in private libraries. The copy at Windsor Castle is bo inte- 
 resting that a special description is necessary. It is printed 
 on vellum, and has a chapter on " Negligences happing in the 
 Mass," which does not appear in any other known copy. The 
 parchment used is very coarse, discoloured, uneven in sub- 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 5. 32 « 
 
 stance; and disflgnred with holes. Dr. Dibdin could never have 
 seen it, or he would not have written in terms of admiration. 
 A slip of paper at the beginning states, " This book was pre- 
 sented to the Royal Library by Mr. Bryant," which was 
 doubtless the reason why it was (together with the -^sop) 
 retained when that splendid collection became national pro- 
 perty. It is not knoTNTi how Bryant obtained it, but it is 
 curious to note in these days, when every leaf of a Caxton 
 represents a bank-note, how Bryant demurred at giving the 
 exorbitant price of four guineas for this vellum copy, and 
 then only after mature consideration Avith "old Pain," the 
 celebrated bookbinder. 
 
 The unique chapter at the end of this copy occupies three 
 leaves, unsigned, and begins thus : — 
 
 C <f^t tf)e necligeitces ijappgng in tije masse . anlJ of tfir 
 teme- 1| tiges OTapitulo * Ijiiijo 
 
 -like as toe fjaue segtr tf)at tij^s is xaeCtc especgallg 
 
 , for tl)e sgmple peple*an^ for tje sgmple prestes . toticte 
 
 bntierstonli not latin /tgeause tt)at je is not so suffj^ 
 
 saut II tut ti^at somtgme (or necligenee or otjer togse l)e 
 
 mag fagUe 
 
 The whole of this chapter is very curious, and is occupied 
 with what the officiating priest is to do — if, after the conse- 
 cration of the wine, he remembers that no water had been 
 mingled with it ; or finds that he has consecrated water only ; 
 or remembers that he has eaten ought since midnight; or 
 finds a fly, a " loppe," or a venomous beast in the chalice ; 
 whether, if a small piece of meat abide in the teeth, and be 
 swallowed during the celebration, it incapacitates the priest 
 from singing Mass ; what is to be done when the priest lets 
 fall any portion of the consecrated elements, or meets with a 
 similar accident. 
 
 On the third verso the chapter ends, 
 
 Mnti pf tte totip of M^m cxiat 
 or onj) pieee fpUe bpon tfte palle of tije aulter or bpon onp 
 of t^e II besti^mrntes t^at lien tlessptj * t^e piere ougftt not 
 
 Y 2 
 
824 . WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 to fie cutte II of on bteci)e it is fallen , tut it ougftt ri8i)t toel 
 to te toa0j3f)en II ^ntj tt)e toassftfing to lie gguen to tf)e 
 mpnistres for to titiuke/ 1| oi: ellps tirgnfee it ftpm self/ 
 c|is eftapitte to fore f tiurst not sette in t|)e Ijofee tg cause 
 it is not conuengent ne apartegngng tjat euerg lage man 
 sftoltie II fenobe it ^X cetera / 
 
 No. 77. — Speculum VriiE Christi. Folk. " Emprynted 
 by tvyllyam Caxionr Without Place m^ Bate. Edi- 
 tion B. (1488 ?) 
 
 Collation the same as No. 71. 
 Typographical Particulars the same as No. 71. 
 Commencing ^\dth a blank leaf, the Text begins tlnis on 
 sig. a if recto : — 
 
 C 3^ncipit Speculum \\i\z (Eristi , 
 ^ C tf)e l)egpnn:Dnfie of tJeprofiemBe of ti)e toolte tfiat is 
 )Ci clepeti t!)e mgrroureof tf)el)lesssti Igf of f ftesu (H^rpste 
 tf)e fgrst parte for ti)e monetjape / C ^ tieuoute metig- 
 tacion of ti^e grete councegll in i)euene for tf)e restorgnge of 
 man || anb i^ps sauacpon . OTapitultim primum . C <©f tf)e 
 manere || 
 
 At the head of sig. t i j recto, 
 
 Bie lune c ^Prima pars (fl'apitulo j 
 
 Ijome all ti^e Otourte of j^euene toontirpnge anti commentrgnge 
 tfte soueragne togsetiome assentetr toel Jere to , tut forti^er^^ 
 
 morel 
 
 At the head of sig. f 6 verso, 
 
 C Bie mercurit C Cercia pars O^apitulum xb / 
 
 parauenture tjer toitf) a feto smale f ssi)es tjat oure latrp 
 l)atr II ortiegnetJ ti&enne as got» toolti . ^ soo tftertoptft tje 
 aungels co? || 
 
 The " Specnlum " ends at foot of sig. S X recto. 
 
BOOKS P!MNTKI> IX TYPK NO. 5. 825 
 
 1)1)0 tnotjer iHarpe noto anti euer h)jDtt)out enli ^men 
 C i^xplicit speculum bite Olrwti . 
 
 On the verso begins a treatise on the Sacrament of Christ's 
 body, 
 
 C ^ JEftorte tteatgce of tje i)gf)est anti most toortt)p sacra:: 
 mtnU II of crgstes blesjaiiti botip . aitti tfte mcrutpUeg t^erof / 
 
 which finishes on sig. 1 3 recto with the following imprint : — 
 
 C ©mprgittcti ig togllBam caxton 
 
 Some prayers follow, and on the verso of the same leaf the 
 Text ends, 
 
 C ft^su lorti tt)p tlcssgti Igf/i^clpe anti comforte oure 
 
 toret II cf)iti Ipf • amen * 000 mote it tie 
 
 (!?iplpcit speculum ^itt (txi^ti complete/ 
 
 C 3ln omni tribulacione / temptacione * necessitate ^ an^ 
 
 gustga II succurce nobis pijssima birgo maria Emen . 
 
 The recto of sig. 1 4 is blank, and the verso occupied with 
 Caxton's device. 
 
 No. 78. — CoMMEMORATio Lamentationis sive Compassionis 
 BEAT^ Marije in morte filii. Quurto. Without 
 Narmy Place, or Date. (1491?). 
 
 Collation. — a b C Tl are 4°", signed on the first and third 
 leaves only. Altogether 32 pages. If a sheet is printed in 
 4to, a signature on the first page is sufficient guide for the 
 binder; and two sheets so printed, and the second inserted 
 after folding inside the first, would gi^e signatures as in this 
 copy, and, as in the " Servitium," No. 79, which has Caxton's 
 imprint. This method, however, points to a late period of 
 Caxton's career, and the date 1491 has therefore been affixed. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 Type No. 5 only. The lines are evenly spaced, and 24 to a 
 full page. Without folios or catchwords. One small woodcut 
 is on the first page. 
 
^26 WILLIAM 0AXT05. 
 
 The Text begins on a j recto, 
 
 OTometmiraco Eametacois sine copajisioijs hit 
 Mmt i morte filtj ^ tit a^omemoraco ite ma^ 
 tie pietatis br gmemoraco pietatiis q celetrart 
 ^(htt fecia siexta imeliiate pcetrete Vomica i passi 
 one p eo (|) ipo tiie legif i eccria lie tesuseitaeoe 
 la^ati etc 
 
 The Commemoration ends on sig. b 8 verso. 
 
 This particular Commemoration seems quite unknown to 
 all bibliographers ; and of the edition printed bj Caxton, the 
 only copy known is preserved in the Public Library at Ghent. 
 Tt was first recognised as a Caxton by Mr. M. F. A. Gr. Camp- 
 bell, chief librarian of the Koyal Library, The Hague. 
 
 No. 79. — Servitium de Transfiguratione Jhesu Christi. 
 Quarto. Caxton me fieri fecit. Without Place or Bate. 
 (1491 ?). 
 
 Collatio:n^. — Sig. a consists of a sheet folded in quarto, 
 having a half-sheet inside; the first recto of the sheet is 
 unsigned, but upon the first recto of the half-sheet, which is 
 the third recto in the book, is the sig. a (j. Sig. t is a whole 
 sheet, signed only on the first recto, t j. There are altogether 
 ten leaves and no blanks. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is No. 5 only. The lines are spaced to an even 
 length, and measure 3f inches. 24 lines to a full page. 
 Without folios or catchwords. One small woodcut of the 
 transfiguration on the first recto. The initial letter in wood, 
 with many rubrics, are printed in red, not as noticed in 
 " Quatre derennieres choses," by the same pull of the press, 
 but by a separate operation. 
 
 The Text begins on an unsigned leaf, in red ink, 
 
 C (©ctauo S^9 Engusti fiat setuic' / "be tnsfigu 
 
 The Text ends on sig. 1 4 verso, 
 
 m tie9 . ^tt oia gcra iseculoru amen 
 C iiTaiton me fieri fecit/ 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 5. 827 
 
 Remakks. — This little tract has considerable interest for 
 the bibliographer, for although Oaxton had already printed 
 several service books before this was undertaken, such as the 
 two (if not three) editions of the " Horae" (pages 189 and 240 
 ante\ the Psalter with Service for the Dead (page 105 anU\ 
 and the "Servitium de Visitatione" (page 2G4 ante\ not 
 to mention the service books for the priests, such as " The 
 Festial " and the three editions of " Directoriuni," yet this can 
 certainly claim a unique distinction in two particulars, for it 
 is the only perfect service book in the types of Caxton, and it 
 is the only one known to have his imprint. 
 
 The observations concerning the printing of the " Horae," 
 last noticed, might be repeated here. This also has every 
 appearance of being a very late issue. No other book from 
 the same press was signed in a similar way. The first sheet 
 was evidently, like sig. f), printed four pages at once, in which 
 case it would be only nepessary to sign the first page, so as to 
 show the binder how to fold it. As in the first sheet the red 
 ink title and the woodcut would answer that purpose we find 
 no signature at all ; but the first page of the half-sheet, which 
 is the third leaf in the tract, is signed a ij. This is very 
 systematic, and according to the same plan the second sheet 
 is signed d j on the first recto only ; but it is an advance in 
 the art, beyond the usual practice of Caxton. 
 
 This service is one of the numerous additions made to the 
 " Church Calendar" in the fifteenth century, and, being newly 
 ordained by the Church, would not be found in the old manu- 
 script "Service Books." To supply this deficiency it was, 
 therefore, printed separately. 
 
 The only Existing Copy was purchased many years ago 
 in a volume of theological tracts by Joshua Wilson, Esq., of 
 Tunbridge Wells. When, in 1831, Mr. Wilson presented a 
 large portion of his collection to the Congregational Library, 
 Blomfield Street, London, this volume was among the number. 
 Here it was first noticed, in 1800, as containing a Caxton, by 
 Mr. Cowper, who sent an account of the volume to Nctes and 
 Queries. It was determined shortly after to dispose of it, and, 
 in Julv 18t)2, it came under the hammer of Mr. Puttick, 
 
828 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 when it fetched the high price of £200, and added another 
 curiosity to the Caxtonian treasures of the British Museum. 
 The volume is in its original binding, somewhat dilapidated, 
 of oak boards covered with stamped leather, and contains 
 besides four other black-letter tracts. 
 
 No. 80. — HoR^ — A Fragment. Fourth Ediiion. Svo. Sine 
 ummtd. (1490?)., 
 
 The Collation cannot be given, as four leaves only, 
 signed tl J, tl tj, t lij, t» Hi), are known. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — The type is No. 5 only. 
 The lines, of which there are seventeen to a page, are folly 
 spaced out, and measure 2f inches. Large full-faced Lom- 
 bardic capitals are plentifully used, and printed in red ink 
 separately, as are also such words as Psalmus and Versich. 
 This points to quite a late production in the career of Caxton, 
 probably after he had resigned the management of the practi- 
 cal part to his successor, Wynken de Worde. 
 
 The Text of sig. "tf j recto begins thus, with a 2-line capital 
 <© in red ink. 
 
 €). 
 
 i^loriosa femina txtU 
 ' la p'rper siitiera qui te cte^ 
 auit prouitre lactajsti satto btere 
 
 The first words on the succeeding recto are — 2, tUttl lite- 
 rati; 3, trominum; 4, Beus. 
 
 These unique leaves, which have evidently been used as 
 binder's waste to form the covers of a book, were presented to 
 the British Museum, in 1858, by Mr, Maskell (C. 35. A.). 
 Measurement 5^ X 4 inches. 
 
A 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF BOOKS PRINTED 
 
 IN 
 
 TYPE No. 6. 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE No. 6. 
 
 
 i 
 ^-0 
 
 
 
 
 81. Fayts 
 
 82. Statutes . 
 
 83. Governal 
 
 84. Keynard. Second Edition 
 
 85. Blanchardyn 
 
 86. Four Sons of Aymon 
 
 87. Directorium Sacerdotum 
 . 88. Eneydos . 
 
 89. Dictes. Third Edition 
 
 90. Mirror. Second Edition 
 
 91. Divers Ghostly 
 
 92. Fifteen Oes 
 
 93. Art and Craft 
 
 94. Courtesy. Second Edition . 
 
 95. Festial. Second Edition 
 
 96. Four Sermons. Second Edition 
 
 97. Ars moriendi 
 ., 98. Chastising 
 
 99. Treatise of Love 
 
 1489 
 
 1489 
 
 1489 
 
 1489? 
 
 1489 ? 
 
 1489? 
 
 1489? 
 
 1490 
 
 1490? 
 
 1490? 
 
 1491? 
 
 1491? 
 
 1491? 
 
 1491 ? 
 
 1491 ? 
 
 1491? 
 
 1491? 
 
 1491 ? 
 
 1491 ? 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE No. 6. 
 
 No. 81. — The Fayts of Aems and of Chivalry. Folio. 
 ** Fer Gaxtony Without Place. Printed the lAth day 
 of July, the fourth year of the reign of K. Henry VII., 
 or 1489. 
 
 Collation. — Two unsigned leaves of table ; ^ 18 (E 10 
 <^dF<&mS^^Mm<B^QkM'^^ 4-; S> a 3", with 
 the last leaf blank. In all 144 leaves, of which one is blank. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The whole book is in one type only, No. 6. The lines, which 
 are fiilly spaced out, measure 4| inches, and there are 31 to a 
 full page. Without folios or catchwords. Woodcut initial 
 letters. 
 
 The Text begins, with a 3-line initial, 
 
 ^|i ^tc begpnneti) tt)e table of tt)e rubrpsi^ps of tte 
 ^|« toke of tf)e fagt of armeg antj of (Kftpualrpe tofticfte 
 
 gagli hokt 133 tiepartj)ti in to foure parties / 
 C ^t^ ^Pt£(t pactge tieupset^ tt)e manece tt)at kgnges aniy 
 
 On sig. ^ J recto, 
 
 J^ete begpttnetf) tf)e took of fapttes of armes ^ of <!rf)puaU 
 rge/ antj tf)e first cfiapBtce is tfje prologue/ in tojicje xprg^ 
 stgne of pgge excusetlj tir self to ijaue tiar enterprise to 
 spe&e II of so t)6e matere as is eontegnet in tf)is sagli took 
 
 The Text ends on the verso of the same leaf, 
 
 remagne alletoag bgetorgous / Untr tiagl^ enereaee fro ber 
 tu to bertne $c fro better to better to i)is laube $c honour in 
 tt)is II present l^f / tt)at after tt)BS sftort ^^ transitorge Igf / 
 i)e mag at=||tegne to euerlastpng Igf in i^tntn / Wif^it^c 
 gob graunte to || i)gm anb to alle bgs Igege peple ^M^B^/ 
 
 ler OTajton 
 
382 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Remaeks. — There is a MS. in the British Museum {Roy, 
 1 5 E vi) containing the original French text of Christine de 
 Pisan. It agi'ees very accurately with Caxton's English ver- 
 sion, and has the introductory chapter, in which Christine 
 excuses herself, and explains her reasons for writing a work 
 on chivalry. This manuscript is also interesting from having 
 been A\Titten for the celebrated John Talbot, Earl of Shrews- 
 bury, who died in 1453, and by whom it was presented to 
 Queen Margaret. A still greater degree of interest would 
 invest the volume if we suppose it to be the identical manu- 
 script from which Caxton made his translation. This is cer^ 
 tainly not improbable, as the original from the Royal Library 
 was entrusted to our printer, for the purpose of translation 
 and printing, by King Henry YII of England, as we learn 
 fi'om the prologue: — "which book, being in French, was 
 delivered to me, Wilham Caxton, by the most christian king, 
 my natural sovereign lord, King Henry VII, in his Palace of 
 Westminster, and desired me to translate this said book, and 
 to put it in print." 
 
