de Saofia crdinis minorum, compliata in alma Uni-
.'uerfitate CantabngicC, ann. 1478, impreffa apud
Villam Sti Alhani. m c c c c lxxx.
This was once in Bifhop Morels Library,
being defcnbed in the printed Catalogue of his
other rare Books [<^j; but it is now loft, or
llolen from that noble Colledlion i v/hich, by an
example of munificence fcarce to be paralleled,
was given to our Univerfity by his late Majefty
King George, and will remain a perpetual
Monument of the great Mind and public
Spirit of that Prince.
[r] In a fair printed Copy of this Book, which I have
fmce fcen in Beiiiiet Coll. Library, I fin4»no mention of St.
Albanst or place of printing, or any Cmer date, than that
of its compilation at Cajnbridge j with a MS. Note fub-
joined to the Colophon : Hk liber excufus Ca?itabrigis, foji
z6 ar.nos ini'ctiiiovis. This lead Mr. Sttype into his miftake.
[i/j Catal. Libror. Manufcriptor. Angl. Oxen. p. 391.
The
Origin 0/ P r i n t i n c in England. 345
The fame Book is mentioned ty Mr. Strype,
among thofe given by Archbilhop Parker to
Corpus Chrijli College in Cambridge -, but the
words, ccmpilata in Univerfitate Cantabrigi^^
have drawn this learned Antiquary into the
Miilake of imagining, that it was printed alfo
in that year at our Univerfity, and of doing us
the Honour of remarking upon it j So ancient
''juas Printing in Cambridge [
Wc have one Piece however in our Library
from this Prefs in a fmall Fojio, and at the end
of it the following Advertifement :
I'here in thys boke afore ar contenyt the bokys of
haukyng and huntyng with other plefuris dyverfe.
And alfo of Coote armuris a nobull worke. And
here now endyth the boke of blafying of armys^
.iranflatyt and compylyt togcdyr at Saynt Albons
MCCCCLXXXVI.
After the firft Treatifc of Hawking and
Hunting, l^c. is added, Explicit Dam Julyam
Barnes in her boke of hunting. Tho' her name
be fubjoined to the firft Part only, yet the whole
is conftantly afcribed to her, and pafles for her
work. She v/as of a noble Family, Sifter to
Richard Lord Berners of l^ex^ and Priorcfs of
Sopwell Niin^^^ near St. Albans: She hved
• about the Year 1460, and is celebrated by Le-
land and other Writers for her uncommon
[e] luik oi A\c\Cu, Parker, p. 519.
about
J 4-6 A Differ tation concerynng the
Learning and Accomplilhments, under the
Name of Juliana Beniers.
I fhall now return to Caxton\ and ftate as
briefly as I can the pofitive Evidence that re-
mains of his being thejirft Printer of this King-
dom ; for what I have already alledged; is thiefly
negative or circumftantial. And here, as I
hinted at fetting out, all our Writers before the
Reftoration, who mention the Introduction of
the Art amongft us, give him the Credit of it,
without any Contradiction or Variation. St owe,
in his Sur'vey of London^ fpeaking of the 37th
yczr of Henry Yl. or ann. 1458, fays, The noble
Science of Printing was about this time found at
Magunce by Joh. Guttemberg a Knight; and
William Caxton
it into England, about the year 1471, and firji
■pra£fifed the fame in the Abby of Weftminfter.
Tniffel gives the fame account in the Hiftory of
Henry VI, and Sir Richard Baker in his Chroni-
cle : and Mr. Howel'm his Londinopolis, defcribes
the place where the Abbot of Wefiminfter fet up
the frft Prefs for Caxton *s ufe, in the Almonry
or Ambry. But above all, the famous Joh. Le-
land, Library-Keeper to Henry VIII, who by
way of Honour had the Title of The Antiquary^
and lived near to Caxton*s own time, exprefly
calls him, The frji Printer cff^land [f], and
fpeaks honourably of his Works : And as he
had fpent fome time in Oxford, after having
[f\ De Scriptorib. Brit. p. 480. i
firH
Origin o/Vriktiug in England. 347
firft ft u died and taken a Degree at Cambridge y
he could hardly be ignorant oi the Origin and
Hiftory of Printing in that Univerfity. I can-
not forbear adding, for the fake of a Name fo
celebrated, the more modern Teftimony of Mr.
