AFTER the publication of the volume entitled One Hundred Books Famous in English Literature with Facsimiles of the Title-pages and an Introduction by George E. Woodberry, the books themselves were gathered from the collections of members of the Club for an exhibition at the Club-house. All of these volumes belonged to the first published editions, except where copies of the earliest editions were not obtainable, or, for some reason, were not desirable. In two cases, those of "Tottel's Miscellany" and Lyly's Euphues, copies of the first editions are unique, and, therefore, practically not obtainable. The second edition of A Myrrour For Magistrates contains the first issue of the poem called an Induction by the Earl of Dorset, and was, therefore, the edition which it was desirable to show. Notwithstanding the oft-repeated statement that copies of the second edition of Bacon's Essays are of greater rarity than those of the first, no copy of the first edition was forthcoming, and one of the later date was necessarily included in the collection. In one or two instances a second issue of a first edition was used where the extremely rare first issue was not owned by a member of the Club.
Arranged side by side, each volume open at its title-page, the individuality of these well-known works was brought out strikingly: taken collectively, they illustrated, clearly and interestingly, the development of the Book in England. Members of the Club were thus led to suggest the publication of a second, or supplementary volume, which should give the bibliographical facts connected with each book, and which should indicate, briefly, something of this development. The present volume was undertaken in response to this suggestion.
The relations of author with printer or publisher, the success or failure of the books, matters of illustration, and marked peculiarities of editions, issues or volumes—all these things are referred to at greater or less length. In some cases, the facts have been given with fullness; but in others, like that of the Shakespeare First Folio, about which so much has been written, it was thought unnecessary to enter into details. Many of the books in the list having been already the subjects of whole bibliographies, or, having been carefully collated in other works, full collations have not been thought desirable here. It should be noted, in this connection, that the collations of books printed before the eighteenth century are given by signatures, while of books published after 1700, the paginations are given. Works of more than two volumes have not been collated in detail.