 Many French bibliogTaphers {Les Msc. Franc, t. v, page 
 94), ascribe the composition of " Faits d'Armes et de Cheva- 
 lerie " to Jean le Meun, so well known from his connection 
 with " Le Roman de le Rose." The sole reason for this 
 appears to have been the fact that Jean le Meun translated 
 into French the celebrated work of Yegetius "De re militari," 
 written in 1284, a work often quoted in the " Faits d'Armes ;" 
 but since the writings of Christine have become better known, 
 no one has ventured to claim for the thirteenth, a work con- 
 taining references and facts applicable only to the fifteenth 
 century. That a book on the " Rules of War " should in any 
 age have been written by a woman, is sufficiently improbable 
 to require a critical examination ; and, therefore, as the claims 
 of Christine to the authorship of " Les Faits d'Armes " are still 
 denied by some -wTiters, it may not be inappropriate to state 
 both sides of the argument. 
 
 Among the manuscripts in the British Museum is one 
 entitled "The Boke of Noblesse" {Royal 18, B. xxii). This, 
 for the first time, was printed in 18G0, for the members of 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. C. 838 
 
 the Roxburghe Club. The author is entirely unknown, and 
 
 the only reason for mentioning this at all is that the name of 
 Christine frequently appears in its pages as an authority upon 
 military matters, but is always referred to as " Dame Cristyn 
 in hir booke of Tree of Batailes," or some military phrase. 
 But " L'Arbre des Battailes " is the well-known compilation 
 of Honore Bonet, of which copies may be seen in Eoyal 20 C. 
 VIII, and Addit. 22768. Now, what is the natural conclusion 
 from this erroneous ascription ? Evidently that the imknown 
 writer of the " Book of Noblesse," quoting probably from a 
 copy of " L'Arbre des Battailes," which had neither prologue 
 nor epilogue; and having in his mind the great fame of 
 Christine as the Avriter of a book on a similar subject, made 
 the not unpardonable mistake of misquoting the author's 
 name, and attributing to Christine, the compiler of "Les 
 Faits d'Armes," all the quotations drawn from Bonet's 
 "L'Arbre de Battailes." Not so, argues Mr. John Gough 
 Nichols, in his interesting preface to the Roxburghe impres- 
 sion. " Christina de Pisan," he urges, " was a Poetess ;" and 
 it is not likely that she had more to do with the "Faits 
 d'Ai'mes" than the "dame Christine" of "The Book of No- 
 blesse" had with the "Arbre des Battailes." In support of 
 this opinion is quoted a marginal note in "The Boke of 
 Noblesse," in an old hand-\\Titing, but more modem than the 
 original manuscript, to the following effect : — 
 
 " L'Arbre des Battailles compose par Honore Banet Prwur de 
 Sallon en Prouuence.'* 
 
 " Note y* in some Authors this Booke is termed Dame Christine of y« 
 tree of Battayles. not that she made yt ; But bicause she was a notable 
 Benefactour to Learned men and perchance to y^ autor of this Booke 
 And therefore diverse of them sette fnrthe their Bookes under her 
 name." 
 
 The author of this note was evidently unacquainted vrith 
 the particulars of the life, or the character of the T\Titings, of 
 Christine — the " virilis foemina" of her eminent contemporary, 
 Grerson — and "La grant sagesse" of her editor, Jean Marot. 
 The assertion that authors set forth their books under her 
 name is unsupported by a single kno^^-n instance ; while her 
 
;^34 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 early tuition, political life, and numerous writings, would both 
 enable and incline her to compose such a work. 
 
 Christine expressly states in the preface that she wrote 
 the work; and although Yerard, in his printed edition of 
 1488, omits the prefatory address, it appears in numerous 
 manuscripts, and may be read in Caxton's translation. " Be- 
 cause," says Christine, "men of arms are not clerks, nor 
 instructed in the science of language, I have assembled and 
 gathered together diverse books to produce this w^ork. And 
 because that this is a thing not accustomed and out of usage 
 to women / which commonly do not intermit but to spin on 
 the distaif and occupy them in things of household. I suppli- 
 cate humbly * * to have nor take it for no evil if I a woman 
 charge myself to treat of so high a matter." 
 
 No one doubts that Dame Juliana Berners wrote the well- 
 known "Treatise on Hunting and Hawking," and the evi- 
 dence that Christine de Pisan wrote "The Fayts of Arms" is 
 equally strong. 
 
 Christine was no common poetess whose strength was in 
 the prettiness of her amatory verses. The short account of 
 her already given (see ante page 193), will show the energetic 
 and comprehensive character of her mind. Educated by her 
 Mher in the whole course of literature at that time in vogue, 
 she had, while yet young, made herself mistress of the Latin 
 language, and stored her mind by the perusal of the most 
 celebrated wTitings, as well Pagan as Christian. Living in 
 the midst of wars and preparations for war, many of her 
 acknowledged \\Ti tings teem with warlike allusions. In poli- 
 tics her opinion had great weight ; she was consulted by the 
 highest nobles of France ; and many years of her life were 
 spent in the endeavour to raise the political and moral tone of 
 the country. The celebrated Jean le Meun found in her no 
 weak opponent, and the equally celebrated Chancellor Gerson 
 a most potent ally. 
 
 There are 21 copies of this w^ork known, of which eleven 
 are in private libraries. 
 
BOOKS PBINTED IN TYPE NO. fi. 885 
 
 No. 82. — Statutes of Henry VII. Folio. Sine ulld rwi^. 
 (1489?) 
 
 Collation. — a ft c tl are 4"", with the first leaf of a blank ; 
 e a 5°, with the last blank. Total 42 leaves, of which two are 
 blank. 
 
 Note. — ^The signature is omitted on a ij. The third and 
 fifth leaves of e are erroneously signed tJ \\\ and lr b. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is all No. 6. The lines, which are spaced to an even 
 length, measure 4f inches, and there are 31 (in three instances 
 83 lines) to a full page. Without folios or catchwords. Only 
 one 2-line woodcut initial is used. 
 
 After a blank leaf, the work commences on the second 
 recto of sig. a. 
 
 The Text begins thus — 
 
 C ^¥ Itpnge out sotierepn lorTreJenrg tje geuentl) after tfir 
 conquest ftp t^e grace of got» fegng of (iff ngloittj $c of dTra- 
 unce antj lorTie of ^Itlontie at i)(0 parlgamet ftoltien at \Qt%U 
 
 /The Text ends on sig. e9 verso, the whole page being as 
 follows— j?.:jfr 
 
 plegsure/^l^i^cljer fte toplle after tf)e fourme contepnrti $c 
 ortiei II netj in anti ftg ^i% arte /or after tje maner ^ fourme 
 afore till me bsetr/ 
 
 Remarks. — This is the earliest known volume of printed 
 statutes, and is further remarkable as being in English. It 
 contains some very curious and interesting legislation on 
 political, trade, and domestic matters. 
 
 The British Museum copy was purchased from Mr. Lilly, 
 who, a few days before, had bought it at Hodgson's for £2 lOs. 
 It was then bound up with some other law tracts and year- 
 books, mostly from the press of Machlinia, one of which, 
 being unique, was catalogued by Mr. Lilly at 100 guineas. 
 There is also a perfect copy in the National Library, Paris, 
 and the Inner Temple, London, with one copy only in private 
 hands. 
 
336 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 No. 83. — The Governal of Health. — ^The Medicina 
 Stomachi. Quarto. Sim ulld notd. (1489 ?). 
 
 Collation.— The " Governal," a and ig 4"« ; the " Medi- 
 cina," two unsigned leaves = eighteen leaves. 
 
 Typo(31RAPhical Particulars. — Without title-page. Only 
 one type, No. 6, is used throughout. The lines, which are of 
 an even length, and measure 2f inches, excepting 13 7 verso, 
 which has 24, have all 23 hues to a page. Wood-cut initials 
 to chapters. Without folios or catchwords. 
 
 The Text begins on sig. ^ j recto, 
 
 n tf)is tretgee tjat is clepeli (^o 
 
 ^M • uemaple of t^ltje : ^IHftat is to 
 
 tlw ie sa^tj bjgtf) crsstis ijeipe of so- 
 
 g JK^ me tijgnges tf)at longen to totri 
 
 Ig i)elti)e/i&atitre antJ to ie Itept or 
 to fiotrilg i)eltf)e . lost aitb to te recouecetj / antr 
 
 and ends, 
 
 W^\% lecegte f)oug!)te is of no potgcatjDC 
 <©f mapster antonp ne of magster fitigfje 
 Co all intJgffetent it is tgci^est tigetarge 
 
 iil^xplicit metjicina stomactii : 
 
 Remarks. — The "Governal" was originally written in 
 Latin, and soon after translated into English, but no trace 
 of the translator's name is left. The date of the original 
 composition is unknown ; we can only gather from the non- 
 existence of manuscripts of a later date than the latter half 
 of the fourteenth century that it was composed about that 
 period. 
 
 The name of the author or compiler is doubtful. From 
 Sham 989 one would say that John de Burdeux wrote it for 
 the good of a "frende," but Shans 3149 attributes it to 
 another ^vriter, "Explicit tractatus Bartholomei." John de 
 Burdeux was the author of several tracts on medicine, and 
 flourished in the latter half of the fourteenth century. Bar- 
 tholomeus was rather a prolific writer of the fourteenth and 
 
H 
 
 Plate XIII. 
 
 Cu/xlon'9 Type, No. (l 
 
 umtayte of ^li^e: 'tSDl»< t« fe 
 ft rap^ tbytlb «pr^« ^i»x of joJ 
 me t$i?n^cci t^fit £bnge») fo &^ 
 ^ I]^ ^It^c/^^ an^ to & Sept 01 
 to fo^tlp ^It^c .^f< «n?> fo fe tt«cmnt/an^ 
 16 «fpatee^ ti) Stij.c^py<ttte6/<^a< t« fc faj* 
 % <^e f j>if<€ c^apgitse of (^ pt»fj)<& of goo5e 
 <Oou«rnap& of UWv ^ i^.diapptee Ib^a* 
 10 ftjft ot) mototb fo fe ^/3») % tii.cl)dptfe« 
 of 6>i>plp cjomrpce/ t^«(i« fo fajje. ^ffme g 
 
 ^16 ptofpfe/ 3l) (^ f)ttZ<t> c^jipptw of fpj>«« 
 
 of tiocafvx/i) % fpf t^c c^apigtrc ^tt) ami 
 
 3i) dbc ^j.c^pitzc ^Ito a ma») r()w^ b^ue %|ti) 
 ti) Mrgn^im^ of ^te M:))n^e6/3t) i^ Sti.c^ap 
 R<a tbW f fe fe »ne af<K2 mcfe/3») t^ St^ 
 cl^PI^ of atft nof fc of $tti>n gouetnfttince 
 
 *Tr* '€ mtj>($ f;pn) d^at tbotl ^m fetwjc 
 •^ Ipff tf> finotbc t^ ctaf «c of ^Ifome goj 
 iTCtnep^. Qtn^ fo for to 6cpc (onipnmttpl^ 
 W*of ^66c)^{'/fbtck(SimaBeno(o9info 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 6. 337 
 
 fifteenth centuries, but the " Govemal " is not found among 
 the works generally attributed to him. Whoever may have 
 been the author, tlie work possesses small claims to originality, 
 being a compilation from the medical works of the Arabian 
 and Greek physicians, and quoting largely from the " Regimen 
 Sanitatis Salernitauum." The "Medicina Stomachi" is con- 
 tained in most collections of Lydgate's poetry, and in Harl. 
 IK) is directly attributed to him. 
 
 Both tracts were reprinted by Wynken de "Worde, sine ] (/ 
 annOy who repeats all the blunders of the first edition. These ' 
 editions are equally rare, the only copy of the second being in 
 the Public Library, Cambridge. An annotated reprint of 
 Caxton's text was issued privately by the editor of this work 
 in 1858. On no other occasion does this interesting treatise, 
 which was the earliest medical book printed in the English 
 language, appear to have passed through the press. 
 
 A good copy is in the old library of the Earls of Dysart, 
 at Ham House, Surrey, and another in the Bodleian. 
 
 No. 84. — The History of Keynard the Fox. Second 
 Editmi. Folio. Sim ulld notu. (1489?) 
 
 Collation. — An unsigned sheet of introductory matter ; 
 sigs. a i) C "tJ e f 3 t) are 4°* ; i is a 3°. No blank leaves. In 
 aU seventy leaves. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type throughout is No. 6. The hues, which are fully 
 spaced out, measure 5f inches, and there are 31 (sometimes 
 32) to a page. Woodcut initials are used. On the first 
 recto is Caxton's device, underneath which is the following 
 line only : — 
 
 C C^iies is tf)e tatle of tf)e ttjs^torge of l^epnart tje foie/ 
 
 On the verso commences the table, which ends seven lines 
 down the second recto, underneath which is, 
 
 C iftger beggnnct^ testorpc of regnarti tje foxe . 
 
 The preface finishes the page. The second verso is blank. 
 
 z 
 
 <" 
 
388 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Onsig. aj, 
 
 C ?&oto tije Igon ttgnge of aUe tiestgjci sent oute legist 
 mautje || mentgis tftat alle teestgs sjoltre come to i)gs feegt 
 anti court/ 
 
 C iS'apitulo ^timo 
 
 The conclusion of the text cannot be given, no perfect 
 copy being at present known. For an account of the first 
 edition of this celebrated allegory see ante page 227. 
 
 The only Existing Copy is in the Pepysian Library, 
 Cambridge. It unfortunately wants the last two leaves, con- 
 taining the epilogue of Caxton, and ends on sig. ( 4 verso, 
 with these words, 
 
 ^xCti f)er togtt) toil ^ leue forb) 
 fjat ijaue 3? to totgte of ti^gse rngstietiiiE; 3> |aue pnotoi) to troo 
 
 It is in good condition, but cropped, measuring 9 x 6| inches. 
 Pepys's arms on the binding, and his book-plate inside. The 
 wanting leaves are supplied in manuscript of seventeenth 
 century. 
 
 No. 85. — The History of Blanchardin and Eglantine. 
 Folio. Sim ulld notd. (1489 ?) 
 
 Collation. — Imperfectly known. The introductory matter 
 makes a 3", signed i, tt, tif, the sixth leaf being blank. ^'^ (ft 
 B(&JF^MS^^MaTe 4"% and there were probably 
 several other additional signatures. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — "Without title. The type 
 is all No. 6. The lines, which are all of one length, measure 
 4f inches, and there are 31 to a full page. Woodcut initials. 
 Without folios or catchwords. 
 
 The Text begins on sig. j recto, with a prologue by Caxton, 
 
 Wt^to ti)e rigftt nolile pugssaut ^ excellet prgncejsiiBie mg 
 
 retioutteli latig mg latjg margarete liucftesge of So^ 
 
 mercete/motier bnto our naturel ^ soueragn lorti anti mojit 
 
 and finishes on the verso of the same leaf, 
 
 3fope0 ^mx^ in ti^gs present Igff : C ^nti after tjw sj^ort 
 antr transptorpe Ipff . etierlaststige Igf in i)euen ^xatn/ 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IX TYPE NO. f>. 889 
 
 The table follows on sig. ij, with a 2-lme initial, 
 ^iSlanctartigtt / uone of tfie mtlt Itgng of dFrpge 
 
 and finishes on the 5th recto, which, however, in the only copy 
 known, is unfortunately, in manuscript. This appears to have 
 been copied from the very rare reprint by Wynken de Worde, 
 the last four lines being — " How Blanchardin wedded his love 
 the proude | pncelle in amours : And of the grete ioye that | 
 was made there . and of the Kynge of Fryse deth capl° liiij** " 
 
 The sixth leaf is blank. On sig. H f recto the first chapter 
 commences as follows : — 
 
 C Cft^ first cjapitre of ^i^ present hokt contegnetj t)oto 
 ISlancftaclKgn tiepartetj out of tj)e court of i)is fatier kpnge 
 of frpse / OTapitulo primo . 
 
 ^Jgat tpme toi&en tt)e i^igi)t fiappg . toele of 
 
 All the text after sig. JH Hi} is wanting in the only known 
 copy. 
 
 Remakes. — The prologue to Caxton's translation of this 
 romance is fortunately preserved, from which we learn that 
 Margaret, Duchess of Somerset, brought to Caxton the French 
 version of this romance (which she had "long before" pur- 
 chased of him), with her commands that he should translate 
 it into English. Having made the translation, he presented 
 it to Her Grace, probably as a manuscript, as he says nothing 
 of any command to print it. It was, however, soon after put 
 to press, perhaps at Caxton's own risk, as a trade speculation. 
 As to the date, there are only the typographical particulars to 
 guide us, which, however, all point to about the year 1489. 
 
