B: MS. thau{n}ges.
C: The _l_ is rubbed.
D: So in MS.]
After mentioning that the duke had considered the book of "Boccasio, on the Fall of Princes," he adds, "and he gave me commandment, that I should, after my conning, this book translate him to do plesance." MS.
18 D 4.--Sharon Turner"s _History of England_, vol. vi. pp. 55--7.
P.S. When printing the 1513 edition of Wynkyn de Worde"s _Boke of Keruynge_, I was not aware of the existence of a copy of the earlier edition in the Cambridge University Library. Seeing this copy afterwards named in Mr Hazlitt"s new catalogue, I asked a friend to compare the present reprint with the first edition, and the result follows.
NOTE ON THE 1508 EDITION OF
_The Boke of Keruynge_,
By The Rev. Walter Skeat, M.A.
The t.i.tle-page of the older edition, of 1508, merely contains the words, "-- Here begynneth the boke of Keruynge;" and beneath them is--as in the second edition of 1513--a picture of two ladies and two gentlemen at dinner, with an attendant bringing a dish, two servants at a side table, and a jester. The colophon tells us that it was "Enprynted by wynkyn de worde at London in Flete strete at the sygne of the sonne. The yere of our lorde M.CCCCC.VIII;" beneath which is Wynkyn de Worde"s device, as in the second edition.
The two editions resemble each other very closely, running page for page throughout, and every folio in the one begins at the same place as in the other. Thus the word "moche" is divided into mo-che in both editions, the "-che" beginning Fol. A. ii. b. Neither is altogether free from misprints, but these are not very numerous nor of much importance. It may be observed that marks of contraction are hardly ever used in the older edition, the word "y^e" being written "the" at length, and instead of "hged" we find "hanged." On the whole, the first edition would seem to be the more carefully printed, but the nature of the variations between them will be best understood by an exact collation of the first two folios (pp. 151-3 of the present edition), where the readings of the first edition are denoted by the letter A. The only variations are these:--
P. 151.
_lyft_ that swanne] _lyfte_ that swanne A (_a misprint_).
_frusshe_ that chekyn] _fruche_ that chekyn A.
thye all maner _of_ small byrdes] A _omits_ of.
_fynne_ that cheuen] _fyne_ that cheuen A.
_transsene_ that ele] _tra.s.sene_ that ele A.
Here _hendeth_, &c.] Here _endeth_, &c. A.
_Butler_] b.u.t.teler A.
P. 152, l. 5. _tre{n}choures_] trenchours A.
l. 12. _ha{n}ged_] hanged A.
l. 15. _cannelles_] canelles A.
l. 18, 19. _y^e_] the (_in both places_) A.
l. 20. _seasous_] seasons A.
l. 23. _after_] After A.
l. 27. _good_] goot A.
l. 30. _y^e_] the A.
l. 34. _modo{n}_] modon A.
l. 36. _sourayne_] souerayne A.
P. 153. _ye_] the A (_several times_).
l. 5. _wyll_] wyl A.
l. 9. _rede_] reed A. _reboyle_] reboyle not A.
l. 12. _the_ reboyle] _they_ reboyle A.
l. 17. _lessynge_] lesynge A.
l. 20. _ca{m}polet_] campolet A.
l. 21. _tyer_] tyerre A.
l. 22. _ypocras_] Ipocras A (_and in the next line, and l. 26_).
l. 24. _gy{n}ger_] gynger A.
l. 27. _ren_] hange A.
l. 29. _your_] youre A.
_In l._ 33, A _has_ paradico, _as in the second edition._
It will be readily seen that these variations are chiefly in the spelling, and of a trivial character. The only ones of any importance are, on p. 151, _lyste_ (which is a misprint) for _lyft_, and _tra.s.sene_ for _transsene_ (cp. Fr. _transon_, a truncheon, peece of, Cot.); on p.
152, _goot_ for _good_ is well worth notice (if any meaning can be a.s.signed to _goot_), as the direction to beware of _good_ strawberries is not obvious; on p. 153, we should note _lesynge_ for _lessynge_, and _hange_ for _ren_, the latter being an improvement, though _ren_ makes sense, as basins hung by cords on a perch may, like curtains hung on a rod, be said to _run_ on it. The word _ren_ was probably caught up from the line above it in reprinting.
