Chapter XIV: Prologue: Of Jean De Vignay to His French Translation (a.d. 1360) of (1)

THE “LUDUS SACCORUM” OF J. DE CESSOLIS.

A Tres noble & excellent prince Jehan de france duc 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 ennemis. Treschier
& redoubte seign^r / pour ce que Jay entendu et scay que vous veez
& ouez volentiers choses proffitables & honestes et qui tendent
alinformacion de bonnes meurs ay Je mis vn petit liuret de latin
en francois le quel mest venuz a la main nouuellement / ou quel
plussieurs auctoritez et dis de docteurs & de philosophes & de poetes
& des anciens sages / sont Racontez & sont appliquiez a la moralite
des nobles hommes et des gens de peuple selon le gieu des eschez le
quel liure Tres puissant et tres redoubte seigneur jay fait ou nom
& soubz vmbre de vous pour laquelle chose treschr seign^r Je vous
suppli & requier de bonne voulente de cuer que il voꝰ daigne plaire
a receuoir ce liure en gre aussi bien que de vn greign^r 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^r plus clerement proceder
en ceste ouure / Jay ordene que les chappitres du liure soint escrips
& mis au commencement afin de veoir plus plainement la matiere de
quoy le dit liure p’ole.

Before concluding this article we must give an interpolation of the text which has real interest as showing Caxton’s feelings towards “men of law.” The French author is regretting the conduct of some lawyers of Rome and Italy, and Caxton, with a natural burst of indignation, which suggests that personal experience had something to do with it, adds this:--

“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 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 Chancery, 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 be uttered and told it should not be believed. For they entend 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 PROUESSES DU NOBLE ET VAILLANT CHEVALIER JASON.
_Folio. Without Printer’s Name, Place, or Date. (147-?)_

COLLATION.--Sixteen 4ns and one 3n = 134 leaves, of which the first and last two leaves are blank.

TYPOGRAPHICAL PARTICULARS.--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 5-3/16 inches; 31 lines to a page. Without signatures, numerals, head-lines, or catchwords.

A blank leaf commences the book; at the head of the succeeding recto, with space for a 4-line initial, and with a director, the Text begins thus:--

~l~ ~A gallee de mon engin flotant na pas long
temps en la parfondeur des mers du pluseurs
anciennes histoires ainsi comme Je vouloie me-
ner mon esperit en port de repos / soudainement
sapparu au pres de moy vne nef conduitte par vng homme~

The Text ends on the verso of the 31st printed leaf:--

~ant a mon deuant dit tresredoubte seigneur / Et atous ceulx
qui le contenu de ce present volume liront . ou orront lire .
quil leur plaise de grace excuser autant que mon petit et ru
de engin na sceu touchier ne peu comprendre &c ˙:.
Explicit~

REMARKS.--All the books printed with these types are traced 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.

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.

Only three copies of this scarce book have been as yet discovered. A magnificent one is at Eton College; another is 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 is in the Library of the Arsenal, Paris.

NO. 5.--MEDITACIONS SUR LES SEPT PSEAULMES PENITENCIAULX. _Folio.
Without Printer’s Name, Place, or Date. (1478?)_

COLLATION.--Three 4ns and one 5n = 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 fully spaced out, though now and then there is a deficiency in this respect, which only occurs, however, on the verso of the folios, the recto throughout being fully spaced. This peculiarity 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 full page. There are no signatures, folios, nor catchwords.

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 Text begins on the first recto,--

~A braye penitance est comme aucune eschielle
~l~ par laquelle lomme pecheur qui selon la parabole
de leuuangille descendy de Jherusalem en Jherico
monta de rechief de Jherico en Jherusalem / cest abision de~

And ends on the 33rd verso, with a full page, followed by a blank leaf,--

~exultacion de leesse espirituelle / Puis encores sil te plaist
me donne que par ce septenuaire des pseaulmes de peniten-
ce lesquelz correspondent aux sept affectz de lomme prins
pour les sept degrez de leschielle de penitence Je puisse mō-
ter et paruenir atoy en cette tant glorieuse cite de Jherusa-
lem en laquelle tu habites et te offrir auec les sains et be-
neurez le sacrifice de loenge sans fin /: AMEN~

