Details
THE MYRROUR OF THE WORLDE. Translated by William Caxton. [Westminster: William Caxton, not before 8 March 1481].
Chancery 2° (249 x 181mm). COLLATION: a-m8 n4 (a1 blank, a2r table of contents, a4r prologue, a6r text, n1v full-page woodcut, n2r summary, n3v epilogue, n4v blank). 99 leaves (of 100, without first blank). 29 lines. Type: bastarda 2*:135. 11 woodcuts (Hodnett 1-11) and 25 diagrams (of 26, one cut away), manuscript captions added to the diagrams in Caxton's shop. Initial spaces with guide-letters, initials, paragraph marks and capital strokes in red, yellow wash to capitals, woodcuts touched with red, occasional green and light yellow wash. (Short slit in first leaf touching a few letters and just penetrating to next 2 leaves, tears repaired in 4 leaves, occasional small stains, corner dampstain in final few leaves, quire n strengthened at hinge and final leaf mounted, repaired hole in d7 affecting diagrams and a few letters, repaired tear in l1 with loss of about 3 lines.) BINDING: late-18th-century diced russet-brown russia, single gilt fillet around sides and on spine, spine lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers.
PROVENANCE: R. Jemyn (contemporary name on final recto). -- Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556, smudged signature on f6r). -- (Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, ?1511-1579). -- John, Lord Lumley (1534-1609, name on a2r). -- French title written on a2r, marginal annotations in a 17th-century hand (slightly cropped). [-- Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham]. -- Earls Fitzwilliam (pressmark, bookplate of the 7th Earl Fitzwilliam).
FIRST ILLUSTRATED BOOK PRINTED IN ENGLAND. In addition to the 11 woodcuts of scholars at their study of geography, grammar, arithmetic, etc., there are 26 woodcut diagrams, of which two are the EARLIEST PRINTED MAPS IN ENGLAND (cf. T. Campbell, The Earliest Printed Maps, 67-68). They are of the T-O form, finished with captions in manuscript which are uniform in all copies and almost certainly were added in Caxton's workshop. Asia, Europe and Africa are indicated and, in the second map, a large area is captioned as 'inhabitabilis'. All but one of the woodcuts were re-used in the second edition in 1490, and two of the woodcuts also appeared in Caxton's Cato Parvus of about 1483 (STC 4852).
FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH AND THE FIRST SCIENTIFIC BOOK PRINTED IN ENGLAND. The Myrrour of the Worlde is a medieval compendium of geography, astronomy, and other physical sciences. It circulated in both verse and prose form from the 13th century; it has been attributed to Gossuin or Gautier de Metz in some manuscipts. In his lengthy prologue, Caxton tells us that the work was translated from Latin into French at the request of John, Duke of Berry and Auvergne, in 1245, and from French into English by himself at the 'request, desire, coste and dispense' of Hugh Bryce for presentation to William, Lord Hastings, using a manuscript written in Bruges in June 1464. A manuscript very similar to Caxton's printed edition survives as British Library MS.Roy. 19A IX, which has been considered Caxton's source by some (see O.H. Prior, ed., Caxton's Mirrour of the Worlde, Early English Text Society, extra series CX, 1913 (for 1912), and, dismissing the idea, G. Painter, William Caxton, pp.108-109). Caxton began his translation on 2 January 1480 [1481] and completed it on 8 March of the same year. Caxton knew both Bryce and Hastings from trade negotiations at Bruges prior to his return to England in 1476. Hastings was Lord Chamberlain and Master of the Mint, while Bryce was a Governor of the Royal Mint in the Tower. In 1485 Bryce became Mayor of London.
One of the earliest owners of the Rockingham-Fitzwilliam copy was Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury. Shortly after the accession of Queen Mary in 1553 Cranmer was imprisoned in the Tower and his property confiscated. At his execution in 1556, his library passed to Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, an ardent supporter of the Catholic queen. Arundel then gave the majority of Cranmer's books to John, Lord Lumley; at Lumley's death in 1609 his books, including Cranmer's, passed to the Royal library, when huge numbers were deaccessioned as 'duplicates', preference being given to copies already in the Royal collection. There is no indication that the present Myrrour of the Worlde formed part of the Royal library, and so it was presumably among those early duplicates. The present volume is no. 1321 in the 1609 catalogue of the Lumley Library (The Lumley Library, the Catalogue of 1609, ed. S. Jayne and F.R. Johnson, London: 1956), but escaped the notice of David Selwyn (The Library of Thomas Cranmer. Oxford: 1996).
