Chapter VI: Part 6

A much more important supplementary method of dating is that by the names of ruling popes, emperors, sovereigns, or princes, or still better by their regnal years. I have long cherished an ambition to compile a kind of “Bibliographer’s Vade-mecum,” one section of which would be devoted to exhaustive lists of the smaller as well as the greater sovereigns of Europe during the period when their names in old books are of chronological value. Here, however, it must suffice to offer lists of popes, kings of England and France, and doges of Venice, for the periods which concern us, and to use these as illustrations of the way in which such information can be brought to bear on the dating of early books.

POPES

Pius II. 19 Aug. 1458 - 15 Aug. 1464.
Paul II. 31 Aug. 1464 - 28 July 1471.
Sixtus IV. 9 Aug. 1471 - 13 Aug. 1484.
Innocent VIII. 29 Aug. 1484 - 25 July 1492.
Alexander VI. 11 Aug. 1492 - 18 Aug. 1503.
Pius III. 22 Sept. 1503 - 18 Oct. 1503.
Julius II. 1 Nov. 1503 - 21 Feb. 1513.
Leo X. 11 March 1513 - 1 Dec. 1521.
Adrian VI. 2 Jan. 1522 - 24 Sept. 1523.
Clement VII. 19 Nov. 1523 - 26 Sept. 1534.

KINGS OF ENGLAND

Edward IV. 4 March 1461 - 9 April 1483.
Edward V. 9 April 1483 - 22 June 1483.
Richard III. 26 June 1483 - 22 Aug. 1485.
Henry VII. 22 Aug. 1485 - 21 April 1509.
Henry VIII. 22 April 1509 - 28 Jan. 1547.
Edward VI. 28 Jan. 1547 - 6 July 1553.
Mary, 6 July 1553 - 24 July 1554.
Philip and Mary,[12] 25 July 1554 - 17 Nov. 1558.
Elizabeth, 17 Nov. 1558 - 24 March 1603.

KINGS OF FRANCE

Louis XI. 22 July 1461 - 30 Aug. 1483.
Charles VIII. 30 Aug. 1483 - 7 April 1498.
Louis XII. 7 April 1498 - 1 Jan. 1515.
François I. 1 Jan. 1515 - 31 March 1547.
Henri II. 31 March 1547 - 10 July 1559.
François II. 10 July 1559 - 5 Dec. 1560.
Charles IX. 5 Dec. 1560 - 30 May 1574.
Henri III. 30 May 1574 - 2 Aug. 1589.
Henri IV. 2 Aug. 1589 - 14 May 1610.

DOGES OF VENICE

Cristoforo Moro, 12 May 1462 - 9 Nov. 1471.
Nicolò Tron, 23 Nov. 1471 - 28 July 1473.
Nicolò Marcello, 13 Aug. 1473 - 1 Dec. 1474.
Pietro Mocenigo, 14 Dec. 1474 - 23 Feb. 1476.
Andrea Vendramino, 6 March 1476 - 6 May 1478.
Giovanni Mocenigo, 18 May 1478 - 4 Nov. 1485.
Marco Barbarigo, 19 Nov. 1485 - 14 Aug. 1486.
Agostino Barbarigo, 30 Aug. 1486 - 24 Sept. 1501.
Leonardo Loredano, 2 Oct. 1501 - 26 June 1521.
Antonio Grimani, 6 July 1521 - 7 May 1523.
Andrea Gritti, 20 May 1523 - 28 Dec. 1538.

As our first example of how these tables may be used we will take a colophon where no year of the Lord is given, and sovereigns are mentioned without their regnal years. We shall find that even the mere names may help us to a close approximate date. Our instance shall be Wendelin of Speier’s edition of the “Supplementum” of Nicolaus de Auximo, the colophon to which ends:

Vendelinus opus pressit Spireus utrunque:
Labe repurgatum (crede) uolumen emis.
Impressum est Sixto sacrorum antistite quarto,
Et Veneto Troni principis imperio.

Sixtus IV became pope early in August, 1471, Nicolò Tron was elected doge on November 23d of the same year, and died in July, 1473. We can thus date the book as “about 1472” with absolute confidence.

Writers of poetical colophons are naturally more inclined to use regnal dates than the year of the Lord, which it is seldom easy to get into a verse. In the “Moral Prouerbes of Cristyne” Caxton gives us the month, the day, and the regnal year, together making a precise date. This colophon runs:

Of these sayynges Cristyne was the aucturesse,
Whiche in makyn[g] hadde suche intelligence,
That thereof she was mireur and maistresse;
Hire werkes testifie thexperience;
In Frenssh languaige was writen this sentence,
And thus englished doth hit reherse
Antoin Wideuylle, therle Ryuers.

Go thou litil quayer and recommaund me
Unto the good grace of my special lorde
Therle Ryueris, for I haue emprinted the
At his commandement, following eury worde
His copye, as his secretarie can recorde,
At Westmestre, of Feuerer the xx daye
And of Kyng Edward the xvij yere veraye.

Emprinted by Caxton
In Feuerer the colde season.

The seventeenth year of Edward IV ran from 4th March, 1477, to 3d March, 1478, so that the “Moral Proverbs” were finished on February 20th of the latter year.

When a change of sovereigns occurred in the year in which a book was printed, the mere name of the earlier or the later of the two shows in which part of the year the colophon was written, and regnal dates supply the same information for years in which no change of sovereigns took place. Thus the colophon to Wynkyn de Worde’s edition of the “Vitas Patrum” ends: “Enprynted in the sayd towne of Westmynstre by me Wynken de Worde, the yere of our lorde M.cccc.lxxxxv. and the tenthe yere of our souerayne lorde Kyng Henry the seuenth.” As Henry VII’s reign began 22d August, 1485, its tenth year would cover the twelvemonth, August, 1494, to August, 1495, and we are thus told not only that the book was issued in 1495, but that it was printed before August 21st of that year.