REMARKS.--This work is a translation from the original Latin of Cardinal Pierre d’Ailly, entitled “Meditaciones 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. It has been attributed to Antoine Belard, but on insufficient grounds, as his version, printed at Lyons in 1542, was a much later production. The Cardinal was the author of at least 42 works, many of which are preserved in Harl. MS., No. 637; but neither in the British Museum nor in the National Library, Paris, does there appear to be a MS. copy of this commentary on the Penitential Psalms. About 1483 the original Latin was printed at Paris by Ant. Caylaut, and another edition of German, 15th cent. workmanship, but without Name, Place, or Date, is in the British Museum. It was also reprinted at Strasbourg in 1490, and in the “Orthodoxographa,” Basle, 1555. The Commentary on the Penitential Psalms printed by Wynken de Worde was composed by Bishop Alcock, and has nothing in common with this.

Pierre d’Ailly was born of poor parents at Compiègne in 1350. His father, at the cost of many personal privations, procured for him a sound elementary education, and at an early age he obtained the appointment of Bursar in the celebrated College of Navarre. He made himself master of the philosophy and science of his age, studying especially metaphysics and astronomy. When only twenty-five he was accounted the greatest scholar and most skilful debater of the time. In 1380 the University of Paris conferred upon him the degree of Doctor, and in the following year he delivered his famous oration upon the healing of the Papal schism which at that time was disturbing all Christendom. This procured for him the benefice of Noyon, which he held till 1384. He was then recalled to Paris to be Grand Master of the College of Navarre, where only twelve years before he had studied as a pupil. At this period his fame was greatly increased by his successful pleadings before Pope Clement VII. against the new-fangled doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. In 1389 he became Chancellor of the University of Paris, as well as Confessor and Almoner to the young king Charles VI. Already well versed in Church politics, he now became initiated in Court mysteries, and by a happy mixture of wisdom, wit, and polished manners, greatly increased his fame and power. In 1394 the Canons of La Sainte Chapelle having become very neglectful of their duties, he was appointed Treasurer, and soon initiated some sweeping reforms. Two years later he was consecrated Bishop of Cambray, where his firmness and prudence in the most trying circumstances exercised the most happy influence on his Diocese. His favours and patronage were conferred on those most worthy by their piety, zeal, and abilities to receive them, and especially was he anxious to avoid even the appearance of simony. In 1411 he was chosen Cardinal, and it was about this time that he published the “Meditationes” upon which this article is founded. He distinguished himself at the Councils of Pisa and Constance, and was President of the Session at which John Huss was condemned to be burnt. He died in 1420 at the height of his fame.

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 Choses.” It is _perfect_, 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 “Archæologia,” vol. xxxi, page 412.

A DESCRIPTION OF BOOKS PRINTED IN

TYPE NO. 2.

_BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2._

6. Les Quatre Derrenieres Choses 1475?
7. The History of Jason 1477?
8. The Dictes and Sayings. First Edition 1477
9. Horæ 1478?
10. The Canterbury Tales. First Edition 1478?
11. The Moral Proverbs of Christine 1478
12. Propositio Johannis Russell 1478?
13. Stans puer ad Mensam _ante_ 1479
14. Parvus Catho. First Edition _ante_ 1479
15. Ditto Second Edition _ante_ 1479
16. The Horse, the Sheep, and the Ghoos. First Edition _ante_ 1479
17. Ditto ditto Second Edition _ante_ 1479
18. Infancia Salvatoris _ante_ 1479
19. The Temple of Glass _ante_ 1479
20. The Chorle and the Bird. First Edition _ante_ 1479
21. Ditto ditto Second Edition _ante_ 1479
22. The Temple of Brass, or the Parliament of Fowls _ante_ 1479
23. The Book of Courtesy. First Edition _ante_ 1479
24. Queen Anelida _ante_ 1479
25. Boethius _ante_ 1479
26. Corydale 1479
27. Fratris Laur. Gulielmi de Saona Margarita 1479-10?
28. The Dictes and Sayings. Second Edition 1480?
29. Indulgence 1480
30. Parvus et Magnus Chato. Third Edition 1481?
31. The Mirrour of the World. First Edition 1481?
32. Reynard the Fox. First Edition 1481
33. Tully of Old Age 1481
34. The Game and Playe of the Chesse. Second Edition 1481?