HC 11656; Blades 31; Klebs 531.1; De Ricci 94.5; Duff 401; STC 24762; Pforzheimer 1025; GW 10966; Needham Appendix D, Cx 46
Chancery 2° (249 x 181mm). COLLATION: a-m8 n4 (a1 blank, a2r table of contents, a4r prologue, a6r text, n1v full-page woodcut, n2r summary, n3v epilogue, n4v blank). 99 leaves (of 100, without first blank). 29 lines. Type: bastarda 2*:135. 11 woodcuts (Hodnett 1-11) and 25 diagrams (of 26, one cut away), manuscript captions added to the diagrams in Caxton's shop. Initial spaces with guide-letters, initials, paragraph marks and capital strokes in red, yellow wash to capitals, woodcuts touched with red, occasional green and light yellow wash. (Short slit in first leaf touching a few letters and just penetrating to next 2 leaves, tears repaired in 4 leaves, occasional small stains, corner dampstain in final few leaves, quire n strengthened at hinge and final leaf mounted, repaired hole in d7 affecting diagrams and a few letters, repaired tear in l1 with loss of about 3 lines.) BINDING: late-18th-century diced russet-brown russia, single gilt fillet around sides and on spine, spine lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers.
PROVENANCE: R. Jemyn (contemporary name on final recto). -- Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556, smudged signature on f6r). -- (Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, ?1511-1579). -- John, Lord Lumley (1534-1609, name on a2r). -- French title written on a2r, marginal annotations in a 17th-century hand (slightly cropped). [-- Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham]. -- Earls Fitzwilliam (pressmark, bookplate of the 7th Earl Fitzwilliam).
FIRST ILLUSTRATED BOOK PRINTED IN ENGLAND. In addition to the 11 woodcuts of scholars at their study of geography, grammar, arithmetic, etc., there are 26 woodcut diagrams, of which two are the EARLIEST PRINTED MAPS IN ENGLAND (cf. T. Campbell, The Earliest Printed Maps, 67-68). They are of the T-O form, finished with captions in manuscript which are uniform in all copies and almost certainly were added in Caxton's workshop. Asia, Europe and Africa are indicated and, in the second map, a large area is captioned as 'inhabitabilis'. All but one of the woodcuts were re-used in the second edition in 1490, and two of the woodcuts also appeared in Caxton's Cato Parvus of about 1483 (STC 4852).
FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH AND THE FIRST SCIENTIFIC BOOK PRINTED IN ENGLAND. The Myrrour of the Worlde is a medieval compendium of geography, astronomy, and other physical sciences. It circulated in both verse and prose form from the 13th century; it has been attributed to Gossuin or Gautier de Metz in some manuscipts. In his lengthy prologue, Caxton tells us that the work was translated from Latin into French at the request of John, Duke of Berry and Auvergne, in 1245, and from French into English by himself at the 'request, desire, coste and dispense' of Hugh Bryce for presentation to William, Lord Hastings, using a manuscript written in Bruges in June 1464. A manuscript very similar to Caxton's printed edition survives as British Library MS.Roy. 19A IX, which has been considered Caxton's source by some (see O.H. Prior, ed., Caxton's Mirrour of the Worlde, Early English Text Society, extra series CX, 1913 (for 1912), and, dismissing the idea, G. Painter, William Caxton, pp.108-109). Caxton began his translation on 2 January 1480 [1481] and completed it on 8 March of the same year. Caxton knew both Bryce and Hastings from trade negotiations at Bruges prior to his return to England in 1476. Hastings was Lord Chamberlain and Master of the Mint, while Bryce was a Governor of the Royal Mint in the Tower. In 1485 Bryce became Mayor of London.
One of the earliest owners of the Rockingham-Fitzwilliam copy was Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury. Shortly after the accession of Queen Mary in 1553 Cranmer was imprisoned in the Tower and his property confiscated. At his execution in 1556, his library passed to Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, an ardent supporter of the Catholic queen. Arundel then gave the majority of Cranmer's books to John, Lord Lumley; at Lumley's death in 1609 his books, including Cranmer's, passed to the Royal library, when huge numbers were deaccessioned as 'duplicates', preference being given to copies already in the Royal collection. There is no indication that the present Myrrour of the Worlde formed part of the Royal library, and so it was presumably among those early duplicates. The present volume is no. 1321 in the 1609 catalogue of the Lumley Library (The Lumley Library, the Catalogue of 1609, ed. S. Jayne and F.R. Johnson, London: 1956), but escaped the notice of David Selwyn (The Library of Thomas Cranmer. Oxford: 1996).
HC 11656; Blades 31; Klebs 531.1; De Ricci 94.5; Duff 401; STC 24762; Pforzheimer 1025; GW 10966; Needham Appendix D, Cx 46
Sale room notice
The signature given as Cranmer's has been disguised and his ownership may be doubted. The inscription of Lord Lumley, who owned most of Cranmer's books, is unquestioned.