A subsidiary date, of course, as a rule loses its usefulness when the printer explicitly mentions also the month and day on which the book was completed. It may, however, have a special value as furnishing a means of fixing the day from which the printer reckoned his year. In the fifteenth century the year could be reckoned as beginning on Christmas day, on January 1st, on March 1st, on March 25th, or at Easter. In arranging the books issued from any press in chronological order, it is of vital importance to know which reckoning the printer followed, and we may now give some examples to show how regnal years can be used to settle this.

Finiunt Petri de Abano remedia uenenorum. Rome in domo nobilis
uiri Iohannis Philippi de Lignamine Messanensis, S. D. N.
familiaris, hic tractatus impressus est. Anno domini Mcccclxxv.
die xxvii Mensis Ianuarii, Pontificatu Syxti IIII, Anno eius
quarto.

End the remedies of Petrus de Abano against poisons. At Rome in
the house of the noble gentleman Ioannes Philippus de Lignamine
of Messina, servant of our holy Lord, this tract was printed.
In the year of the Lord 1475, on the 27th day of the month
January, in the pontificate of Sixtus IV, in his fourth year.

The fourth year of Sixtus IV began on 9th August, 1474, and ended 8th August, 1475; therefore January, 1475, in his fourth year must be January, 1475, according to our modern reckoning, not January, 1476, as it would be had the year been calculated from March 25th or Easter day—two similar examples will be found in Hain’s “Repertorium Bibliographicum” under the numbers 255* and 2050*.

On the other hand, Caxton’s colophon to the “Mirrour of the World” ends:

whiche book I began first to translate the second day of
Ianyuer the yer of our lord M.cccc.lxxx. And fynysshed the viij
day of Marche the same yere, and the xxj yere of the Regne
of the most Crysten kyng, Kynge Edward the fourth. Vnder the
shadowe of whos noble proteccion I have emprysed and fynysshed
this sayd lytyl werke and boke. Besechynge Almyghty god to be
his protectour and defender agayn alle his enemyes and gyue
hym grace to subdue them, And inespeciall them that haue late
enterpraysed agayn ryght & reson to make warre wythin his
Royamme. And also to preserue and mayntene hym in longe lyf and
prosperous helthe. And after this short and transytorye lyf he
brynge hym and vs in to his celestyal blysse in heuene. Amen.
Caxton me fieri fecit.

As the twenty-first year of Edward IV ran from 4th March, 1481, to 3d March, 1482, Caxton’s 8th March, 1480, must clearly be 1480, old style, or 1481 of our reckoning, and Caxton is thus shown to have begun his year on March 25th.

So again the long colophon or epilogue to the “Cordyale” tells us that the book “was deliuered to me William Caxton by my saide noble lorde Ryuiers on the day of purificacion of our blissid lady, fallyng the tewsday the secund day of the moneth of feuerer. In the yere of our lord M. cccc. lxxviij for to be enprinted.… Whiche werke present I begann the morn after the saide Purification of our blissid Lady, whiche was the daye of Seint Blase Bisshop and Martir, And finisshed on the euen of thannunciacion of our said blissid Lady, fallyng on the Wednesday the xxiiij. daye of Marche in the xix yere of Kyng Edwarde the fourthe.”

Earlier bibliographers got very confused over this book and made absurd mistakes as to the time which Caxton took to print it. But Mr. Blades had no difficulty in showing that the different dates follow closely on each other. Caxton received the book on February 2d, began printing it on February 3d, and finished it on March 24th, all in the same year 1479. We have a double method of proving this, by the two week-days mentioned and by the regnal year, which covered the period March 4, 1479, to March 3, 1480. The only March 24th in this twelvemonth was that in 1479, and in 1479 March 24th, as Caxton says, fell on a Wednesday. In 1479, moreover, February 2d fell on a Tuesday, in 1478 on a Sunday. It is thus clear that the Tuesday, February 2, 1478, of the colophon must be an old-style date, answering to 1479 of our reckoning.

The occasional mention of the day both of the week and the month in German colophons offers us, in the absence of regnal years, almost the only proof we can obtain that German printers began their year either at Christmas or on January 1st,—I am not prepared to say which. Thus the colophon of an edition of the “De remediis utriusque fortunae” of Adrianus Carthusiensis reads:

Explicit liber de remediis fortuitorum casuum nouiter
compilatus et impressus Colonie per Arnoldum therhoernen,
finitus Anno domini Mºccccºlxxiº die veneris octaua mensis
Februarii. Deo Gracias.

Ends the book of the remedies of casual haps, lately compiled
and printed at Cologne by Arnold therhoernen. Finished in the
year of the Lord 1471, on Friday, February 8th. Thanks be to
God.

In 1471 February 8th fell on a Friday, in 1472 on a Saturday. Therefore it is clear that in therhoernen’s reckoning January and February were the first months of the year, as they are with us.

Before inquiring as to what printers reckoned the year as beginning at Easter, we must give the following table:

EASTER DAY, 1470-1521

1470 April 22
1471 April 14
1472 March 29
1473 April 18
1474 April 10
1475 March 26
1476 April 14
1477 April 6
1478 March 22
1479 April 11
1480 April 2
1481 April 22
1482 April 7
1483 March 30
1484 April 18
1485 April 3
1486 March 26
1487 April 15
1488 April 6
1489 April 19
1490 April 11
1491 April 3
1492 April 22
1493 April 7
1494 March 30
1495 April 19
1496 April 3
1497 March 26
1498 April 15
1499 March 31
1500 April 19
1501 April 11
1502 March 27
1503 April 16
1504 April 7
1505 March 23
1506 April 12
1507 April 4
1508 April 23
1509 April 8
1510 March 31
1511 April 20
1512 April 11
1513 March 27
1514 April 16
1515 April 8
1516 March 23
1517 April 12
1518 April 4
1519 April 24
1520 April 8
1521 March 31

That Pierre Gerard and Jean Dupré at Abbeville reckoned the year from Easter to Easter, we get a broad hint in the colophon to their magnificent edition of Augustine’s “De Ciuitate Dei” in French. This is in two volumes, the colophon to the first of which is dated “le xxiiii jour de Nouembre l’an mil quatre cens quatre vingt et six,” while the second runs:

Cy fine le second volume contenant les xii derreniers liures de
monseigneur saint augustin de la cité de dieu. Imprime en la
ville dabbeuille, par Iehan du pre et pierre gerard marchans
libraires: Et icelluy acheue le xii iour dauril lan mil quatre
cens quatre vingtz et six auant pasques.