 The only known Existing Copy is in the library of Earl 
 Spencer. It is, unfortunately, imperfect. 
 
 No. 86.— The Four Sons op Aymon. Folio, Sine uUd notd, 
 
 (1489?) 
 
 The Collation cannot be given accurately, as no perfect 
 copy is known. M^(tm(!^dr^V^S^^MB'^ 
 
 z2 
 
340 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 1 <©i^S C mx 8 % aa t)fi re tjtJ ee ii gg !)fi u Hit II are 
 
 all 4"^, mm being a 3^ with the sixth leaf, probably, blank. 
 This makes a total of 278 leaves ; but it is more than likely 
 that some introductory matter preceded sig. ^. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — Only one type, No. 6, 
 is used. The lines, which are all of an even length, measure 
 4f inches, and there are 31 to a full page. Without folios or 
 catchwords. Woodcut initials throughout. 
 
 The only known copy of this edition begins on sig. IS \\), 
 in the middle of a sentence, 
 
 ilepnatotie one of tf)e sones of Egmon/bSerof jspecgallg tre 
 
 The Text ends on the fifth verso of sig, mm, with the fol- 
 lowing sentence : — 
 
 \yi fapr lottjes tiienne tl)at tjis present toke sj^al re^ 
 tie or ftere . toe sjall praj)e gotr $c tje glorious jsapnte 
 Megnaube tje marter/tjat |e ggue bs graee to penseuere/ 
 antj II rontgnue our liff in gooti lierfees . tg tf)e iDt)ief)e toe 
 mag f)a || ue at our entignge ti)e lif tf)at euer si)aU laste/ 
 
 Remarks. — Manuscripts of this favourite romance, con- 
 cerning the original of which little appears to be known, 
 mount up to the thirteenth century, and references to it are 
 found in manuscripts of a still earlier date ; but all these are 
 rytlmiical romances, and Caxton's translation (if we may give 
 him the credit of it) was evidently made from a French prose 
 text, perhaps that printed at Lyons, about 1480, under the 
 title " Les quatre filz Aymon." 
 
 Before the discovery of the volume under review, the 
 earliest printed English text of "The four sons of Aymon" 
 was the 1554 edition of R. Copland, to which was appended 
 the following colophon : — 
 
 *' €[ Here finishith the hystory of the | noble and valiaunt knyght 
 Reynawde | of Mountawban, and his three bre- | thern ^ Imprinted at 
 London, by | Wynken de Worde, the . viij. daye of | Maye, and ye yere of 
 
B(X)K8 PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 6. 841 
 
 our lorde . M ,C | CCCC iiii . at the request and com- | maandement of 
 the noble and puis- | saunt eric, the Erie of Oxenforde, | And now 
 Emprinted in the yere of | our Lord . M . CCCCC . 1 iiii . the | vi daye of 
 Maye, By wylliam Cop- | land, for Thomas Petet." 
 
 From Copland's colophon we learn that an edition was 
 issued in 1504 by Wynken de Worde, although, unfortunately, 
 not a single copy is now known to exist. He, of course, re- 
 printed fi'om the text under review; and, indeed, the first 
 portion of the colophon above quoted, so far as it concerns 
 Wynken de Worde, is quite in Caxton's style, and recalls the 
 numerous instances already noticed, in which Wynken de 
 Worde, by altering the printer's name and the date, has falsi- 
 fied both typographical and historical truth. That in this 
 case he used Caxton's colophon, with alterations, is rendered 
 almost certain when the prologue to Copland's edition is 
 ])erused. Here we have all the peculiarities of our first 
 printer's style, and his very diction. 
 
 No manuscript or printed copy of Caxton's life of Robert, 
 Earl of Oxford, is kno\\ii. 
 
 The only known Existing Copy of Caxton's edition is in 
 the library of Earl Spencer. It is imperfect, wanting all 
 before sig. i3lif ; B 8, and ^ 8. 
 
 No. 87. — DiRECTORiUM Sacerdotum, una cum Defensorio 
 
 EJUSDEM ; ITEM TrACTATUS QUI DICITUB CREDE MIHI. 
 
 Folio. Second Version. Second Edition. " Im2)rps- 
 
 stim per Wilkhnu Cuxton apud westinoimsteriu prope 
 
 London r' WUhyut Date. (1489?) 
 
 Collation. — A preliminary 4", signed only on the fourth 
 
 recto with the figure 4; atctiefgftililmnopqirst 
 
 U X B are all 4"*; ^ is a 5". Total 194 leaves. No blanks. 
 
 TYPOGRAPHiCAii PARTICULARS. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is all No. 6. The lines, which are spaced to an even 
 length, measure 4f inches. Exclusive of head-lines there are 
 31 to a page. A few 2-line woodcut initials. Without folios 
 or catchwords. 
 
 The " Kalendar," which has the same woodcut KL as in 
 the first edition, commences on the first recto, thus :- — 
 
S42 WILLIAM CAXTOX. 
 
 m 
 
 ^xima Xim mtnm et septima tiucat bt mm 
 Smmxm Jabet tJies nrt/luna bero xxx 
 
 The Text ends on sig. ^10 verso, 
 
 bix poterit etcare : in seruicio tJtuino Beo (^raciajf 
 C Olaxton me Htxi fecit . 
 
 Remarks. — From the fact of the Printer beginning his 
 table for finding the Golden and Dominical Letters at the 
 year 1489, we may safely assume that year to be the date of 
 printing, as to print back years would be useless. The com- 
 bination of red and black figures, the black form being first 
 printed, and the red form secondly and separately, shows a 
 great advance in workmanship over other books by Caxton. 
 
 Like the first edition there is only one Existing Copy 
 known of this, which is in the Bodleian Library. It is, with 
 " The Art and Craft to know well to die " by the same printer, 
 still in the original parchment wrapper, as issued from Caxton's 
 workshop. It is perfect, and in good condition. 
 
 No. 88. — Eneydos. Folio. Without Printer's Name, Place, 
 or Date. " Translated hj me ivyllyam Caxton,'' June 
 22nd, 1490. 
 
 Collation. — Sig. E a 3", with the first leaf blank ; iS (^ 
 BiBdFi^JSSJltll are 4°% with U 8 blank. In all 86 
 leaves, of which two are blank. 
 
 Dr. Dibdin erroneously ascribes only four leaves to sig. ^. 
 
 Note. — Sig. a is very irregular : the first leaf, which is 
 blank, is not reckoned in the signatures, the second and third 
 leaves being signed respectively ^ j, and ^ tj. The fourth 
 leaf, which, to agi-ee with the othei-s, should have been signed 
 ^ ii\, has no- signature at all ; while the omitted signature, 
 ^ Hi, appears on the sixth or last leaf of the 3". 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is all No. 6. The lines are spaced to an even length. 
 
BOOKS FBINTED IN TYPE NO. 6. 343 
 
 and measure 4 J inches. There are 81 lines to a fdll page. 
 Woodcut initials of two, three, and six lines in depth. 
 
 After a blank leaf the prologue begins on the second recto, 
 signed E j, 
 
 after tiguergf toerltes watic / translateti anlr aci)ieuetj / i)a 
 upng itoo tocrlte in ftantie . § sitting in mg stutipe tojere a0 
 lage mang tiguerse pauntlettig antj toofegs ♦ fiappeneti tftat 
 
 The Text ends on sig. H 7 recto, with the follo^ving 
 colophon : — 
 
 lfl^(^^(& fpnpsfietf) tje tolte pf (i^nrgtios / comppleTi bg 
 ®St^ II fiPl^/ tofttcje Jatje fie translatetr oute of latgite in to 
 fcensje/ II ^nti oute of frensje xthuctti in to (il^nglpssfie fig 
 me bjpUm || (Kaxton /tje iiir,1ia]ee of Su^n.if^t pere of out 
 lorte.iE.iiiJIIOIlxxii. Cftefgtfie pete of tje i^egne of 
 ftpnge JS^tp || tfte jfeuentft 
 
 Caxton's device on the verso. The eighth leaf is a blank. 
 
 Remaeks. — The " lytyl booke in frenshe, named Eneydos," 
 which happened to come under our Printer's notice while sit- 
 ting in his study surrounded with many divers pamphlets, is 
 a free paraphrase of portions of " The -^neid," by Virgil. 
 Had Gawin Douglas, who, in 1553, issued a Scotch metrical 
 version of " The ^neid," read Caxton's preface, he would 
 have seen that Caxton does not pretend to give a translation 
 of the Latin poem, and might have spared himself the trouble 
 of some hundreds of lines in abuse thereof. The " Eneydos " 
 was issued only as a romance compiled from Virgil's "-ffineid" 
 and Bocace's " Fall of Princes ;" and, with little merit, it 
 seems to have gained little favour, even with the lovers of 
 such compilations, for it never reached a second edition. It 
 would appear, however, that a good sale was expected, and an 
 impression more numerous than usual struck off, as few of 
 Caxton's books are so common as " Eneydos." 
 
 Existing Copies. — British Museum (8); Cambridge; 
 Trinity CoUege, Cambridge ; Oxford (3) ; St. John's, Oxford ; 
 Hunterian, Glasgow ; and 8 in private libraries. 
 
344 WILLIAM CAXTON, 
 
 No. 89. — The Dictes and Sayings op the Philosophees. 
 Third Edition. Folio. Westminster. The year 1477 
 erroneously reprinted, the real date beiny about 1490. 
 
 Collation. — The device and prologue occupy two un- 
 signed leaves; then, ^ iS ^ B dr Jf (^ me 4"^ J^ and g 
 
 3"% the sixth leaf of ^f being blank. In all 70 leaves, of which 
 the last is blank. Dr. Dibdin erroneously states " It contains 
 only 66 leaves." 
 
 There is no title-page. The only tjipe used is No. 6. The 
 lines which are fully spaced out measure 4f inches. There 
 are 30 and 32 lines to a page, but mostly 31. Without folios 
 or catchwords. 2 and 3-line woodcut initials. 
 
 Oaxton's device is in the centre of the first recto, the pro- 
 logue commencing on the verso with a 2 -line wood initial, 
 
 201J J^ere it is so tfjat euerg creature tjg tf)e suf rannee of 
 ^SKtlour lorti gotr is torn antr ortiegneti to tt stitgette antr 
 tftrall bttto tf)e stormes of fortune , Enti so in tJiuerse mti 
 
 ^tiect)ias toas ti^e ftrst. Uilosopfiir t^ tof)om 
 )tf)rougft tf)e bgl antj pleaser of our lorti gotr, Sa^ 
 pience teas bntierstantie antr laloes rescegueti. to})i=: 
 eje. Setiecftias saitie ti)at euerp creature of gootr teleue 
 
 The Text ends at foot of fifth recto of sig. ^f? 
 
 5Mi)om § tesecfte aimpg^tp gotf tencrece anti to continue 
 in t)is bertuous tiisposicion m tf)is toorlti , Entr after t^is 
 Igf to Ipue euer lastingly in i)eueit . ilmen , 
 
 C (iTaxton me fieri fecit ♦ 
 
 The verso and final leaf are blank. 
 
 Remarks. — This is another instance of the original date 
 and imprint of a book being reproduced in subsequent 
 editions. AU* the typographical particulars prove it to have 
 been about 1490; and the presence of signatures, printed 
 initials, and evenly spaced lines, give direct testimony against 
 the date 1477, at which time none of these had been adopted 
 at Westminster. 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 6. 845 
 
 For literary particulars, see the first edition, page 186, ants. 
 Existing Copies. — Cambridge : St. John's College, Cam- 
 bridge; Oxford, and Lambeth Palace. Three copies are in 
 private libraries. 
 
 No. 90. — The Mirrour of the World. Second Edition. 
 Folio. The Name, Places and Date of the First Edition 
 reprinfsd; but about 14:dO. 
 
 Collation. — a !lcTjefgi)ifelare 4°', the last leaf 
 occupied with the device only. In all 88 leaves. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type is all No. 6. The lines, Avhich are spaced to an even 
 length, measure 4f inches, and a full page contains 31. With- 
 out folios or catchwords. 2 and 8-line initials in wood. 
 
 Commencing with a blank leaf, the table follows on the 
 second recto, signed, however, a j. 
 
 The Text begins on a t recto, 
 
 ^ U bolume nameli t^e msi;rour of tie tooclti or tig- 
 mage of ti)c game/ 
 
 The Text ends on the seventh verso of sig. I, 
 
 aitlr transptorge Ipf fte trpnge Jgrn anti bs in to ftw celestg^ 
 al tlfisse in teuene ^M^^ / 
 
 C iHTaxton me fieri feeit . 
 
 On the eighth verso is the device, the recto being blank. 
 
 Remarks. — Although this book bears the same dates as 
 the first edition, it is very e\ident from the type, from the 
 device, from the use of a woodcut to head Chapter II, which 
 had been used shortly before in the " Royal Book," and from 
 many other more minute e\'idences, that it really was not 
 printed till about 1490. 
 
 It would seem that the proper cut for Chapter II, viz. a 
 figure of a philosopher with the globe in his hand, having 
 been injured or lost, that the workman chose the first which 
 offered itself, and thus, in this edition, we have the very 
 
346 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 inappropriate illustration of Christ's transfiguration, as head 
 to the chapter, " Why God made and created tlie World." 
 
 Existing Copies. — Cambridge: Pepysian, Cambridge; 
 Exeter College, Oxford ; Hunterian, Glasgow; Baptist College, 
 Bristol ; and seven in private hands. 
 
 No. 91. — A Book of divers Ghostly matters, contain- 
 ing : — The Seven points of true Love and ever- 
 lasting Wisdom, or Orologifm Sapienti^: The 
 Twelve profits of Tribulation ; — The Rule of 
 St. Benet. Quarto. Wyllelmu Caxton. ^^ Emprynted 
 westmynstrer Without Date. (1490?) 
 
 Collation. — The " Seven points of True Wisdom " has 
 aigarBa^dFigJl^fi^lliEaU 4-, or 96 leaves. 
 
 The " Twelve profits of Tribulation" has E 13 (S: IB all 
 4"', or 32 leaves. 
 
 The " Rule of St. Benet " has a f) 4'" and c a 2", or 20 
 leaves. 
 
 Total of the three tracts, 148 leaves, all printed. 
 
 Note. — The signatures to the third tract are unusual, viz. 
 
 a is signed aa, a ij, aa iij, a iiif; ft is signed jbt) i i\, t ii\, 
 
 t tiij; C is signed CC, t If. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — Without title-page. The 
 type throughout is No. 6. The lines, which are spaced to an 
 even length, measure 3f inches, and 24 make a full page. 
 Without folios or catchwords. 
 
 The Text of " The Seven points of True Wisdom " begin 
 on sig. E j: — 
 
 \^ of gf %t\xtxi pogntes of tretoe lone antr 
 euerlastgng b)g0t»om tiratoen oute of 
 ge jbookc gt ig totiten in latgn anti clepeti <!^ro^ 
 logium sapiertcie / 
 
 The tract ends thus, on sig. jfE 8 verso, 
 
 C Ci)U0 entiitf) tt)e trcatgsf of tj^e bil 
 popntps of true louc ^ euerlastjng bjgstiom / 
 
IKX)KS riilXTKD IN TYPE SO. C. 847 
 
 tiratomof of tlje boketfjat tstorpten inlatenna 
 mctn (©rologiu jsapiecie . 
 
 C iJrmprgntelr at toestmpnstre 
 
 C <Qui legit rmenljet / presjsjorem non repre 
 ftentiat 
 
 C HftfiUelmu OTajton . OTui tir' alta tratiat 
 
 The " Rule of St. Bcnet " ends on verso of sig. C 4, 
 
 C (if^mprgntelj at toeistrnpstce bg tjesirsng 
 of certcgn tDor0t)ipfuU perjsones : , 
 
 Remarks. — Little is known of Jelian de Soushavie, or 
 Souaube, as a French copy has it. Bibliographers generally 
 call him Henry de Suso, probably after the example of Echard, 
 in his " Script, ordin. Prasdicat." The English version printed 
 by Caxton is correctly described, not as a translation, but as 
 " drawen oute of" a book named " Orologium Sapientiae." Tlie 
 printed text is not equal in extent to one-half of the original. 
 Was it this induced Caxton to end the tract with " Qui legit 
 emendet, pressorem nor reprehendat ?" — a parody of the phrase 
 often seen in manuscrijits " Qui legit emendet scriptorpm non 
 reprehendat." Caxton says of the " Rule of St. Benet," which 
 is a translation irom the Latin, that he was employed to print 
 it " by desire of certain worshipful persons." 
 