Henry Wharton^ who affirms Caxton to have
been the firft that imported the Art cf Printing into
this Kingdom \g\. On whofe Authority, I ima-
gine, the no lefs celebrated M. Du Pin ftiles
him likewife the firft Printer of England [h\
To the Atteftation of our Hiftorians, who
arc clear in Favor of Caxton, and quite
filent concerning an earlier Prefs at Oxford^
the Works of Caxton hirnfelf add great
Confirmation : the Rudenefs of the Letter ; Irre-
gularity of the Page •, want of Signatures ; initial
Inciters &c. in his firft Impreflions; give a Pre-
judice at fight of their being the firft Produc-
tions of the Art amongft us. But befides thefe
Circumftanccs, I have taken notice of a Paflage
in one of his Books [/], that amounts in a man-
ner to a dire<5l Teftimony of it. Thus end I this
book^ i^c. and for as moche as in "jorytyng of the
fame my penne is worn, myn hande "jvery, and myn
eyen dimmed with oz'ermoche iokyng on the whit
paper — and that age crepctb on me dayly — and alfo
becaufe I have promyfid to dyverce gentihnen and t«
my frendes to addreffe to hem as haftely as I myght
[g] Append, ad Cavt Hift. liter, p. 49.
[/&] Ecdcfuft. Hift. Cent. xiv. p. 71. Edit. E?i^/.
[i] Recule, tff. in the end of the 3d Book.
this
348 A Dijfertation concerning the
this fayd hcok^ ■ Therefore I have pra^yfedy and
learned at my grete charge and difpenfe^ to ordeyne
this fayd book in prynte after the maner and forme
as ye may here fee, and is not wreton with penns
2Jid ynke as other bokes ben, to thende that every
man fnay have them at tones,, for all the bookes of
this fiorye named, the recule of the hiftoryes of
I'royes, thus emprynted as ye here fee, were begonne
in oon day and alfo finifhed in oon day, &cc. Now
this is the very fiile and language of the firfi
Printers, as every body knows, who has been
at all converfant with old Books. Faufl and
Scheffer, the Inventors, fet the example in their
firft Works from Mentz ; by advertifmg the
Public at the end of each. That they were not
drawn or written by a Pen {as all Books had been
before) but made by a new Art and hivention of
Printing, or flamping them by Characters or T'ypei
»f Metal fet in Forms. In imitation of whom,
the fucceeding Printers in moft Cities oi Europe,
where the Art' was new, generally gave the like
Advertifement ; as we may ittironiP^enice, RonWy
■ Naples, Verona, Bafil, Augfhurg, Louvain, &cc^
juft as our Caxton, in the inftance above.
In Pliny's Natural Hiflory, printed at VenieCy
we have the following Verfes : ,
^enz modo tarn rarum cupiens viz lector haberet \
f^ique etia7n fraElus pane legendus eram :
Refiituit Venetis me niiper Spira Johannes ;
Exfcripfitque libros ^ere notcnte msos.
Feffa
Origin c/ P R I N T I N c in England. 345
Ffjfa manus quondam, moneo, calamufque qtiiefcat :
Namque labor Jludio ceffii Csf ingenio.
M.cccc.LXviiii. i
In a Spanijh Hiftory of Rodericus Santius^
printed at Ronie: ,1
Be mandato R. P. D. Roderici Epifcopi Palen-
tiniAu^loris hujus libri, ego Upalricus Gallus,
Jtne calamo aut pennis, eund. librum imprejfu
At the End of Cicero's Philippic Orations :
Anfer Tarpeii cuftos Jovis, unde, quod alis
Conjlreperes, Gallus decidii ; Ultor adefi
UldricusGallus:;;^ quern pof cant ur in ufum^
Edocuit pennis nil opus ejfe tuis.
Imprimit ilk die, quantum non fcribitur anm\
Ingenio, baud noceas, cmnia vinrit homo.
In Eufebius\s Cbroniccn, printed in Latin at
Milan :
Omnibus ut pateant, tahulis imprejjit ahenis
Utile Lavania gente Philippus opus.
Ha^enus hoc toto rarum fuit orbe volumen,
^^od vix, qui ferret t.cdia , fcriptor erai. .
^unc ope Lavani
uEre perexiguo qualibet urbe legunt.
