"Beynge deſyerous to knowe the name of the Autoure of this moſt worthy worke, (gentle reader) and the tyme of the writynge of the ſame: I did not onely gather togyther ſuche aunciente copies as I could come by, but alſo conſult ſuch m[=e] as I knew to be more exerciſed in the ſtudie of antiquities, than I myselfe haue ben. And by ſome of them I haue learned that the Autour was named Roberte langelande, a Shropshere man borne in Cleybirie, aboute .viii. myles from Maluerne hilles.... So that this I may be bold to reporte, that it was fyrſte made and wrytten after the yeare of our lord .M.iii.C.L. and before the yere ,M,iiiiC, and .ix which meane ſpaſe was .lix yeares. We may iuſtly c[=o]iect therfore, y^t it was firſte written about two hundred yeres paſte, in the tyme of Kynge Edwarde the thyrde...." The year after _The Vision_ was published our printer was ordained a deacon, and, later, made vicar of St. Giles, Cripplegate, where he preached and wrote until his death. He published no less than twenty-two volumes, eight of which he printed himself, thus taking his place, along with Caxton, at the head of the list of printer-authors which includes such names as Wolfe, Baldwin, Richardson and Morris. Dibdin calls the vellum copy of _The Vision_ which belonged to Earl Spencer unique, but the copy here collated would deprive it of that distinction, even if there were not another in the British Museum. A comparison of several copies of the book reveals the fact that in most of them the date on the title-page has been written in to correct the printer's error. There were three other impressions issued during 1550, two of them said to be "nowe the ſeconde tyme imprinted," and the third with the printer's name spelled "Crowlye" on the title-page. Rev. W. W. Skeat in his edition of _The Vision_ says: "But all three impressions are much alike. The chief differences are, that the two later impressions have many more marginal notes, a few additional lines, and also 6 additional leaves between the printer's preface and the poem itself, containing a brief argument or abstract of the prologue and of each of the Passus. The first impression is the most correct; also the third impression is much less correct than the second, and considerably inferior to it." Quarto. Black letter. COLLATION: [Illustration: Five pointed star], _two leaves; A-GgI_, in fours. Folioed. RAPHAEL HOLINSHED or HOLLINGSHEAD (d. 1580?) 6. 1577. | The Firſte volume of the | Chronicles of England Scot | lande, and Irelande. | Conteyning, | The deſcription and Chronicles of England, from the | Firſte inhabiting vnto the conqueſt | [Six lines] Faithfully gathered and ſet forth, by | Raphaell Holinſhed. | At London, | Imprinted for George Biſhop. | God ſaue the Queene.