The extreme rarity of this work, and the great interest taken in it by connoisseurs, has suggested to the publisher the advisability of producing a facsimile reprint for the use of those Collectors and Anglers who can never hope to possess the almost priceless original. The present facsimile is reproduced from a copy of the original edition in the British Museum, by means of photography, and consequently renders every peculiarity of the original in faithful detail: the rude Illustrations which adorned the first edition of this “lytyll plaunflet” are here given in all their quaint roughness. The work is printed on hand-made paper of the same texture and colour as that on which the first edition appeared, and the binding is of contemporary pattern and material, so that the reader of to-day in handling this volume can realise the form and appearance of the original, which must have delighted the eyes of those who studied “treatyses perteynynge to dyuers playsaunt matters belongynge vnto noblesse.”
In small 4to., vellum, price 17s. 6d., post free.
A Ballade of the Scottysshe Kynge.
Written by JOHN SKELTON, Poet Laureate to King Henry VIII. Reproduced in facsimile, with an Historical and Bibliographical Introduction by John Ashton.
The Ballade of the Scottysshe Kynge is the earliest known printed English ballad; it was discovered under curious and interesting circumstances, which are narrated in detail in the Introduction, and is here very carefully facsimiled. A limited number of copies were issued in a tasteful form for those collectors of ballads and connoisseurs of early printing who desire to possess the work in the nearest shape to its original form. It is accompanied by an Historical and Bibliographical Introduction, giving an account of the various printed forms of the incidents it records, with Illustrative Quotations from the more important of them; also Notes from Contemporary History, elucidating the events of the Ballad, and other information interesting to the Antiquary and the Bibliographer.
ELLIOT STOCK, 62, Paternoster Row, London, E.C.
Transcriber’s Notes:
- Blank pages have been removed.
- Redundant title page has been removed.
- A few obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected.
- Otherwise spelling and hyphenation variations remain unchanged.
- In the replications of earlier title pages at the beginning, use of the long s ‘ſ’ and ‘VV’ for W are retained.
- Listed “ERRATA” (page ix) left uncorrected, as done by the editor.
- Footnotes: After the first 10, they appear as sidenotes, as in the book. Some have multiple references.
- Page references and links are to the first edition numbers (italicized sidenotes).
- Both current and earlier edition page numbers are hidden in the epub versions.
- “The Epistle” chapter heading inserted to match page headings of that section.
- The V like arrangement of the lines at the end of some chapters has not been followed, as it was unreliable and unsightly with variable viewer widths, and according to the editor in the preface: “they do not indicate a division of the text or matter, but were simply compositors’ devices to fill up a page...”.