Details
MANUALE, use of York, in Latin and English. London: Wynkyn de Worde for John Gaschet and Jacques Ferrebouc, 9 February 1509.
Median 4° (244 x 175mm). COLLATION: a-n8 (a1r title, printer's woodcut device, a1v blank, a2r text, n7v colophon, n8 blank). 102 leaves (of 104, lacking h1 and n5). Printed in red and black throughout (in two pulls: red first). 30 lines and headline. Type: 123G. Lombard initials, criblé initials, full-page woodcut of the crucifixion (not in Hodnett), de Worde's device on title page (McKerrow 24), printed music with staves. Blind impressions of bearer type (lombard initials) in the lower margin of c5 and d6. (Repaired tear at hinge of first leaf, tiny wormhole at lower blank margin, small marginal wormtrack in final leaves, occasional light dampstain at inner margin.) BINDING: early-17th-century calf, sides with gilt and blind fillet border, small quatrefoil at corners, Wentworth arms at centre, royal emblem incorporating crowns and sceptres tooled in compartments of the spine in the early 18th century, citron morocco lettering-piece also added, red speckled edges (some worming, front cover detached).
PROVENANCE: annotations in several contemporary hands, including deletions and additions made in accordance with the new religion after 1534, and a prayer written at the end. -- Wentworth family (Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (1593-1641) or possibly his father, Sir William Wentworth (d.1641), armorial binding stamp with quarterings of Wentworth, Wyntworth, Fitzwilliam, Gascoigne, Boteler, Ferrers and two others, by descent to). -- the Marquesses of Rockingham (by descent to). -- Earls Fitzwilliam (pressmarks, bookplate of the 7th Earl Fitzwilliam).
FIRST EDITION OF THE YORK MANUAL, ONE OF ONLY SIX COPIES RECORDED, AND ONE OF THE EARLIEST PRINTED SERVICE BOOKS FOR USE IN THE YORK DIOCESE. Apart from a Breviary printed at Venice in 1493, no liturgical books were printed for York use until the end of the first decade of the sixteenth century. Then in 1509 three service books for York use appeared: de Worde's edition of the Manual, a Missal printed at Rouen (?1509, STC 16220), and an Ordinal printed at York itself by Hugo Goes on 18 February 1509. The following year two Books of Hours for York use were printed (STC 16101.8 and 16102), and further York liturgical books appeared in 1515 and after.
This is also ONE OF THE EARLIEST ENGLISH BOOKS WITH PRINTED MUSIC. Wynkyn de Worde was the first English typographer to print music, in an edition of Higden's Polychronicon in 1495. Steele cites the York Manual as the seventh example of printed music in England (R. Steele, The Earliest English Music Printing, Oxford: 1903, no.7).
The rarity of de Worde's edition of the York Manual is such that its existence entirely escaped the notice of T.F. Dibdin until 1824, when he published a short notice of the present copy in The Literary Companion, describing it as having "many rough leaves, in old calf binding, with the Wentworth arms in the library of Earl Fitzwilliam, at Wentworth House, in Yorkshire" (pp40-41). Earl Spencer supplied Dibdin with its description, stating in a letter of 7 October 1816 (extracted in a notice tipped in to the front pastedown of the book): "I thought that the York Ritual by Wynkin de Worde would prove a Discovery, though I am rather surprised at it being so entirely unknown." Dibdin incorrectly reports that quire n consists of 6 leaves.
The Manual consists of the occasional offices, baptism, the marriage ceremony, visitation of the sick, burial of the dead, music, etc. It functioned as a handbook for the parish priest, containing the main offices necessary to his pastoral duties. The present copy shows careful contemporary use by an owner initimately familiar with the text and its function. He has discreetly added numerous manuscript corrections and, in one instance, drawn a simple diagram to demonstrate blessing holy water. He was also careful to update the text in conformity with regulations promulgated at the introduction of the new religion under Henry VIII. Thus the name of the pope has been systematically deleted (in accordance with the decree of 9 June 1534). Interestingly, the names of 'counterfeit' saints, such as St. Wilfrid, have not been deleted as required in a decree of September 1538. This may point to the book being retired before that date, which would explain the lack of any later 16th-century marks of ownership, and the fine state of preservation, unusual for a text of such clear utility.
By the time he published the York Manual, de Worde was a well-established printer. The earliest record of de Worde is a document of 17 November 1479 leasing property to him and his wife (H. Nixon, "Caxton, his Contemporaries and Successors", The Library, 1976 pp.305-26). He worked in Caxton's shop and took over the press in the precincts of Westminster Abbey at Caxton's death in 1491/2. He took over Caxton's typographical material, including his device, and he drew on Caxton's name in several colophons, stating the book was printed 'in domo Caxton', in the house of Caxton. In 1500 de Worde moved to Fleet Street in the City of London, where he continued to operate until his death in 1534. His printing activity, at first similar to his master's, including reprints of previous Caxton editions, was varied, and his business activity was wide-reaching. In a 1523/4 tax assessment de Worde was named along with five other men as the wealthiest inhabitants of the parish of St. Bride's (M. Erler, "Wynkyn de Worde's Will", The Library, 1988, pp.107-121).
