Catalogue of the Literature and History of the British Islands ...

The first lines of the present first page are from the Knight's Tale,
'Or who hap 30w mys[] or offended

And telleth me şif it may be amended
And whi pat 30 ben clothed pus in blak . .'

And the last words on leaf 214 are from the Parson's section De Gula—
"she schulde love her housbande with all her herte." Some leaves are
wanting in the middle.

"The valuable Chaucer MS... belongs to what is called the Petworth
group of Chaucer MSS. The Petworth MS. is the only one of the
six texts which agree with this in the reading I refer to in my
communication to the Athenæum. . and was therefore of great value
to me..."-F. S. Ellis (editor of the Kelmscott Chaucer).

63 CHAUCER (GEOFFREY).

THE

CANTERBURY
TALES, First Edition. Fol. 1: Whan that Apprill
with his shouris sote | And the droughte of marche hath
pcid y rote | And badid euery veyne in suche licour | Of
whiche vertu engendrid is the flour.. Fol. 371a: ..
Explicit Tractatus Galfrydi Chaucer de Penitencia vt
dicitur pro fabula Rectoris. Fol. 371b: [N]Ow pray I to
hem alle that herkene this litil tretyse or rede, that yf
ther be ony thing that liketh hem, that therof they
thanke our lord .. Wherfore I beseech
Wherfore I beseech you mekely.
that ye for me praye that crist.
that crist. . foryeue me.. of
of my
translacions of worldly vanytees .. as is the book of
troylus, the book also of fame, the book of xxv. ladies, the
book of ŷ duchesse, the book of seynt valentyns day of
the parlament of birdis, the talis of Caunterbury tho that
sownyn vnto synne, the book of the lyon . . and many a
songe & many a lecherous laye so that I may be one
of hem at the day of dome that shal be sauid. Qui cũ
Amen.

case

£ s.

Small folio, a perfect copy (10 13 × 73 inches) having the first and the sixth leaves supplied in facsimile; large and sound, in an old russia binding, enclosed in a red morocco [William Caxton, about 1478] 2500 FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST GREAT ENGLISH POET, PRINTED BY THE FIRST OF ENGLISH PRINTERS. It is not only one of Caxton's earliest and rarest books; it is emphatically the chief production of his press. His edition of Malory's King Arthur was also a great service to English literature, but it is later by at least seven years, and of course there can be no comparison between Malory and Chaucer.

This first edition of Chaucer is put under No. 12 in Mr. Blades' list of Caxton books, but as he considered that the first seven articles in his list were all produced by Colard Mansion at Bruges between 1474 and 1478, and as Caxton returned to England in 1476 and remained at home from that time till his death, our Chaucer would, in Mr. Blades' opinion, be the fifth book printed by Caxton. In any case the first year of Caxton's activity as a Westminster printer is not likely to have begun before the opening of 1477 and may have included a part of 1478. He produced in 1477-78, besides two or three smaller things, the Jason, the Dictes and Sayings, and the Chaucer.

When Mr. Blades wrote his book, he was aware of nine copies : two perfect and seven imperfect. His two perfect copies were, one in

the British Museum, one at Merton College, Oxford. Of his seven
imperfect, one was in the British Museum, and six in private hands:
Lord Spencer, Earl Fitzwilliam, Lord Dysart, Mr. Huth, and Lord
Ashburnham (two very bad copies).-To the number we must now
add the above described example (having two leaves in facsimile);
and also the magnificent copy which I bought at Sotheby's in February,
1896, wanting seventeen leaves (which is now in America).

The typographical composition of the book seems to be inexactly
described by Blades. Apparently, it was issued as 374 leaves, of
which number leaves 1, 266, and 374 were blank; or in other words,
as 47 sheets of eight leaves each, except the thirty-third which had
ten, the fortieth which had six, and the forty-seventh which had six
leaves.

64 CHAUCER, The Canterbury Tales, with an essay. . introductory discourse, notes and a Glossary by Thomas Tyrwhitt. 5 vols. post 8vo. frontispiece and portrait; cloth, uncut

mone.