Here ends the second volume containing the last twelve books of
my lord Saint Augustin of the City of God. Printed in the town
of Abbeville by Jean Dupré and Pierre Gerard, booksellers: and
it was finished the twelfth day of April, the year 1486, before
Easter.

That the second volume of so large a work must have been printed after the first is so nearly certain that this alone might have caused us to look out for a means of making April 12, 1486, later than November 24th of the same year. The words “auant pasques” put the matter beyond doubt, for Easter in 1486 of our reckoning fell on March 26th, but in 1487 on April 15th. Clearly, therefore, the book was finished on Holy Thursday, 1487, and Easter was the date from which Dupré and Gerard reckoned their year.

We can obtain an equally neat proof of the French year beginning at Easter from a copy of Pierre Gringore’s “Chasteau de Labour,” in which, underneath the name of Philippe Pigouchet, appears the colophon:

Le chasteau de labour auec aucunes balades et addicions
nouuellement composees a este acheue le dernier iour de Mars
Lan Mil Cinq cens. Pour Simon Vostre libraire demourant a
Paris en la rue neuue nostre dame a lenseigne sainct iehan
leuangeliste.

This edition consists of sixty leaves and does actually contain a long interpolation not found in the first edition of 22d October, 1499, or the second, which is dated 31st December, 1499, or in yet another edition dated 31st May, 1500, all three of which have only fifty leaves instead of sixty. Thus it would appear at first sight that Pigouchet and Vostre printed Gringore’s additions in March, 1500, and omitted them again two months afterwards in May. Inasmuch, however, as the French year 1500 ran from Easter Sunday, 19th April, 1500, to Easter Sunday, 11th April, 1501, it is obvious that the only 31st March in it fell in 1501 according to our reckoning, and that the edition of 31st March, 1500, was really produced in March, 1501, and is ten months later than that of May, 1500. We thus get an orderly sequence of three unaugmented editions of fifty leaves, followed by an augmented one of sixty, and all difficulties vanish.

In Italy the year appears generally to have begun on January 1st, but in Florence on Lady day, March 25th. At Venice the legal year is known to have begun on March 1st, and most writers on Aldus have asserted positively that this was the date to which he conformed. That other Venetian printers observed January 1st as the first day of the year can be proved from the mention of Pietro Mocenigo as doge in the colophon to an edition of the “Istoria Fiorentina” of Leonardo Aretino. This ends:

Impresso a Vinegia perlo diligente huomo Maestro Iacomo de
Rossi di natione Gallo: Nellanno del Mcccclxxvj. a di xii de
Febraio: Regnante lo inclyto Principe Messer Piero Mozenico.

As our table of Venetian doges shows, Mocenigo died on February 23, 1476, eleven days after this colophon was printed; and it is thus clear that February, 1476, meant the same to “Maestro Iacomo de Rossi” as it does to us.

That the antiquarian Aldus troubled his head about the beginning of the Venetian legal year seems a strange inconsistency. But the late Mr. R. C. Christie, who proved conclusively, in an article in “Bibliographica,” that in his later books Aldus began his year on January 1st, was yet obliged to admit that the Lascaris, which is dated “M.cccc.lxxxxiiii ultimo Februarii,” was probably finished only a few days before the Supplement, which bears date March 8, 1495, and that the Theodore Gaza of January, and the Theocritus of February, 1495, both really belong to 1496. I would suggest that in adopting March 1st as his New Year’s day in these three volumes, Aldus pleased himself with the idea that he was reckoning not “more Veneto” but “more antiquo Romano,” since (as the names of our last four months still testify) the Roman year originally began in March, and it was only the fact that after B.C. 153 the consuls entered office in January that caused our present reckoning to come into use, the sacerdotal year continuing to begin on March 1st. If Aldus, after adopting the Venetian legal year because it agreed with the earliest Roman reckoning, was convinced that he was being a little more Roman than the Romans themselves, it is easy to understand his change of practice.

It would appear, then, that the only books for which we must reckon the year as beginning later than January 1st are a few early books of Aldus (March 1st), all English books of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and books printed at Florence (March 25th) and in France (Easter). I strongly suspect, moreover, that in Florentine and French editions of learned works written in Latin there would be a tendency toward January 1st, but I cannot offer any proof of this at present, though it is a question which I hope some day to work out.

As the examples quoted in our text will have abundantly shown, the days of the month are expressed either according to our present use or by the Roman notation, reckoning from the Calends, Nones, and Ides. The Calends were always the first day of the month, the Nones fell on the 5th, and the Ides on the 13th, except in March, May, July, and October, when they were each two days later. Days were counted backwards from the Nones, Ides, and Calends, both the day from which and the day to which the reckoning was made being included in the calculation. Thus March 2d was called the sixth day before the Nones (ante diem sextum Nonas Martis), and March 25th the seventh before the Calends of April (ante diem septimum Kalendas Aprilis, or a. d. vii. Kal. Apr.). July and August are sometimes called by their old names Quintilis and Sextilis.

In Germany, more especially at Strassburg, and in Strassburg more especially by an unidentified craftsman known as the “Printer of the 1483 Jordanus de Quedlinburg,” we often find books dated on such and such a day of the week before or after a festival of the church or a particular Sunday, the Sunday being indicated by quoting the first word of the introit used at high mass. Thus in 1485 the anonymous printer of the Jordanus finished a “De Proprietatibus Rerum” on S. Valentine’s day (in die Valentini, February 14th), the “Historia Scholastica of Petrus Comestor” after the feast of S. Matthias (post festum Matthie, February 24th), the “Postilla” of Guillermus on Thursday (March 9th) before the feast of S. Gregory (quarta feria ante festum Gregorii), a “Casus breues decretalium” on the day of SS. Vitus and Modestus (in die Viti et Modesti, June 15th), and Cardinal Turrecremata’s “Gloss on the Psalter” on S. Michael’s eve (in profesto Michaelis, September 28th). To another edition of the “Postilla” of Guillermus he adds the imprint:

Impressa Argentine Anno Domini M.cccc.xciij. Finita altera die
post Reminiscere.