And as this is a ftrong proof of his htm^our
firfi Printer-, fo it is a probable one, that this
very
450 ^ Dljfertathfz concerning the
very Book was the Firji of his printing. I havd
never ^
Date, which Mr. Pj/w^r takes for hisfirfilk] •, but
thcReafons afTigned for it, leem to agree full as
well to the Recuk of the Hijiories of Troy : and
had he met with this perfed: in the end of the'
third Book, he would probably have been of
another mind. Caxton hadfnifhed the Tranf-
lati&n of the two firft Booh at Colognj ann.
147 1 : and having then good leifure^ refolved to
tranjlate the third at the fame place [/] ; in the end
of which, we have the palTage recited above.
Now in his other Books tranflated, as this was,
from the French^ he commonly marks the pre-
cife time of his entring on the Tranflation; of
his finifhing iti and of his putting it afterwards
into the Prefs : which ufed to follow each other
with little ornoIntermiiTion, and were generally
compleated within the comjpafs of a few Months.
So that in the prefent cafe, after he had finifhed
the Tranflation, which muft be in, or foon af-
ter ami. 1 47 1, it is not likely that he would
delay the ImprelTion longer than was neceflary
for the preparing his Materials ; efpecially ' as
he was engaged by Promife to his Friends,
who feem to have been preffing and in hafte,
to deliver Copies of it to them as foon as pofii-
ble.
[kl Hift. of Printing, p. 340.
[/] Recukj ^c. end of the sd Book,
But-
OrigiM tf/ P R I N T I N G in England. 35 1
But as in the Cafe of the Fir/i Printer, fo m
this of his Firji IVork, we have a Teftimony
alfo from himfelf in favour of this Book : for I
have obferved that in the recital of his works,
he mentions it the firjl in order, before the Book
of Chejfe, which feems to be ^ good Argument
of its being a(5tually the firfi. When I had — .
accomplijbed dyvers workys and hyjlorys, tranjlatei
cut of frenjhe into englyjhe at the requefle of cert ay }i
lordeSy ladyes, andgentylemen, as the recuyel of the
hyftory of Troye, the hook of Chejfe^ the hyjlorye of
Jafan, the hyfiorye of the mirrour of the World — .
I have fubmyfed my f elf to tranflate into englyfhe tht
legende of SaynteSy called Legenda aurea, in latyn —
andlVylyam Earle of Arondel defy red me — andpro'
onyfed to take a reafonnble qiiantyte of them — fente
to me a worfhipfid gentylman — promyfing that my
fay d lord fhould, durying my lyfe, geve and graunt
to me a yeorely fee, that is to note, a hucke infom-
mer and adoo in wynter^ &c. [w].
All tliis, added to the common marks of ^^r-
lier Jnliquityy which are more obfervable in this,
than in any other of his Books that I have yet
feen, viz. the Rudenefs of the Letter, t\\Q hicor-
re5Inefs of the Language ; and the greater Mixture
of the French words, than in his later Pieces j
makes me conclude it to be his/;;/? IFork ; exe-
cuted when he came frclh from a long Rcfidence
[m] Matimre Supplcm. adtom. i. Annal. p. 440. aot. 4.
2 la
r.
3V2 ji T)tJfertation concerning th^
in foreign Parts. Nay, there are fome Circum-*
itances to make us believe, that it was a<5lually
printed abroad at Cologn^ where he finifhed the
Trandation, and where he had been ■pra^iifing
end learning the Art : for after the account given
above, of his having learnt to print, he immer'
diately adds, Whiche hook I have prefented to mt
fayd redouhtid lady MargretCy Diichejje of Bour-^^
goyne, &c. and Jhe hath well acceptid hit, and
largely rewarded rne^ &c. which feems to imply
his continuance abroad till after the Impreflion,
as well as the Tranflation of the Book. The
Conje(5tui-e is much ftrengthened by another.
Faft attcfted of him •, That he did really print
at Cologn the firft Edition of Bartholomaus de
proprietatibus rerumy in Latin: which is affirmed
by Wynkyn de JVoorde, in an Englijh Edition of
the fame Book, in the following Lines [»] : .
And alfo of your chary te bear in remefnhraunce
The foule of William Caxton firji printer of
this bcke,
■ In laten tongue or Colyn himfelf to advaunce^
I'hat every well difpcfyd man may thereon leke,
I have never ften, or met with any one, who
has feen this Latin Edition of Bartholom^us by
Caxton [
[»] Matt. Ann. Append, ad torn. I. p. 31.
