DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.65479#0162
but it is chiefly remarkable for the productions of the early English printers
which are to be found on its shelves. Among these are no fewer than
twelve Caxtons, and some of the choicest works from the presses of
Wynkyn de Worde and Pynson keep them company. The Caxtons in
the library are:
Le Fevre’s History of Jason, printed about 1477.
A very imperfect copy of the first edition of Chaucer’s Canterbury
Tales, printed about 1478.
The Boke named Cordyale, or the Fewer Last Things. 1479.
The first edition of the Mirrour of the World. 1481.
Cicero de Senectute et de Amicitia in English. 1481. Imperfect,
consisting of De A micitia only.
An imperfect copy of Godfrey of Boloyne* 1481.
A very fine and perfect copy of Higden’s Polychronicon. 1482.
A fine and perfect copy of the Lyfof St. Wenefryde, 1485, of which
only three copies are known.
One of the two copies known to exist of the Governayle of Helthe,
and the Medicina Stomachi, printed about 1489. The other copy is in the
Bodleian Library.
Boke of Divers Ghostly Matiers. 1490. This copy at one time
belonged to the English Benedictine Nuns of Our Lady of Good Hope
at Paris.
Two perfect copies of Virgil’s Eneydos, translated by Caxton. (1490.)
One of these is a particularly fine copy. With the other is bound Sallust’s
Wars of the Romans against Jugurtha, translated by Alexander Barclay,
and printed by Pynson.
Several of the books believed to have been purchased by Mr. Brereton
from Osborne have the prices in pencil marked on the fly-leaves. The
Cordyale is marked fz 2s., the Lyf of St. Wenefryde fi is., and the
Governayle of Helthe ^s. 6d. At the sale of Lord Ashburnham’s books,
in 1897, a copy of the Cordyale, wanting eight leaves, realized ^760, and
much larger sums would be obtained for the Lyf of St. Wenefryde and the
Gov er nay le of Helthe should they ever come into the sale-room.
Wynkyn de Worde is well represented in the library, which contains
some of the rarest productions of his press. Among them is the finest of
the books printed by him, Bartholomceus de Proprietatibus Rerum, with-
out date or place, but printed about 1495. A special interest is attached
to this work on account of it being the first book printed on paper of
13d
which are to be found on its shelves. Among these are no fewer than
twelve Caxtons, and some of the choicest works from the presses of
Wynkyn de Worde and Pynson keep them company. The Caxtons in
the library are:
Le Fevre’s History of Jason, printed about 1477.
A very imperfect copy of the first edition of Chaucer’s Canterbury
Tales, printed about 1478.
The Boke named Cordyale, or the Fewer Last Things. 1479.
The first edition of the Mirrour of the World. 1481.
Cicero de Senectute et de Amicitia in English. 1481. Imperfect,
consisting of De A micitia only.
An imperfect copy of Godfrey of Boloyne* 1481.
A very fine and perfect copy of Higden’s Polychronicon. 1482.
A fine and perfect copy of the Lyfof St. Wenefryde, 1485, of which
only three copies are known.
One of the two copies known to exist of the Governayle of Helthe,
and the Medicina Stomachi, printed about 1489. The other copy is in the
Bodleian Library.
Boke of Divers Ghostly Matiers. 1490. This copy at one time
belonged to the English Benedictine Nuns of Our Lady of Good Hope
at Paris.
Two perfect copies of Virgil’s Eneydos, translated by Caxton. (1490.)
One of these is a particularly fine copy. With the other is bound Sallust’s
Wars of the Romans against Jugurtha, translated by Alexander Barclay,
and printed by Pynson.
Several of the books believed to have been purchased by Mr. Brereton
from Osborne have the prices in pencil marked on the fly-leaves. The
Cordyale is marked fz 2s., the Lyf of St. Wenefryde fi is., and the
Governayle of Helthe ^s. 6d. At the sale of Lord Ashburnham’s books,
in 1897, a copy of the Cordyale, wanting eight leaves, realized ^760, and
much larger sums would be obtained for the Lyf of St. Wenefryde and the
Gov er nay le of Helthe should they ever come into the sale-room.
Wynkyn de Worde is well represented in the library, which contains
some of the rarest productions of his press. Among them is the finest of
the books printed by him, Bartholomceus de Proprietatibus Rerum, with-
out date or place, but printed about 1495. A special interest is attached
to this work on account of it being the first book printed on paper of
13d