“Reminiscere” is the beginning of the introit for the second Sunday in Lent, and as Easter in 1493 (see our table) fell on April 7th, this was March 3d, and the “Postilla” were finished on Monday, March 4th.

The colophon to a Strassburg edition of the sermons known by the title “Dormi secure” tells us that it was issued “secunda feria post Laetare” in the same year 1493. “Laetare” being the first word of the introit for the fourth Sunday in Lent, it thus appeared on Monday, March 18th, exactly a fortnight after the “Postilla” of Guillermus. So again we find Hans Schauer of Augsburg dating an edition of a “Beichtbuchlein,” or manual of confession, “am Samstag vor Invocavit in dem XCij. iar,”—on Saturday before Invocavit, 1492,—which gives the date (Invocavit marking the first Sunday in Lent and Easter in 1492 falling on April 22d), Saturday, March 10th. It is generally only the introits of the first four Sundays in Lent (Invocavit, Reminiscere, Oculi, and Laetare) and that of the first Sunday after Easter (Quasimodo) that are used in colophons in this way.

We may bring this chapter to an end by noting one or two fruitful causes of error in dating books which arise from misunderstanding the reference or meaning of the dates in their colophons. In Chapter VI it has already been noted that where an author or editor has given the date on which he finished writing, such a date has often been confused with the date of imprint. More dangerous but much rarer than such a pitfall as this is the case of the reprinted colophon (see Chapter VII), which can be detected only by experts in typography. The majority of mistakes, however, arise from very simple misreadings. In many fifteenth-century fonts of type the symbols x and v are very imperfectly distinguished, so that the five has often been mistaken for a ten. Modern eyes, again, being used to the symbols iv, ix, xl, are very apt to read the fifteenth-century iiii as iii, the viiii as viii, and the xxxx as xxx. On the other hand, as they neared the end of the century the printers not only expressed ninety-nine by ic, but also used the forms vc, iiiic, iiic, iic, to express the years ’95 to ’98; and, as has been done here for the sake of brevity, occasionally omitted the precedent Mcccc., as in the “in dem XCij. iar” of the colophon of the “Beichtbuchlein,” quoted a page or two back. They also, it may be noted, frequently expressed eighty by the reasonable symbol for fourscore, or quatre vingt—namely, iiiixx. These latter methods of writing dates, however, though they may puzzle for a moment, can hardly mislead; but in the case of books issued in the years 1470, 1480, 1490, and 1500 (more especially the last) there is one error so easily made that it has left its mark on every old catalogue of incunabula. Thus when Hermann Lichtenstein dated an edition of the “Opuscula” of S. Thomas Aquinas “anno salutis M.cccc.xc. vii Idus septembris” he encouraged any ignorant or careless cataloguer to misread the date as 1497 on the “Ides of September,” instead of 1490 on the seventh day before the “Ides of September.” The mistake may be made just as easily when words are used instead of numerals, for “anno nostre salutis millesimo quadringentesimo octogesimo quinto kalendas Iunij” is very easily read as 1485. It is, of course, equally easy to make the opposite mistake and transfer to the record of the month a number which relates to the year. As a rule, the printers, by interposing “die” or “vero” or both, or by a change of type, put their meaning beyond dispute; but sometimes they got confused themselves, and by leaving out either the last numeral of the year, or that of the day of the month, produced a puzzle which can be solved only by independent knowledge of the years during which a printer worked.

FOOTNOTES

[1] We follow Mr. Clark’s rendering, but think that, in spite of Priscian, the writer must have intended by “_nullum se putat habere laborem_,” “thinks all that mighty easy.”

[2] Adinuentionibus. The preposition was probably here intended to be pressed, giving the meaning of “additional inventions” or improvements. But as it may have been suggested by the “adinuentione” of the Psalter of 1457, I keep the same translation.

[3] I make this emendation with much misgiving, as the medieval use of “quisque” was very elastic, and the text may be right.

[4] As regards the misprint MCCCCLXI for MCCCCLXXI, the ease with which a compositor could omit a second X is evident of itself; but it may be worth while, as proof of the frequency with which this particular error actually occurred, to quote here four several colophons from a single year, 1478, in all of which it occurs. These are:

(i) At Barcelona, in an edition of the “Pro condendis orationibus iuxta grammaticas leges” of Bartollommeo Mates:

COLOPHON: Libellus pro efficiendis orationibus, ut grammaticae
artis leges expostulant, a docto uiro Bertolomeo Mates conditus
et per P. Iohannem Matoses Christi ministerum presbiterumque
castigatus et emendatus sub impensis Guillermi Ros et mira arte
impressa per Iohannem Gherlinc alamanum finitur barcynone nonis
octobriis anni a natiuitate Cristi MCCCCLXVIII.

A booklet for making speeches as the rules of the art of
grammar demand, composed by a learned man, Bartolommeo Mates,
and corrected and amended by Father Juan Matoses, a minister
and priest of Christ, at the expense of Guillermo Ros, and
printed with wonderful art by Johann Gherlinc, a German, is
ended at Barcelona on October 7th, in the year from Christ’s
birth MCCCCLXVIII.

(ii) At Oxford, in the edition of the Exposition on the Creed written by Rufinus of Aquileia and attributed to S. Jerome:

COLOPHON: Explicit exposicio sancti Ieronimi in simbolo
apostolorum ad papam laurencium Impressa Oxonie et finita Anno
domini M.CCCC.LXVIII, xvii die decembris.

Here ends the Exposition of St. Jerome on the Apostles’ Creed
addressed to Pope Laurence. Printed at Oxford and finished A.D.
M.CCCC.LXVIII, on the 17th day of December.

(iii) At Venice, in an edition of the “De componendis versibus hexametro et pentametro” of Mataratius printed by Erhard Ratdolt.