BOOKS PRINTED IN TYPE NO. 2.

NO. 6.--LES QUATRE DERRENIERES CHOSES ADVENIR. _Folio. Without
Printer’s Name, Date, or Place. (1476?)_

COLLATION.--Nine 4ns = 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. Without 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:--

~Ce present traictie est diuise en quatre parties principa
les : Desquelles chascune contient trois autres singuli ⸝
res parties en la fourme gui sensuit~:

and ends on 72nd verso:--

~quilz pourueissent aux choses derrenieres ⸝ dont la frequēte
memoire et recordacion Rapelle des pechiez a culpe aux ver
tus et conferme en bounes oeuures / par quoy on paruient a
la gloire eternelle :Amen
Explicit liber de
quatuor Nouissimis~

An important typographical peculiarity in this work is the mode in which the printer has employed red ink for the title-lines of chapters. The _modus operandi_ and how the red ink overlies the black, is explained at p. 52, _ante_. This curious 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 connects this book with those printed in Type No. 1 is the existence 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 derrenieres choses.”

REMARKS.--The title, “De quatuor novissimis,” was applied to many religious treatises of the fourteenth and fifteenth 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 numerous, Hain, in his “Repertorium Bibliographicum,” giving the titles of twenty-one editions printed in the fifteenth century. 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 authorship of this particular version is given to Gerardus à Vliedenhoven, and Mr. Holtrop gives an account of three printed 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, translaté de latin en francois par Jo. Mielot l’an de grace mil cccc liij.”

Philippe le Bon, as is well known, maintained many secretaries 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, Droïn Ducret, de Dijon, and others. They brought into use that peculiar style of writing termed “grosse bâtarde,” which, at a later date, Colard Mansion took as a pattern for his types. Among the duke’s secretaries, one of the most indefatigable was Jean Mielot. He united in himself the qualifications of author, translator, and scribe, as he lets us know in the manuscript, “Traité de vieillesse et de jeunesse,” now in the Royal Library, Copenhagen.

The only EXISTING COPY known of this edition was discovered 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 179, to which the reader is referred for further particulars.

NO. 7.--THE HISTORY OF JASON. _Folio. Without Printer’s Name, Place,
or Date. (1477?)_

COLLATION.--Eighteen 4ns and one 3n = 150 leaves, of which the first and two last are 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 full page has 29 lines. Without signatures, folios, or catchwords. Space is left at the commencement 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:--

~f~ ~Or asmoche as late by the comaūdement of the right
hye & noble princesse my right redoubted lady ⸝ My
lady Margarete by the grace of god Duchesse of Bour-~

and ends on the 148th verso,

~among the most worthy · And after this present life eu-
lastinglife in heuen who grant him & vs that boughte vs
with his bloode blessyd Thus Amen~

REMARKS.--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 Westminster press; and Caxton’s remarks in the prologue to “Golden Legend” show the translation to have followed “The Recuyell” and “Chess Book.” The evidence, therefore, 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 translated 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 by me William Caxton at Westmestre.” 1477. First
Edition; without Colophon._

COLLATION.--Nine 4ns and one 3n = 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 full page. Without folios, catchwords, or signatures. Space is left at the beginning of chapters for the insertion of 3-line initials, with director.

Commencing with a blank leaf, Earl Rivers’s prologue follows.

The Text begins thus, on the second recto:--

~Here it is so that euery humayn Creature by the
~w~ suffraūce of our lord god is born & ordeigned to
be subgette and thral vnto the stormes of fortune
And so in diuerse & many sondry wyses man is perplex-~

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.

