No More Learning

From a study of the productions of the various
presses of different countries can be determined, more or less
accurately, the general requirements of the reading public. This
is especially the case in England, where no books were printed for
exportation. It is proposed, therefore, in the present chapter to
examine the work produced by the earlier English printers as a
means of ascertaining the general literary taste of the period in
this country.
It was soon after the year 1450 that the first products of the new
art appeared at Mainz. In 1465, two German printers, Sweynheym
and Pandartz, migrated to Italy, setting up a press at Subiaco and
moving, two years later, to Rome. Switzerland followed soon after
Italy, and, in 1470, the first French press began work at Paris.
In all these cases, the first printers had been Germans. The
northern Netherlands, which have persistently claimed to be the
birth-place of printing, have no authentic date earlier than 1471,
when two native printers began work at Utrecht. Belgium and
Austria-Hungary follow in 1473 and Spain in 1474. There are
thus eight European countries which precede England, and at no
less than seventy towns were printers at work before Caxton
started at Westminster. So, too, as regards the quality and
quantity of books produced, England takes but a poor place, the
total number of books of every kind, including different editions
printed here before the end of the fifteenth century, only reaching
the total of about three hundred and seventy. On the other hand,
it must be remembered that the literary value of the books printed


## p. 311 (#329) ############################################

William Caxton
311
in England is high; for, unlike other countries, most of the
productions of the press are in the vernacular.
William Caxton, our first printer, was born in the weald of
Kent between the years 1421 and 1428, probably nearer the
earlier date. The weald was largely inhabited by descendants of
the Flemish clothmakers who had been induced by Edward III to
settle in that district, and this would, no doubt, have a certain
effect on the English spoken there, which Caxton himself describes
as 'broad and rude. He received a good education, though we
'
are not told where, and, having determined to take up the business
of a cloth merchant, was apprenticed, in 1438, to Robert Large,
one of the most wealthy and important merchants in London and
a leading member of the mercers' company.
Here Caxton continued until the death of Large, in 1441, and,
though still an apprentice, appears to have left England and gone
to the Low Countries. For the next few years we have little in-
formation as to his movements; but it is clear that he prospered in
business for, by 1463, he was acting as governor of the merchant
adventurers. In 1469, he gave up this post to enter the service of
the duchess of Burgundy, and, in the leisure which this position
afforded him, he turned his attention to literary work. A visit to
Cologne in 1471 marks an important event in Caxton's life, for
there, for the first time, he saw a printing press at work. If we
believe the words of his apprentice and successor Wynkyn de
Worde, and there seems no reason to doubt them, he even assisted
in the printing of an edition of Bartholomaeus de Proprietatibus
Rerum in order to make himself acquainted with the technical
details of the art.
A year or two after his return to Bruges, he determined to set
up a press of his own and chose as an assistant an illuminator
named Colard Mansion. Mansion is entered regularly as an illu-
minator in the guild-books of Bruges up to the year 1473, which
points to Caxton's preparations having been made in 1474.
Mansion was despatched to obtain the necessary type and other
materials, and it appears most probable that the printer who
supplied them was John Veldener of Louvain. Furnished with a
press and two founts of type, cut in imitation of the ordinary book
hand, Caxton began to print.
The first book printed in the English language was the Recuyell
of the Histories of Troy, issued, about 1475, at Bruges. The French
original was compiled in the year 1464 by Raoul le Fevre, chaplain
to Philip, duke of Burgundy; and, four years later, Caxton began


## p. 312 (#330) ############################################

312
The Introduction of Printing
to translate it into English, but, disheartened, as he tells us
in his prologue, by his imperfect knowledge of French, never
having been in France, and by the rudeness and broadness of
his English, he soon laid the work aside. Encouraged by Margaret
duchess of Burgundy, he, later, resumed his task and finished the
work in 1471. His knowledge of French was not perfect, as may
be seen from occasional curious mistranslations, but his position
must have required an adequate knowledge of the language. So,
too, with his English. His education had been good, and he had
served as apprentice with one of the most prominent of London
citizens; so that he had every opportunity to acquire good English
and lose his provincialisms. Nearly all his literary work consisted
of translations, but, to most of his publications, he added prologues
or epilogues which have a pleasant personal touch, and show us
that he had one valuable possession, a sense of humour.
His Recuyell of the Histories of Troy was a popular book
at the Burgundian court, and Caxton was importuned by
many famous persons to make copies for them. The copying
of so large a book was a wearisome undertaking; so Caxton,
remembering the art of printing which he had seen in practical
use at Cologne, determined to undertake it on his own account
and thus be able to supply his patrons with copies easily and
rapidly. Accordingly, about 1475, a printed edition was issued,
followed, shortly, by Caxton's translation from two French versions
of the Liber de ludo scacchorum of Jacobus de Cessolis, made by
Jean Faron and Jean de Vignay. Caxton, in his Game and playe
of the Chesse, made use of both these versions, translating partly
from one and partly from the other. The last book he printed at
Bruges was the Quatre dernieres choses.
In 1476, Caxton returned to England and set up
his
Westminster in a house with the sign of the Red Pale, situated
in the precincts of the abbey. In the two years following his
arrival, he issued a large number of books, though very little from
his own pen. We have it on the authority of the printer Robert
Copland, who worked for Wynkyn de Worde, Caxton's assistant
and successor, and who might himself have been with Caxton,
that the first products of the Westminster press were small pam-
phlets. Now this description exactly applies to a number of tracts
of small size issued about this time. These are Lydgate's Temple
of Glass, two editions of The Horse, the Sheep and the Goose and
The Churl and the Bird; two editions of Burgh's Cato, Chaucer's
Anelida and Arcite and The Temple of Brass, the Book of
press at


