Early Printed Books

by E. Gordon Duff

In addition to these two indulgences, a number of books may be assigned to this year. The Fayttes of Arms is dated; but besides this there are the Statutes of Henry VII., the Governayle of Health, the Four Sons of Aymon, Blanchardyn and Eglantyne, Directorium Sacerdotum, second edition, the third edition of the Dictes or Sayengis, the Doctrinal of Sapience, and an Image of Pity printed on one leaf. The second edition of Reynard the Fox, known only from the copy preserved in the Pepysian Library, may also be assigned to this year. With the exception of the Eneydos, the remainder of Caxton’s books are of a religious or liturgical character. Amongst them we must class an edition probably of the Horæ ad usum Sarum not mentioned by Blades; for though no copy or even fragment is now known, it is certain that such a book was printed. A set-off from a page of it was discovered by Bradshaw on a waste sheet of the Fifteen Oes. All that could be certainly distinguished was that it was printed in type 5, that there were twenty-two lines to a page, and that each page was surrounded by a border.

The Fifteen Oes itself is a most interesting book. It was printed originally, no doubt, as an extra part for an edition of the Horæ ad usum Sarum now entirely lost. It contains a beautifully executed woodcut of the crucifixion,—one of a series of five which occur complete in a Horæ printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1494, and it is also the only existing book from this press which has borders to the pages. Caxton printed altogether about one hundred books, using in them altogether eight types. Blades gives ninety-nine books printed by Caxton, two of which were certainly printed by his associate in Bruges after Caxton had left for England. On the other hand, he does not mention the newly-discovered Grammar, the two editions of the Indulgence of 1489, a second edition of the Lyf of our Lady, known from a fragment in the Bodleian, and one or two other indulgences. One or two books which Blades includes were printed undoubtedly by De Worde, such as the Book of Courtesye (which, indeed, contains his small device), The Chastysing of God’s Children, and the Treatise of Love. The genuine Caxtons catalogued by Blades number ninety-four.

As regards types, Blades gives six of Caxton’s, and a seventh which he conjectures only to have been used by Wynkyn de Worde, though in this he was mistaken, for it occurs in books printed while Caxton was alive. Again, the type of the 1489 Indulgence which he does not mention, was conclusively proved by Bradshaw to be one of Caxton’s types. This type should be considered as type 7, and the former type, which does not appear until 1490-91, as type 8. The woodcut initials which occur in the Chastysing of God’s Children were not used till after Caxton’s death.

But while we venerate Caxton as our first printer, we must not overlook the claims which he has upon us as a translator and editor. Wonderful as his diligence in press-work may appear, it is still more wonderful to consider how much literary work he found time to do in the intervals of his business. He was the editor of all the books which he printed, and he himself translated no less than twenty-two, including that great undertaking the Golden Legend. Even on his deathbed he was still at work, as we learn from the colophon of the Vitas Patrum, printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1495: ‘Thus endyth the moost vertuouse hystorye of the deuoute and right renowned lyves of holy faders lyvynge in deserte, worthy of remembraunce to all wel dysposed persones, which hath ben translated oute of Frenche into Englysshe by William Caxton of Westmynstre late deed and fynysshed at the laste daye of hys lyff.’

On Caxton’s death, in 1491, his materials passed into the hands of Wynkyn de Worde, his assistant, who continued to print in the same house at Westminster. Up to 1493 he continued to use Caxton’s type, with the addition of some woodcut initials obtained from Godfried van Os, from whom he also obtained a complete set of type, which was not used till 1496, and then only for printing one book.

W. de Worde, though he must have lived for some time previously in England, only took out letters of denization in 1496. The grant is dated 20th April to ‘Winando de Worde, de ducatu Lothoringie oriundo, impressori librorum.’

The earliest books which he printed have no name, and are all in Caxton’s type, Nos. 6 and 4*, but with some additional types which distinguish his works from Caxton’s.

From the time of Caxton’s death, in 1491, to the time when his own name first appears in an imprint, Wynkyn de Worde printed five books. They are the Chastysing of God’s Children, the Treatise of Love, and the Book of Courtesye, all printed in type 6; and the Golden Legend and the Life of St. Catherine, printed in a modification of type 4*, a type which is used in no other books. The Chastysing is interesting as having a title-page, the first in any book from this office; while in the Book of Courtesye we find the device of W. de Worde used for the first time.

In 1493 we find for the first time a book containing De Worde’s name. This is the Liber Festivalis, probably printed towards the end of the year, for the Quattuor Sermones, generally issued with it, is dated 1494. The next book to appear was Walter Hylton’s Scala Perfectionis; and in the same year was issued a reprint of Bonaventura’s Speculum Vite Christi, a book of very great interest, for the sidenotes are printed with the type which Caxton used for his Indulgence of 1489, and which was used for no other book than this. To this year 1494 we may ascribe a beautiful edition of the Sarum Horæ, adorned with woodcuts and borders, nearly all of which were inherited from Caxton. The type which De Worde used for these books seems to have come into Caxton’s hands from France, during the last year of his life, and resembles closely certain founts which belonged to the Paris printers P. Levet and Higman, if indeed it is not the same. After 1494, De Worde discarded it, using it only occasionally for headings or titles. Blades wrongly says that the use of this type separates the early W. de Worde books from the Caxton’s; but Caxton certainly possessed and used it. The distinctive mark of the early Wynkyn de Worde books is the use of the initials obtained from G. van Os. Bradshaw, speaking of these, says, ‘Indeed, the woodcut initials are what specially serve at once to distinguish W. de Worde’s earliest from Caxton’s latest books.’

In 1495 we have three dated books, the Vitas Patrum, which Caxton was engaged in translating up to the day of his death; Higden’s Polycronicon, the first English book containing musical notes, and the Directorium Sacerdotum. Besides these, a fair number of undated books may be ascribed to this year or the year after. The most important is the Bartholomæus, De Proprietatibus Rerum. Apart from its ordinary interest, it is considered to be the first book printed on paper made in England.