[c] There is an Edition of Bdrtolomeus, &C. in Bennet
Coll. of an old Charafter j without Signatures, initial Let-
ters, Date, or place of printing, in large fol, with a double
f olumn in each page.
a wag
Origifi ^Printing in Ehgland. 353
was printed at Cologn by Jo. Koelholf^ and the
firftthat appears of his printing, ann. 1470 [0],
whilft Caxton was at the place and bufying
himfelf in the Art : And if we fiippofe him to
have been the Encourager and Promoter of the
Work, or to have furnifhed the Expcnce of it,
he might poflibly on that account be confidered
at home as the Author of it.
It is now time to make an end, left I be cen-
fured for fpending too much pains on a Argu-
ment fo inconfiderable ; where my only view is
to fet right fome little Points ofHiftory, that
had been falfly or negligently treated by our
Writers, to which the Courfe of my Studies
and Employment engaged me to pay fome At-
tention : and above all, to do a piece of Juftice
to the Memory of our worthy Countryman
William Caxton ; nor fuffer him to be robbed
of the Glory fo clearly due to him, of having
firji imported into this Kingdom an Art of great
Ufe and Benefit to Mankind : a kind of Merit,
thatin the fenfeof all Nations, gives the beft Title
to True Praife, and the beft Claim to be com-
memorated with Honour to pofterity : And it
ought to be infcribed on his Monument, what
I find declared of another Printer, Barthclomeus
Bottonus of Reggio •, Primus ego in patria
MODO CHARTAS i^RE SIGNAVI, ET NOVU^
BIBLIOPOLA FUI, Stc. [p].
[ai] Matt. Append, ad torn. i. p. 296.
[p] Ibid. p. 432. in not.
Vol. V. Z He
3^4 ^ Dijjertation concerning the
He had been bred very reputably in the way
of Trade, and ferved an Apprentice fhip to one
Robert Large, a Mercer j who after having been
Sheriff and Lord Mayor of London, died ann,
1441, and left by Will, as may be iztn in the
Prerogative-Office y xxiiii Marks to his Appren-
tice William Caxton: a confiderable Legacy
in thofe days, and an early Teftimonial of his
good Charadler and Integrity.
From the time of his Mafter's death, he fpent
the following thirty years beyond Sea, in the
Bufinefs of Merchandife: where, in the year
1464, we find him employed by Edward IV.
in a public and honourable Negotiation, jointly
with one Richard Whitehill, Efq ; to tranfadt
and conclude a Treaty of Commerce between
the King and his Brother-in-law the Duke of
Burgundy, to whom Flanders belonged. The
CommifTion ftiles them, Amhajfiatores, Procu-
^ ratores. Nuncios, (^ Deputatos fpeciales -, and gives
to both or either of them full Powers to treat,
^C. [ql
Whoever turns over his printed Works, muft
contraft a Refped for him, and be convinced
that he preferved the fame Chara<5ter through
Life of an honeft, modeft Man •, greatly induft-
rious to do good to his Country, to the beft of his
Abilities, by fpreading among the People fuch
Books as he thought ufeful to Religion and good
[y] Rymer Feed. torn. xi. p. 536. Item Matt. Ann. Typ.
Append, ad torn. i. p. 33.
Manners*
Origin
Manners, which were chiefly tranflated from
the French. The Novelty and Ufefulnefs of his
Art recommended him to the fpecial notice and
favour of the Great •, under whofe Protedion,
and at whofe Expence, the greateft part of his
Works were publilhed. Some of them are ad-
drefled to King Edward the Fourth ; his Brother
the Duke of Clarence-, and their Sifter the
Dutchefs of Burgundy, in whofe Service and
Pay he lived many years, before he began to
print J as he oft acknowledges with great Gra-
titude. He printed likewife for the Ufe, and
by the exprefs Order o^ Henry the Seventh; his
Son Prince Arthur ; and many of the principal
Nobility and Gentry of that Age: All which
confirms the Notion of his being ihefrjl Printer-,
for he would hardly have been fo much carefTed
and employed, had there been an earlier and
abler Artift all the while at Oxford, who yet had
no Employment at all for the fpace of eleven
years.