## p. 313 (#331) ############################################

William Caxton
313
Courtesy and the Stans puer ad mensam. From what we know
of Caxton's tastes, these are just such books as he would be
anxious to issue. The first two large books which he printed were
The History of Jason and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The
History of Jason was translated by Caxton from the French
version of Raoul le Fevre, and undertaken immediately he had
finished the Recuyell of the Histories of Troy and The Game of
Chess.
On 18 November 1477, was finished the printing of the Dictes
and Sayings of the Philosophers, the first dated book issued in
England. The translator, Anthony Wodville, earl Rivers, while
on a voyage to the shrine of St James of Compostella, in 1473, was
lent by the famous knight Lewis de Bretaylles a manuscript of Les
ditz moraulac des philosophes by Guillaume de Tignoville. With
this, the earl was so pleased that he borrowed the volume and, on
his return to England, set about the translation. This, when
finished, was handed to Caxton to oversee. ' He revised the book
'
with the French version and added an amusing epilogue, pointing
out that the earl, for some reason, had omitted the remarks of
Socrates concerning women, which he, therefore, had added himself.
In the following February, Caxton printed another translation
by earl Rivers, The Moral Proverbs of Christine de Pisan, a
small tract of four leaves. At the end is a short epilogue in verse,
written by Caxton himself, giving some details as to the author,
translator and date of printing. Another translation by earl
Rivers appeared in 1479, entitled Cordyale, or the Four last things.
This was rendered from the Quatre dernieres choses, a French
version of the De quattuor novissimis made by Jean Mielot,
secretary to Philippe le Bon in 1453.
Two editions of The Chronicles of England were printed in 1480
and 1482. This was the history known as The Chronicle of Brute,
edited and augmented by Caxton himself. The Polychronicon
of Higden was also issued in 1482, Caxton revising Trevisa's
English version of 1387, and writing a continuation, bringing down
the history to the year 1460, this continuation being the only
piece of any size which we possess of Caxton's original work.
In 1481, no less than three of his own translations were printed
by Caxton, The Mirror of the World, Reynard the Fox and The
History of Godfrey of Bologne. The origin of the first named is
obscure; but the English translation was made from a French
prose version by 'Maistre Gossouin,' which, in its turn, was rendered
from a French version in metre made, in 1245, from an unknown
>


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314
The Introduction of Printing
Latin original. Reynard the Fox was, apparently, translated from
the Dutch version printed by Gerard Leeu at Gouda in 1479.
About 1483, The Pilgrimage of the Soul and Lydgate's Life
of our Lady, were issued, and, also, a new edition of The
Canterbury Tales. Caxton's prologue to this book is extremely
interesting, and shows in what great esteem he held Chaucer
and his writings. He observes that, some six years previously,
he had printed an edition of The Canterbury Tales which
had been well received. One of the purchasers, however, had
pointed out that in many places the text was corrupt, and that
pieces were included which were not genuine, while some which
were genuine were omitted. He had added that his father possessed
a very correct manuscript which he much valued, and he offered, if
Caxton would print a new edition, to obtain the loan of it. This
Caxton undertook to do and issued the new edition, which, unlike
the earlier one, contains a series of woodcuts illustrating the various
characters. About the same time were also issued Chaucer's
Troilus and Criseyde, and House of Fame, and, in September
1483, Gower's Confessio Amantis.
The Golden Legend, Caxton's most important translation, was
finished, if not printed, in 1483. In his second prologue, the printer
tells us that, after beginning his translation, the magnitude of his
task and the probable great expense of printing had made him
'halfe desperate to have accomplissd it,' had not the earl of
Arundel come forward as a patron. With this assistance, the book
was, at last, finished. In its compilation, Caxton used three versions,
one French, one Latin and one English. The French original can
be clearly identified with an early printed edition without date or
place, for Caxton has fallen into several pitfalls on account of the
misprints which occur in it; for example, in the life of St Stephen,
the words femmes veuves have been printed Saine venue, which the
translator renders ‘hole comen'in spite of the words making no
sense.
a
In 1484, four more books translated by himself were printed by
Caxton: Caton, The Book of the Knight of the Tower, Aesop's
Fables and The Order of Chivalry. The Book of the Knight of
the Tower is a translation of the work written, in 1371, by Geoffroi
de la Tour Landry, for the instruction of his daughters, a medley
compiled from the Bible, Gesta Romanorum and the chronicles
of various countries. The next year saw the issue of three books,
The Life of Charles the Great, The History of Paris and Vienne
and, most important of all, Sir Thomas Malory's Morte – Arthur.


## p. 315 (#333) ############################################

William Caxton
315
The Life of Charles the Great was translated from an anonymous
French version compiled at the request of Henry Bolomyer, canon
of Lausanne, the Paris and Vienne from the French version made
by Pierre de la Seppade of Marseilles early in the fifteenth century.
Both these books are now known only from single copies.
The compilation of the Morte d Arthur was finished in 1469,
but of the compiler little is known save the name. He is generally
believed to be the Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revell in
Warwickshire who died in 1471. No manuscript of the work is
known, and, though Caxton certainly revised it, exactly to what
extent has never been settled. The prologue to this book is,
perhaps, the best and most interesting piece of writing the printer
ever composed, and still remains one of the best criticisms of
Malory's romance. Of the popularity of the book we have striking
evidence. Of Caxton's edition two copies are known, of which
one is imperfect. The second edition, printed by Wynkyn de
Worde in 1498 is known from one copy only, which is imperfect,
while the third edition, also printed by de Worde is, again, only
known from one imperfect copy. It may well be, considering
these facts, that there were other intervening editions which have
entirely disappeared.
While Caxton was busily at work making and printing his
translations, he did not neglect other classes of books which were
in demand. His position near the abbey would turn his attention
to service-books, and, of these, he printed a large number. One of
the first books he issued was a Sarum Ordinale, and this he ad-
vertised by means of a little handbill fixed up in prominent places.
Of Books of Hours he issued at least four editions. Besides
these, he printed the Psalter, Directorium Sacerdotum and some
special services to add to the breviary. The larger service-books
he does not seem to have attempted. These were always of a
highly ornamental character and his own types and material,
intended simply for ordinary work, were not equal to the task.
In 1487, when there was a demand for an edition of the Sarum
Missal, he gave a commission for the printing to a Paris printer
Guillaume Maynial, but added to it his own device.
The Royal Book and The Book of Good Manners were the
next two of Caxton's translations to be printed. The first is a
translation of La Somme des Vices et des Vertus, the latter of Le
livre des bonnes meurs by Jacques Legrand. The Book of Good
Manners, issued in 1487, was a popular book and was reprinted at
least four times before the close of the century.