COLOPHON: Erhardus Ratdolt Augustensis probatissimus librarię
artis exactor summa confecit diligentia. Anno Christi
M.CCCC.LXVIII. vii calen. Decembris. Venetiis.

Erhard Ratdolt of Augsburg, a most upright practitioner of the
bookish art, finished this with the utmost diligence. In the
year of Christ M.CCCC.LXVIII. On November 25th. At Venice.

(iv) At Cologne, in an edition of the letters of Pope Pius II printed by Johann Koelhoff, the omission in this case being a double one.

COLOPHON: Pii secundi pontificis maximi cui ante summum
episcopatum primum quidem imperiali secretario, mox episcopo,
deinde etiam cardinali senensi Enee Siluio nomen erat Familiares
epistole date ad amicos in quadruplici vite eius statu finiunt.
Per me Iohannem Koelhoff de Lubeck Colonie incolam Anno
incarnationis M.CCCC.LVIII.

Of Pope Pius II, who, before he attained the supreme bishopric,
as imperial secretary, afterward as bishop, then as cardinal,
was called Enea Silvio, the Familiar Letters, written to his
friends in his fourfold condition of life, come to an end. By
me, Johann Koelhoff of Lubeck, an inhabitant of Cologne, in the
year of the Incarnation M.CCCC.LVIII.

The antiquaries of Oxford and Barcelona at various times have made what fight they could for the correctness of the dates as printed, but the contest has long since been decided against them, while the careers of Ratdolt and Koelhoff are so well known that in their cases the incorrectness of the dates has always been a matter of certainty.

[5] A colophon to Wynkyn de Worde’s edition of the Lives of the Fathers (Vitas Patrum) deserves mention here as presenting us with a picture of Caxton, like the Venerable Bede, engaged in his favorite task of translation up to the very close of his life. It runs: “Thus endyth the moost vertuose hystorye of the deuoute and right renowned lyues of holy faders lyuuynge in deserte, worthy of remembraunce to all wel dysposed persones, whiche hath be translated out of Frenche into Englisshe by William Caxton of Westmynstre, late deed, and fynysshed at the laste daye of his lyff. Enprynted in the sayd towne of Westmynstre by me Wynken de Worde the yere of our lorde MCCCCLXXXXV and the tenth yere of our souerayne lorde Kyng Henry the Seuenth.”

[6] Hain put a _sic_ against these words, and I am unable to translate them, unless they be a misprint for “legum periti”—skilled in the law.

[7] Impressa est hec presens cronica que fasciculus temporum dicitur in florentissima vniuersitate louaniensi ac sicut propriis cuiusdam deuoti carthusiensis, viri historiarum studiosissimi, manibus, a mundi inicio vsque ad sixti huius nomine pape quarti tempora contexta erat, per me iohannem veldener summa diligentia maiorique impensa, nonnullis additis ymaginibus ad finem vsque deducta, et proprio signeto signata, Sub anno a natiuitate domini .M.cccc.lxxvi. quarto kalendas ianuarias secundum stilum romane curie, de quo sit deus benedictus. Amen.

The present chronicle, which is called the “Fasciculus Temporum,” printed in the most flourishing university of Louvain and in like manner as it was compiled by the very hands of a devout Carthusian, a most zealous student of history, by me, Jan Veldener, with the utmost diligence and at unusual expense, with additional illustrations, brought to an end and signed with my own device, in the year from the Lord’s nativity 1476, on the fourth day before the Kalends of January (December 29), by the style of the Roman court. For which God be blessed. Amen.

[8] _Aptatam_, a better reading than the _optatam_ of the earliest version. So, in l. 2, the original reading, _nosce_, has been corrected to _nosse_.

[9] Finis operum Hrosvithae clarissimae virginis et monialis Germaniae gente Saxonica ortae. Impressum Norunbergae sub priuilegio sodali[ta]tis Celticae a senatu Rhomani Imperii impetratae. Anno Quingentesimo primo supra millesimum.

Here end the works of Hroswitha, the most illustrious virgin and nun of Germany, sprung from the Saxon race, under a privilege of Celtes and his company, obtained from the Senate of the Roman Empire in the year 1501.

[10] Iohannes ex uerona oriundus: Nicolai cyrugie medici filius: Artis impressorie magister: hunc de re militari librum elegantissimum: litteris & figuratis signis sua in patria primus impressit. An. M.cccc.lxxii.

[11] Insignis notabilisque compilatio haud modicum cuique statui conferens omne genus vitiorum suis cum speciebus clarissime euidenterque eradicans. ob id non immerito destructorium vitiorum nuncupata. a cuiusdam fabri lignarii filio. maximam ad ecclesie vtilitatem Anno M.cccc.xxix. collecta de nouo Colonie exactissime correcta. ac summo studio impressa. ad laudem summe Monadis. xvii Kalendas Septembris. Anno domini Millesimo quadringentesimo octuagesimo-quinto finita.

[12] The regnal years of Mary before her marriage are usually added to those of Philip and Mary as joint sovereigns. Thus dates from 25 July, 1554-5 July, 1555, inclusive, are quoted as 1st and 2d Philip and Mary, _i.e._, the first year of their joint rule and the second of Mary’s reign. Dates from 6 July (the anniversary of her accession) to 24 July, 1555, are 1st and 3d Philip and Mary, _i.e._, the first year of their joint rule and the third of Mary’s reign.

