T. T. Wilkinson.
Burnley, Lancashire.
"The General Pardon."—An imperfect copy of a small tract (measuring five and a half inches by three and a half inches) has recently come into my hands, of which I much desire to obtain the wanting parts. It is entitled:
"The general Pardon, geuen longe agone, and sythe newly confyrmed, by our Almightie Father, with many large Priuileges, Grauntes, and Bulles graunted for euer, as is to be seen hereafter: Drawne out of Frenche into English. By Wyllyam Hayward. Imprinted at London, by Wyllyam How, for Wyllyam Pickeringe."
There is no date, but it is believed to have been printed in or about 1571. It is in black letter, and is an imitation of the Roman Catholic pardons. It consists of twelve leaves. In my copy the last seven of these are torn through their middle vertically.
I have not been able to meet with this tract in the catalogues of any of the great libraries which I have consulted; e.g. The British Museum, Bodleian, Cambridge University, Lambeth, and several of the college libraries at Cambridge.
I want any information concerning it, or its original in French, which the readers of "N. & Q." can give: also access to a copy from which to transcribe the parts wanting in mine.
Charles C. Babington.
St. John's Coll. Cambridge.