## p. 316 (#334) ############################################

316
The Introduction of Printing
The Fayttes of Arms, the next of Caxton's translations to be
printed, was issued in 1489. It was undertaken at the express
desire of Henry VII, who himself lent the manuscript, now in the
British Museum, from which the translation was made. The
authorship is generally ascribed to Christine de Pisan.
About this time, two very popular romances were issued, The
History of the Four Sons of Aymon and The History of
Blanchardyn and Eglantine. The first, of which manuscripts are
common, was printed in French as early as 1480, at Lyons, and it was,
no doubt, from this edition that Caxton prepared his translation.
The second was translated at the request of Margaret, duchess of
Somerset, from a manuscript of the French version, which she had
purchased from Caxton himself many years previously. In this
translation, Caxton has adhered to his original far more nearly
than is usual in his translations, rendering word for word in the
closest manner.
The Eneydos, translated in 1490 and printed about the same
time, is not in any way a translation of the Aeneid, but, rather, a
romance founded on it. Caxton's version was translated from a
French version, probably the work called Le livre des Eneydes,
printed at Lyons, in 1483, by Guillaume le Roy. The printer's
preface is a most interesting piece of writing, for Caxton sets out
at length his views and opinions on the English language, its
changes and dialects. He points out how rapidly it was altering.
And certaynly our langage now used varyeth ferre from that
whiche was used and spoken when I was borne. ' The difference in
dialect is illustrated by a story of a London merchant who asked a
woman in ‘Forland' for some eggs, and was met with the answer
that she could not speak French, but she understood when asked
for 'eyren. ' The different styles of speech are contrasted, and
Caxton ends up as might have been expected, 'And thus bytwene
playn, rude, and curious I stande abasshed, but in my judgemente
the comyn termes that be dayli used ben lyghter to be understonde
than the olde and auncyent englysshe. ' In order to make the
style as correct as possible, Caxton obtained the assistance of John
Skelton to revise the book for the press.
One other translation by Caxton remains to be noticed, the
Metamorphoses of Ovid. He speaks of this work, along with
some others, in the introduction to The Golden Legend, and, since
all the others were printed, we may presume that this was also.
No trace of a printed copy remains, but there is in the Pepysian
library a manuscript of the last six books with the colophon


## p. 317 (#335) ############################################

Provincial Presses
317
"Translated and finished by me William Caxton at Westminster
the twenty second day of April, the year of our Lord 1480, and
the twentieth year of the reign of king Edward the fourth. '
This, like the rest of Caxton's books, was rendered from the
French.
In 1491 he died, having just completed a translation of
St Jerome's Lives of the Fathers, which was printed by his
successor in 1495.
It is impossible for many reasons to consider the books issued
by Caxton as quite representative of the popular demand. His
position was entirely different from that of the ordinary printer or
publisher. The best part of his life had been spent abroad in
business connected with the woollen trade, he had risen to a high
position and was, doubtless, a man of very considerable wealth.
When he settled in England as a printer, he was able to consult
his own tastes in the matter of what he should print, and this
clearly lay in the direction of English poetry and prose romances.
The reading public was not then very large, and Caxton directed
rather than followed the popular taste. A third of the books he
printed were translations made by himself, and he carefully edited
all that he printed. At the same time, it cannot be supposed
that he neglected the popular demand. He printed service books
for the clergy, school books and statutes, but his own interest
lay elsewhere. In especial, he was an admirer of Chaucer. He
took pains, as we have seen, in the printing of his works, and
expressed his admiration and appreciation in several prologues
and epilogues. He did even more, for, as we learn from the
epilogue to Boethius, he placed a memorial tablet to the poet
in Westminster Abbey.
Soon after Caxton began to print in Westminster, presses
were set up in 1478 at Oxford, and, about 1479, at St Albans.
Naturally, the books issued at Oxford were mainly scholastic, and,
of all the books printed there in the fifteenth and early sixteenth
century, but one is in English. This was an edition of the Liber
Festivalis of John Mirk, issued in March 1486—7. It is not
a mere reprint of Caxton's edition issued in 1483, but has
many points of difference; and, when Caxton printed his second
edition, about 1491, he copied this version in preference to his
Own.
The St Albans press, like that of Oxford, was mainly employed
on learned works. Of the eight books issued, the first six are


## p. 318 (#336) ############################################

318
The Introduction of Printing
6
6
in Latin; but the last two are in English. The first, The Chronicles
of England, printed about 1485, is mainly founded on Caxton's
earlier editions, but with interpolations relating to the popes and
other ecclesiastical matters. Its compiler and printer was, as we
learn from a later edition, sometime schoolmaster of St Albans';
but his name is unknown.
The last book from this press is well known under the title of
The Book of St Albans. It contains three treatises, the first on
hawking, the second on hunting and the last on coat-armour or
heraldry. Much has been written about the authorship of this
book, which is probably not all from one hand. The part on
hunting, which is in verse, ends with the words ' Explicit Dam
Julyans Barnes in her boke of huntyng,' and this is generally
considered to refer to a somewhat mythical Juliana Berners,
traditionally prioress of the nunnery of Sopwell near St Albans.
The treatise on heraldry is expressly said to have been translated
and compiled at St Albans, and is probably derived, in great part,
from a work on the same subject written, in 1441, by Nicholas
Upton and dedicated to Humphrey, duke of Gloucester. Whatever
part dame Juliana Berners may have taken in the compilation of
The Book of St Albans, it is certainly not an original work, and
the greater part of the books on hawking and hunting are derived
from the Venerie de Twety, a work composed early in the
fourteenth century. The work on fishing, which was added to
succeeding editions of the book, appears, from internal evidence, to
have been originally composed in English.
The first London press, started in 1480 by John Lettou under
the patronage of William Wilcock, a wealthy draper, produced
only two Latin books, a commentary on the Metaphysics of
Aristotle by Antonius Andreae and an exposition on the Psalms
by Thomas Wallensis. When, later, Lettou printed in partnership
with William de Machlinia, they issued nothing but law-books, and
it was not until about 1483, when Machlinia was at work by himself,
that books in English were printed in London. One of the earliest
was the Revelation of St Nicholas to a monk of Evesham. It was
composed in 1196; but the author is unknown. In an abridged
form, it is found in Roger of Wendover's Flores Historiarum under
the year 1196. It is a curious religious allegory, treating of the
pilgrimage of a soul from death through purgatory and paradise
to heaven. The monk, conducted by St Nicholas, is taken from
place to place in purgatory, where he meets and converses with