The following corrections are also worth making, and are made on the authority of the first edition:--
P. 155, l. 10, _For_ treachour _read_ trenchour.
l. 23. _For_ so _read_ se.
l. 24. _For_ se" _read_ se.
P. 156, l. 1. _ony_] on A.
l. 7. _For_ it _read_ is.
l. 15. _y^e so_] and soo A.
(_No doubt owing to confusion between & and_ y^e.) l. 16. _your_] you A.
l. 29. _For_ bo _read_ be.
P. 157, l. 20. _For_ wich _read_ with.
P. 158, l. 3. _For_ fumosytces _read_ fumosytees.
l. 7. _For_ pygous _read_ pynyons (whence it appears that the _pinion_-bones, not _pigeon"s_-bones, are meant).
l. 25. The word "reyfe" is quite plain.
P. 160, ll. 18, &c. There is some variation here; the first edition has, after the word _souerayne_, the following:--"laye trenchours before hym / yf he be a grete estate, lay fyue trenchours / & he be of a lower degre, foure trenchours / & of an other degre, thre trenchours," &c.
This is better; the second edition is clearly wrong about _five_ trenchers. This seems another error made in reprinting, the words _lower degre_ being wrongly repeated.
P. 161, l. 6. It may be proper to note the first edition also has _broche_.
P. 165, l. 8. _For_ for y^e _read_ for they.
P. 165, l. 27. _the[y]_; _in_ A they _is printed in full._ P. 166, l. 18. _For_ raysyus _read_ raysyns.
P. 167, l. 21. _For_ slytee _read_ slytte.
P. 169, ll. 10, 18. _carpentes_] carpettes A.
l. 14. _shall_] shake A.
l. 23. _blanked_] blanket A.
Nearly all the above corrections have already been made in the side-notes. Only two of them are of any importance, viz. the subst.i.tution of _pynyons_ on p. 158, and the variation of reading on p. 160; in the latter case perhaps neither edition seems quite right, though the first edition is quite intelligible.
In our Cambridge edition (see p. 170, l. 5) this line about the pope is carefully struck out, and the grim side-note put "_lower down_", with tags to show to what estate he and the cardinal and bishops ought to be degraded!
NOTE TO p. xxiv. l. 10, "OUR WOMEN,"
AND THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGES, p. xxv-vi.
[These pages can be found under the headnote "NEGLECT OF EDUCATION BY MOTHERS".]
The Ladies & Men of Queen Elizabeth"s Court.
"I might here (if I would, or had sufficient disposition of matter conceiued of the same) make a large discourse of such honorable ports, of such graue councellors, and n.o.ble personages, as giue their dailie attendance vpon the queenes maiestie there. I could in like sort set foorth a singular commendation of the vertuous beautie, or beautifull vertues of such ladies and gentlewomen as wait vpon hir person, betweene whose amiable countenances and costlinesse of attire, there seemeth to be such a dailie conflict and contention, as that it is verie difficult for me to gesse, whether of the twaine shall beare awaie the preheminence. This further is not to be omitted, to the singular commendation of both sorts and s.e.xes of our courtiers here in England, [a] that there are verie few of them, which haue not the vse and skill of sundrie speaches, beside an excellent veine of writing before time not regarded. Would to G.o.d the rest of their liues and conuersations were correspondent to these gifts! for as our common courtiers (for the most part) are the best lerned and indued with excellent gifts, so are manie of them the worst men when they come abroad, that anie man shall either heare or read of. Trulie it is a rare thing with vs now, to heare of a courtier which hath but his owne language. [b] And to saie how many gentlewomen and ladies there are, that beside sound knowledge of the Greeke and Latine toongs, are thereto no lesse skilfull in the Spanish, Italian, and French, or in some one of them, it resteth not in me: sith I am persuaded, that as the n.o.ble men and gentlemen doo surmount in this behalfe, so these come verie little or nothing at all behind them for their parts; which industrie G.o.d continue, and accomplish that which otherwise is wanting!
[Sidenotes ([b] bracketed in original): [a] English courtiers the best learned & the worst liuers.
[[b] Ladies learned in languages.]]