 The signatures given by the Printer to these three tracts 
 suggest the probability that they were intended to l)e issued 
 separately : but as in all the known copies they appear bound 
 together, and as they have hitherto been described under the 
 general head of " Divers Ghostly matters," it has been deemed 
 advisable to retain that arrangement. 
 
 Existing Copies. — Cambridge, Durham Cathedral ; and 
 four in private libraries. 
 
348 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 No. 92. — The Fifteen Oeb, and other Prayers. Quarto. 
 Printed ly commandment of the Princess Elizabeth, 
 Queen of England, and the Princess Margaret, Mother 
 unto our sovereign lord the King, ly their most humlle 
 subject and servant William Oaxton. Without Place or 
 Date. (1491?) 
 
 Collation. — a i) are 4"'; c is a 3" = 22 leaves. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title. The 
 type is all No. 6. The lines, which are spaced to an even 
 length, measure 3;^ inches, and there are 21 to a Ml page. 
 Without folios or head-lines. Woodcut initials. A woodcut 
 border, in four separate pieces, is placed round each page. 
 This border was used later, for an undated but very early 
 edition of " Horas," by Wynken de Worde. The wood en- 
 graving of the Crucifixion, which appears upon the verso of 
 the first leaf, has considerable artistic merit. It appears to 
 have been a favourite, having been used at a later period, by 
 Wynken de Worde, in several publications. 
 
 The recto of the first leaf is blank, but the verso is occu- 
 pied with the woodcut of the Crucifixion, already noticed. 
 
 Upon the second recto (not signed, unless the signature 
 has been cut away in binding) the Text begins with a 5-line 
 initial in wood, — 
 
 3KJ)csu entiles ^\3iittnt» of 
 lougng soules / <© M^m 
 fioistlp tope passing ^ tx^ 
 cetigng all glatines anti 
 liesires, (^ Jifieisu l)eltj)e ^ 
 tentJte louer of al repentant %inxiti^ tjat 
 
 O 
 
 and on the verso of e 6, ends thus : — 
 
 C ^fiiese pragers tofore toreton ten en 
 pritelJ fig ti^e comautiementes of tje mos 
 te t)ge ^ bertuous grgneesse our liege la 
 Iji (J^li^atett tg ti&e graee of gotj (©uene 
 of (iBnglontre ^ of dFrauee . ^ also of tfte 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 0. 349 
 
 rigtt f)pe ^ most noble pcjpnccgse iEarga 
 me Motitt bnto our soueragn lorlje tje 
 ftgrtfi / ^c 
 
 C 13jp tijeir most iiumble sutget antj 
 seruaut 51HiU(am OfTaxton 
 
 Remarks. — The fifteen prayers, named from the fact of 
 their all commencing with the letter 0, '* the fiAeen Oes," 
 are commonly found in the manuscript Horae of the fifteenth 
 century, in tlieir original Latin. They were frequently printed 
 both in that language and in English, Caxton's version of the 
 latter being possibly the earliest. All these prayers breathe a 
 spirit of earnest devotion, and as an example the following is 
 laid before the reader. 
 
 " Jhesu heuenly leche haue mynde of thy langour and 
 blewnes of thy wofides & sorowe that thou sufiredest in the 
 heyght of the crosse / when thou were lifte vp fro the erthe / 
 that thou were all to torne in all thy limmes / soo that there 
 was noo limme abydynge in his right ioyntc/soo that noo 
 sorowe was like to thyne fro the sole of thy fote to the toppe 
 of thy hede there was no hole place / And yet forgetying in 
 maner all those greuous paynes / thou preydest deuoutly & 
 charitably to thy fader for thine enmyes sayeng thus / Fader 
 foryeue it theim / for they wyte not what they done / For this 
 blessed charytable mercy that thou shewdest to thyne enemyes. 
 and for mynde of thyse by tter paynes / graunte me / that the 
 mynde of this bytter passion be to me plenar remyssion & 
 foryeuenes of my sinnis Amen / |[ Pater noster Aue 
 
 maria " 
 
 Another prayer commences thus : — 
 
 " blessid Jhesu swetnes of hertes and gostli hony of 
 soules. I beseche the for the byttemes of the aysel and galle 
 that thou tasted " &c. 
 
 The " Rex Henricus " of the Prayer on c til j verso, was 
 Saint Henry, sumamed the Pious and the Lame. He was son 
 of Henry Duke of Bavaria, and was bom in the year 972 ; 
 cro\^•ned King of Germany, at Mentz, in 1002; died 14 th 
 July 1024 ; and was canonised by Pope Eugenius III in 1152. 
 
850 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Preceding a printed Latin version of the " Fifteen Oes " 
 in the British Museum (C. 23. b. 24), is the following para- 
 graph in English : — " These be the . xv. oos the whyche the 
 holy virgyn saint brygitta was wonte to saye dayly before the 
 holy rode in saint Paules chyrche at rome : who so saye this 
 a hole yere he shall deleuer . xv. soules out of purgatory of 
 hys nexte kyndred . and conuerte other . xv. synners to gode 
 lyf and other . xv. ryghtuouse men of hys kynde shall per- 
 seuer in gode lyfe." 
 
 In Harl. MS. 2255 is a paraphrase of the " Fifteen Oes," 
 by John Lydgate, beginning — " blessyd lord my lord, 
 Christ Jesu." 
 
 The only Existing Copy known is in the British Museum 
 (C. 25. c), and is bound with several tracts printed by Wynken 
 de Worde. It is perfect and in good preservation, although a 
 good deal cropped in the binding. Measurement, 6J x 5 
 inches. Purchased in 1851. 
 
 No. 93. — The Art and Craft to Know well to Die. 
 Folio. Translated by Caxton in 1490 Without Printer's 
 Name, Place, or Date. (1491?) 
 
 Collation. — '^ a 4"; iS a 2"; then a single leaf impro- 
 perly signed i3 ilj, which was, probably, followed by a blank. 
 Total, thirteen printed leaves. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The only type used is No. 6. The lines, which measure 4f 
 inches, are spaced to an even length, and there are 31 to a 
 page. Without catchwords or folios. Several 2 and 3-line 
 initials in wood. 
 
 The Text begins on sig. ^ ) recto, 
 
 C Jfeere tieggnnet!) a litgll treatise istotte antr atretrgetJ 0pe=: 
 fepnge of tje arte ^ eraft to Itnobe toell to Ijge 
 
 ^ J^an iX g0 000 tjat toftat a man maltetj or XioetJ / it 
 ^ 10 walie to come to 0ome entie/antr gf ti^e tfignge te 
 *'fiootie antJ bell matre/it mu0te neties come to goolre 
 t^t . CJenne tg tetter $c gretter rea0Ott / euerg man ougft te to 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IX TYPE NO. C. 851 
 
 The Text ends on a single leaf, signed id iiU 
 
 CfiuiEt enliett tf)e trapttge attetngeti of tfte 
 arte to leme toell to bege/ translatetj oute of 
 ftensfte m to cnglpssfte . ftp totUm Otaarton 
 tt)e xb . tag of 3lugn / tf)e gere of our lortJ a 
 M Hi} ^Ixxx X . 
 
 Rbmaeks. — Manuscripts of this work are usually known 
 as " The Art and Craft to live well and die well." This was 
 often printed. A Latin edition was issued by Guy Marchand, 
 at Paris, in 1483, and French editions by Yerard, at Paris, 
 and Colard Mansion, at Bruges. From the latter it seems 
 very probable that our Caxton, as he says in the colophon, 
 " abredged " his text. 
 
 An English version of the full work was made early in 
 the sixteenth century by Andrew Chertsey, and printed by 
 Wynken de Worde in 1 506. 
 
 Copies are in the British Museum, Oxford, and National 
 Library, Paris. 
 
 No. 94. — ^The Book of Courtesy. — Quarto. Secoid Edition. 
 "Emprynted at toestmoster." Without Name or Date. 
 (1491 ?) 
 
 Collation. — This little piece probably consisted, like 
 Caxton's early editions, of a 4° and a 3", making fourteen 
 leaves, all printed — a conclusion gathered from the only frag- 
 ment knoTVTi. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — The fragment, from which 
 alone we know that such an edition was printed, consists of 
 two quarto pages only, printed upon one side of a half-sheet, 
 the other side being blank. One of the pages is signed ftt, 
 which, as ahready seen in " The Rule of St. Benet," was used 
 for t \. Here then we have the first recto of the outermost 
 sheet of the second signature, and, by folding the half-sheet 
 with the unprinted part inside, we see directly that the 
 opposing page must be the last of that signature, and, in all 
 probability, the last of the tract. 
 
 The type is all No. 6, but the appearance of the small 
 
352 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 device, which was probably never used in Caxton's lifetime, 
 points out a late date for its execution. 
 
 The last lines, underneath which are the imprint and the 
 small device, are as follows : — 
 
 a Cf)raue of tf)rej30f)ers a Epeng of ptionerjs 
 a EasiaiSe of carters a Ji^astpnes of cooto 
 
 C i^ere entietj a l:5tgU treatgise calleti 
 
 tfte hoott of curteispe or Igtgll Jfoi^n . 
 
 iirnprpnteti atte toestmostf r . 
 
 The small 
 " IF. C." Device 
 up-s^lde-down. 
 
 As this edition, like the first and second, has three stanzas 
 to the page, it would, although in a somewhat smaller type, 
 take up the same number of leaves. The early editions had a 
 blank leaf at the end, which here we find filled up with the 
 curious epithets noticed above. 
 
 The frag'imnt is in the Douce collection at the Bodleian, 
 having apparently been rescued from the cover of a book. 
 Measurement, 6 j x 5J inches. The reversal of the device, 
 and the blank side of the paper, suggest the idea that this 
 fragment was a first i^roofy although, from the numerous 
 blunders in most of Caxton's pages, it is difficult to beUeve 
 that corrections were ever made after the matter was once 
 set up. 
 
 No. 95. — The Festial (Liber Festivalis). Folio. Second 
 Edition. " Caxton me fieri fecit.'' Without Place or 
 Date. (1491 ?) 
 
 Collation. — a t ctr efg^i^l^WOp are 4^% with 
 the first leaf of a blank ; (| has but one printed sheet, or two 
 leaves ; It a 4" ; g a 3", with device on J3 6. In all 136 leaves, 
 of which one is blank. 
 
BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. C. 358 
 
 Typogeaphical Particulaes. — ^There is no title-page. 
 The type consists of two sizes, Nos. 6 and 7, the latter being 
 that in which Wynken de Worde printed many of his early 
 books. The lines are in double column, and measure only 2| 
 inches. They are spaced to an even length, and there are 33 
 to a column. Without folios or catchwords. Plain initials, 
 cut in wood, of the depth of 2, 3, or 5 lines are used. There 
 is a small rude woodcut on sig. ( 6 verso. 
 
 Commencing with a blank leaf, the prologue follows, in 
 double column, on sig. a if, the Text beginning — 
 
 C ^5^ ft^lpe antr grace of of all tiie i^ie festis of tje 
 
 al^l|ittSfll)tg gob ttrugij tfte pere . S II togll&prage tjat 
 
 tie0ecf)gn II ge of fti^ hit^m^ it ht calleti fcs^ltiuall/tfte 
 
 motier sagnt ma || \x}f\ic^t beginetf) at tlje || 
 
 The Text ends on the fifth verso of sig. J5, three-fourths 
 of the way down the second colunm, 
 
 ft^t ratter tip tte ftelpe of i&i0 
 t)lej5||0rtr molier marg/&: 
 f^i^ f)ol|) spoh) ' II sesse sagnt 
 bcggptte / antj all sapn || teg . 
 
 (Eaxton me fieri fecit 
 
 The next recto is a blank page, the verso having the large 
 device. 
 
 Remarks. — From the use of No. 7 type, which was Wynken 
 de Worde's, it is very probable that this book was printed by 
 him immediately after his master's death. This edition too is 
 not an exact reprint of Caxtou's, issued in 1483. Every 
 Festival has the prefix " Gode men and ^^ymmen," or " Good 
 frendis," and every tale is preceded by the word " Xarracio." 
 Several stories not in the first edition have been added, while 
 the Pardon of Corpus Christi, in Latin and English, which 
 follows Trinity Sunday in first edition, is here entirely omitted. 
 
 Copies are in the British Museum, Cambridge, Oxford ; 
 and three private libraries. 
 
 A A 
 
354 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 No. 96. — FouE Sermons. Folio. Second Edition. Sine ulld 
 notd. (1491?) 
 
 Collation. — ^ 13 (JH are 4"'; 10 is a 5° = 34 leaves. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title. The 
 type is all Ko. 6. In double column. The lines measure 2^ 
 inches, being a very Kttle shorter than the " Festial," and are 
 spaced to an even length. 33 lines to a column. Without 
 folios or catchwords. 
 
 The Text begins oh sig. ^ f, with a 3-line woodcut 
 initial : — 
 
 ^^ Jije mapster of sentence jsempnobneisoule.nepurs/ 
 
 '^intfiesecontjetiofee-anlf 3J II purpose me fig i)i0 leue 
 
 tt)e fprst tigstpnetion / joomlp || tfjus to s^eto it antr 
 
 sa^llptj ti^at ti^e souerapn retie it to poujl in t^e bolte/ 
 
 cause / toi^i II fiotr matje all for to pour letnpnge || it is as 
 
 creatures in tieuen || gootr ti)us as bptftout || 
 
 The Text ends half-way down the second column of the 
 ninth verso of sig. 10, with the coUect " Absolve quesumus," 
 the last three lines being — 
 
 gloria inter sanctos et electos 
 tuos ressussitati respirent/ 
 ??er II xpm ^mn nostrum 
 amen/ II 
 
 On the recto of the tenth leaf is the device of Caxton, the 
 verso being blank. 
 
 For Remarks, see the first edition, page 263. 
 
 Copies are in the British Museum, Cambridge, and three 
 private libraries. 
 
 No. 97. — ArS MORIENDI ; THAT IS TO SAY, THE CrAPT FOR 
 TO DIE FOR THE HEALTH OF Man'S SOUL. Qmrto, 
 
 Without Printer's Namey Date or Place. (1491 ?) 
 
 Collation. — ^ a 4'' = 8 leaves, aU printed. 
 
 Typographical Partculars. — ^No title-page. The type 
 of the text is No. 6, but the four lines of heading at the 
 beginning, and some head-lines at the end, are in Wynken 
 
Bocn» rmwoD jm ttpb so. n. 365 
 
 de Wofde's No. 1 type. Hie Hues are wp&oed \erj erenlj, 
 except OD four ptgv aitiie end, and tibere are 24 to s page. 
 Woodcut initiab to ciiaplen. Witlioiifc fiiiioa or catelnpoida. 
 With die exeep&m of tiie nae of Wynka de Worde't type, 
 tint tnei ^;reea in afl partkokii with Ko. 83, ''The 
 
 The Text begins on i^. fl f recto, 
 
 cnqnK'^ <i"^ ^^^^ ci^ nurinilt / t|at is 
 H Mir t|f naft for to lirpe for t^ ^rtt|r of 
 
 ^^tf vostr wccisaiie to fwr a spccpoU 
 
 The tnet cndi on fl 8 Tcno, villi a fiill page : — 
 
 ^ti tm^it niifi \ga aVvsitr or oat triMacoK 
 Co t^^f^/aoOift tir^ftl ^ ]rat fmt CTfMflr . 
 
 -TUi Aoft tnet appem to be a i 
 
 bgr OaitoB Ma m dL 9o oflber 
 
 or priifeBd, is Latin or aagr other 
 
 ttobel 
 
 ii in tlie noddle of a ToinoK of 
 UM^-fetter tncti in die Bodleian Ubnrj. 
 
 XoLS8L-~TnGkAmaD» or God's CteLBBBL /Ub#. 3me 
 wUimM, (1491?) 
 
 taUeaiid pndiewe; A « e Ji 1^ ;r • « 9"; K^^ 
 
 inal48] 
 
 aa2 
 
856 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 3-line paragraph printed in the centre of the first recto. The 
 types are No. 6 for the Text, No. 7 being found on the first 
 page only. Double column — the lines measuring 2f inches, 
 and being fully spaced out. 36 lines to a column. Without 
 folios or catchwords. Initials in wood 3 and 4 lines deep. 
 