~Ere endeth the book named the dictes or sayengis
~h~ of the philosophres enprynted ⸝by me william
Caxton at westmestre the yere of our lord · M ·
CCCC · Lxxvij · Whiche book is late translated out of~

The Text ends on the 76th verso, with a short page of sixteen lines--

~posicion in this world ⸝ And after thys lyf to lyue euer-
lastyngly in heuen Amen~

~Et sic est finis .·.·~

REMARKS.--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 quarto 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, determined to pay his vows at the shrine of St. James of Compostella. In the British Museum (C. 18. e. 2) is “An Abbreviation of the graces and indulgences which Alexāder vj granteth to all true believing people of every sexe or communitie of the grete hospytall of Saynt James of Cōpostella.” 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 IV, 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 English, which, however, notwithstanding the assistance of an earlier translation by Scrope, occupied him some years, supposing it to be completed 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 translation before printing it, and the result was the addition of a chapter “towching wymmen,” introduced by a very characteristic 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 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 colophon, is December 29th, 1477, or about six weeks after the publication of Caxton’s printed edition, of which it is a verbatim 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 translatyd out of frensh tung in to englysh the yer of our lord M cccc L to John Fostalf knyght for his contemplacion and solas by Stevyn Scrope squyer sonne in law to the seide Fostalle.” 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 OF A “HORÆ.” _Octavo. Without Printer’s Name,
Place, or Date._ (1478?)

Four leaves only. Type No. 2. Lines very uneven in length, the longest measuring 2¼ inches; twelve lines to a full page. Without signatures, catchwords, or numerals.

The evidence which a perfect volume might afford being absent, the following suggestions by Mr. Bradshaw, of Cambridge, are offered:--From the small portion remaining of the original, it is impossible to state with accuracy under what particular class of service-books it should be ranged. To all appearance it is part of a primer, or “Horæ secundum consuetudinem Angliæ;” 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 Suffragia at Lauds:--St. Thomas of Canterbury (the last few words only), St. Nicholas, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Katharine, St. Margaret; after which, in the four leaves that are wanting, there is room for All Saints, the Prayer for Peace, the Versicle and Response, 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 and the concluding verse Benedicamꝰ dño Deo gs, with which the service ends. On comparing this with the Horæ 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 commemorations in most of the English primers; but those of St. Barbara, as found in this fragment, differ altogether from those which occur in other Horæ. 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 Suffrages of the Three Kings of Cologne, which, as already 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, letitiâ, gratiâ et pace, ad loca destinata in pace et salute et negotio bene peracto cum omne prosperitate, salvi et sani redire valeamus.” This alone proves very little; but when we find that the next suffrages are 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 Horæ), 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 ullâ notâ. First
Edition. (1478?)_

COLLATION.--Forty 4ns, one 3n, one 5n, one 3n, one 5n, one 3n, one 5n, and one 2n, 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 full page. Without folios, signatures, or catchwords. The book commences with a blank leaf, after which the Text begins thus:--

~Han that Apprill with his shouris sote
~w~ And the droughte of marche hath peid ye rote
And badid euery veyne in suche licour
Of whiche vertu engendrid is the flour~

On the 372nd leaf recto are the following lines, being the conclusion of the Parson’s tale:--

~tificacion of synne / To that lyf he vs brynge that bought
with his precyous blood Amen.~

~Explicit Tractatus Galfrydi Chaucer de
Penitencia vt dicitur pro fabula Rectoris.~

The reverse is occupied by what is called Chaucer’s retraction, commencing--

~n~ ~Ow pray J to hem alle that herkene this litil treatyse~

and ending--

~deus . Per omnia secula seculor’ Amen.~

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 PROVERBS OF CRISTYNE. _Folio. “Enprinted by
Caxton At Westmestre,” 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:--

~The morale prouerbes of Cristyne
~t~ He grete vertus of oure elders notable
Ofte to remembre is thing profitable
An happy hous is . where dwelleth prudence~

and ends on the fourth verso,

~At westmestre . of feuerer the . xx . daye
And of kyng Edward / the . xvij . yere vraye~

~Enprinted by Caxton
In feuerer the colde season~

REMARKS.--Cristyne de Pise was, with the single exception of Joan of Arc, the most famous woman of her age. She was born A.D. 1363, in Italy, and, at the early age of fifteen, married Etienne Castel. After a few happy years her husband was taken from her by death; and now, although, to quote her own words, “nourri en delices et mignottemens,” she found herself almost 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 biographers 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, 1838. See also “Les Msc. Franc.,” vol. iv, p. 186; and “Mém. de l’Acad. des Insc.,” vol. ii, p. 762.

