DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.30698#0385
349
Siege o/Hhodes.] WILLIAM CAXTON.
is thus powerfully described: * And in thees whyle, the bombardes
and grete g-onnes of the turkes casted downe and destryedthe walles of
the cytee of Rhodes, wyth so grete myghte and strenghte and with soo
grete wonder: that alie theythat were in Rhodes, strangers and other
olde and yong of all the countreyes of crystendom sayd, that they herde
neuer strokes of bombardes so grete and so horryble as thylk were’.. ..
‘ And the tui'kes with suche instrumentes of werre casted in to the eyere
a pype full of grete stones the whyche fell vpon the houses of Rhodes
and putted theym in a wrecched ruyne wyth grete murdre of theym
that were within for that tyme:' Fol. 10, recto. A little before (fol. 7,
recto) we are toid that * the turk had the nombre of an honderd thou-
sand fyghtyng men, and xvi. grete bombardes euerychon of. xxii. fote
of lenght, of the whiche the lest casted stones euery stone of. iv spannes
in compas aboute/ The impression is entirely destitute of numerals,
signatures, and catchwords; and a full page contains 26 lines. The
reverse of the 24th, and last leaf, contains only 15 liaes: terminating
the volume, at the 15th line, with the words
£Deo gracia^*
Consult the note in the Typog. Antiq. vol. i. p. 353, for an account of
the original text, and of the author, of this memorable narrative ; which
was probably the most popular historical manual of the xvth century.
An Italian version of the original Latin is described at p. 93 ante.
The copy of the impression under description, large, clean, and perfect,
was obtained at the sale of the Macartney Collection in 1789,* for the
trifling sum of 51. 5s. It is in the first class of rare books, and is
bound in red-morocco. There is an imperfect copy of this impression
described in the Cat. of the Hcirleian MSS. 1808. vol. ii. p. 165, n°. 1632.
That copy appears to want the two last leaves.
We may conclude this extensive and very interesting series of
‘Booxs Printed by William Caxton/ with the insertion of the fol-
lowing article, from the press of the same printer;—of which a fac-
simile (but executed in too heavy a manner) appears in the Typog. Antiq.
vol. i. p. cii. Tliis article is, in fact, an Advertisement for the publishing
of Missals ‘ in usum EcoLESiiE Sarisburiensis ; in the pica letterand
See the Bibliomania, p. 542-3 : note.
Siege o/Hhodes.] WILLIAM CAXTON.
is thus powerfully described: * And in thees whyle, the bombardes
and grete g-onnes of the turkes casted downe and destryedthe walles of
the cytee of Rhodes, wyth so grete myghte and strenghte and with soo
grete wonder: that alie theythat were in Rhodes, strangers and other
olde and yong of all the countreyes of crystendom sayd, that they herde
neuer strokes of bombardes so grete and so horryble as thylk were’.. ..
‘ And the tui'kes with suche instrumentes of werre casted in to the eyere
a pype full of grete stones the whyche fell vpon the houses of Rhodes
and putted theym in a wrecched ruyne wyth grete murdre of theym
that were within for that tyme:' Fol. 10, recto. A little before (fol. 7,
recto) we are toid that * the turk had the nombre of an honderd thou-
sand fyghtyng men, and xvi. grete bombardes euerychon of. xxii. fote
of lenght, of the whiche the lest casted stones euery stone of. iv spannes
in compas aboute/ The impression is entirely destitute of numerals,
signatures, and catchwords; and a full page contains 26 lines. The
reverse of the 24th, and last leaf, contains only 15 liaes: terminating
the volume, at the 15th line, with the words
£Deo gracia^*
Consult the note in the Typog. Antiq. vol. i. p. 353, for an account of
the original text, and of the author, of this memorable narrative ; which
was probably the most popular historical manual of the xvth century.
An Italian version of the original Latin is described at p. 93 ante.
The copy of the impression under description, large, clean, and perfect,
was obtained at the sale of the Macartney Collection in 1789,* for the
trifling sum of 51. 5s. It is in the first class of rare books, and is
bound in red-morocco. There is an imperfect copy of this impression
described in the Cat. of the Hcirleian MSS. 1808. vol. ii. p. 165, n°. 1632.
That copy appears to want the two last leaves.
We may conclude this extensive and very interesting series of
‘Booxs Printed by William Caxton/ with the insertion of the fol-
lowing article, from the press of the same printer;—of which a fac-
simile (but executed in too heavy a manner) appears in the Typog. Antiq.
vol. i. p. cii. Tliis article is, in fact, an Advertisement for the publishing
of Missals ‘ in usum EcoLESiiE Sarisburiensis ; in the pica letterand
See the Bibliomania, p. 542-3 : note.