 The Text begins with the following 3 lines in the centre 
 of the first recto, 
 
 C ^t)e prouffgtat)le tolte for manes soule / ^rdi xig^t 
 comfort II tafjle to tf)e totig / antr specgallg tn atmetsltee ^ 
 trgtulacpn / tojicfie || toifee is Mm CJe orftastgsinfi of 
 gotitres Oltsltretn 
 
 On the verso, with a floriated 5-line initial, and in double 
 column, the first two lines being in type No. 7, 
 
 • « M ^xttit of almtgf)=: Cf)e causes eonsitietetr . antr 
 
 JIL tg II gotr l^elgggous manp || otf)er sfeglfullp . § 
 
 TIf sus^ II ter a sf)ort mag bretre to bri || te of tf)is 
 
 ^^^% pistle if sen || Ire ciiastgsins iSnt asfepng || 
 
 :dou of ti^e mater of||temp=: ijelpe of gotr almggttg/tg 
 
 tacons / b3f)icf)e pgstle as bf)oos 1| migf)t ti^e asse tiatr 
 
 me II specf)e to tjie pro || 
 
 The Text ends on the recto of sig. J^ 4, Avith the verso 
 blank, 
 
 not tfenge to tf)e alone tf)at to fnl 3fope $c tlisse / iRobj 
 pragest || f)er soo ieselg / ^et gotr gra || unt ti^at it mpgjte 
 ouer all tf)is || tojan t jou art so tie . tjat euer is lastgng 
 
 i^artre tempteti . anti || in Cringte / 
 
 ***** 
 
 Remaeks. — The use of a title-page, a practice unknown 
 to Caxton, the appearance of type No. 7, and the adoption of 
 signatures having three sheets only — all point to "Wynken de 
 Worde, rather than to Caxton, as the printer of this book, 
 which was probably executed about 1491. The original writer 
 of the work is unknown, and there seems but little reason for 
 attributing its composition to Caxton. 
 
BOOKS FEINTED IN TYPE NO C. 867 
 
 Existing Copies. — British Museum ; Cambridge, Univer- 
 sitj Library (2) ; Pepysian, and Sydney Sussex College ; Hun- 
 terian, Glasgow ; Lincoln Cathedral ; Sion College, London ; 
 and three copies in private hands. 
 
 No. 99. — A Treatise of Love. Folio. Translated in 1493. 
 Without Printer's NaiMy PlacBy or Date. (1493 ?) 
 
 Collation.— a 13 (E B ii!5 dF <§ Jft are aU 3°» = 48 
 leaves, all printed. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — Without title. The type 
 is No. 6 for the Text, but on the first page is a line in type 
 No. 7, the first of Wynken de Worde's founts. The whole is 
 in double column. 
 
 The Text begins on sig. E j recto, 
 
 C ^W tretpse is of loue 
 anb jjpe || feptj of iii j of ttje 
 moist gpecgall lo || ugs ti^at 
 
 fjen in t|)e bjoillie antr %\^z 
 
 * ♦ * * ♦ 
 
 toticfie tiTtj)se bias 
 translate out of ftensije 
 3ilnto en = Iglpsfje / tf)e pece 
 of our lotli ia cm || liixiii j / 
 tip a persone tj^at is bnper || 
 fig^t insucje toerfee bjerfor 
 tie ^u II big bjjsectie ti)e lerngb 
 rebecs togtf) II pacgens to coc^ 
 rccte it b)i)ece tftepljfpnbe 
 ttebe. Enbttcp^aUeofjecll 
 rebbers of tbeir cjargte to 
 prag for||ti)e soule of tje 
 sagbe translatour || 
 
 The Text ends on the second column of the sixth recto of 
 sig. ffi, 
 
 91Ht)icte boi^e teas lately 
 tcansla^ljteb outeof frensj 
 in to englissbf II t)|? a Kigbt 
 
358 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 ig cause tfit gagti persone 
 t^oug II i^it it ntu^mx^ to al 
 tieuoute peplc || to retie / or to 
 tm it tetitie/anti algo|| 
 causeti tje sagtj iolte to te 
 mpx^n^Wtttil 
 
 Underneath this is the small device. The reverse is blank. 
 
 Remarks. — This is evidently an issue from the press of 
 Wynken de Worde, whose earliest type is seen in the first 
 page, and who was accustomed to make up his books in 3"* 
 instead of 4°^ as was the plan during Caxton's life. The 
 tract does not appear to have been translated till 1493, and 
 may have gone to press the succeeding year: now Caxton 
 died in 1491. The non-occurrence of the small device in any 
 other book attributed to Caxton is another reason for sup- 
 posing it to be in reality the workmanship of Wynken de 
 Worde, who frequently used this shaped device in his early 
 publications. At a later period he added his own name to 
 the design. 
 
 Although not the work of Caxton, " A Treatise of Love " 
 has been included in this chapter, because " A List of Books 
 printed in Type No. 6 " would be imperfect without it. 
 
 Copies are at Cambridge ; Hunterian, Glasgow ; and two 
 private libraries. 
 
Plate XIV, 
 
 From (Jaxton's " (Mier of Chivalry y Ti/pfi 4* 
 
 ann ttnoui: of t^^ts (atH i^tucSxt ^ 
 (l()^ gooD J^mmptt txupai^ fid c^ 
 
 ualri'e 
 
 _ '^ \5 courage onD? ibpfcCowj 
 
 net Ibatrcet JiiTte^ ^ ft»:no^e/g «) moiig 
 Ck»6ii8Pc6 ^d ea& mane noijfe %cft>t8«« « 
 gtotioue/^ egcaufo 6r falbc f t^ou^t nj ^iq 
 rotage ^T Or mp?e not Jbng Cgnc/oe & Ite^icQ 
 6g fcng <gme Ccio eeij 6g cout* of mtuvt 
 tipg* ^nJo Qie cncc/ c>5nao ft? 9g»»> ai) fef 
 
 «3«/ 3tn{i2 9aooe no pW)« iw &«<w ft» «(« 
 
 * »9 
 
Plate XV. 
 Woodcuts /rem CaxUm's " Speculum vitcB Chrwh': 
 
 ^^^^^ ^ I Lj 
 
oq 
 
 r 
 
 .8 ^ 
 
 « 
 
 
 .5? 
 
 ^ 
 
Plate XVII. 
 WOODCUT INITIALS FROM CAXTON'S BOOKS. 
 
 33 
 
 © Bfil S SC 
 
Plate XVIII. 
 CAXTON'S DEVICE. 
 
LIST OF BOOKS 
 
 NOT PRINTED BY 
 
 WILLIAM CAXTON, 
 
 BUT HAVING SOME 
 
 CONNECTION WITH HIS TYPES; 
 
 ALSO OF 
 
 DOUBTFUL WORKS, 
 
 AND 
 
 BOOKS EKRONEOUSLY ASCRIBED TO HIS PRESS. 
 
POSTHUMOUS AND DOUBTFUL WORKS. 
 
 No. 100. — The Life of Saint Katherine. — The Revela- 
 tions OF Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Folio. 
 Sim ulld notd. (1493 ?) 
 
 Collation.— a is a 4°; ficliefgtifelmnopare 
 
 3"^ q is a 2"". Total 96 leaves, all printed. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — There is no title-page. 
 The type for some of the headings is No. 7, the same as that 
 already noticed in "Chastising" and "Festial;" but the type 
 for the body of the work is a partial re-casting of No. 4*, 
 with many new additions, and on a rather smaller body, 
 being evidently a different fount from any known to have 
 been used by Caxton. For a more full account of these see 
 the chapter on type No. 4. The pages are in double column, 
 and have 43 and 44 lines to a page. Full lines measure 2J 
 inches. Without folios or catchwords. . 
 
 This book, like some already mentioned, was in all proba- 
 biUty the workmanship of Wynken de Worde, shortly after 
 Caxton's death. This opinion is borne out by the types used, 
 by the signatures being in 3"* instead of 4°" ; by very long 
 pages, and by wood initials, identical with those used in the 
 early books of Wynken de Worde. 
 
 No. 101. — The Golden Legend. Third Edition. Folio. 
 *^ Fynysshed at tvestmestre . . The year of our lord 
 M CCGG Ixxxxiij / . . ^ By me wyllyam Caxton." 
 
 Collation. — Table and prologue a 2° ; a b C ^ e are 4'" ; 
 ^ a single sheet ; ffiijilllmnopqrjitblBf&Qare 
 
862 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 4"«; t a 2% signed to tiii; ^iS Qt IB d^ jf (&M WM% 
 
 ifH ia <© ^ (Q K S C m X g are 4^^^ ; mtt CC titr ee are 
 4"^ ; fa 3°, signed to ff Hi) ; and gg a 2% signed to gg iij. 
 Total 436 leaves, all printed. 
 
 Typogbaphical Paeticulaes. — Without title-page. The 
 types are No. 7, and the re-casting of type No. 4*, noticed in 
 the preceding work, which fount is only known to have been 
 used for these two books. The work is in double column, and 
 the lines, of which there are 44 to a column, measure 2J 
 inches. Without folios or catchwords. Many woodcuts and 
 woodcut initials. 
 
 Caxton died two years before the date of printing. 
 
 No. 102. — The Siege of Rhodes. Folio. Sine ulld notd. 
 
 Collation. — Four unsigned 3''^, or 24 leaves all printed. 
 
 Typographical Particulars. — Without title of any 
 sort. The type is very rude and imeven, being a different 
 fount to that used for the " St. Katherine " and " Golden 
 Legend " just noticed. Some of the letters are the same as 
 Caxton's No. 4*, but many rude additions have been made. 
 There is a space between each line, probably made by the use 
 of " regiets," the unevenness of which is very apparent. The 
 lines are spaced to an even length, and there are 26 to a page, 
 except the first and second, which have, respectively, 30 and 
 31. They measure in length 4 J inches, the depth of 26 lines 
 varying from 7 to 7|- inches. Without signatures, folios, 
 catchwords, or printed initials. 
 
 No. 103. — MiSSALE AD USUM SaRUM. — EXARATUM PaRISIUS 
 IMPENSA OPTIMI VIRI GUILLERMI CaXTON. FoUo. 
 
 Paris, Uh Dec. 1487. 
 
 The type is the usual church text used for service books. 
 In double column, with head-lines. 
 
 As connected with Caxton, the whole of the interest cen- 
 tres in the colophon. 
 
POSTHUMOUS AND DOUBTFUL WOBKS. 868 
 
 Mm^it eCti bsum Sar' cun 
 tiittntti^ M liono / magno 
 conamine elatoratum finis 
 Uiitittx, ©iai:atum "^sixmg 
 impenjsa optimi biti <§uiU 
 letmi Otaxton . ^tte bero et 
 intrustria iHagistri (Outlier 
 mi ifHagngal . litno tjomini 
 iE . arOTiKai . Irxxbii . liij Be 
 cembrisi. 
 
 This is on the recto of the laat leaf, and upon the verso 
 is Caxton's large device. 
 
 Remarks. — Passing by the great interest which this missal 
 has in being five years earlier in date than the celebrated 
 Rouen edition, dated October 1st, 1492, hitherto considered 
 as the edifio prim^ps, we have to elucidate it in relation to 
 Caxton. 
 
 It has not, until the discovery of this volume, been sup- 
 posed that Caxton employed foreign printers to help him, 
 although it is well kno^^Ti that his successors did so. In this 
 case he used the services of a printer at Paris, whose name 
 very seldom appears in typographical annals. Little is known 
 of WiQiam Maynyal, who is erroneously called, by Panzu, 
 George. In 1480, working in conjunction with Ulric Gering, 
 the first printer at Paris, he produced " Speculum aureum," 
 as well as " Sumina de virtutibus cardinalibus," both in Roman 
 types. Afterwards, he worked alone. In 1487, Caxton, not 
 having appropriate types of his own, sent instructions to 
 Maynyal, of Paris, to print for him the Salisbury Missal. 
 The commission was executed, and Caxton, desirous of asso- 
 ciating his press more directly with this issue than by the 
 colophon only, which many people might overlook, probably 
 designed his " mark " for the purjwse of attracting attention. 
 It is certainly the earliest date at which it has yet l>een found ; 
 and the state of the block, which has fewer breakages than 
 liny other knoA\Ti example, confirms the priority of this in a 
 most interesting manner. Since 1484 Caxton had not used 
 
364 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 woodcuts; but just at this time, 1487, he appears to have 
 found some one for the purpose, and the "Eoyal Book" and 
 the "Speculum" appeared with numerous cuts. The same 
 artist was probably employed to design and engrave the new 
 " trade mark." 
 
 The only known copy is in the possession of "W. J. Legh, 
 Esq., M.P., and was first made known in the Athenceum, 
 March 21st, 1874. 
 
 Bartholomeus de propeietatibus eerum. 
 
 This work is supposed to have been printed by Caxton, at 
 Cologne, on the strength of a statement by Wynken de Worde. 
 As, however, this printer has perpetrated the most curious 
 contradictions and mis-statements in many of his prologues 
 and colophons, it seems more than probable that he blundered 
 here also, as no connection whatever can be traced between 
 the typographical customs of Caxton and those of the Cologne 
 school ; nor does any copy of " Bartholomeus " exist which can, 
 with any show of reason, be attributed to Caxton's press. 
 
 For further remarks on this subject, see page 64. 
 
 The Metamoephoses of Ovid. 
 
 In the Pepysian library, Cambridge (2124) is an English 
 manuscript of the fifteenth century, not improbably Caxton's 
 autograph, and consisting of the Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, 
 Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Books of Ovid's Meta- 
 morphoses. Each book in the manuscript begins with a red- 
 ink title, the first being : — 
 
 " Here followeth the || xth booke of Ouyde ' || wherof the 
 first fa II ble is of the mari || age of Orpheus !| and Erudice his 
 lo II ue . Cap° p'm°." 
 
 For an imitation of this paragraph see Dibdin's Typ. Ant., 
 
POSTHUMOUS AND DOUBTFUL WORKS. 8C5 
 
 vol. i, page 14. At the end of the volume is the following 
 colophon : — 
 
 " Translated and fynysshed by me William Caxton at West- 
 mestre the xxij day of Apryll / the yere of our lord m . iiij* 
 iiij" And the xx yere of the Regne of kyng Edward the 
 fourth." 
 
 Now Caxton, from what we know of his disposition, would 
 never have begun a translation in the middle of a book. He 
 therefore, no doubt, translated the former nine books also. 
 But all Caxton's translations, and especially in the busy time 
 of 1480, were made for the press. There seems, therefore, 
 good reason to believe that the Metamorphoses were printed 
 also by Caxton, although unfortunately no fragment of such 
 a work is at present known. 
 
 It seems not unlikely that the Pepysian MS. is in Caxton's 
 own autograph. 
 
 The Life and Miracles of Robert Earl of Oxford. 
 
 In the preface to " The Four Sons of Aymon," Caxton 
 says, " Therefore late at the request and commandment of the 
 right noble and virtuous Earl, John, Earl of Oxford, my good 
 singular and especial lord I reduced and translated out of 
 French into our maternal and EngUsh tongue the life of one 
 of his predecessors named Robert Earl of Oxford tofore said, 
 with divers and many great miracles which god showed for 
 him as well in his life as after his death as is showed all along 
 in his said book." 
 
 Having translated this Life, it is not improbable that 
 Caxton also printed it. 
 
 A Ballad. 
 
 The "small fragment of an unknown work," preserved 
 among some old ballads in the British Museum (643. m.) and 
 
366 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 described by Sir Henry Ellis, and Dr. Dibdin in Typ. Ant, 
 vol. i, page 359, is a portion of the " Cook's Tale," from^ 
 Caxton's first edition of Chancer's " Canterbury Tales." 
 
 Several works, such as " Statuta " (probably Machlinia's) 
 " Lyndewode's Constitutiones," " The Lucidary," " An 
 Accidence," and others, have been by various writers in- 
 cluded among the books issued by Caxton, but in all cases 
 erroneously. 
 
THE COMPARATIVE EARITY OF BOOKS PRINTED 
 BY CAXTON, 
 
 SHOWING THE NUMBER OF COPIES OF EACH WORK 
 KNOWN TO EXIST. 
 
 Quanta fwUti H tanta sunt Reliquin. 
 
 No. of 
 Copies 
 known. 
 
 Book of Courtesy, 2nd edit. .frag. 
 Directorium Sacerdotnm,4to. frag. 
 Horse, Ist edition . .frag. 
 
 Ditto, 2nd ditto . frag. 
 
 Ditto, 3rd ditto . . .frag. 
 Indulgence — Sixtus IV . frag. 
 
