Another copy, dated July 30, is in folio. The title-page is here bordered with ten woodcuts, having between the inner and outer sets the rubricated text: "Let euerye soule submyt hym ſelfe unto the aucthorite of the higher powers. For there is no power but of God. The powers that be, are ordained of God whoſoeuer therefore reſiſteth power: reſiſteth the ordinance of God. Rom. XIVI." A royal coat-of-arms, which in the quarto was placed before the order of Matins, here heads the title, printed in red. Every other line following is also rubricated. In Grafton's copy the "Te Deum Laudamus," "The Song of Zacharias," and "The Letany," occur at the end of the book but are not in the table of Contents.
The statement made in the Act that the work had been concluded, set forth, and delivered, must apply, it is thought, to the manuscript, since no printed copy is known dated earlier than March. A copy printed by Whitchurch has the date March 7, 1549, and another by Grafton is dated the eighth; other copies are dated in May, June and July. The book was used in the London churches on Easter Day, April 21, 1549, and was ordered, as we have seen, to be used in all churches after the Feast of Pentecost, which fell upon June 9 in 1549.
From the requirements of its use, we may infer that the edition must have been a large one. We are sure of the price of the volume from the following note, added at the end of the book: "The Kynges Maieſtie, by the aduyſe of his moſte deare vncle the Lorde Protector and other his highnes Counſell, ſtreightly chargeth and commaundeth, that no maner of perſon do ſell this preſent booke vnbounde, aboue the price of .ii. Shyllynges the piece. And the ſame bounde in paſte or in boordes, not aboue the price of three ſhylleynges and foure pence the piece. God ſaue the Kyng." The price differs in different volumes. A copy of Oswen's May 24th issue sets the price at two shillings and twopence for unbound copies, and three shillings eightpence for bound copies.
Folio. Black letter and Roman.
Collation: 183 leaves, including title-page. Sig. A-Y, AA-f.
WILLIAM LANGLAND
(1330?-1400?)
5. The Vision | of Pierce Plowman, now | fyrſte imprynted by Roberte | Crowley, dwellyngin Ely | rentes in Holburne. | Anno Domini | 1505. Cum priuilegio ad im | primendũ ſolum. [Colophon]