## p. 319 (#337) ############################################

English Books Printed Abroad
319
persons of various ranks, who relate their stories and their
suffering. From purgatory he advances slowly to paradise, and
finally reaches the gates of heaven; after which he awakes.
The later press of Machlinia issued few English books. Among
them came a reprint of The Chronicles of England and three
editions of a Treatise of the Pestilence, a translation of the Regimen
contra pestilentiam of Benedict Canutus, bishop of Westeraes, in
Sweden. These can certainly be dated about 1485, in which year
London was visited by the plague. One other interesting book
was issued by Machlinia, entitled Speculum Christiani. It is a
curious medley of theological matter in Latin, interspersed with
pieces of religious poetry in English. The authorship has been
ascribed to a certain John Watton, but the book, without the
English verse, was also printed abroad. The verse, though spoken
of by Warton as poor, is, occasionally, quite good; and the hymn
to the Virgin, reprinted in Herbert's Typographical Antiquities",
is a simple and charming piece of writing, reminiscent of an earlier
period. The second part of the book consists, mainly, of an exposi-
tion on the Lord's prayer, while the third contains selections taken
from the works of St Isidore.
With the death of Caxton, the character of the English press
changed. Both Wynkyn de Worde, his successor, and Richard
Pynson, the only other printer then at work in England, were
practical printers only, depending on their business for their
livelihood, and had to follow, not direct, the popular demand.
De Worde especially seems to have been without initiative, most
of his early work consisting of reprints and, for a year or two, his
press was almost idle. A foreign printer, Gerard Leeu of Antwerp,
took advantage of this period of inactivity and printed four books
for the English market. Three were mere reprints of Caxton's
books, The History of Jason, The History of Paris and Vienne
and The Chronicles of England; but the fourth is unknown in any
other English version. This is the Dialogue or communing between
the wise king Solomon and Marcolphus, a widespread and popular
story, of which there are versions in many languages. The English
version is translated from the Dutch, but there is no clue to the
translator. The story tells of the various questions put by Solomon,
which are answered by the rustic wit of Marcolphus, and of the
various ruses and quibbles by means of which he escaped the
punishments designed for him by the king. As the other three of
Leeu's books are reprints of Caxton's editions, it is just possible
1 I, pp. 113–4.


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320
The Introduction of Printing
that there may have been an English printed edition of it also;
but, if so, no trace of it remains.
About 1503, another Antwerp printer, Adraien van Berghen,
printed a book for sale in England, which goes under the name
of Arnold's Chronicle. Richard Arnold, the compiler, was a
merchant trading with the Low Countries and his work is a
miscellaneous collection of stray facts relating to the city of
London, copies of charters, examples of business letters, lists of
mayors and bailiffs, of London churches and quaint recipes; it is, in
fact, the commonplace book of a man with antiquarian tastes.
Its chief fame is derived from its including, inserted between
a list of the tolls of Antwerp and the difference between English
and Flemish coinage, the famous ballad of The Nut Broron Maid.
A second edition of the Chronicle was issued in which the lists
were brought down to 1520.
When William de Machlinia ceased printing, probably about
the year 1488, his place was taken by Richard Pynson, a Norman,
who had been educated at the university of Paris. His first object
was to print law-books, and here his knowledge of French would
be of great use; but he also issued works of general interest.
Before November 1492, when his first dated book was issued, he
had printed a Latin grammar, an edition of The Canterbury Tales
and a version of The Goste of Guy.
The Canterbury Tales is an exact reprint of Caxton's second
edition, and was probably issued before Caxton's death in 1491.
The short preface, a most confused and involved piece of writing,
shows that Pynson was not thoroughly acquainted with the
English language, and it is rare to find him making use of it.
The Goste of Guy must have been a most interesting book;
but, unhappily, all that remains of it are two small fragments
of a leaf, containing altogether twelve lines. On comparison with
manuscripts of the poem, it is clear that the printed version was
very much abbreviated and bore about the same relation to them
as the early printed editions of such books as Sir Beves of
Hamtoun or Guy of Warwick bear to their earlier manuscripts.
The manuscripts of The Goste of Guy, both in prose and verse,
are, apparently, derived from a northern English prose original.
The version in verse is placed by Schleich in the second quarter
of the fourteenth century. The Pynson fragment is quite
independent of any of the known English versions, and is valuable
as evidence of a lasting interest in the subject. A short Latin
version was printed towards the close of the fifteenth century