 Anelida and Arcyte. . 1 
 
 Ars moriendi ... 1 
 Aymon, Four Sons of . .1 
 Blanchardin and Eglantine . 1 
 Book of dburtesy, 1st edition . 1 
 Catho, Parrus et Magnus, Ist 
 
 edition, 4to . . .1 
 Ditto, ditto, 2nd edition, 4to 1 
 
 Charles the Great . . .1 
 Chorle and the Bird, 1st edit. 1 
 
 Ditto ditto 2nd ditto 1 
 
 Commemoracio beatse Marias 1 
 
 Death-Bed Prayers . . 1 
 
 Directorium Sacerdotum, folio, 
 
 Ist edition . . .1 
 
 Ditto ditto ditto 2nd ditto 1 
 Fifteen Oes . . . .1 
 Glass, Temple of . 1 
 
 Gouvemal of Health . 1 
 
 Horse, Sheep, and Goose, Ist edit. 1 
 
 Ditto ditto 2nd ditto 1^ 
 
 Image of Pity ... 1 
 Infancia Salvatoris . .1 
 
 Indulgence — Sixtus IV 1 
 
 No. of 
 
 CopiM 
 
 known. 
 
 Another, different . 
 Meditacions sur les sept Pseaulmes 
 Paris and Vienne . 
 Psalterium .... 
 Quatre derrenieres Choses 
 Reynard the Fox, 2nd edition 
 Servitium de Transfiguratione . 
 Sex Litterffi .... 
 Visitatio Marias Virginis . 
 Brass, Temple of . 
 
 Advertisement, An . .2 
 
 Arthur, Life of King . 2 
 
 Propositio Johannis Russell 2 
 
 Saona, Gnl. de . . . 2 
 
 StansPner . .2 
 
 -^Esop, Fables of . . 3 
 
 Art and Craft .... 3 
 Catho, Parvus et Magnus, folio, 
 
 3rd edition ... 3 
 Curia Sapientise .3 
 
 Curial, The .... 3 
 Dictes and Sayings, 2nd edition 3 
 Good Manners, Book of . 3 
 Jason, Les fais du . .3 
 
 Moral Proverbs ... 3 
 Rhodes, Siege of . . .3 
 Saint Winifred, Life of 3 
 
 Book of Fame .... 4 
 Chivalry, Order of . . 4 
 
868 
 
 WILLIAM CAXTON. 
 
 Testial, The, 1st edition . 
 Treatise of Love . 
 
 Naof 
 Copies 
 known. 
 
 . 4 
 
 4 
 
 Chess, Game and Play of, 1st ed. 
 Chronicles of England, 1480 . 
 
 No. of 
 Copies 
 known. 
 
 10 
 10 
 
 Troilus and Creside . 
 
 . 4 
 
 Cordial .... 
 
 10 
 
 Vocabulary .... 
 
 Golden Legend, 2nd edition 
 Pilgrimage of the Soul 
 Four Sermons, 2nd edition 
 
 4 
 
 . 5 
 
 5 
 
 . 6 
 
 Description of Britain 
 Godfrey of Boloyn 
 Katherine, Life of St. 
 
 Speculum Vitae Christi . 
 
 10 
 10 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 Divers Ghostly Matters . 
 Festial, The, 2nd edition 
 Knight of the Tower 
 
 . 6 
 
 6 
 
 . 6 
 
 Caton 
 
 Mirrour of the World, 2nd edit. 
 
 12 
 12 
 
 Recueil, Le . 
 
 Reynard the Fox, 1st edition 
 
 Statutes of Henry VII . 
 
 6 
 
 . 6 
 
 6 
 
 Dictes and Sayings, 1st edition 
 Mirrour of the World, 1st edit. 
 
 15 
 15 
 
 Chronicles of England, 2nd edit. 7 
 Dictes and Sayings, 3rd edition 7 
 Jason, The Life of . . .7 
 
 Chastising of God's Children 8 
 
 Four Sermons, 1st edition . 8 
 
 Life of our Lady ... 8 
 
 Royal Book .... 8 
 
 Boethius 16 
 
 Confessio Amantis . . 16 
 Recuyell, The . . . .16 
 
 Eneydos . . . .18 
 
 Fayts of Arms . . .21 
 
 Tully of Old Age, &c. . . 23 
 
 Canterbury Tales, 1st edition . 9 
 Ditto 2nd ditto . 9 
 
 Chess, Game and Play of, 2nd edit. 9 Polycronicon . . . .25 
 Doctrinal of Sapience . . 9 
 Golden Legend, 3rd edition . 9 Golden Legend, 1st edition . 31 
 
 The reader who examines this list may well be astonished 
 at the number here given of unique Caxtons. Out of 99 works 
 above enumerated, no less than 38 are known to us by single 
 copies, or by fragments only. The fact is almost incredible 
 even to those most conversant with the rarities of the West- 
 minster Press; and the question naturally arises — If about 
 one-third of Caxton's issue has been nearly destroyed, how 
 numerous may have been the editions of which we shall never 
 learn the existence ? A glance at the titles of the uniques 
 
RARITY OF liOOKH I»RI.N'TE]J BY CAXTON. 369 
 
 will show that the books most liable to destniction, probably 
 owing in part to their being much used, and in part to the 
 destructiveness of religious sectarianism, are those, directly or 
 indirectly, of an ecclesiastical character — such as " Horae," 
 "Psalters," "Meditacions," &c. .School books also, such aa 
 the " Stans Puer," " Catho," &c., are always difficult of pre- 
 sentation. On the other hand, tliere seems no esjjecial reason 
 for the almost total destruction of such works as the romances 
 of " King Arthur," "The Four Sons of Aymon," "Blanch- 
 ardin," " Charles the Great," the second edition of " Reynard," 
 or the various short poems in quarto. 
 
 The greatest number of copies ever brought together is 
 81, being the number now in the British Museum; but of 
 these 25 are duplicates, leaving the number of works 50, of 
 which three are mere fragments. The Caxtons in Earl 
 Spencer's Library, although numerically less than those of the 
 National Library, make nevertheless a more complete collec- 
 tion, and embrace 57 separate works. Other Libraries come 
 far behind these two. The Public Library, Cambridge, has 
 38 separate works, a total considerably augmented by the 
 numerous unique pieces of poetry in quarto. The Bodleian 
 has 28 separate works, and the Duke of Devonshire 25. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Abbey, Meaning of word ... 73 
 Adventurers {See Merchant 
 
 Adventurers) 
 
 Advertisement printed by 
 
 Caxton 71,237 
 
 ^neid by Virgil 343 
 
 JSsop, The Fables of. printed 
 
 by Caxton ... 48. 92, 294 
 
 Aforge, Daniel 86 
 
 Ailly, Cardinal Pierre d' ... 226 
 
 Alburgh, John 148 
 
 Alcock, Bishop 178 
 
 Aldus, Pius Romanns ... 107 
 Alfonse, The Fables of, 
 
 printed by Caxton 48, 92 284, 
 Almonry, The, Its position 
 
 &c. ... 73,74,75,76,79 
 Alphage, St., Parish of ... 4 
 Ambassadors at Bruges ... 27 
 Ames, Joseph, Note on 
 
 Caxton's death 
 
 Amman, Jost 
 
 Anderson's History of Com- 
 merce 
 
 Anelida, Queen, and False 
 
 Arcyte, printed by Cax 
 
 ton 
 
 Anne, St., Chapel of . . .73, 74 
 
 Apprentices, Entry and Issues 
 
 of 6 
 
 Apprentices, Duties of ... 8 
 Apprentices and Executors. . . 14 
 Apprentices, Oath of ... 143 
 Apprenticeship of Caxton... 5 
 Arbre de, Batailles 338 
 
 85 
 105 
 
 26 
 
 210 
 
 10 
 
 354 
 
 301 
 
 81 
 
 127 
 
 78 
 
 90 
 
 Arcyte, Queen Anelida, and 
 
 False, printed by Caxton 
 
 Ars moriendi, printed by 
 
 Caxton 
 
 Art, The, and Craft to know 
 well to Die, printed by 
 
 Caxton 342,350 
 
 Arthur, The Noble Histories 
 of King, and of certain 
 of his Knights, printed 
 
 by Caxton 
 
 Arundel, Earl of, his Device 
 Ascensius Jodocus Badius... 
 Assumption, Guild of Lady of 
 Atkyns, Richard, Origin and 
 Growth of Printing ... 
 Aubert, David (a Scribe) 35, 185 
 A vian. The Fables of, printed 284 
 
 by Caxton 284 
 
 Ayenbit of Inwit, The ... 320 
 Aymon, The four Sons of, 
 
 printed by Caxton ... 339 
 
 Bagford, John 75, 91 
 
 Baker, John 148 
 
 Bakker, Jenyne 147 
 
 Ballads, Some, printed by 
 
 Caxton 
 
 Ballad, A 
 
 Ballard, Mr., of Cambden... 
 
 Balls, Inking 
 
 Bartholomaas de Proprietati- 
 
 bus ... 55,64,66,336,364 
 
 Bath Cathedral 282 
 
 Bavaria, Henry, Duke of ... 849 
 
 Baynton, W. 317 
 
 R R 2 
 
 209 
 
 865 
 
 86 
 
 126 
 
372 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Beauvais, Vincent de 224, 225 
 
 Bedford, Duke of 34,36 
 
 Bedford Library 252 
 
 Bedfordshire General Library 320 
 
 Bedleem Hospital, Bequest 
 
 to, by Large 10 
 
 Belet 280 
 
 Benet College Library ... 218 
 
 Bernard, M. A. ... 104, 107 
 
 Bernard, M. A., Opinion on 
 Colard Mansion 
 
 Berners, Juliana 
 
 Betts, Edward 
 
 Bequests, Various, of Large 
 
 Bible, The Mazarine 
 
 Bibles and Psalters, First . . . 
 
 Bibles not in demand in Fif- 
 teenth Century 
 
 Bird, The Chorle and the, 
 
 printed by Caxton 207, 208 
 
 Blanchardin and Eglantine, 
 The History of, printed 
 by Caxton 
 
 Blanche, Queen of France. 
 
 Blandford, Marquis of 
 
 Blois, Library of ... 
 
 Boat Hire 
 
 Bocace, Fall of Princes 
 
 Boethius de Consolatione 
 Philosophise, translated 
 into English by Geoffrey 
 Chaucer, printed by 
 Caxton 
 
 Boke of Noblesse, The 
 
 Bolomyer, Henry 
 
 Boloyne, The History of 
 Godfrey of, printed by 
 Caxton 
 
 Bomsted, Henry 
 
 Bonet, Honore 
 
 Bonifaunt, Rich 
 
 Bowyer, William ... 
 
 Bookbinder described 
 
 Bookbinding 
 
 62 
 334 
 149 
 10 
 44 
 43 
 
 84 
 
 338 
 322 
 196 
 36 
 19 
 843 
 
 211 
 332 
 305 
 
 249 
 ... 20 
 ... 333 
 10, 145 
 ... 110 
 ... 130 
 ... 96 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Book of Courtesey, The 
 1st Edition, printed by 
 
 Caxton 209 
 
 Second Edition ... 361 
 Book of Good Manners, 
 
 printed by Caxton 81, 311 
 Book, A, of Divers Ghostly 
 Matters, printed by Cax- 
 ton 346 
 
 Book of Fame, The, printed 
 
 by Caxton 291 
 
 Book, The, which the Knight 
 of the Tower made to the 
 " enseygnement " and 
 teaching of his daugh- 
 ters, printed by Caxton 271 
 
 Books, Covers of 213 
 
 Books not printed by Caxton 
 but having some connec- 
 tion with his Types, &c. 359 
 Books, Passion for, in Europe 36 
 
 Botfield, Mr 303 
 
 Bouillon, Godefroy de ... 251 
 Bradshaw, H., concerning 
 
 the Horae 190 
 
 Brand, John 196 
 
 Bretaylles, Louis de ... 188 
 
 Brice, Hugh ... 75, 226 
 
 Bristol 346 
 
 Brito, Jean 38 
 
 Broad, St. Ward 75 
 
 Brown, J 149 
 
 Browne, Willis (Mit. Abb.) 221 
 Bruges ... 13, 15, 27, 
 
 37, 38, 57, 80, 150 
 Bruges, City of, Caxton, a 
 
 Merchant at 15, 17 
 
 Bruges, Ducal Library of ... 212 
 Bruges, Guild of St. John the 
 
 Evangelist 37 
 
 Bruges, Records of... 155 to 158 
 Brute, Chronicle of ... 90 
 
 Bryant, Mr 32.", 
 
 Boyce, H 81 
 
378 
 
 326 
 
 191 
 
 288 
 301 
 268 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Bryce, T 17 
 
 Bullen, Mr 242 
 
 Burdeux, John de 336 
 
 Burchiello, Portrait of ... 91 
 
 Burgh, Richard 16, 17, 146, 
 
 202, 203, 277 
 
 Burgundy, Duke of 15, 16, 
 
 24, 27, 34, 38, 58 
 
 Burgundy (Philip the Good) 38 
 
 Burial Fees for Wm. Caxton 80 
 
 Campbell, M.F.A.G. 
 
 Canterbury Tales, IstEdition, 
 printed by Caxton 
 
 Canterbury Tales, 2nd Edi- 
 tion, printed by Caxton 
 
 Caradoc, Prince 
 
 Carmen de Vera 
 
 Caslon, W 106,108 
 
 Castel, Estienne 1 93 
 
 Catchwords 132 
 
 Catho Magnus, printed by 
 
 Caxton, Ist Edition 200, 203 
 
 Catho Magnus, printed by 
 
 Caxton. 202,203 
 
 Caton, printed by Caxton ... 275 
 
 Cattlyn, Richard and John... 
 
 Caustons, Manor of 
 
 Causton, Michael de ; Henry 
 de ; Nichol de ; Richard 
 de; Theobald de ; Roger 
 de; William de; Steryn 
 
 Cauxton and Causton, a form 
 of Caxton 
 
 Cawston, Johannes, Will of 
 
 Cawston, Oliver 
 
 Caxston, W 
 
 Caxton, Elizabeth (daughter 
 of Caxton) 
 
 Caxton, Elizabeth : Deed of 
 Separation 
 
 Caxton, John 
 
 Caxton, Maude 
 
 Caxton, a Linguist, 88 ; a 
 Master Printer, 94 to 
 
 222 
 3 
 
 143 
 
 3 
 
 158 
 146 
 
 30 
 
 163 
 4 
 
 81 
 
 PAGE 
 
 140 ; Anecdotes in Ap- 
 pendix to jeep's Fables, 
 92 ; his Character, 92 ; 
 his Daughter, 75 ; his 
 knowledge of Printing, 
 derived from Colard 
 Mansion, and not at 
 Cologne, 49 to 68 ; his 
 large Device, 137 ; his 
 Literary Attainments, 
 87 to 90 ; his Patrons, 
 31 ; his Printing Office 
 and Workmen, 94 ; his 
 Property at Death, 86 ; 
 his Types, 104; his Will, 
 86 ; Auditor of Parish 
 Accounts, 159 ; Burial 
 Fees, 159; Classification 
 of Works, 82 ; Death 
 and Burial, 85 ; Ex- 
 tracts fromWorks, show- 
 ing a connecfion between 
 his own name and a 
 locality, 70 ; Judgment 
 by, 157 ; List of AVorks, 
 82 ; Patronised by 
 Edward IV., 80 ; Pay- 
 ment by the King, 158 ; 
 Pedigree, 4 ; Portraits 
 of, 91 ; Price of his 
 Books, 139 ; Receives a 
 Payment from Edward 
 IV., 80; Settles at West- 
 minster, 70; Chess Book, 
 Interpolation of, 175 ; 
 Time taken for Trans- 
 lation of Works ... 83 
 Caxton, AVilliam (not the 
 
 Printer), 80 ; Burial Fees 4 
 
 Censuria literaria 1 95 
 
 Charles, King of France ... 33 
 Charles the Bold succeeds 
 
 Philip the Good ... 24 
 
 Charles the Great (Prologue) 84 
 
374 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Charles the Great, the Life 
 of the Noble and 
 Christian Prince, printed 
 by Caxton 303 
 
 Charron, The Jesuit ... 307 
 
 Charters, Mercers and Mer- 
 chant Adventurers 18, 
 
 19, 20, 21 
 
 Chartier, Alain 294 
 
 Chases 123 
 
 Chastising, The, of God's 
 Children, printed by 
 Caxton 3oo 
 
 Chato, et Parvus Magnus, 
 1st Edition, printed by 
 
 Caxton 200 
 
 2nd Edition ... 222 
 
 Chaucer, Geoifrey, 90, 291 ; 
 Envoi of, to Skogan, 
 •printed by Caxton ... 209 
 
 Chaucer, Geoffrey, Canter- 
 bury Tales, 1st Edition 
 191; 2nd Edition 288; 
 Baethins de Consola- 
 tione Philosophiae, 
 printed by Caxton ... 211 
 
 Chaucer, The complaint of, 
 to his purse, printed by 
 Caxton 210 
 
 Chertsey, Andrew 351 
 
 Chess Book, The 56, 59, 61, 
 
 68, 81, 110, 285 
 
 Chess, Game and Play of, 
 Ist Edition, printed by 
 Caxton 24, 171 
 
 Chess, The Game and Play 
 of the, 2nd Edition, 
 printed by Caxton ... 230 
 
 Chivalry, The Order of, 
 
 printed by Caxton ... 287 
 
 Chobham, Eleanor, her pen- 
 ance 13 
 
 Chorle, The, and the Bird, 
 
 printed by Caxton 207, 208 
 
 245 
 253 
 105 
 246 
 202 
 173 
 
 237 
 
 63 
 172 
 
 Chronicles of England, The, 
 1st Edition, printed by 
 
 Caxton 
 
 2nd Edition 
 
 Chronicle of King Alfred... 
 
