194
HISTORY' OF PRINTING.
wM not emblazoned by 'the pomp of heraldry,' and 'the great ones of rank' were not discovera- ble among his pall bearers, yet Caxton descended into his grave in full assurance of a monument, which, like the art that he had practised, would bid defiance to decay. Accept! venerable and virtuous shade, this tribute of unfeigned respect to thy memory! Thou shalt be num- bered hereafter, not with the. witty, the vain, or the profligate — the Nashes, Greens, and Roches- tets of the day! — but with the wise, the sober, and the good; with those who have unceasingly strove to meliorate the condition of mankind."
Although the nation have thus neglected to call in the sculptor's aid to perpetuate his me- mory; we are highly gratified on finding that a few highly respected and exalted characters, as- sociated under the title of The Roxburghe Club, (long acknowledged as lovers and admirers of ancient lore) have performed that duty, which more properly belonged to the nation : in exe- cuting this act of justice to the memory of so worthy a man, they have not only perpetuated the remembrance of him, but they have also raised a monument for themselves. It is thus described :
The tablet erected to the memory of Caxton, by 7^ Roxburghe Club, is composed of the finest dove-colooied marble, enclosmg an oblong panel of white, delicately veined with blue. Above the panel risesa pediment, having the de- vice of Caxton engraved in the centre; and on either side of the inscription are two small pillas- ters. The words of the inscription are as follows—
TO THE MEMORY
WILLIAM CAXTON,
WHO FIRST INTRODUCED INTO OREAT BRITAIN
THE ART OF PRINTING;
AND WHO, A. D. 1477, OR EARLIER,
EXERCISED THAT ART
IN THE ABBEV OF WESTMINSTER.
THIS TABLET,
IN REMEMBRANCE OF ONE
TO WHOM
THE LITERATURE OF THIS CODNTRV
IS SO LARGELY INDEBTED,
WAS RAISED
ANNO DOMINI MDCCCXX.
BY THE ROXBURORB CLUB.
EARL SPENCER, K. G. PRESIDENT.
The above monument was resolved upon at the anniversary meeting of the Roxburghe club, held in June, 1819, and is erected in the church of St. Margaret, Westminster.
In the churchwardens' books of St. Margaret's parish, Westminster, the death of William Cax- ton is thus recorded: "1491. Item, atte bure- vng of William Caxton, for iiii. torches vj». viijd. Item, for the belle atte same bureyng, vjd."
In the same book, for the year 1498, occur these items, " Receyved by the handes of Wil- liam Royott for oon of those printed boks that were bequothen to the chureh behove by William
ra, vij. _ gends, of the bequest of William Caxton, iiij.'
Again, for the year 1S06, " Item, iiij piynted bokes, ij of the Lyfe of Seynt Kateryne, and other ij of the Byrthe of our Ladye, of the gift of the executors of Caxton."
The following is a curious specimen of the style of advertisements of this period, relative to Caxton, and shews the situation of his press at Westminster: —
" if it fleie 0119 man ipixitval n tanpimXt taltjit otig mitt of tina or fibre tomnnorscio'rt of tfaltAun vit, cn^prontut attn fitte fatmt of Q|U prnte't Utttt, toQi^ itn inel xntr txnig correct, late Itpm come to ioriittmotwtttr, in ta fibe xlmoiuiftrsr, st &e rutr pslt, aaXi ^t tfQsI ffKue tliein sooH CQepr.
Sntjflita itet cettula."
1491. In this year-Bernard's HomUiet on tM*
Canticles were pawned for twenty shillings.
1491. Printing introduced into the fouowing places in the course of this year : —
Dijon, by Peter Metlinger; his first work was entitled Cutercienn* ordinit pTiviUsna,4to.
Anglouleme, printer unknown.
Hamburgh, by John and Thomas Borchaid; their first work was Laudet beate Marie viryiitU.
Nozani, by Henry de Colonia and Heniy de Harlem, who printed Pauli Turretint Ditputmtio juris. Folio.
1492. It is told of Pope Innocent VIII., that during his pontificate a book was published, vehemently arraigning the conduct of the Cooit of Rome. The Pope called a council of his cardinals, and read to them some passages out of the author; adding these remarkable words, " This book speaks truths, therefore we ought immediately to reform ourselves in order to make this fellow a liar." Pope Innocent VIII. died July 28, 1492.
1492. Pentateuchut Hebraice, printed on vel- lum, at Venice. This volume, appeals to be the third printed copy of the Pentateuch, and die first in so small a compass, is noticed by biblio- graphers as being still more raic than either of its predecessors. At the end of the work is the following singularly expressed account of its editor, printer, &c. copied verbatim from the original: — " Here ends the whole of the work— the work of the Lord and his law. The law of the Lord, accurately performed with the five books of ceremonies, according to the rites of the sons of our faith among Germans and Gauls, this day, 24th of the month, in the year 1492, by me Brixius, who am under the government of the Republic of Venice, by whose exalted authority the work has been printed by me Gerscham and revised by R. Moses, of the seed of Israel, a man well known in the town of Ger- many, called Mentzlan Schonzin. The whole is committed to (God.)"
From the introduction of the art of printing into the city of Venice by John de Spira, in the year 1469 to the end of this century, upwards of
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