## p. 321 (#339) ############################################

Richard Pynson
321
at Cologne; and this may be more nearly connected with the
version printed by Pynson. In June 1493, Pynson issued the
first edition of Dives and Pauper, by Henry Parker, a Carmelite
monk of Doncaster, who died in 1470. The work, which is an
explanation of the ten commandments, points out the duties of the
rich towards the poor, and finishes with a treatise on holy poverty.
In the following year, Pynson issued an illustrated edition
of Lydgate's Falls of Princes, translated from Boccaccio; and,
in 1495, an edition of the Hecyra of Terence the first printed
of a set of the plays issued between 1495 and 1497. It is probable
that these were printed for William Horman for use at Eton;
and other books, such as Dialogus linguae et ventris and one or
two grammars bearing Horman's initials, were issued about the
same time.
Pynson seems to have had little enterprise in printing English
books; and, besides those already mentioned, he only issued six
in the fifteenth century which were not mere reprints. He must
be credited with the first edition of Mandeville's Travels, and of
The History of Guy Earl of Warwick.
The remaining four are
small poetical pieces of a few leaves each. The earliest, The Life
of St Margaret, is only known from a fragment. The next is
The Epitaph of Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford. The poem
ends 'Quod Smerte maister de ses ouzeaus'; but it is generally
ascribed to Skelton. The duke died in 1495, and the book was
printed very shortly afterwards. The Foundation of the Chapel
of Walsingham gives an account in verse of the miracle which
led to the building of the shrine in 1061, and may have been
printed for sale to the pilgrims who travelled there. The remaining
piece is The Life of St Petryonylla.
The sixteenth century shows slight advance. In 1503, Pynson
published a translation of Imitatio Christi, by William Atkyn-
son, to which was added a spurious fourth book, translated
from the French by Margaret, countess of Richmond and
Derby. Nothing further of interest was issued until 1509, when
Barclay's translation of The Ship of Fools appeared. Barclay
seems to have been a favourite author with Pynson, who printed
many of his works. In 1511, appeared The Pilgrimage of Sir
Richard Guilforde, a most interesting account of a journey to
the holy land, written by his chaplain. A good deal of the book
is compiled from earlier guide-books; but there are several pieces
of picturesque writing, especially the account of the death and
burial of Sir Richard at Jerusalem.
E. L. II.
CH. XIII,
21


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322
The Introduction of Printing
In 1516, Fabyan's Chronicles were printed, the first of the
series of modern chronicles. The work was compiled by Robert
Fabyan, sheriff of London, who died in 1512. It is a compilation
from previous writers of the history of England from the days
of Brutus, but the earlier parts are very superficial. The later
parts are only valuable where they touch on matters which came
under his own personal observation; but much matter relating
to London is given in detail.
In the same year was issued the Kalendar of the new legend
of England, a work treating of the lives of British saints.
Soon after this date, Pynson, as king's printer, found much of his
time occupied in printing more or less official works and books
relating to political affairs; and English books of this period are
few. Between 1523 and 1525, he completed the printing of the
most important of his publications, the translation of the Chronicle
of Froissart by John Bourchier, Lord Berners-a work of great
bibliographical interest on account of the several variations in the
first edition. Its publication introduced a new style of historical
writing; but it seems to have met with little success and was but
once reprinted before the nineteenth century. Berners's love of
romance led him to translate three books from French and Spanish,
Huon of Bordeaux, The Castle of Love and The History of
Arthur of Little Britain, to which reference is made elsewhere!
Pynson's later work was mainly confined to books in Latin and
treatises on law; English books printed by him are rare and,
usually, mere reprints. In fact, during his whole career, he did not
issue one English book for ten issued by de Worde. His taste was
for serious literature, and he was the favourite publisher for such
learned writers of England as chose to have their books printed in
this country. He was heavily handicapped by want of type. He had
a fair Latin fount, but hardly any Greek; so that scholars preferred
to send their work to foreign printers such as Froschover or
Froben, who had not only adequate type and good correctors, but
were well situated for publishing the books at the various local
fairs, the then recognised centres for circulating books. If success
in business may be taken as a sign of popular approval, Pynson,
with his learned books and the official income derived from his
work as king's printer, stood no chance against Wynkyn de Worde,
with his romances and poetical tracts; for, as we know from the
subsidy rolls, de Worde was by far the richer man.
Wynkyn de Worde, who succeeded to Caxton's press and
· See Chapter XIV, p. 339.
>


## p. 323 (#341) ############################################

Wynkyn de Worde
323
material, published very little during the first few years, being
contented with a few reprints. In 1495, he issued a translation
of the Vitae Sanctorum Patrum of Jerome. This translation was
the work of Caxton and was only finished, as de Worde writes
in the colophon, on the last day of his life. It was rendered from
the French edition printed at Lyons in 1486; but, as might have
been expected, it attained little popularity and was never re-
printed.
About this time, de Worde published an English version of
'Bartholomaeus de Proprietatibus Rerum, made by John Trevisa. '
The printer, or some one under his direction, has added an epi-
logue which contains some curious details as to the beginning of
Caxton's career as a printer, and also the information that the
book was the first to be printed on English-made paper. The
year 1496 saw the issue of new editions of Dives and Pauper
and The Book of St Albans, the latter being enlarged with a third
part containing the treatise of Fishing with an angle, a book
which would seem to be the work of a practical fisherman, is
much more modern in feeling than many books of the same
class issued at a later date and differs much in style from the
other treatises. The fourth edition of Chaucer's Canterbury
Tales, printed in 1498, again clearly shows de Worde's carelessness
as a printer and the absence of editorial work on his books.
A large portion of The Monk's Tale is omitted; and, though the
printer, when he discovered this, inserted an extra printed leaf,
still, much is missing. Though not skilful as a printer, de Worde
was not idle : before the close of the fifteenth century, he had
issued at least one hundred and ten books. A large number were
reprints and many others of no literary interest, such as grammars,
service-books and law-books; but, among the remainder, are some
worthy of notice. The Contemplacyon of sinners, written by a
monk, William Touris, and an illustrated edition of Mandeville's
Travels were issued in 1499. Among the undated books are
several romances, Beves of Hamtoun, Guy of Warwick and
Robin Hood; the works of John Alcock, bishop of Ely; some
curious religious works such as The Doctrinal of Death, The
Miracles of Our Lady, The Rote or mirror of Consolation, The
Twelve profits of tribulation. There is also one work of Skelton,
The Bowge of Court, a satire on the court manners of the time,
and a book which, from the number of editions, appears to have
been popular, The History of the Three Kings of Cologne, a
translation of the Historia trium regum of John of Hildesheim.
21-2