 Chronicle of Brute 
 
 Churche, Daniel 
 
 Clarence, Duke of 
 
 Cloth, English, excluded by 
 
 Duke of Burgundy ...16, 23 
 
 Coburger, Nuremberg, prin- 
 ter 
 
 Colard Mansion, ^Sle^ Mansion 
 
 Cologne 
 
 Colonna -ZEgidius 
 
 Commission issued, 1464, for 
 renewal of Treaty of 
 Trade 
 
 Complaint, The, of Chaucer 
 to his purse, printed by 
 Caxton 
 
 Commemoratio Lamenta- 
 iionis sive compassionis 
 Beataj Mange in morte 
 filii, printed by Caxton 
 
 Composing Stick ... 123, 125 
 
 Compositor. The, described 122 
 
 Confessio Amantis, printed 
 by Caxton 
 
 Congregational Library ... 
 
 Connection between Caxton 
 and Colard Mansion ... 
 
 Copenhagen, Royal Library 
 
 Copland, R., 340 ; one of 
 Caxton 's workmen 
 
 Cropland, W. 
 
 Corpus Christi College 
 
 Cordyale, or the Four Last 
 Things, printed by Cax- 
 ton 
 
 Court of Sapience, printed by 
 Caxton 
 
 Courtesy, Book of. printed 
 
 by Caxton ... 209, 361 
 
 22 
 
 210 
 
 325 
 
 269 
 327 
 
 64 
 312 
 
 .. 70 
 95, 341 
 .. 218 
 
 214 
 
 248 
 
INDEX. 
 
 875 
 
 PAOE 
 
 Cowper, Mr 827 
 
 Craes, W IG 
 
 Cravecenr, Signeur de ... 60 
 Crede Mibi, Traetatus, 
 
 printed by Caxton 315, 341 
 
 Croppe, Gerard 80 
 
 Crosse, John 86 
 
 Crystine of Pisan — Moral 
 
 Proverbs ... 192,193 
 
 Cura Sapientisv ; or the 
 
 Court of Sapience, 
 
 printed by Caxton 248, 293 
 
 Carial, The 294 
 
 D'Ailly, Pierre Cardinal ... 178 
 
 D'Anfrers, Guy 185 
 
 Dares Phrygius 170 
 
 Dauheny, William 81 
 
 Daunau, M 224 
 
 Day, John, Printer ... 105, 106 
 Death-bed Prayers, printed 
 
 by Caxton 283 
 
 Dedes, Robert 10 
 
 DegnilleTille, Guillaume de, 
 
 Pilgrimage of the Soul 268 
 
 Delff '. 76 
 
 Denis de Leewis 184 
 
 Description of Britain, The, 
 
 printed by Caxton ... 247 
 Development of Printing ... 39 
 Device, Caxton 's ... 48,137 
 
 Devonshire, Duke of, Pur- 
 chase of the Recuyell ... 169 
 Dictes and Sayings... 24, 65, 
 
 70, 79, 87, 186, 219, 344 
 Dictes and Sayings, printed 
 
 by Caxton, Ist Edition, 
 
 186; 2nd Edition, 219 ; 
 
 3rd Edition 344 
 
 Dictys Creteusis 170 
 
 Dinner, Visitation of Mercers 76 
 Directorinm, sen Pica Samm, 
 
 printed by Caxton ... 239 
 Directorium Sacerdotum, una 
 
 cnm Defensorioejnsdem, 
 
 item tractatuji qui dicitur 
 crede mihi, printed by 
 
 Caxton 315,341 
 
 Doctrinal de la foy Catholique 322 
 Doctrinal of Sapience, The, 
 
 printed by Caxton ... 320 
 
 Domus Anglorum 22 
 
 Donatus, St., Church of ... 61 
 
 J)ouce, P 170 
 
 Douce Collection 352 
 
 Drapers, Merchant Adven- 
 tures 18 
 
 Durham Cathedral 347 
 
 Dysart, Eariof 337 
 
 Echard, Script Ordin. Piie- 
 
 dicat 347 
 
 Edward III. introduces cloth 
 
 factories to England ... 2 
 Edward IV., 3, 27, 28, 29, 
 
 35, 80, 87 
 Elizabeth of Hungary, Saint, 
 
 the Revelations of ... 861 
 
 Ellis, Sir Henry 366 
 
 Ene3do8, printed by Caxton, 
 
 2,81,842,74 
 English, First book in ... 168 
 English Nation, The ... 22 
 
 Est^rlings 22, 190 
 
 Essex, Eariof 202 
 
 Esteney John, Abbot of 
 
 Westminster 74 
 
 Eton College 177,228 
 
 Eugenins ill., Pope 349 
 
 Evilmerodach, King ... 231 
 
 Exeier 213 
 
 Exeter College, Oxford, 277, 
 
 298, 346 
 
 Eye, witch of 13 
 
 Eyre Thomas, husband of 
 
 Elizabeth Lage 11 
 
 Fables of .iEsop. the ; of 
 Arian ; of Alfonse ; and 
 of Page, the Florentine, 
 printed by Caxton ... 284 
 
876 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Eaits d'Armes, les 332 
 
 Faits d'Armes et de Cheva- 
 
 lerie 332 
 
 Fall of Princes 343 
 
 Fame, the Book of, printed 
 
 by Caxton 291 
 
 Farmer's, Dr., Library ... 239 
 
 Faron, Jean 172 
 
 Fastolf, Sir John ... 81,230 
 
 Fayts of arms and of chiv- 
 alry, the, printed by 
 
 Caxton 81,331,334 
 
 Felding Geoffrey, Mayor ... 17 
 Festial, the, (Liber Festialis) 
 1st Edition, printed by 
 
 Caxton 261, 327 
 
 Festial, the, (Liber Festialis) 
 second edition, printed 
 
 by Caxton 352 
 
 Fevre Ravne le 68 
 
 i'^ifteen Oes, the, and other 
 Prayers, printed by 
 
 Caxton 348 
 
 Figgins, V 109, 11 > 
 
 Fillastre, Guillaume 170 
 
 Fineschi Vincenzio 103 
 
 Fishmongers, Merchant Ad- 
 venturers 18 
 
 Flanders, Peace between 
 
 England and 13 
 
 Flemish goods prohibited ... 23 
 Flemish settlers in England 2 
 Fostalf, John, Knight ... 189 
 
 F ounders ' Company 18 
 
 Four last things or Cordyale 
 
 printed by Caxton ... 214 
 Four Sermons, printed by 
 
 Caxton, Ist Edition ... 354 
 Four Sermon's &c. (Quatuor 
 Sermones &c.) printed 
 by Caxton, 2nd Edi- 
 tion 263 
 
 Four sons of Aymon, the, 
 
 printed by Caxton ... 339 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Fowls, Parliament of, printed 
 
 by Caxton 209 
 
 Frankfort type founders ... 108 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin ... 109 
 
 Freeman of London, Oath of 144 
 
 Friskets 129 
 
 Gairdner, Mr., Memorials of 
 
 King Henry the Seventh 267 
 
 Galiard, Messire 195 
 
 Gallopes, Jean de ... 259,314 
 
 GaliotduPre 294 
 
 Godney, John 11 
 
 Geiffe, William 86 
 
 Gering, Ulrich 363 
 
 Gerson, chancellor 334 
 
 Gervers, M 29 
 
 Ghent 27 
 
 Ghent, Public Library at ... 326 
 Glass, the Temple of, printed 
 
 by Caxton 206 
 
 Gloucester, Humphrey duke 
 
 of 30 
 
 Godfrey of Bulloyne, printed 
 
 by Caxton 86 
 
 Godike, K 228 
 
 Golden Fleece, order of ... 15 
 Golden Legend, 65, 97 ; Co- 
 pies left by Caxton to St. 
 Margaret's, Westmin- 
 ster, 86 ; 1st Edition, 
 printed by Caxton, 277; 
 2nd Edition, printed by 
 Caxton, 308; third Edi- 
 tion 361 
 
 Gossin, Jean 51,225 
 
 Gottingen, Royal University 
 
 Library 209 
 
 Governal of Health, the, 
 
 printed by Caxton 336, 355 
 Governor of English Mer- 
 chants at Bruges — Du- 
 ties of 20 
 
 Guido of Colonn a 1 70 
 
 Granton, John 16 
 
INDEX. 
 
 877 
 
 PAOB 
 
 Grenville Library 210 
 
 Greyhound, The ... 75, 176, 79 
 
 Groote, Guerard le 16 
 
 Gruthuyse, Louis de Bru- 
 ges 35, 36, 50 
 
 Guilds : — St. John the Evan- 
 gelist, 37 ; St. Thomas a 
 Becket, 18 ; Lady As- 
 sumption, 78 ; Vassel 
 feasts, 78 ; Accounts, 78 ; 
 "Les Freres de la plume" 
 of Brussels, 37 ; St. 
 Luke at Antwerp. 
 
 Hadlow 3 
 
 Hague, Royal Library ... 327 
 
 Hall, Robert U5 
 
 Hamburgh 13 
 
 Ham House, Surrey ... 301 
 
 Hansard, T.C 110 
 
 Hanseatic League 190 
 
 Hardwicke Hall 203 
 
 Harrowe, John ... 10,146 
 
 Hasted on Kent 2 
 
 Hastings, Lord ... 24, 195, 227 
 
 Hawes 207 
 
 Haywarde, a Scribe ... 189 
 Health, The Governal of, 
 
 printed by Caxton ... 336 
 Hecht-Heinean Library, Hal- 
 
 berstadt 269 
 
 Hende, William 19 
 
 Henricus, Rex 349 
 
 Henry, Dr 230 
 
 Henry n 202 
 
 Henry IV 18 
 
 Henry VI 19,36,81 
 
 Henry VII 81 
 
 Heton, Christopher ... 10 
 
 Heton, Jas 145 
 
 Higden's, Ralph, rolycroni- 
 
 con 247 
 
 History of Blanchardin and 
 Eglantine, The, printed 
 
 by Caxton 338 
 
 pAoa 
 
 History of Godfrey, of 
 
 Bologne, The ; or the 
 
 Conquest of Jerusalem, 
 
 printed by Caxton ... 249 
 
 Histoire du Chevalier Paris, 
 
 et de labelle Vienne . 307 
 
 Holkham Library 196 
 
 Holtrop's Monumens Typo- 
 graphiques. Woodcut 
 
 from 76 
 
 Horse 316, 327, 348, 240, 317 
 
 Horae, printed by Caxton, 
 1st Edition, 189 ; 2nd 
 Edition, 240 ; 3rd Edi- 
 tion, 317 ; 4th Edition 328 
 
 Ilorham, Manor of 9, 11 
 
 Horse, Shepe, and Goose, 
 printed by Caxton, 66, 
 
 203, 204 
 House of the English Na- 
 tion 22 
 
 Hunter, Rev. Joseph ... 222 
 
 Illuminators 112, 96, 133 
 
 Image of Pity, printed by 
 
 Caxton 318,320 
 
 Indenture of Apprentice ... 6 
 Infancia Salvatoris, printed 
 
 by Caxton 205 
 
 Initials 42, 134 
 
 Ink for Printing 96 
 
 Jackson on Wood Engrav- 
 ing 137 
 
 James, John, Typefounder. . . 109 
 Jason, English Edition by 
 Caxton, 185 ; French 
 Edition, 56, 60; 63, 170 176 
 Jason, Derivation of Name 15 
 
 Jean de Bruges 36 
 
 Jersey, Earl of '•• ... 303 
 Jerusalem, Conquest of, or 
 the History of Grodfrey 
 of Bolojne, printed by 
 Caxton 249 
 
378 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Joan of Arc 
 
 John, Duke of Berry 
 
 John II., King of France . 
 
 John Stubbes 
 
 Jones, J. Winter, 178, 185 
 
 " Justification " : a Printer's 
 term 
 
 Karlemaine 
 
 Katherine, Saint, the Life of, 
 printed by Caxton 
 
 Kendal, John, Letters of 
 Indulgence issued by, 
 printed by Caxton, 220 
 
 Kentish Dialect 
 
 King Apolyn of Tyre 
 
 King Edward VI. Grammar 
 School, St. Alban's 
 
 Knight of the Tower, the. 
 Book to the ensaygne- 
 ment and teaching of his 
 Daughters, printed by 
 Caxton 40,81 
 
 Knight Paris, the, and the 
 fair Vienne, printed by 
 Caxton 
 
 Konnecke, Dr. G. ... 
 
 Lambert, John 
 
 Large, Alice, 1 1 ; Elizabeth, 
 9, 11 ; Joan, 159; Jo- 
 hanna, 9, 10, 11 ; Mar- 
 ries John Godney, 11 ; 
 John,5, 9, 146; Richard, 
 9 ; Robert, 1 45 ; a Mer- 
 cer, 8 ; Sheriff and Lord 
 Mayor, 8 ; Warden, 9 ; 
 House in the Old Jewry, 
 Account by Stow, 9 ; 
 Family, 9 ; Death and 
 Will, 9 ; Widow 
 
 Large, Robert, his Will, 151 
 to 155; the younger, 5, 
 11; Thomas 
 
 Latour, Landry 
 
 Laurent, Frere 
 
 PAGE 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 193 
 
 Le Recueil des Histoires de 
 
 
 34 
 
 Troye, (see Recueil) ... 
 
 26 
 
 
 Leeu Gerard ... 186 
 
 ,307 
 
 29 
 
 Lefevre, Raoul 
 
 186 
 
 213 
 
 Legenda Aurea 
 
 Legends, Bequest from Cax- 
 
 280 
 
 44 
 
 ton 
 
 160 
 
 304 
 
 Legh Gerard 
 
 186 
 
 
 Legh, Stephen, M.P. 
 
 138 
 
 361 
 
 Legh, W. J., Esq 
 
 364 
 
 
 Legrand, Jacques 
 
 312 
 
 
 Leper Houses, Bequest to, 
 
 
 221 
 
 by Large 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 Letter to Caxton from Mer- 
 
 
 70 
 
 cers 
 
 Letters of Indulgence from 
 
 23 
 
 241 
 
 Johannes de Giglis, 
 
 
 
 printed by Caxton 
 
 251 
 
 
 Letters of Indulgence issued 
 
 
 
 by John Kendal in 1480, 
 
 
 
 printed by Caxton 
 
 252 
 
 271 
 
 Lettou 
 
 95 
 
 
 Lewis, Rev. John ... 91 
 
 215 
 
 
 Life of Christ 
 
 314 
 
 306 
 
 Life of Saint Katherine, The 
 
 361 
 
 269 
 
 Life, The, and Miracles of 
 
 
 148 
 
 Robert, Earl of Oxford 
 
 Life, The,oftheHoly Blessed 
 
 Virgin, Saint Winifred, 
 
 366 
 
 
 printed by Caxton 
 
 299 
 
 
 Life, The, of the Noble and 
 
 
 
 Christian Prince, Charles 
 
 
 
 the Great, printed by 
 
 
 
 Caxton 
 
 303 
 
 
 Lilly, Mr 
 
 336 
 
 
 Lincoln Cathedral 
 
 282 
 
 
 Livre de Sapience ... 
 
 322 
 
 
 Lirre des bonnes Mjcws, le 
 
 312 
 
 10 
 
 Livre des Vices et des Vertus 
 
 319 
 
 
 Livre Royal, le 
 
 319 
 
 
 Louis de Bruges 
 
 35 
 
 9,11 
 
 Louis of Anjou 
 
 34 
 
 272 
 
 Louvre Library 
 
 33 
 
 320 
 
 Low Counties 
 
 30 
 
i:nd£X. 
 