1830

65 CHAUCER ON THE ASTROLABE. Fol. 18: ASTRALABIUM [by CHAUCER]: Lytil Lowys my sone I pseyue wele by ctayne euidence thin abilte to lerne science tochyng nombres and pporcons. And as wele consider I thi besy prayer in special to lerne the tretis of the Astralaby. . . Fol. 31a.. But the contrarie pties thu schalt seen be the cowrs of the Ffor the mone mevith ye contrarie from othre planetes as in here epicircle but in none othre maner. Fol. 1: [PETRUS PEREGRINUS] Incipit Tractatus Magnetis. Amicorum intime, quandam magnetis lapidis naturam occultam a te interpellatus rudi narratione tibi reserabo. . Fol. 6a: Explicit tractat' magnetis Incipit tractatus Arsmetrie. . Fol. 18b: . . pporcio que superius dicta est in omnibus.

3 parts in 1 vol. sm. folio, MS. ON VELLUM by an English hand, 31 leaves, 34 lines to the page with rubrications and coloured initials, and a number of finely drawn diagrams; in a fifteenth-century limp parchment wrapper About 1440 36 0 0

This MS. of Chaucer's Astrolabe is Skeat's Codex T, which he knew about and recorded but had not seen. It resembles to some extent his K, a Rawlinson MS. in the Bodleian, which ends like this with the thirty-fifth of the Conclusions of the second part, and which has these conclusions in the order of 1-12, 19-21, 13-18, 22-35.-The fifth leaf is wanting in the text.

Of the Treatise on the Magnet it has to be observed that this is the first work ever written on the subject, apart from mere allusions and from the problematic existence of Chinese treatises. According to Gilbert (the author of the famous book De Magnete) Petrus Peregrinus Maricurtensis wrote his Epistle before 1300.

66 CHAUCER, First Collective Edition of his Works. Title, within a woodcut border: The workes of Geffray Chaucer newly printed, with | dyuers workes whi | che were neuer in | print before: As in the table more playnly dothe appere. | Cum priuilegio. Leaf 2: The Preface | To the kynges hyghnesse. . This preface by the editor William Thynne ends at the top of leaf 3 column 2, beneath which is a table of the works. Leaf 3 reverse and the top of leaf 4 column 1 contain a detailed table. Leaf 4 contains Eight goodly questyōs with their answers in nine stanzas; and To the kynges most noble grace.. in ten stanzas under the headline Balades Leaf 5, title of The Caunter | bury tales, the reverse blank. Leaf 6: The prologues. | W Hanne that Apryl | with his shoures sote |.. Leaf 11: The knyghtes tale... Leaf 136 reverse: .. Here endeth the Persones tale. | Thus endeth the boke of Caunter- | bury tales. And herafter folo-weth the Romaunt | of the Rose. Leaf 137 title, The Romaunt | of the Rose, within a woodcut border. Leaf 179 Troylus and Creseyde, a title within a woodcut border. Leaf 229 contains the end of Troylus and the beginning of The testament of Creseyde. Leaf 232: Thus endeth and here foloweth . .

The legende of good women. Leaf 247 obverse: Thus endeth the
legendes of good women, and here foloweth a balade of Chaucer. The
balade occupies the reverse of the leaf. Leaf 248 is the title Boetius de
consolatione philo- | sophie within a woodcut border. Leaf 284 reverse
contains the title of The dreame of Chaucer within a woodcut border.
On leaf 292 begins The assemble of Foules, and on 296, The Floure of
Curtesy. Leaf 298 a title, How pite is ded and beried in a gentyll
hert, within a woodcut border. On leaf 299 begins La belle dame sans
mercy; on 304 Of quene Annelida and false Arcite; on 307 The
assemble of ladyes. On leaf 312 begins Of the Astrolabye, in prose,
ending on the obverse of leaf 321. On the reverse begins The complaynt
of the blacke knyght; on the reverse of 325 A preyse of women; on
326 reverse The house of Fame, which ends on 337. Leaf 338, title of
The testament of love, within a woodcut border. On 365 begins The
lamentacyon of Mary Magdaleyne; on 369 reverse, The Remedy of
loue; on 372 reverse, The complaynt of mars z venus; on 375 obverse,
The letter of Cupyde; on 378 obverse, A balade of our Lady; on 379
reverse, Gower's balade to kyng Henry the fourth; 382 obverse: Of the
Cuckowe and the Nyghtyngale. On 384 obverse: Scogan vnto the
lordes and gentylmen of the kynges house. 385 obverse: Good coun-
sayle of Chaucer. 385 reverse, 386, and the first column of 387 obverse
contain Balades. In the second column of 387 obverse is the colophon: Thus
endeth the workes of Geffray Chaucer. Printed at Lōdon by Thomas
Godfray. The yere of our lorde. M.D.xxxii. Cum priuilegio a rege
indulto. And under it, the Latin epitaph on Chaucer.