## p. 324 (#342) ############################################

324
The Introduction of Printing
We have no evidence that de Worde did anything in the way
of editing or translating; but he had in his employ assistants who
were able to translate from the French. Chief among these was
Robert Copland, who was responsible for the translation of the
Kalendar of Shepherds, The mirror of the Church, Helyas
Knight of the Swan and Kynge Appolyn of Thyre, while he
frequently added short prologues and epilogues in verse to the
books he printed for de Worde. Copland printed also several
books on his own account, two, at least, being of his own composition.
These are The Hye Way to the Spyttell Hous and Iyl of
Braintford's Testament. The former, though it cannot lay claim
to any merit, is curious on account of its matter. It purports to
be a dialogue between Copland and the porter of an almshouse,
in the course of which they criticise all the applicants for charity
as they pass, and discuss the various frauds and deceits practised
by thieves and beggars, and, incidentally, the vices and follies
which have brought them to ruin. The second piece is very
inferior to the first, and coarse even for the period.
Another translator, an apprentice to Wynkyn de Worde, was
Henry Watson, and his first work was a prose translation from
the French of The Ship of Fools. This work must have been
done directly for the press, since it is said in the prologue to have
been undertaken at the request of Margaret, countess of Richmond,
the king's grandmother. This must have been after 21 April
1509, and the finished book was published on 6 July. His other
translations were The Church of Evil Men and Women and
Valentine and Orson. The first is from a French version of a
work by St Augustine. Another translation by Watson from the
French was The History of Olyver of Castylle and the fayre
Helayne, issued in 1518. In the prologue, the translator speaks
of the cheapness of books owing to the invention of printing.
Andrew Chertsey, of whom nothing is known, also translated a
considerable number of books for de Worde. His earliest trans-
lation was The Ordinary of Christian men, which, like all his
other books, was taken from the French. Among them may be
mentioned The Lricydarye, The Flower of commandments of
God, The Treatise of the Passion of Christ, The Craft to live
well and to die well, a complete translation of a book from which
Caxton had already translated extracts under the title of The
Art of good living and good dying.
A good idea of the ordinary demand for books may be obtained
by examining the publications of Wynkyn de Worde in the year 1509.


## p. 325 (#343) ############################################

Wynkyn de Worde
325
This was the busiest year of his career, for, no doubt, the funerals
of Henry VII and the countess of Richmond, and the coronation
of Henry VIII, would bring large crowds to London. Altogether,
he issued twenty-five books and these, again, can be arranged in an
almost exact order. Up to 21 April, he had published five, a York
Manuale, an edition of the Manipulus Curatorum and editions of
The Gospel of Nicodemus, The Parliament of Devils and Richard
Cour de Lion. Between 21 April and 12 July, the busiest time, he
issued eleven; four grammatical books, two editions each of
Fisher's Sermon on the seven penitencial psalms and Funeral
sermon on Henry VII, the prose version of The Ship of Fools
and two works by Stephen Hawes, The Passetyme of Pleasure
and The Conversion of Swearers. During the rest of the year
he printed seven-two service-books, a grammar, Hawes's Joyful
meditation. . . of the coronation of. . . Henry VIII, Fisher’s Mourning
Remembrance, and two anonymous books, The Fifteen Joys of
Marriage and The Seven Sheddings of the blood of Jesu Christ.
Two more books belong to this year which cannot be placed
in any group, a service-book, and The rule of the living of the
bretherne and systars.
The publications of this year are the most miscellaneous of
any, and, very soon, the taste began to change. New romances
continued to be published for some years: King Apolyn of Tyre
and The Birth of Merlin in 1510, The History of King Ponthus
in 1511, The History of Helias, Knight of the Swan in 1512 and
Oliver of Castile (probably a reprint of a lost earlier edition)
in 1518. Yet a gradual but marked change was taking place.
Educational books and books on religious subjects became more
and more in demand. The influence of scholars like Erasmus and
the general revival of letters in the one case, and the growth
of the reformation and the influence of the 'new learning' in
the other, were beginning to produce effects. In Wynkyn de
Worde's second busiest year, 1532, out of eighteen books, six were
scholastic, eleven religious and the remaining one a romance,
The History of Guystarde and Sygysmonde, translated from the
Latin by William Walter.
William Walter, ‘servant' to Sir Henry Marney, chancellor
of Lancaster from 1509 to 1523, translated at least three books.
Guystarde and Sygysmonde is a version in seven-lined stanzas
taken, probably, from the Latin version of Boccaccio's story made
by Leonardo Aretino. This, like so many of de Worde's books,
was edited by Robert Copland, who added some verses of his


## p. 326 (#344) ############################################

326
The Introduction of Printing
own. Though the earliest edition known is dated 1532, there must,
most probably, have been an earlier one. Another of Walter's
books, The Spectacle of Lovers, though spoken of as 'newly
compiled,' is, apparently, a translation; while the last, The
History of Titus and Gesippus is, also, translated out of Latin.
In 1521, de Worde printed a book of carols, of which only
a fragment is known. It contains the well known carol on the
bringing in of the boar's head beginning ‘The boar's head in hand
bring I, still sung on Christmas day in Queen's College, Oxford,
and another carol on hunting.
After this year, we find hardly any new English books printed;
the revival of letters was beginning to make itself felt, and half the
produce of the press consisted of educational books. So much
had the demand for this class of book increased that de Worde
sometimes printed three or four editions of one grammar in the
course of a year.
Among some two hundred undated books issued from this
press there are many of great interest; but, unfortunately, many
are known only from fragments, and very many more from single
copies in private libraries, and, therefore, difficult of access. As
examples of such books may be mentioned the metrical romance
of Capystranus, The Complaint of the too soon married, The
Complaint of the too late married, The Complaynte of the Heart,
Feylde's Controversy between a lover and a jay, The Fifteen joys
of marriage, The Jest of the Miller of Abingdon, The Pain and
sorrow of evil marriage and many other small metrical pieces, all
of which are in private hands.
The total number of books at present known to have been
issued by Wynkyn de Worde in the sixteenth century is about
six hundred and forty. Of these, more than two hundred were
merely small school-books, about one hundred and fifty service-
books and religious treatises and the same number of poems and
romances; the remainder consisting of chronicles, law-books,
accounts of passing events and other miscellaneous books.
The productions of the minor printers of the period show little
originality, though, here and there, we come across books which had
not already been issued by de Worde or Pynson. Julian Notary,
who printed between 1496 and 1520, issued, out of some forty books,
only five not previously printed. The earliest of these, The Gospel of
Nicodemus, printed in 1507, evidently suited the popular taste and
was very frequently reprinted. Besides this there are two small
poetical tracts, The mery geste of a Sergeaunt and Frere, by Sir