 879 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Lacidary, The 366 
 
 Lydgate, John 171, 192, 
 
 204, 210, 259, 297, 337, 350 
 Lyf of our Ladye, printed 
 
 by Caxton 297 
 
 Lyndewoode, Constitutiones 366 
 Machlinia ... 35, 95, 335, 366 
 
 Madden, Sir F 221 
 
 Maittaire 215 
 
 Mallet Gilles 33 
 
 Malory, Sir Thomas ... 302 
 
 Manipnlns Curatorum ... 322 
 Mansion Colard ... 36, 38, 
 40,42,43,45,49,54,63, 
 67, 110, 177, 212, 250, 351 
 Mansion Colard, a Skilful 
 Caligrapher, begins to 
 Print, 68; his Con- 
 nection with Caxton, 54 ; 
 Deanof theGuildof St. 
 John, 50 ; Place of 
 Residence and Work- 
 shop, 50 ; Opinion by 
 Bernard, 62; Peculiarity 
 of his Printing, 52, 53, 
 54 : the first Printer at 
 
 Bniges 40 
 
 Mansion, Paul and Robert. . . 57 
 
 Marchand, Guy 351 
 
 Margaret (of Flanders) ... 34 
 
 Margaret, Queen 282 
 
 Margaret's, St., Westminster, 
 Records, 4, 31, 78, 79, 
 
 80, 86, 58, 162 
 Margarita Eloquentiae, Fra- 
 tris Laurentii Gulielmi 
 de Saona, printed by 
 
 Caxton 216 
 
 Mariee Virginis Servitium 
 de Visitatione, printed 
 
 by Caxton 264 
 
 Marot, Jean .333 
 
 Marshall, J 149 
 
 Marten, Walter 86 
 
 PAQB 
 
 Mart-Towns, Apprentices 
 
 sent to the 14 
 
 Martin, St. Outwich ... 75 
 
 Maskell, Mr. ... 318,328 
 
 Maydestone, Clement ... 316 
 Maynyal, W. ... 138,368 
 
 Medicina Stomachi, printed 
 
 by Caxton ... 336,337 
 Meditacions sur les Sept 
 Psalmes Penitencianlx, 
 printed by Caxton ... 177 
 Mercer's Company... 5, 6, 8, 
 
 16, 28, 29, 76, 144 
 Merchant Adventurers, their 
 Institution, Object, and 
 Charters ... 15,17, 18,21,24 
 Metamorphoses of Ovid ... 51 
 
 Meun, Jehan de 332 
 
 Middleton, Dr 317 
 
 Mielot, Jean 185,230 
 
 Mirkus, John 262 
 
 Mirrour of the World, printed 
 by Caxton, 1st Edition, 
 224 ; 2nd Edition ... 233 
 Missale ad Usum Sarum, 
 
 printed for Caxton ... 362 
 
 Montaiglon, M 273 
 
 Moral Distichs, printed by 
 
 Caxton 197 
 
 Moral Proverbs, printed by 
 
 Caxton 192 
 
 Mores, Rowe 110 
 
 Moule. Bib. Herald 288 
 
 Mountfort, Symon 221 
 
 Moxon, Joseph ... 110, 106 
 National Library, Paris ... 351 
 Neche, Thomas ... 10,146 
 
 Nichols, J. G 76 
 
 Noblesse, Declaration of ... 228 
 
 North, Mr 218 
 
 Nouns, Substantive, and 
 Verbs, The proper appli- 
 cation of certain, printed 
 by Caxton ... 203,204 
 
380 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Nngent, Dr 317 
 
 Nyche, Thomas 145 
 
 Obray, William, Governor 
 of the English Mer- 
 chants 19,21 
 
 Old Age, Tally of 228 
 
 Oldys 226 
 
 Onkmanton, Henry... 10, 145 
 
 Order of Chivalry, The 
 
 printed by Caxton ... 287 
 
 Orford, Lord 216 
 
 Orologium Sapientije ... 347 
 
 Osborne 206 
 
 Ottley 127, 134 
 
 Ovid, Metamorphoses of 90, 364 
 Oxford, Robert Earl of 206, 365 
 
 Palmer, Samuel 110 
 
 Paper, its Value, 103 ; its 
 Watermarks, 99 ; Large 
 Paper Copies, 98 ; Paper 
 Mill, 98; the kind used 
 
 by Caxton 97 
 
 Paris, M 170,212 
 
 Parker, Archbishop 106, 218 
 
 Pannartz 84 
 
 Pannizzi, Sir Anthony ... 107 
 
 Pegge, Dr 3 
 
 Pembroke College, Cam- 
 bridge 271 
 
 Pcpysian, 233, 338, 364, 346, 365 
 
 Perkin Warbeck 221 
 
 Perrot, Thomas 27 
 
 Peterborough, Earl of ... 251 
 Petrus Carmelianus, Sex 
 Epistolae, printed by 
 
 Caxton 265 
 
 Petzholdt, Dr. Julius ... 269 
 Philadelphia, Loganian Li- 
 brary 282 
 
 Pica Sarum, seu Directorium, 
 
 printed by Caxton ... 239 
 Pica, type of printers ... 238 
 
 Pilgrimage of the Soul, the, 
 
 printed by Caxton ... 257 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Pins, Jean de 307 
 
 Pisan, Christine de... ... 332 
 
 Poge, the Elorentine, the 
 Fables of, printed by 
 
 Caxton 284 
 
 Polycronicon, printed by 
 
 Caxton 65,90 254 
 
 Portraits of Caxton 91 
 
 Pratt, William 17, 75, 81 812 
 Prayers, Death-Bed, printed 
 
 by Caxton 283 
 
 Premierfait, Laurence de ... 229 
 
 Preste, Simon 24 
 
 Psalter, the First 44 
 
 Psalterium, «fec., printed by 
 
 Caxton 241 
 
 Purgatorie des mauvais 
 
 Maris 63 
 
 Pye, The, a Tenement ... 75 
 Pye, a collection of rules ... 238 
 Pykering, John, 149 ; Suc- 
 cessor to Caxton as 
 Governor of the English 
 Nation, 21 ; summoned 
 before the Court of the 
 Mercers, and discharged 
 
 from his office 21 
 
 Pynson, Richard ...95,200 292 
 Quadrilogue, Le, by Colard 
 
 Mansion ... 67, 177 
 
 Quarternion, Meaning of, 131, 166 
 Quatre derrenieres Choses 
 
 56, 61. 63, 67, 68, 183, 326 
 Queen's College, Oxford ... 271 
 Quintemion, Meaning of ... 166 
 Rawlett's Library, Tam worth 282 
 
 Recto, Meaning of 166 
 
 Recueil, Le, des Histories de 
 Troye ... 26, 51, 95, 
 
 60,53, 68, 169 
 Recuyell, The, of the His- 
 tories of Troye, 26, 31, 
 32, 41, 56, 57, 59, 60, 
 
 63, 68, 105 
 
881 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Eedeknape Esmond 17 
 
 Kedeknape W, ... 17, 19, 149 
 Red Pale, The ... 76,80 
 
 Red Ink, Curious use of, by 
 
 Caxtou and Mansion ... 183 
 Regimen Sanitatis Saterni- 
 
 tanum 337 
 
 Reglets 125 
 
 Reinaert die Vos, die Historie 
 
 Van 228 
 
 Reyelations of Saint Eliza- 
 beth, of Hungary ... 361 
 Reynard, the Fox, History of, 
 printed by Caxton, 1st 
 Edition, 227 ; 2nd Edi- 
 tion 337 
 
 Rhodes, The Siege of 221, 362 
 
 Richard HI 81, 196,288 
 
 Richmond, Margaret, Coun- 
 tess of 81 
 
 Ripon Minster ... 213,261 
 
 Ripoli Press 103,107 
 
 Ritson, 199; Bib. Poet ... 203 
 Rivers, Anthoine, Earl of, 
 24, 28, 81, 215; trans- 
 lated the Dictes ... 187 
 Robert, Monk of Shrews- 
 bury 300 
 
 Rock, Canon, D.D 238 
 
 Roger, Monk of St. Werberg 255 
 
 Roman Types 43 
 
 Romans, les, de la Table 
 Ronde et les contes des 
 anciens Bretons ... 303 
 
 Romuleon, written by Colard 
 
 Mansion 50 
 
 Rood of Oxford 263 
 
 Rotheram, Bishop 240 
 
 Roxburgh Club ... 205,210 
 Royal Book, the, or Book 
 for a King, printed by 
 
 Caxton 318,364 
 
 Roye, Guyde 322 
 
 Rubrisher, The 133 
 
 Rule of St. Benet, The, 
 
 printed by Caxton,346, 347, 351 
 Rnssel, John, Bishop of 
 Lincoln, 24, 195, 226; 
 his " Propositio," printed 
 
 by Caxton 194 
 
 Ryolle, William 86 
 
 Sacerdotum, Directorium, 
 
 printed by Caxton ... 341 . 
 
 Salisbury Missal 363 
 
 Salve Regina, printed by 
 
 Caxton 197 
 
 Saona, Fratris Laurentii 
 Gulielmi de, Marga- 
 rita Eloquential, printed 
 by Caxton ... 216,218 
 
 ScalaCoeli 322 
 
 Scales, Lord 24,195 
 
 Scriptorium of Westminster 
 
 Abbey 74 
 
 Scrivers 133 
 
 Scroop, Archbishop ... 317 
 
 Selle, John 16 
 
 Seven Points, The, of True 
 Love and Everlasting 
 Wisdom, or Orologium 
 Sapientiae, printed by 
 
 Caxton 346 
 
 Sermons, Four, printed by 
 
 Caxton 263,354 
 
 Sermons of Vitriaco, The... 322 
 Servitium de Transfigura- 
 tione Jhesu Christi, 
 printed by Caxton ... 326 
 Servitium de Visitatione B. 
 Mariae Virginis, printed 
 by Caxton ... 264,327 
 Sex pereleg antissima; Epis- 
 tolac per Petrum Car- 
 meliauum Emendatae, 
 printed by Caxton ... 266 
 Shakspear, W. ... 170, 296 
 Shrewsbury, John Talbot, 
 
 Earl of 332 
 
382 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Siege of llhodes ... 220,362 
 
 Signatures 41,42 
 
 Sixtus IV., Pope ... 195, 219 
 Skogan, John, Envoy of 
 Chaucer to, printed by 
 
 Caxton 209 
 
 Sloane, Sir Hans 308 
 
 Sluis, The Port of, Bruges. . . 26 
 Smithfield, Jousts in ... 12 
 
 Smith, John 110 
 
 Somerset, Margaret^ Duchess 
 
 of 339 
 
 Somme de Roi, La ; or. La 
 Somme des Vices et des 
 
 Vertus 319 
 
 Sophologium 312 
 
 Sotheby, S.Leigh 108 
 
 Soushavie, or Souabe, Jehan 
 
 Southey, Robert 803 
 
 Spacing 44 
 
 Speculum Historiale ... 306 
 
 Speculum Vitae Christi, 
 printed by Caxton, 1st 
 edition 312 ; 2nd edition 324 
 St. Alban's, the Printer- 
 Schoolmaster of , 45, 217; 
 Grammar School, 213, 
 240 ; St. Alban's 
 
 Chronicle 246 
 
 St. Benet's Chapel, West- 
 minster 212 
 
 St. George's, Windsor ... 227 
 St. James of Compostella ... 189 
 St. John College, Cambridge 345 
 St. John's College, Oxford, 
 
 223, 246 343 
 
 St. John's Hospital of Jeru- 
 salem 172 
 
 St. John the Evangelist, 
 
 Guild of 37 
 
 St. Martin's Otewich ... 160 
 
 St. Olave, Jewry 10 
 
 St. Omer, Proposed Con- 
 vention at 23 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Stans Puer ad Mensam, 
 
 printed by Caxton 66 197 
 Stanzas, various, printed by 
 
 Caxton 203 
 
 Star Chamber Decree ... 106 
 Statutes of Henry VII., 
 
 printed by Caxton . . . 335 
 
 Staunton, Thos 145 
 
 Steel Yard 22, 190 78 
 
 Steevens, G 170 
 
 Stomach Medicina, printed 
 
 by Caxton 336 
 
 Stow, John G 248 
 
 Stower, C 110 
 
 Streete, Randolph ...10, 146 146 
 
 Strete, Hundred of ^ 10 
 
 Stubbes, John ... 80, 146 
 
 Styles, Old and New in the 
 
 year 296 
 
 Suso, Henry de 347 
 
 Sutton, John 19 
 
 Surigo, Stephen ^212 
 
 Surse, Pistoie 230 
 
 Sweynheim andPannartz ...43, 84 
 
 Tate, John 104,149 
 
 Temple of Brass, The, 
 printed by Caxton, 1st 
 
 Edition, 206, 2nd Edition 209 
 
 Terms, Explanation of ... 166 
 Temion, Meaning of 131, 166 
 
 Thomassy, Raimond ... 193 
 
 Thomey, Roger 261 
 
 Timperley, C. H 110 
 
 Title Pages 46 
 
 Tractatus de ymagine mundi 226 
 Trade Marks of Printers ... 76 
 Trades, List of, in the Guild 
 of St. John the Evan- 
 gelist 37 
 
 Trading Guilds 17 
 
 Treatise of Love, A, printed 
 
 by Caxton 267 
 
 Treatise on Hunting and 
 
 Hawking 334 
 
DTOBX. 
 
 888 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Treaty of Trade, Commission 
 
 for renewal of 22 
 
 Tree of Battailes 333 
 
 Treveris, Peter 95 
 
 Troilns and Creside by 
 
 Shakspere 170 
 
 Trojan War 170 
 
 Troy, Siege of 170 
 
 Trinity College, Cambridge 343 
 
 Trinity College, Dublin ... 220 
 Troylus and Creside, printed 
 
 byCaxton 235 
 
 Tully of Old Age ; Tully 
 of Friendship ; The De- 
 clamation of Noblesse, 
 
 printed by Caxton . . . 228 
 
 Tumat, Richard 10 
 
 Twelve Profits of Tribulation, 
 
 The, printed by Caxton 346 
 
 Tympans 129 
 
 Typefounding 104 
 
 Type, No. 1, Books printed 
 
 in, described ... 166 to 180 
 
 Type, No. 2 64 
 
 Type, No. 3 ... Ill 
 
 Type, No. 5 119 
 
 Type, No. 6 120 
 
 Types 43, 104; 109 
 
 Upsala, University Library 219 
 
 Utrecht, Old Records ... 26 
 
 Vaghan, Thomas 195 
 
 Valerius, Maximus 60 
 
 Van Prffit, M., 37, 49, 51, 177 
 
 Vegetius, de re militari ... 332 
 Vellum used for Caxton's 
 
 books 104 
 
 Von to, Jeronimo 158 
 
 Verard, Antome ... 334,351 
 
 Verso, meaning of 166 
 
 Vienna, Imperial Library, 
 
 233, 261, 293 
 
 PAOC 
 
 Vignay, Jehan de ... 172,280 
 
 Vignoles, Bernard de ... 221 
 
 Vins d'honneur 27 
 
 Vitas Patrum 85 
 
 Vocabulary in French and 
 English, printed by 
 
 Caxton 260 
 
 Wagstaffe, Bishop 317 
 
 Walbrook, Watercourse of. . . 10 
 
 Walpole, Horace 194 
 
 Waide, John 148 
 
 Warwick, Earl of ... 24, 28, 81 
 
 Watermarks in Caxton books 99 
 
 Watson, James 110 
 
 Weald of Kent 1 
 
 Westminster, 70 ; Abbots of, 
 
 74 ; Wool Staple, at ... 79 
 
 Whitehill, Sir Richard ... 22 
 
 Whityngton, Quit Rents ... 150 
 
 Wide ville, Richard 158 
 
 Wilson, Joshua, Esq. . . . 327 
 
 Winchester, Earl of 36 
 
 Windsor, Royal Library ... 287 
 Winifred, Life of Saint, prin- 
 ted by Caxton 299 
 
 Wright, Thomas Mr. ... 303 
 
 Wool-staple at Westminster 77 
 
 Worde, Wynkin de, 45, 75, 
 
 95 ; His blunders, 64, 
 
 66 ; Various ways he 
 
 spelt his name 66 
 
 Wyche, Hewe ... 29,30,146 
 
 Wyche, Richard, burnt ... 12 
 Year. Old and new style of 
 reckoning in England 
 and Flanders 
 
 York, Cathedral Library 205 208 
 
 Zanetti ... 103 
 
 Zel Ulric 44. 62, 63 
 
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