English poetry -- Translations from German; German poetry -- Translations into English
The title, "The castell of laboure," is within a scroll above a woodcut
of men over a tub: on the verso, a cut of a man sitting at a desk. At
sign. a ii. (recto) "Here begynneth the prologue of this present
treatyse." [The Brit. Mus. copy has this on the verso of the title
instead of the cut, a peculiarity which may entitle it to be called a
separate edition, though it appears to agree otherwise with the copy
described.] There are many curious woodcuts. Colophon on the reverse of
sign. i iii. (51^b): "Thus endeth the castell of labour, wherin is
rychesse, vertue, and honour. Enprynted at London in Fletestrete in the
sygne of the sonne. by Wynkyn de worde. Anno d[=n]i M.ccccc.vi." There
is no indication of authorship. Signatures: a b c d e f g h,
alternately 8s and 4s, i 4; 52 leaves, not numbered. The British Museum
and Cambridge University Library copies of this book have been
collated, but as the former ends with H 3 and the latter wants the last
leaf, that leaf must remain undescribed. Mr Bradshaw, however, says,
"it almost certainly contained a woodcut on the recto, and one of the
devices on the verso."
A copy of this very scarce book was sold among Mr. West's books in 1773
for £2.
I.a. THE CASTELL OF LABOURE.--Pynson. No date. Small Quarto. Black letter.
The title, "Here begynneth the castell of laboure," is over a woodcut;
and on the reverse is a woodcut; both the same as those in the previous
edition. In the body of the work there are 30 woodcuts, which differ
from those of the first edition, one of these (at G 6) is a repetition
of that on the title page. Colophon: "Thus endeth the castell of labour
wherin is rychesse, vertue and honoure. Enprynted be me Richarde
Pynson." After the colophon comes another leaf (I 6), on the recto of
which is the printer's device, and on the verso a woodcut representing
a city on the banks of a river. Without indication of authorship.
Signatures: A, 8 leaves; B--I, in sixes.
"Neither Ames nor Herbert appear to have seen this rare volume; which
is probably a reprint of Wynkyn de Worde's impression of 1506."
(Dibdin's Typ. Antiq., II. 557.) There is a copy in the Library of H.
Huth, Esq.
* * * * *
II. THE SHIP OF FOLYS OF THE WORLDE.--Pynson. 1509. Folio.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account