SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
257
odiet then of denizens, any manner of printed books, brought from any oi the parts beyond the tea, except only by engross, and not by retail, upon pain of forfeiture of six shillings and eight pence, for erery book so bought by retail, con- ininr to the form and effect of this statute. — 3. The stud forfeitures to be always levied of the buyers of any such books contrary to this act, the (me half of the said forfeitures to be to the use of oar sovereign lord the king, and the other moity to be to the party that will seize, or sue for the suae in any of the king's courts, to be by bill, plaint, or information, werein the defendent shall Bot be admitted to wage his law, nor no protec- tion, no essoin shall be to him allowed.
IV. Provided always, and be it enacted by the authority before said, that if any of the said printers, or selleiB of printed books, inhabited vilhin this realm, at any time hereafter, happen in such wise to enhance, or encrease the prices of any rach printed books in sale or binding, at too Ugh and unreasonable prices, in such wise as complaint be made thereof unto the king's high- Bos, or unto the lord chancellor, lord treasurer, or any of the chief justices of the one bench or the (Kher, that then the same lord chancellor, lagi treasurer, and two chief justices, or two of any of tbem, have power and authority to enquire thereof, as well by the oaths of twelve honest and discreet persons, as otherwise by due examination by their discretion. 2. And after the same en- fcanncinK and encreasing of the said prices of the atid books and binding, shall be so found by the Hid twelve men, or otherwise, by examination of the said lord chancellor, lord treasurer, and jus- tices, or two of them at the least, that then the lame lord chancellor, lord treasurer, and the justices, or two of them at the least, from time to cmne, shall have power and authority to reform and redress such enfaauncing of the prices of {Hinted books from time to time by their discies- (ions, and to limit the prices all well of the hooks, as for the binding of them. 3. And over dial, the offender or offenders thereof being con- rictby erxamination of the same lord chancellor, lord treasurer, or two justices, or two of them, or otherwise, shajl lose and forfeit for every book by them sold, whereof the price shall be en- hanced for the book, or binding thereof, three diillings and fourpence, the one half thereof iball te to the king's highness, and the other to the parties grieved, that will complain upon the same, in manner and form before rehearsed.
1533. The convocation of the clergy met, and among other things, decreed, that the scripture dioula be translated into the vulgar tongue ; bntat that time it was not carried into execution. In this year^jpopery was abolished in England, and Henry VIII. declared head of the church. Bat thou^ the king thus separated from the church of Kome, he by no means adhered to the doctrines of Luther which had been latar^ pub- lished. The title of Defender of the Faith, which Henry had obtained, he seemed to be determined to maintain, and, therefore, persecuted the^- Ibrmeis most \iolently. Many were burnt lor
denying the papal doctrines, and some also were executed for maintaining the supremacy of the pope. All the authority and credit which the popes had maintained over England for ages was overthrown at once ; and all tributes formerly paid to the holy see were declared illegal.
1533. Warton observes, that the public pa- geantries of this reign are proofs of the growing familiarity and national diffusion of classictu learning: and selects as instances, among others, from the shews exhibited with great magnifi- cence, at the coronation of queen Anne Boleyn. Among the other polite amusements of this reign, the Matqme seems to have held the first place. It chiefly consisted of music, dancing, gaming, a banquet, and a display of grotesque personages and fantastic dresses. The performers were often the king, and the chief of the nobility of both sexes, who under proper disguises executed some preconcerted stratagem, which ended in mirth and good humour. With one of these shews, in 1530, the king formed a scheme to surprize Wolsey, while he was celebrating a splendid banquet at his palace of Whitehall.
I do not find that it was a part of this diver- sion in these entertainments to display humour and character. Their chief aim seems to have been to surprize, by the ridiculous and exag- gerated oddity of the visors, and by the singu- larity and splendor of the dresses. Every thmg was out of nature and propriety. Frequently the masque was attended with an exhibition of some gorgeous machinery, resembling the won- ders of a modern pantomime.
1534. The Bible first printed in a complete form by John Lufft, of Wittenberg. The psalms of this edition were those of the translation of 1531. The eagerness with which copies of this translation were sought after, called for numer- ous editions, 4R0 that besides several printed at Nuremberg, Strasburg, Augsburg, and other places in Germany, editions were printed under the inspection of Luther and his learned coad- jutors, and were supplied so rapidly that betwixt 1534 and 1574, a hundred thousand copies were issued from the office of one printer only.
1634. Tindall revised and prepared a second edition of his- New Tettament* for the press, which was afterwards printed at Antweip, by Martin Emperour, 8vo. ; but before the printing
- A (iniralsrlr beantlfnl cop7 upon veUnm, of the
r«vi<ed edition of Tjradall's Nm Tettament, li in the Cischerode collectton, now in the Britisb MoMum. It belonged to the nnfortiuute "Anne Boleyn. when she vas queen of Eugluid. as we learn from her name in large red letters, equally divided on the fore-edges of the top, side, and bottom margins ; thus at the top Anna g oa the right margin fore-edge Reglna ; at the bottom AnglUe. The iUnmination of the frontispiece is also in very fair condition." It is bound in one thick volnme In blue morocco. In its history every lover of the bible moat feci interested, and to such the following brief sketch may alTord some gratiflcation.
Anne Boleyn, the Ul-fated wife of Henry VIII., was beheaded on Tower-hill, Hay 19, 1536, in the agth year of her age. She wss the daughter of sir Thomas Boleyn, and mother of queen Elizabeth. She was doubtless gay and thonghless, but the charge of Incontinence was never substantiated. The tyrant Henry, as he had cast off one wifte, to gratify his lust, conceived a new passion for Jane Seymour, whom he married May n, 1530.
2 K
VjOOQ IC