## p. 327 (#345) ############################################

The Minor Printers
327
Thomas More, and A mery gest howe Johan Splynter made his testa-
ment. This last tells how John Splynter, rent-gatherer at Delft and
Schiedam, having neglected his private concerns for the sake of
his professional business, was treated with contempt by the nuns
who employed him, but who, hoping to obtain as a legacy the
chest which he pretended was full of money, kept him in comfort
for his life. Pepwell, between 1518 and 1523, printed eight books ;
The Castle of Pleasure, by W. Neville, The City of Ladies, by
Christine de Pisan, The Dietary of ghostly health, are all, probably,
reprints from editions printed by Wynkyn de Worde. Another
book contains several religious pieces printed together, some of
which had not been issued before. Among them are the treatise
named Benjamin, written by Richard of St Victor, The life of St
Katherine of Senis, The book of Margery Kempe, ancresse of Lynn,
The treatise of the Song of angels by Walter Hylton and others.
Richard Faques, out of a total of about twenty books, printed
three or four of interest. Two are ballads relating to the battle
of Flodden. Another is a curious and hitherto unnoticed work,
entitled The booke of the pylgrymage of man. The preface runs
'translated from Le Pelerinage de l'homme of late drawen into
prose by dane William Hendred, Priour of Leomynstre, and now
newly at the specyal commandement of the same father reverent
I have compyled the tenure of the same in metre, comprehended
in xxvI chapitours. ' The book is written in highly alliterative
seven-lined stanzas, but there is no clue to the name of the
compiler. The date of the printing of the book may be put
down to about the year 1515; but no authorities mention prior
William Hendred, so the exact date of his translation cannot be
determined.
Among John Rastell's productions, for the most part legal or
religious, are a few of a totally different nature. In 1526, he issued
The merry jests of the widow Edith, written by Walter Smith.
This is the story in verse of the many tricks played by Edith, the
daughter of John Haukin and widow of Thomas Ellis, on various
persons, innkeepers, tradesmen and the servants of Sir Thomas
More and the bishop of Rochester. She was still alive when
the book was written; and the author, Walter Smith, was, very
probably, a stationer of that name in London and a neighbour of
Rastell. The poem itself is coarse and of no merit, but interesting
on account of its references to contemporary persons. The other
book of the same year is The Hundred merry Tales, of which the
unique copy is at Göttingen. Rastell was in the habit of giving


## p. 328 (#346) ############################################

328
The Introduction of Printing
performances of plays at his own house; and to this we may
attribute his printing several interludes and plays by Medwall,
Skelton and Heywood.
One other book by this printer is worthy of notice, The
Pastime of People. This is a short chronicle, carried up to the
.
year 1530 and, apparently, compiled by Rastell himself, which
contains some curious statements on recent events. It contains
also full-page portraits of the kings of England.
The only other among all the minor printers of the period
to show any originality in his choice of publications was John
Skot. He issued, about 1535, a curious religious imitation of the
celebrated ballad of The Nut Brown Maid, entitled The newe
Notbrowne mayd upon the passyon of Cryste, and also printed two
editions of Every-man, a morality of exceptional literary merit,
closely connected with the Dutch Elckerlijk, written by Petrus
Dorlandus towards the close of the fifteenth century.
Another cause militating against the production of much good
work by these minor early printers was the smallness of their
resources. They had practically no capital, and, without good type
and illustrations, could not venture upon the production of a large
work. A fount of type discarded by some other printer, and a
small collection of miscellaneous and worn wood-blocks, were their
sole stock. They could thus only work on small books, and had,
moreover, to choose those which, by previous publication, bad
proved to be popular.
Reference has been made before to the attempt, very soon after
Caxton's death, to produce English books abroad for sale in this
country. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, this attempt
was renewed with greater success.
Antoine Verard, the famous French publisher, attempted, about
1503, to issue books for the English market. In that year, he issued
The Kalendar of Shepherds and The Art of good living and
dying. The former became a very popular book, and at least
sixteen editions were issued in the sixteenth century. It is a
translation of the Calendrier des Bergers, of which there are
many early French editions, and is an extraordinary collection of
miscellaneous matter, 'a universal magazine of every article of
salutary and useful knowledge. ' The language of this first edition
is even more curious than its contents; for the translator was,
manifestly, a young Scotchman with a very imperfect knowledge
of French. It has been suggested that this version was intended
for sale in Scotland; but this is hardly probable, since the language


## p. 329 (#347) ############################################

English Books Printed Abroad
329
would have been as unintelligible to the Scottish as it was to the
English reader. In 1506, Pynson issued a new edition revised from
the 'corrupte englysshe' of the earlier; and, in 1508, Wynkyn de
Worde published a new translation made by Robert Copland, who
definitely speaks of the language of the first as Scottish ; and
this final translation was frequently reprinted.
The Art of good living and dying, a translation from L'Art
de bien vivre et de bien mourir, was also translated by the same
hand; and of it, again, a new translation made by Andrew Chertsey
was issued by Wynkyn de Worde in 1505. The third of Verard's
books, but, probably, the earliest published, is the first edition of
Alexander Barclay's translation of Gringore's Chasteau de labour,
which may have been printed under Barclay's own supervision
when he was staying in Paris. It is known only from fragments,
but was fortunately reprinted, once by Pynson and twice by
Wynkyn de Worde.
Another very remarkable foreign printed book, clearly translated
by a foreigner, is The Passion of Christ. The strangeness of the
language is evident from the first sentence 'Her begynnythe ye
passion of dar seygneur Jesu chryste front ye resuscytacion of
lazarus and to thende translatet owt of frenche yn to englysche
the yer of dar lorde. M. v. cviii. The book, said to have been
translated at the command of Henry VII, was evidently printed
in Paris, probably by Verard and is illustrated with a number of
fine wood-cuts copied from a series by Urs Graf published at
Strassburg. The name of the translator is not known; but many
of the words point to a native of the Low Countries.
Soon after the beginning of the sixteenth century, an Antwerp
bookseller and stationer, John of Doesborch, began to print books in
English for sale in this country. These range in date from about 1505
to about 1525 and are good evidence of what a speculative printer
considered most likely to appeal to popular taste. The earliest
is a religious tract on the subject of the last judgment, entitled
The Fifteen Tokens, a translation by the printer from some Dutch
version of a part of L'Art de bien mourir. There are four small
grammars of a kind in common use, but the majority are story-
books. These are The Gest of Robyn Hode, Euryalus and
Lucrece, The Lyfe of Virgilius, Frederick of Jennen, Mary of
Nemmegen, Tyll Howleglas and The Parson of Kalenborowe.
With the exception of the first two, all are translations from the
Dutch. Douce, without apparently any reason, suggested Richard
Arnold, the compiler of Arnold's Chronicle, as the translator ; but