De Worde's extensive international business contacts are evident in the present edition, where he states he printed the book in London for John Gaschet, a Frenchman active in York, and Jacques Ferrebouc, a printer at Paris. De Worde may have been involved with the establishment of printing at York. York's first printer, Hugo Goes, appears to have been an apprentice to de Worde at London, and he took with him one of de Worde's types (textura 95) for use at his York press. The second York printer, Gerard Wandsforth, also had dealings with de Worde, as witnessed in Wandsforth's will of 24 October 1510 where he bequeathed 40 shillings to de Worde to repay a debt. At an international level, de Worde had contacts with French publishers such as Gaschet, and Parisian printers such as Barbier. (See E.G. Duff, The English Provincial Printers, Stationers and Bookbinders to 1557, Cambridge: 1912.)
De Worde states with no ambiguity that he printed the present edition, yet there is some speculation as to the place of printing. The criblé initials are Parisian in style, the full-page woodcut crucifixion is notably more refined than most contemporary English work, the large type is not otherwise recorded in England (this edition is entirely overlooked by Isaac and Hodnett), and de Worde had other liturgical books printed for him at Paris. Through his contacts on the Continent, however, de Worde could easily have obtained the initials and have had the woodcut made by a continental artist. Furthermore, de Worde did not dissemble the place of printing in other books which he had commissioned in Paris, and there would be no reason for him to do so in the York Manual.
The present copy appears to have entered the Wentworth family at an early date, possibly acquired by Thomas, first Earl of Strafford, or his father. Thomas Wentworth is thought to have had Catholic sympathies, and his early ownership of this Manual may be further evidence of that. The early Wentworth ownership places the book in Yorkshire from its publication in 1509, continuing through the Wentworths, Rockinghams and Fitzwilliams, until its removal to the south of England by the Fitzwilliam family in more recent times.
The Wentworth copy is THE ONLY COPY REMAINING IN PRIVATE HANDS. Only six other copies are cited in STC: London, British Library (imperfect); Oxford, Bodleian Library; Cambridge, Magdalen College, Pepys Library; Durham, Ushaw College (imperfect); San Marino, Huntington Library; Chicago, Newberry Library. STC 16160.
Median 4° (244 x 175mm). COLLATION: a-n8 (a1r title, printer's woodcut device, a1v blank, a2r text, n7v colophon, n8 blank). 102 leaves (of 104, lacking h1 and n5). Printed in red and black throughout (in two pulls: red first). 30 lines and headline. Type: 123G. Lombard initials, criblé initials, full-page woodcut of the crucifixion (not in Hodnett), de Worde's device on title page (McKerrow 24), printed music with staves. Blind impressions of bearer type (lombard initials) in the lower margin of c5 and d6. (Repaired tear at hinge of first leaf, tiny wormhole at lower blank margin, small marginal wormtrack in final leaves, occasional light dampstain at inner margin.) BINDING: early-17th-century calf, sides with gilt and blind fillet border, small quatrefoil at corners, Wentworth arms at centre, royal emblem incorporating crowns and sceptres tooled in compartments of the spine in the early 18th century, citron morocco lettering-piece also added, red speckled edges (some worming, front cover detached).
PROVENANCE: annotations in several contemporary hands, including deletions and additions made in accordance with the new religion after 1534, and a prayer written at the end. -- Wentworth family (Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (1593-1641) or possibly his father, Sir William Wentworth (d.1641), armorial binding stamp with quarterings of Wentworth, Wyntworth, Fitzwilliam, Gascoigne, Boteler, Ferrers and two others, by descent to). -- the Marquesses of Rockingham (by descent to). -- Earls Fitzwilliam (pressmarks, bookplate of the 7th Earl Fitzwilliam).
FIRST EDITION OF THE YORK MANUAL, ONE OF ONLY SIX COPIES RECORDED, AND ONE OF THE EARLIEST PRINTED SERVICE BOOKS FOR USE IN THE YORK DIOCESE. Apart from a Breviary printed at Venice in 1493, no liturgical books were printed for York use until the end of the first decade of the sixteenth century. Then in 1509 three service books for York use appeared: de Worde's edition of the Manual, a Missal printed at Rouen (?1509, STC 16220), and an Ordinal printed at York itself by Hugo Goes on 18 February 1509. The following year two Books of Hours for York use were printed (STC 16101.8 and 16102), and further York liturgical books appeared in 1515 and after.
