GEORGE CHAPMAN (1559-1634) 15. The | Whole Works | Of | Homer; | Prince Of Poetts | In his Iliads, and | Odyſses. | Translated according to the Greeke, | By | Geo: Chapman. | De Ili: et Odiſſ. | Omnia ab, his: et in his ſunt omnia | ſive beati | Te decor eloquij, | ſeu rer[~u] pondera | tangunt. Angel: Pol: | At London printed for Nathaniell Butter. | William Hole ſculp: Though Butter was the publisher of Dekker's _Belman of London_, and, with John Busby, of Shakespeare's _Lear_, he is chiefly to be remembered for two things, for his success as a compiler and publisher of pamphlets of news,--a success which entitles him to the place of father of the London press--and for his connection with Chapman. In 1609 (?) Samuel Macham brought out, in small folio form, _Homer, Prince of Poetts, in Twelve Bookes of his Iliads_, embellished with an engraved title-page by William Hole, who was one of the earliest English engravers on copper-plates. Inflated with his subject, the artist crowded the title into a small central panel the better to present his conception of Vulcan, Apollo, Achilles, Hector, and Homer, in a composition which, if topheavy, was more dignified and better drawn than many of the borders ascribed to him. Under date of April 8, 1611, we find in the Stationers' Register that Butter "Entered for his Copy by consente of Samuell Masham, A Booke called Homers Iliads in English contayning 24 bookes." With his right to print, he also received the right to use the Hole frontispiece, which he had reëngraved on a larger scale for the new book. The date of issue is not given, but it could not have been later than November 6, 1612, the date of the death of the Prince of Wales, to whom the book is dedicated, and it was probably published soon after the date of copyright. The printer's name is also lacking; but reasons exist for thinking that more than one worked on the book, and that there were several issues. There are copies whose signatures agree with those of the volumes of our issue, but these are printed with different type, on poorer paper, and the initial letters and other ornaments are of a much cruder sort.