## p. 330 (#348) ############################################

330
The Introduction of Printing
the work was more probably done by Lawrence Andrewe, who was
then living in Antwerp and was afterwards a printer in London.
The remaining English books issued by Doesborch are very
miscellaneous. There are two editions of the Valuation of gold
and silver; a work on the pestilence; two tracts relating to
expeditions against the Turks; another, on the wonderful shape
and nature of beasts and fishes; and, lastly, what is generally
considered the first English book on America, Of the new lands
found by the messengers of the King of Portugal named Emanuel.
Only a single leaf of the book, describing a voyage made in 1496,
relates to America; the rest is compiled from various sources such
as the Tractatus de decem nationibus christianorum, appended
to the Itinerarius of Johannes de Hese, and a Dutch book, also
printed by Doesborch, Van Pape Jans landendes.
The printers of Antwerp always continued to be connected
with the English book trade; but the year 1525, which saw the
cessation of John of Doesborch's press with its popular little books,
witnessed also the publication at Worms of Tindale’s New
Testament, which marks an entire change in the character of
the books printed abroad. After this time, the foreign presses
issued nothing but religious and controversial books, the work
of refugees whose religious or political opinions had made them
outcasts from their own country. The reformation seems to have
dealt a blow at both books of amusement and books of education,
and story-books and grammars almost ceased to be published.
In taking a general survey of the English press during the first
fifty years of its existence, several points stand out very prominently.
One, in especial, is the comparative scarcity of books by con-
temporary writers. Skelton, who flourished during this period,
is very badly represented, and Stephen Hawes but little better.
But, when we consider how very many of these early books have
come down to our time only in single copies or even fragments
out of an edition of some hundreds, it is only natural to suppose
that a great number must have utterly disappeared. This would
be especially the case with small poetical books and romances ;
but others, of which copies might have been expected to be
preserved, are lost. There is no trace of The epitaph of the King
of Scotland, written by Petrus Carmelianus and stuffed full of
womanly abuse,' which, according to Erasmus, was printed by
Pynson in 1513. Of the several books relating to the impostures
of the Maid of Kent which are known to have been printed, not
a fragment now remains. Perhaps their popularity was the cause
a


## p. 331 (#349) ############################################

The Book Trade
331
of their destruction. It seems impossible that writings on con-
temporary events could escape being printed. For instance,
Dunbar's poem 'London thou art the flower of cities all,'
composed on his visit to London in 1501 and circulated in
manuscript, is just what an enterprising printer would have
seized upon. Yet we have no evidence of its existence in a
printed form. The popular demand was for reprints of older
works and translations of French poems and romances; there is
hardly any genuine original work printed in the period.
Another point which has been commented upon is the entire
absence of any classical books. Apart from books evidently in-
tended for school use, such as Cicero pro Milone, printed at Oxford
about 1483, and the Terence printed by Pynson in 1495—7, the only
book to which we can point is Pynson's edition of Vergil, printed
about 1520. But the reason here is not far to seek. There were
no restrictions on the importation of foreign books, and English
printers could not possibly compete either in accuracy and neatness
or in cheapness with the foreign productions of this class. Very
wisely they left them alone. Thus, the output of the English
presses show rather the popular, than the general, demand. To
discover this, it would be necessary to find a day-book or ledger
of some London bookseller similar to that of John Dorne the
Oxford bookseller of 1520. This latter, being the accounts of a
bookseller in a university town, furnishes no fair criterion of
general taste; though, even at the fairs where the most general
trade was done in books, his English books formed but a small
proportion of his sales.
The seeming neglect by the age of the work of its own more
important writers is balanced by the precipitancy of modern
writers, who have hitherto skipped from Skelton to Surrey without
a pause, entirely ignoring the minor authors and translators
whose books supplied the main reading of the English public.


## p. 332 (#350) ############################################

OHAPTER XIV
ENGLISH PROSE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY
II
CAXTON. MALORY. BERNERS
ALTHOUGH the introduction of printing brought about no
sudden renascence, it accelerated and strengthened, under the
direction of Caxton, the drift of the current of our fifteenth
century literature; and this places our first printer in a position
wholly different from that of his more mechanical successors.
Caxton was quick to discern the direction in which taste was
tending and, himself helping to direct that taste, he ignored the
old metrical romances, favourites for long, preferring to satisfy
the chivalric-romantic fashion of the times by prose translations
from French works of already established repute. That romances
of the kind of The Four Sons of Aymon, or Paris and Vienne
were destined to disappearance early in the next century in no
way neutralises their importance as a step in English literature.
They handed on material not disdained by Spenser, they formed a
link between medieval and modern romance and, from among
them, has survived an immortal work, Malory's Morte – Arthur.
We might have supposed Caxton's publication of Chaucer to
have been epoch-making, had it not had to wait for long before
kindling any fresh torch; but there is no evidence that it roused in
others the enthusiasm felt by its editor. In truth, the men of that
age, who had but just emerged from a long and sordid war, were
not, and could not be, poetical; and, save for the poems of
Chaucer and Lydgate, Caxton held firm to prose.