It has been generally afTerted and believed,
that all his Books were printed in the Abby of
Weftminjier; yet we have no aflfurance of it from
himfelf, nor any mention of the Place before
ann. 1477 '• ^o that he had been printing feveral
years, without telling us where. There is one
miftake however, worth the correfting, that
the Writers have univerfally fallen into, md
taken up from each other-. That John Ijlip was
the Abbot who firft encouraged the Art, and
2 2 entet*
35^ ^ Differ taiion concerning the
entertained the Artift in his houfe; Whereas I
find upon inquiry, that he was not made Abbot
till four years after Caxton's death ; and that
'Thomas Milling was Abbot ann. 1470, made
Bijfhop of Hereford a few years after, and pro-
bably held the Abby in Commendam, till the
year 1485, in which John EJlney next fucceed-
ed : So that Millings who was reputed a great
Scholar, mull have been the generous Friend
and Patron of Caxton, who gave that liberal
reception to an Art fo beneficial to Learn-
ing [r].
This Ihews how unfafe it is to truft to com-
mon Hiftory, and how neceflary to recur to
original Tellimonies, where we would know
the llate of Fa6ls with exaclnefs. Mr. Ech-
ard^ at the end of Edward the Fourth's Reign,
among the Learned of that Age, mentions
William Caxton as a Writer of Englifh
Wflory\ but feems to doubt whether he was
the fame iviih the Printer of that Name. Had
he ever looked into Caxton's Books, the doubt
had been cleared ; or had he confulted his
Chronical of England, which it is ftrange that ati
Knglifh Hiftorian could negleft, he would have
learnt at lead to fix the beginning of that Reign
with more exadnefs, as it is noted above, juft
two years earlier than he has placed it [jJ.
[y] Willis'^ Hift. of Mitred. Abbies, vol. i, p. 206. "
[;] Hift. of Engl.
There
Origin of Printing in England. ^57
There is no clear account left of Caxtok's
Age: but he was certainly very old, and pro-
bably above fourfcore, at the time of his death.
In the year 1 47 1 he complained, as we have feen,
of the Infirmities of Age creeping upon him,
and feebling his body ; yet he lived twenty- three
years after, and purfued his Bufmefs with ex-
traordinary Diligence, in the Abby oi'irefimin-
Jier, till the year 1494, in which he died; not
in the year following, as all, who write of him,
affirm. This appears from fome Verfes at the
end of a Book, called, Hillon's Scale of Perfec-
tion, printed iji the fan:.e year.
Jnfyniie land with thankynges many folde
I yield to God me focourying wyth his grace
This boke to finyfhe whiche that ye beholde
Scale of perfeccion calde in every place
Whereof th au5lor Walter Hilton was
And Wynkyn de Worde this hath fett in print
In William Caxtons hows fo fyll the cafe,
God refi his foule. In joy e ther mot it jiynt.
Inprejfus anno falutis MCcccLxxxxiiii.
Though he had printed for the ufe o^ Edward
IV. and Henry VII. yet I find no ground for
the Notion which Palmer takes up, that the
firfl Printers, and particularly Caxton, were
fworn Servants and Printers to the Crown: for
Caxton, as far as I have obferved, gives not
the leall hint of any fuch Charafter or Title ;
though it feems to have been inltituted not long
Z 3 - after
35? A Dijfertation concerning the
after his death : for of his two principal
Workmen Richard Pynfon^ and IVynkinde Worde^
the one was made Printer to the King •, the
other, to the King^s Mother the Lady Mar^
garet. Pynfon gives himfelf the firft Title, in the
Imitation of the Life of Chriji^ printed by him at
the Commandment of the Lady Margaret^ who
had tranflated the fourth Book of it from the
French, ann. 1 504 : and JVynkin de Worde affumes
the fecond^ in 'The feven Penitential Pfalms^ ex-
pounded by Bilhop Fifher, and printed ann,
1509.
But there is the Title of a Book given by
Palmer, that feems to contradid what is here
faid of Pynfon, viz. Pfalterium ex mandato vic-
toriofiffimi Anglia Regis Henrici Septimi, per Gu-
lielmum Fanque, Imprefforem Regium, anno
M.D.iiii. which being the only Work that has
ever been found of this Printer, makes it pro-
bable, that he died in the very year of its Im-
prefTion, and was fucceeded immediately by
Richard Pynfon : whofe ufe of the fame Title fo
foon after, fhews the Writers to be miftaken in
this, and feveral other particulars relating to
his Hiftory, as well as that oilVynkin de Worde,
which it is not my prefen^ Bufinefs to explain.
1 259 ]
A CATALOGUE of Books
printed by C a x t o n, which are
in the Public Library at Cam-
bridge.