INDEXES

I

INDEX

BOOKS FROM WHICH COLOPHONS ARE QUOTED

PAGE

Accoltus, F. Commentaria de acquirenda possessione. 1486.
_Pescia, L. & F. de Cennis_, 99

Adrianus Carthusiensis. De remediis utriusque fortunae. 1471.
_Cologne, A. therhoernen_, 177

Albertus, Magister. Sermones. 1474. _Cologne, A. therhoernen_, 92

Albohazen Haly. Liber Regalis. 1492. _Venice, B. Ricius_, 111

Alexander Gallus. Doctrinale. 1493. _Acqui, s. n. t._, 65

Antonius de Alexandro. Super secundo codicis Iustiniani. 1474.
_Naples, S. Riessinger_, 75

Athanasius contra Arium &c. 1500. _Paris, A. Bocard_, 98

Atila persecutore de la christiana fede. 1491. _Venice, s. n. t._, 70

Augustine. De Ciuitate Dei. 1473. _Mainz, P. Schoeffer_, 23

—— 1470. _Venice, J. & W. of Speier_, 36

—— 1486/87. _Abbeville, Dupré & Gerard_, 179

Augustine. Explanatio Psalmorum. 1489. _Basel, Jo. de Amerbach_, 143

Augustine. Manuale. 1471. _Treviso, G. de Lisa_, 59

Avicenna. De medicina. 1473. _Milan, F. da Lavagna_, 60

Balbus, Jo. Catholicon. 1460. _Mainz, s. n. t._, 13

—— 1469. _Augsburg, G. Zainer_, 81

Bartolus de Saxoferrato. Lectura super prima parte Digesti Veteris.
1478. _Venice, John of Cologne & J. Manthen_, 55

Bartolus de Saxoferrato. Lectura super secunda parte Digesti
Veteris. 1473. _Venice, W. of Speier_, 39

Biblia Latina. 1462. _Mainz, Fust & Schoeffer_, 10

—— 1476. _Vicenza, L. Achates_, 94

Biel, Gabriel. Sermo Dominicae Passionis. _s. a. Hagenau,
s. n. t._, 143

Boccaccio, Giovanni. Genealogiae Deorum. 1481. _Reggio, L. &
B. Bruschus_, 71

Bonetus de Latis. Annulus Astronomicus. c. 1496. _Rome, A.
Freitag_, 130

Boniface VIII. Liber Sextus Decretalium. 1465. _Mainz, Fust
& Schoeffer_, 17

—— 1473. _Mainz, P. Schoeffer_, 23

—— 1472. _Rome, U. Han_, 165

—— 1477. _Basel, M. Wenssler_, 82

Bononia Illustrata. 1494. _Bologna, P. de Benedictis_, 74

Brant, Seb. La Nef des Fols. 1497 [misprinted in text 1457].
_Paris, G. Marnef_, 106

Breviarium Illerdense. 1479. _Lerida, H. Botel_, 102

Bridget, S. Revelationes. 1500. _Nuremberg, A. Koberger_, 149

Bruno, Hen. Super Institutionibus. c. 1488. _Louvain, Aeg. van
der Heerstraten_, 128

Butrio, Antonio de. Comment. super primo decretalium. 1473.
_Rome, U. Han_, 101

Capella, Martianus. Opera. 1499. _Vicenza, H. de Sancto Urso_, 115

Capitulos de governadores. 1500. _Seville, Pegnitzer & Herbst_, 118

Castro, Paulus de. Consilia. 1485. _Nuremberg, A. Koberger_, 139

Cavalca, Domenico. Frutti della Lingua. _s. a. Florence, s. n. t._, 154

Cavalca, Domenico. Specchio di Croce. _s. a. Florence, s. n. t._, 154

Caxton, William. Cronycles of England. 1493. _Antwerp, G. Leeu_, 72

Charles the Great. 1485. _Westminster, W. Caxton_, 136

Christine de Pisan. Fayts of Arms. 1489. _Westminster, W. Caxton_, 137

Christine de Pisan. Moral Proverbes. 1478. _Westminster, W. Caxton_, 174

Cicero. De Officiis. 1478. _Naples, s. n. t._, 162

Cicero. De Oratore. 1470. _Venice, C. Valdarfer_, 49

Cicero. Epistolae ad Atticum. 1470. _Venice, N. Jenson_, 43

Cicero. Epistolae ad Familiares. 1469. _Venice, John of Speier_, 32

—— Second edition, 33

—— 1471. _Venice, N. Jenson_, 48

—— 1472. _Milan, F. da Lavagna_, 149

Cicero. Officia et Paradoxa. 1465. _Mainz, Fust & Schoeffer_, 18

Cicero. Orationes. 1471. _Venice, C. Valdarfer_, 50

—— 1472. _Venice, Adam of Ammergau_, 52

Cicero. Orationes Philippicae. c. 1470. _Rome, U. Han_, 88

Cicero. Rhetorica. 1470. _Venice, N. Jenson_, 42

Cleve, Johann von. Moteta. 1580. _Augsburg, P. Ulhard & A.
Reinheckel_, 129

Colonna, F. de. Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. 1499. _Venice, Aldus_, 124

Cordyale. 1479. _Westminster, W. Caxton_, 176

Curtius, Franciscus. Consilia. 1496. _Milan, U. Scinzenzeler_, 115

Cyprian. Epistulae. 1471. _Rome, Sweynheym & Pannartz_, 87

Dante. Divina Commedia. 1476. _Venice, W. of Speier_, 40

Decor Puellarum. _See_ Honore de le Donzelle.

Destructorium Vitiorum. 1485. _Cologne, s. n. t._, 168

—— 1496. _Nuremberg, A. Koberger_, ib.

—— 1497. _Paris, P. Levet_, ib.

Durandus, Gul. Speculum. 1488. _Venice, Paganinis & Arrivabene_, 166

Exercitium puerorum grammaticale. 1494. _Strassburg, s. n. t._, 95

Faber, Joannes. Breviarium super codice. c. 1475. _Louvain, John
of Westphalia_, 84

Fasciculus Temporum. 1476. _Louvain, J. Veldener_, 84

—— 1481. _Rougemont, H. Wirzburg_, 167

—— 1482. _Basel, B. Richel_, ib.

—— 1495. _Geneva, s. n. t._, 168

Gambilionibus, Angelus de. Lectura super Institutionum libros
quatuor. 1473. _Pavia, Jo. de Sidriano_, 58

Gambilionibus, Angelus de. Tractatus Maleficiorum. 1472. _Mantua,
Petrus Adam_, 60

Godefroy of Boloyne. 1481. _Westminster, W. Caxton_, 134

Gregory IX. Decretales. 1474. _Rome, U. Han_, 108

—— 1489. _Venice, P. de Paganinis_, 169

—— 1491. _Venice, Jo. Hamann_, ib.