Small folio, the margins of the first leaf and of the last couple of
leaves mended, the second leaf soiled; otherwise a good and large copy in
brown morocco covered with blind tooling

1532 57

Small folio, the title within a woodcut border on which are the initials WR; with woodcuts; the inner margin of the first leaf mended, and the last leaf missing; fine and very large copy in purple morocco, by Hering, from the Ashburnham collection 1542 36

The edition dated 1542 is frequently supposed to be identical with the undated edition having the same booksellers' names (Bonham, Petit, Reynes, etc.), but it is a quite distinct edition and far rarer.-The contents are the same as in Godfrey's text of 1532, with the addition however of The Plowman's Tale as the last eight leaves of the Canterbury Tales. It was printed here for the first time.

COLLATION: A 4 leaves; B-Z in sixes; Aa-Yy in sixes; AA-TT in sixes.

Small folio, very slightly wormed but perfect, in red morocco extra, gilt edges, by Riviere About 1547 32

COLLATION: A 8 leaves; B-V in sixes; X four leaves; Aa-Zz and AaaPpp in sixes; Qqq five leaves. This edition contains the same matter as the 1542 volume, but the Plowman's Tale is shifted to its place before (instead of after) the Parson's Tale. Some people think that this edition preceded that of 1542. Instead of the several woodcuts in the Canterbury Tales, in the 1542 edition; here there are only two, quite different from those in the other book.

69 CHAUCER. The woorkes of Geffrey Chau- | cer, newly printed, with diuers ad- dicions, which were neuer in printe before: With the siege and destruccion of the worthy citee of Thebes, compiled by Ihon Lidgate, Monke of Berie. As in the table more plainly | dooeth appere. Here a woodcut of the escutcheon of Chaucer, and under it a rhyming motto. Colophon on the last page: Imprinted at Lon- | don, by Ihon Kyngston for Ihon | Wight, dwellyng in Poules | Churchyarde. ]

Anno. 1561.

Small folio, a copy of extraordinary size and beauty in its original stamped calf binding, in perfectly fresh and fine condition, with clasps

£ s. d.

1561 28 0 0

The binding is stamped with the usual London devices of the portcullis and the royal crown and shield. A seventeenth century owner has stamped his initials IP upon the sides. At the end of the contents of Chaucer's works as they appear in the 1542 edition, fourteen leaves of Ballades, Court of Love, etc. gathered by John Stowe are added in the edition of 1561. Lydgate's poem makes a further Supplement of twenty-three leaves.

COLLATION:

four leaves; A-V in sixes; Aa-Pp and Q-T, in sixes;

V and X in eights; Y and Z in sixes; Aaa-Ttt in sixes, and Vvv in eight leaves. 70 CHAUCER. The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, edited from numerous Manuscripts by the Rev. Walter W. Skeat.

6 vols. with a Supplement; together 7 vols. 8vo. illustrated with
facsimiles (pub. £5. 12s), cloth
Oxford, 1894-97

I. Introduction, Glossary, etc.; II, III. Canterbury Tales; IV. Romaunt of the
Rose and Minor Poems; V. House of Fame, Legend of Good Women, Astrolabe, etc.;
VI. Boethius, Troilus; VII. Chaucerian and other pieces formerly attributed to
Chaucer. (As issued, these numerals were VI, IV, V, Î, III, II, VII.)

71 CHAUCER. Poetical Works, folio. A critical edition of the text
printed at the Kelmscott Press of Mr. William Morris, under the care
of Mr. Fred S. Ellis, Editor of the Lexical Concordance to Shelley's
Poetical Works; with many Illustrations by Sir E. Burne-Jones, bds.

Entirely out of print.