“Les prouerbes moraulx” were originally composed as a supplement to “Les enseignemens moraux,” written by Cristyne for the instruction of her son, Jean Castel, who passed a part of his youthful days in the service of the Earl of Salisbury, in England.

The translation of these proverbs into English by Earl Rivers appears to have taken place about the same period as his longer effort 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 of the “Moral Proverbs” are in the libraries of Earl Spencer, Earl of Jersey, and Mr. Christie-Miller.

NO. 12.--PROPOSITIO JOHANNIS RUSSELL. _Quarto. Without Printer’s
Name, 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 full line measuring 4 inches. A full page has 22 lines, without 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 full by Dr. Dibdin.

The Text begins on the first verso:--

~Propositio Clarissimi Oratoris . Magistri Jo
hannis Russell decretorum doctoris ac adtunc
Ambassiatoris xpianissimi Regis Edwardi~

and ends with twelve lines on the fourth recto, of which the last three are--

~phare ad dei laudem / et exaltationem fidei xpia
ne ⸝ nostri qꝫ seremissimi regis robur . solacium re
uelationem qꝫ / et gloriam plebis sue . amen~

In the eighth volume of the “Censura Literaria,” page 351, 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 born in the parish of St. Peter’s, Winchester, in the beginning of the reign of Henry VI, and commenced 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 Burgundy. 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 Tresorier 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 present 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 acquaintance with 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 Pope Sixtus IV (see _Harleian MS._ No. 433), and was probably in Rome when his Sovereign, Edward IV, who had appointed him one 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 initiated in promulgating the statutes of the realm in the vulgar tongue, instead of Latin or French, a practice continued 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 Englande 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. Ruscel . archidiaconū berkshyrie apud oppidū bruggense flandrie a° 1467 mens’ Ap^il’ 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 consisting of the common manuscript hand of the fifteenth century, which affords 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 manuscripts (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 Blandford bought it at the reasonable price of £2 5_s._ At the sale of his library in 1819 (Lot 5752), Earl Spencer was obliged to give £126 for it. It was for many years considered as unique, until another copy was discovered in the library at Holkham, these two being the only copies known.

NO. 13.--STANS PUER AD MENSAM--MORAL DISTICHS--SALVE REGINA.
_Quarto. Sine ullâ notâ. (Ante 1479.)_

COLLATION.--Four leaves, all printed.

There is no title-page. Type No. 2 only is used. There are 23 lines to a page, or three stanzas in “Balad Royal,”[14] with a blank line between the stanzas. Long lines measure 4 inches. Without signatures or catchwords.

The Text begins, on the first recto, thus:--

~. Stans puer ad mensam .
~m~ I dere childe first thy self enable
With all thin herte to vertuoꝰ discipline
Afore thy souerayn stondyng at the table~

The poem concludes with two stanzas on the third recto, the latter of which is:--

~Go litill bylle bareyn of eloquence
Pray yong children that the shal see or rede
Though thou be not compendious of sentence
Of the clawses for to take hede
Which to alle vertue shal thy yongth lede
Of the wrytyng though ther be no date
Yf ought be amys put the faute in lidgate
. Explicit .~

MORAL DISTICHS immediately follow the above, and fill up the page. The whole is here given.

~Aryse erly And aryse temperatly
Serue god deuoutly And to thy soup soberly
The world besily And to thy bed merily
Goo thy way sadly And be there iocondly
Answere demurely And slepe sewrly
Go to thy mete appetently . Explicit .~

The SALVE REGINA begins on the verso of the preceding, at the head of the page.

~. An holy Salue regina in englissh .~

~Alue with all obeisance to god i humblesse
Regina to regne euyr more in blysse
Mater to crist as we byleue expresse~

The “Salue” ends at the foot of the 4th recto,

~Mater of lyf and eterne creacion
Salue euer as feir as we can suffyse . Amen.~

The reverse of this leaf gives the following:--

~Wytte hath wonder and kynde ne can
How mayden is moder and god is man
Leue thyn askyng and beleue that wonder
For myght hath maistry & skyll goth vnder
. Deo laus &c .~

This is followed by six proverbial couplets, the last being--

~Knowe er thou knytte & than thou maist slake
Yf thou knyt er thou knowe than it is to late~

This finishes the Text as it stands in the only two copies known.