Gringore, P. Le Chasteau de Labour. 1500/01. _Paris, Pigouchet
for Vostre_, 179

Guido de Baysio. Super Decretis. 1481. _Venice, John of
Cologne & Jenson_, 78

Guillermus. Postilla. 1493. _Strassburg, s. n. t._, 183

Harderwyck, Gerard. Commentarii in quatuor libros noue logice.
1494. _Cologne, U. Zell_, 156

Herolt, Joannes. Sermones Discipuli de Tempore. 1476. _Rostock,
Brothers of the Common Life_, 93

Homeliarius Doctorum. 1499. _Basel, N. Kessler_, 155

Homer. Opera. 1488. _Florence, B. Libri_, 5

Honore de le Donzelle. ‘1461.’ _Venice, N. Jenson_, 45

Hroswitha. Opera. 1501. _Nuremberg, Sodalitas Celtica_, 119

Hugo de S. Caro. Postilla super Psalterium. 1496. _Venice,
Gregorii_, 112

Jacobus Bergomensis. Supplementum Chronicarum. 1483. _Venice,
B. Benalius_, 131

—— 1490. _Venice, B. Rizus_, 132

Jerome. Commentaria in Bibliam. 1498. _Venice, Gregorii_, 112

Jerome. Epistulae. 1470. _Mainz, P. Schoeffer_, 19

Jerome. Expositio in symbolum Apostolorum. _See_ Rufinus.

Journal Spirituel. 1505. _Paris, A. Vérard_, 105

Justinian. Codex. 1475. _Mainz, P. Schoeffer_, 24

Justinian. Institutiones. 1476. _Mainz, P. Schoeffer_, 26

Laet, Joannes. Pronosticationes. 1476. _Louvain, John of
Westphalia_, 86

Leonardo, Aretino. De Bello Italico. 1471. _Venice, N. Jenson_, 48

Leonardo, Aretino. Istoria Fiorentina. 1476. _Venice, Ja. de Rossi_, 180

Lima Vitiorum. _See_ Quadragesimale.

Lucretius. De Rerum Natura. c. 1473. _Brescia, T. Ferrandus_, 153

Luctus Christianorum. _See_ Pianto de Christiani.

Malory, Sir Thomas. Morte d’Arthur. 1485. _Westminster, W. Caxton_, 125

Mandeville, Sir John. Itinerarius. _s. a. Caracteribus Veneticis_, 80

Maneken, Carolus. Epistolarum Formulae. 1476. _Louvain, J.
Veldener_, 164

Mataratius, Franciscus. De componendis versibus. ‘1468.’
_Venice, E. Ratdolt_, 46 _note_

Mates, Bartolommeo. Libellus pro efficiendis orationibus.
‘1468.’ _Barcelona, Jo. Gherlinc_, 46 _note_

Matthaeus Silvaticus. Liber cibalis. 1474. _Naples, Arnold of
Brussels_, 106

Miraculi de la Vergene Maria. ‘1469.’ _Milan, Lavagna_, 60

Mirror of the World. 1480. _Westminster, W. Caxton_, 176

Missale Vratislauiense. 1483. _Mainz, P. Schoeffer_, 8

Missale Misnense. 1485. _Freiberg, C. Kachelofen_, 66

Missale Romanum. 1484. _Venice, Paganinis & Arrivabene_, 147

Missale Salisburgense. 1498. _Nuremberg, G. Stuchs_, 145

Natta, Georgius. Repetitio de verborum significatione. 1482.
_Pavia, C. de Canibus_, 125

Nicolaus de Auximo. Supplementum Summae Pisanellae (author’s
colophon), 133

—— (Printer’s) c. 1472. _Venice, W. of Speier_, 173

Nuremberg Chronicle. _See_ Schedel.

Pace, Richard. Oratio. 1518. _London, R. Pynson_, 118

Parole devote de l’anima inamorata. 1471. _Venice, N. Jenson_, 44

Paul, S. Epistres S. Pol. 1507. _Paris, A. Vérard_, 117

Petrarch. Sonetti. 1470. _Venice, W. of Speier_, 38

Petrarch. Trionfi. 1477. _Lucca, Bar. de Cividale_, 59

Petrus de Abano. Expositio Problematum Aristotelis. 1475.
_Mantua, Paul of Butzbach_, 97

Petrus de Abano. Remedia Venenorum. 1475. _Rome, J. P. de
Lignamine_, 175

Petrus de Ancharano. Repetitio. 1493. _Bologna, Ben. Hectoris_, 141

Phalaris. Epistolae. 1485. _Oxford, Rood & Hunte_, 61

Pianto de Christiani. 1471. _Venice, N. Jenson_, 43

Pius II, Pope. Epistolae. ‘1458.’ _Cologne, J. Koelhoff_, 47

Pliny. Historia Naturalis. 1469. _Venice, John of Speier_, 35

Plutarch. Apophthegmata. 1471. _Venice, John of Speier_, 38

Politian. Opera. 1499. ‘Florence.’ [Brescia, B. Misinta.] 160

Psalterium. 1457. _Mainz, Fust & Schoeffer_, 12

Psalterium. 1459. _Mainz, Fust & Schoeffer_, 13

Quadragesimale quod dicitur Lima Vitiorum. 1497. _Brescia,
Ang. Britannicus_, 114

Quintilian. Instituta. 1471. _Venice, N. Jenson_, 48

Regius, Raphael. Epistulae Plinii. 1490. _Venice, Anima Mia_, 74

Robertus de Licio. Quadragesimale. 1472. _Venice, B. de Cremona_, 52

Rolewinck, Werner. _See_ Fasciculus Temporum.