THE Game of the Chejfe -, [a^ tranflatid
out of FrenJIje into EngliJJhe — fynyflied
the laft daye of Marche^ the yere of
our Lord God a thoufand foure honderd and
Lxxiiii. Fol. 1474
The Di^es or Sayengis of the Philofophhres ;
tranflated out of Frenfhe by Ant one Erie of
Ryvyers^ Lord of Scales and of the Ik of Wyghty
Defendour and Direftour of the Siege Apofto-
hque for our holy Fader the Pope in this Royame
of Englond, uncle and governour to my lord the
Prynce of JVales^ &c. enprynted at JVeftmefire
[b]. Fol. iA17
[a'] To thff right noble, right excellent and vertuous
Prince George Due of Clarence, Erie of Warwick and of Sa- ■
Ihhurye, grcte Chamberlayn of England and Leutenant of
Jrelo7icf, oldcft brother of King EdnxarJ ^, isfc. 1 have
put me in devoir to tranflate a lityll book late comen into
myn handes— in whiche I fynde th auftorites diftes and
ftories of auncient doftours, philofophres, i^c. been re-
counted and applied unto the moralite of the publique wele
after the game and playe of the Chefle.
Ih] The Book was tranflated out odath into Frenc/^ by
Jebarj de Teonville Provoft of Paris, and given in Englijh by
Erie Ryvyers to be revifed and correftcd by Caxton, who
added a Chapter of 5ofr
Z 4 The
360 A Dijjertation concerning the
The boke namyd Cordyal — whiche treteth of
the foure laft thinges : deth, jugement, helle,
heven. Tranflated out of FrenJIje by the noblfe
and vertuoufe lord Anthoine Erie of Ryvyers^ &cc.
delivered to me to be enprynted on the fecund
of Feverer 1478, and fynyfhed on the even of
th anuneiacion the 24th of Maj-chcy xix of Ed-
ward lY. FoL 1479
^^the Cronides of Enghnd\ [<:] fynyfhed the x of
Juyn^ and enprynted in the Abbey of Weft-
mejire. FoL 1480
I A defcripcion of Britayne and Irlond -, taken
1 oute of the Policronicon. Fynyfhed xviii of
X^Angufi 1480
Th ymage or myrrour of the world ; tranflated
from the Frenjhe^ \d\ and fynyflied the viii of
Marche^ the xxi yereof Kynge Edw. IV. 1480
Godefrey
[c] Compiled by Caxto?^, and carried down to 1460.
*rhis Book is commonly taken to be the fame, and con-
founded by our Writers \vi:h the Chronicle called Fru£lu;
temporian ; but they are different Works, compiled and
printed by different Authors, at different times ; as will
appear by comparing the account given of the latter in th^
Differ tation, p.' I 3 .
[/] It treteth of the World and the wonderful dyvifion,
thereof, in whiche a man refonable may fee by the figures
therein the fituacion and moevying of the firmament and
how the unyverfal erthe hangeth in the myddle of tlie fame
' — tranflated out oi LoJyn into Frertche i 24.5, and now rudely
out of Frenpe into EtigliJJ/:e by me fymple perfonc WllUani
Caxton at the requeft cofle and difpenfe of the honourable
and worfhipful Hughe Bryce Alderman and Cytezeyn of
London, entendyng to prefent the fame unto the vertuous
noble and puiffant lord William lord Hajlyngei chamberlayn
unto
Origin 0/ Printing in England. 361
Godefrey of Boloyne, or the lajl fiege and con-
quejl of Jherufalem ; tranfluted out of Frenjhe \\\
th abbaye ot IVeftmeftre \e\. Fol. 148 1
Tullius of old age •, and of friendjhip ; with the
declamacyon of P. Cornelius Scipio and C. I'lamy-
neus before the Senate, on the quejiion. Wherein
nohleffe rejleth ? tranflated out of Frenjhe [f].
Fol. 14^1
Poly-
Unto the Kynge and his lieutenant of the town of Calaii — •
in whiche tranflacion I knowleche myfelf fymple rude and
jgnoraunt, wherfor I humbly byfeeche my fayd lord to
perdoune me 1 began to tranflate the 2d of Jauyucr
1480, fynyfhed v 1 1 1 of Marche xxi of the moll cryllcn Kyngc
Ediu. 4. under the Ihadowe of whos noble proteccion, i^c.
\f\ With many hiftories therein comprifed reduced
out of Frenjhe by me fimple perfon to th end that every
criften man may be the better encoraged t cnterprife warre
for the defenfe of criftcndom and to recover the fayd Cyte,