From the absence of the word ~Explicit~, 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 beginning, 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 accidental 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 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 two 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 born at Lidgate, near Bury St. Edmunds, whence he doubtless derived his name. (_Harl. MS._ 2251, folio 283.)

The “Stans Puer” is a translation of the “Carmen juvenile 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 resembles the acknowledged pieces of Lydgate, and was also, in all probability, from his pen.

The copy in the University Library of Cambridge is the only one known, 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, contained, among its other treasures, one priceless little volume, in quarto, bound in plain brown 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 work. Mr. 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 Regina. 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. V. The Temple of Glass.
VI. The Temple of Brass; A treatise 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. VII. The Book of Courtesy. VIII. 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 precedence. 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 3¾ inches.

NO. 14.--PARVUS CATHO.--MAGNUS CATHO. _Quarto. First Edition. Sine
ullâ notâ. (Ante 1479.)_

COLLATION.--Three 4ns and one 5n = 34 leaves, of which the first was doubtless blank, though wanting in the only known copy.

There is no title-page. The type is No. 2 only. Full lines measure 4 inches, and each page contains 23 lines, counting the blank line between the stanzas. Without signatures or catchwords.

The Text commences with title-line on the second recto, a blank leaf having originally preceded it--

~. Hic Jncipit paruus Catho .~

~Cu aiadutere qua plurimos hoies guiter errare
Whan J aduerte to my remembrance
And see how fele folkes erren greuously~

“Parvus Catho” terminates in the middle of the third recto,

~Whan ye it rede let not your hert be thense
But doth as this saith with al your hole entente~

~. Hic finis parui cathonis .~

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 ~S~ with director.

~. Hic Jncipit magnus Catho .~

~s~ ~J deus est aimus nobis vt carmina dicut
Hic tibi precipue fit pura mente colendus
For thy that god is inwardly the wit~

The Text ends on the 34th verso,

~Here haue J fonde that shal you guyde & lede
Streight to gode fame and leue you in hir hous
. Explicit Catho .~

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 centuries. 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 the middle ages they were used as a school-book, to teach 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 introductory 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 full craftily hath made it in Balad Royal 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 Gloss, which will be brought to the reader’s notice under the year 1484.

“Maister Benet Burgh” was Vicar of Malden, in Essex, when he translated “Cato,” as we learn from the colophon in _Harl. MS._, No. 271. He afterwards filled the offices of Archdeacon 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_b_--“A cristemasse game made by Maister Benet: howe god almyghty seyde to his apostelys and echeū 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 translato^r a noble Poet Dane John Lydgate And his folower gan his prolog in this wise p’ Benedictū Burgh.” He or Lydgate also wrote an original fourth book to “Catho Magnus,” which, although not printed by Caxton, may be seen in several manuscripts. Ritson, indeed (_Bib. Poet._, page 66), ascribes the whole to Lydgate.

It does not seem improbable that the printing of “Parvus et Magnus 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, Cambridge (AB. 8. 48. 2). It is _perfect_, but without the original blank leaf, and measures 8¼ × 5½ inches. For an account of the volume which contained it, see page 198 _ante_.

NO. 15.--PARVUS CATHO.--MAGNUS CATHO. _Quarto. Second Edition. Sine
ullâ notâ. (Ante 1479.)_

COLLATION.--Three 4ns and one 5n = 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 line, 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 the quarto edition of “Stans Puer,” already described. It came from the old library at Hardwicke Hall. In the _Harleian Catalogue_ (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. Quarto. Sine ullâ notâ. (Ante 1479.)_

COLLATION.--One 4n and one 5n = 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 page contains 23 lines, inclusive of the blank line between 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,

~c~ ~Ontreversies / plees and discordes
Bitwene persones were two or thre
Sought out the groundes be recordes
This was the custom of antiquite~

On the fourteenth leaf verso,

~Alle in one vessell to speke in wordes pleyn
That no man sholde of other haue disdayn~

~.Thus endeth the horse the ghoos & the sheep.~

There are in this poem 77 stanzas of seven 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 verso--

~a Cony vnlaced Yf he take the londe he
a Heron dismembrid fleeth. Explicit.~