This is also ONE OF THE EARLIEST ENGLISH BOOKS WITH PRINTED MUSIC. Wynkyn de Worde was the first English typographer to print music, in an edition of Higden's Polychronicon in 1495. Steele cites the York Manual as the seventh example of printed music in England (R. Steele, The Earliest English Music Printing, Oxford: 1903, no.7).
The rarity of de Worde's edition of the York Manual is such that its existence entirely escaped the notice of T.F. Dibdin until 1824, when he published a short notice of the present copy in The Literary Companion, describing it as having "many rough leaves, in old calf binding, with the Wentworth arms in the library of Earl Fitzwilliam, at Wentworth House, in Yorkshire" (pp40-41). Earl Spencer supplied Dibdin with its description, stating in a letter of 7 October 1816 (extracted in a notice tipped in to the front pastedown of the book): "I thought that the York Ritual by Wynkin de Worde would prove a Discovery, though I am rather surprised at it being so entirely unknown." Dibdin incorrectly reports that quire n consists of 6 leaves.
The Manual consists of the occasional offices, baptism, the marriage ceremony, visitation of the sick, burial of the dead, music, etc. It functioned as a handbook for the parish priest, containing the main offices necessary to his pastoral duties. The present copy shows careful contemporary use by an owner initimately familiar with the text and its function. He has discreetly added numerous manuscript corrections and, in one instance, drawn a simple diagram to demonstrate blessing holy water. He was also careful to update the text in conformity with regulations promulgated at the introduction of the new religion under Henry VIII. Thus the name of the pope has been systematically deleted (in accordance with the decree of 9 June 1534). Interestingly, the names of 'counterfeit' saints, such as St. Wilfrid, have not been deleted as required in a decree of September 1538. This may point to the book being retired before that date, which would explain the lack of any later 16th-century marks of ownership, and the fine state of preservation, unusual for a text of such clear utility.
By the time he published the York Manual, de Worde was a well-established printer. The earliest record of de Worde is a document of 17 November 1479 leasing property to him and his wife (H. Nixon, "Caxton, his Contemporaries and Successors", The Library, 1976 pp.305-26). He worked in Caxton's shop and took over the press in the precincts of Westminster Abbey at Caxton's death in 1491/2. He took over Caxton's typographical material, including his device, and he drew on Caxton's name in several colophons, stating the book was printed 'in domo Caxton', in the house of Caxton. In 1500 de Worde moved to Fleet Street in the City of London, where he continued to operate until his death in 1534. His printing activity, at first similar to his master's, including reprints of previous Caxton editions, was varied, and his business activity was wide-reaching. In a 1523/4 tax assessment de Worde was named along with five other men as the wealthiest inhabitants of the parish of St. Bride's (M. Erler, "Wynkyn de Worde's Will", The Library, 1988, pp.107-121).
De Worde's extensive international business contacts are evident in the present edition, where he states he printed the book in London for John Gaschet, a Frenchman active in York, and Jacques Ferrebouc, a printer at Paris. De Worde may have been involved with the establishment of printing at York. York's first printer, Hugo Goes, appears to have been an apprentice to de Worde at London, and he took with him one of de Worde's types (textura 95) for use at his York press. The second York printer, Gerard Wandsforth, also had dealings with de Worde, as witnessed in Wandsforth's will of 24 October 1510 where he bequeathed 40 shillings to de Worde to repay a debt. At an international level, de Worde had contacts with French publishers such as Gaschet, and Parisian printers such as Barbier. (See E.G. Duff, The English Provincial Printers, Stationers and Bookbinders to 1557, Cambridge: 1912.)
De Worde states with no ambiguity that he printed the present edition, yet there is some speculation as to the place of printing. The criblé initials are Parisian in style, the full-page woodcut crucifixion is notably more refined than most contemporary English work, the large type is not otherwise recorded in England (this edition is entirely overlooked by Isaac and Hodnett), and de Worde had other liturgical books printed for him at Paris. Through his contacts on the Continent, however, de Worde could easily have obtained the initials and have had the woodcut made by a continental artist. Furthermore, de Worde did not dissemble the place of printing in other books which he had commissioned in Paris, and there would be no reason for him to do so in the York Manual.
The present copy appears to have entered the Wentworth family at an early date, possibly acquired by Thomas, first Earl of Strafford, or his father. Thomas Wentworth is thought to have had Catholic sympathies, and his early ownership of this Manual may be further evidence of that. The early Wentworth ownership places the book in Yorkshire from its publication in 1509, continuing through the Wentworths, Rockinghams and Fitzwilliams, until its removal to the south of England by the Fitzwilliam family in more recent times.
The Wentworth copy is THE ONLY COPY REMAINING IN PRIVATE HANDS. Only six other copies are cited in STC: London, British Library (imperfect); Oxford, Bodleian Library; Cambridge, Magdalen College, Pepys Library; Durham, Ushaw College (imperfect); San Marino, Huntington Library; Chicago, Newberry Library. STC 16160.