1896

72 JOHN GOWER (died 1402) CONFESSIO AMANTIS, IN ENGLYSSHE VERSE.

4 4 0

63 0 0

Folio, MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM, WRITTEN FOR HENRY EARL OF DERBY, AFTERWARDS CALLED DUKE OF HEREFORD AND HENRY IV; 179 leaves, in double columns, 49 lines to the column, ORNAMENTED WITH A Miniature and several FLOREATED BORDERS, as well as numerous initials illuminated in gold and colours; calf, gilt edges, from the libraries successively of John Earl of Loudon, with his bookplate, and the Marquis of Hastings About 1396 240 0 0

A FINE OLD ENGLISH MANUSCRIPT, ON VELLUM, OF THE END OF THE
XIVTH CENTURY, presenting a valuable text of the Poet who ranks
next in importance to Chaucer in Early English Literature. The
present MS. contains the earlier recension of the work, which came out
in the time of Richard the Second, and comprises the complimentary
verses concerning Chaucer, which for some reason were omitted in the
second issue, dedicated to Henry of Lancaster, when Gower cancelled
his eulogy on King Richard.

Near the end, when Venus is dismissing Gower, she addresses him
thus:-
:-

And greet weel Chaucer whan 3e mete

As my disciple and my poete

For in the floures of his zouthe
In sondry wise as he wel couthe

Of dytees and of songes glade
The which he for my sake made
The lond fulfilde is oueral
Whereof to him in special

Aboue all othre I am most holde

Forthi now in his daies olde
Thou schalt him telle this message
That he upon his lattere age
To sette an end of all his werk
As he which is myn owne clerke
To make his testament of loue

As thou hast doo thi schrifte aboue
So that my Court it may recorde

The MS. is

There is no difficulty in scanning these verses.
wonderfully accurate in that respect, and may be taken as a guide for
old English pronunciation. At the end of the book there are some
verses and inscriptions in red ink by the original scribe. The first of
these is as follows: Explicit iste liber qui transeat obsecro liber | Et
sine livore vigeat lectoris in ore | Qui sedet in scamnis celi det ut ista
Iohannis Perpetuis annis stet pagina grata Britannis | Derbie Comiti,
recolunt quem laude periti | Vade liber purus sub eo requiesce futurus.
This is enough to show the date and original ownership of the MS.
Gower is believed to have completed his work in 1393. The Prince
who afterwards became Henry IV, bore the title of Earl of Derby
from 1386 to 1397.

It is defective at the beginning, wanting the leaves which should
run as 1, 2, 4, 6, 7. The first words of what is the first page of the
MS. are as follows: "But ofte is seen that mochel slouth | Whan men
ben drunke of the cuppe | Doth mochil harme whan fire is uppe | . .”

The rarity of Gower's first issue of the Confessio may be estimated from the circumstance that the editor of the 1532 edition found only one MS. of it, as compared with several of the second issue. 73 GOWER'S CONFESSIO, the same FIRST ISSUE, PERFECT, 4to. MS. ON VELLUM, in a cursive hand, with ornamental capitals, 191 leaves, double columns, 38 or 39 lines to the column; gilt russia, from the Phillipps collection

About 1420 96 0 O

This is a careful and well written copy of the work as presented to Richard II. The text is perhaps not quite equal to that of the folio described above, but it is not far behind it. The only noticeable differences in language are the occasional change of ende into ing. It is a perfect copy of the book, in which at the beginning Gower describes his meeting in a barge on the Thames with the young King Richard who asked him to write a book. All this matter and his frequent allusions to his love for that King were omitted or substituted in the issue brought out between 1399 and 1402. The variations of the second recension begins on line 24, where the words "A book for King Richard's sake "were altered to "a book for England's sake."

74 GOWER, Confessio Amantis. Caxton's edition Enprynted at westmestre by me Willyam Caxton and fynysshed the ij L? day of Septembre the fyrst yere of the regne of Kyng Richard the thyrd, the yere of our lord a thousand CCCC.lxxxxiij (sic for 1483).

Small folio, wanting forty-seven leaves, and having the first eight leaves and the last leaf in facsimile; olive morocco extra, gilt edges, by Zachnsdorf Caxton, 1483 180 0 0

This is the second recension of Gower. Of the 218 printed leaves of which this volume should consist, the following are absent: leaf 13, 118, 119, 124, 125, 126, 141, 142, 143, 150, 165, 182-217. Leaf 149 is also defective.

JOHN TREVISA, died 1412, translated Higden's Polycronicon ante in 1387

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