Royal Book. 1484. _Westminster, W. Caxton_, 135

Rufinus of Aquileia. Expositio in symbolum Apostolorum. ‘1468.’
Oxford. [T. Rood.] 46 _note_

Sallust. Opera. 1470. _Venice, W. of Speier_, 37

—— [Second edition.] 1471, 39

—— 1470. _Paris, Gering, &c._, 69

—— 1474. _Venice, John of Cologne & J. Manthen_, 77

Schedel, Hartmann. Liber Chronicarum. 1493. _Nuremberg, A.
Koberger_, 121

Seneca. Tragediae. 1497. _Venice, P. Bergamascho_, 113

Statius. Achilleis. 1473. _Parma, S. Corallus_, 109

Suetonius. Vitae Caesarum. 1471. _Venice, N. Jenson_, 47

Thomas Aquinas. De Veritate. 1499. _Cologne, H. Quenteil_, 145

Thomas Aquinas. Quodlibet. 1475. _Ulm, J. Zainer_, 58

Tituli Decisionum. 1477. _Mainz, P. Schoeffer_, 23

Tritheim, Joh. Compendium de Origine regum et gentis Francorum.
1515. _Mainz, J. Schoeffer_, 26

Triumpho de Virtude. 1471. _Venice, N. Jenson_, 44

Turrecremata, Cardinal. Meditationes. 1472. _Rome, U. Han_, 120

Valla, Laur. De Elegantia Linguae Latinae. 1475. _Rome, A.
Pannartz_, 96

Valturius. De Re Militari. 1472. _Verona, J. de Verona_, 120

Vegetius. De Militari Disciplina. 1488. _Pescia, Sig. Rodt_, 100

Virgil. Opera. 1472. _Padua, L. Achates_, 54

—— 1471/72. _Florence, Cennini_, 63

Visconti, Gasparo. Rithmi. 1493. _Milan, A. Zarotus_, 103

Vitas Patrum. 1495. _Westminster, W. de Worde_, 72, 174

Vocabularius ex quo. 1467. _Eltville, Bechtermünze & Spiess_, 15

II

GENERAL INDEX

Achates, Leonardus, colophon quoted, 54.

Acqui, colophon of unknown printer at, 65.

Adam of Ammergau, colophon borrowed from Valdarfer, 52.

Adinventio, possible meanings of the word, 12, 29 note.

Advertisements used by 15th-century printers, 89.

Aldus Manutius, date from which he reckoned his years, 181;
colophon of his edition of the ‘Hypnerotomachia,’ 124.

Armorial devices used by printers, 20, 22.

Arnold of Brussels, colophon quoted, 106.

Arriuabenus and Paganinis, colophons quoted, 147, 166.

Arundel, Earl of, his financial help to Caxton’s ‘Golden Legend,’ 99.

Asparagus,—a book printed quicker than asparagus can be cooked, 109.

Authors, privileges for exclusive printing granted to, 113;
authors’ and editors’ colophons, 123-158.

Balsarin, G., copies the Caesaris copy of a Veldener colophon, 165.

Barcelona, book printed at, dated ‘1468,’ 46 note.

Bartholomaeus de Chaimis, German copies of Valdarfer’s Milan edition
of his ‘Confessionale,’ 161.

Bartolommeo of Cremona, colophon quoted, 52.

Bell-ringer, Lerida Breviary financed by a, 102.

Benedictus Hectoris, an example of an editor’s contempt for his
predecessors, 142.

Bergamascho, Piero, colophon quoted, 113.

Bible, praises of the, in colophons, 94, 112;
rarity of colophons in the early printed editions, 10 sqq.

Bistricci, Vespasiano da, his contempt for printed books, xix.

Boastfulness in colophons, 58.

Bottonus. See Bruschus.

Brescia, privileges granted at Venice affected printing at, 114.

Brice, Hugh, finances Caxton’s ‘Mirror of the World,’ 99.

Brothers of the Common Life, at Rostock, colophon quoted, 92.

Brown, Horatio, his ‘The Venetian Printing Press’ quoted, 34, 62, 110.

Bruno, Henricus, complaint of overwork, 127.

Bruschus, Bartholomaeus, on his brother’s death, 71.

Caesaris, P., his copy of a Veldener colophon copied by Balsarin, 165.

Calends, method of reckoning days of the month by, 182.

Capitales litterae, capitalia, initial letters, not simply majuscules,
12, 81 (N. B. The explanation in the text at p. 81 is wrong, the
reference being to the initial letters of the first seven lines of
the colophon, which make the name Günther).

Capitalia. See Capitales litterae.

Caracterizare, meaning of the word, 12 sq.

Carbo, Lodovicus, his verse colophons, 31, 50 sq.

Casal Maggiore, Hebrew book finished at, 69.

Caxton, William, specimens of his colophons, 133-138, 174, 176;
his patrons and helpers, 99, 135;
his advertisement of the Sarum Directorium or ‘Pie,’ 89;
his difficulties with the text of Chaucer, 153;
De Worde’s reference to his last hours, 72.

Cennini, Ber. and Dom., colophons to their Virgil quoted, 63 sq.

Cepolla, Bartolommeo, his self-advertisement, 139.

Chalcographi, meaning of the word, 53.

Chardella, Simon, finances Ulrich Han, 101.

Chaucer, Geoffrey, Caxton’s difficulties with his text, 153.

Cheapness, vaunts of, in colophons, 106.

Christie, R. C., his detection of the 1499 Brescia Politian, purporting
to be printed at Florence, 159 sq.

Cividale, Bartolommeo de, colophon quoted, 59.

Classical texts, the Italian market in 1472 overstocked with, 108 sq.;
their editors’ colophons, 149-153.

Cleve, Johann von, musician, his troubles with his printers, 129.

Cluniac monastery at Rougemont. See Rougemont.

Codex, meaning of the word, 12.

Cologne, book dated ‘1458’ printed at, 47 note.

Colophon, the city, xi.

Colophons, original meaning and derivation of the word colophon, ix;
history of its use in England, x;
its connection with the city of Colophon, xi;
GENERAL REMARKS ON, 1-7;
colophons not found in all early printed books, 4, 9 sqq., 15;
their information often defective, 4;
more often found in Latin than in vernacular books, 6 sq., 44, 47;
their use a sign of the printer’s pride in his work, 6, 9, 22, 82, 85;
EXAMPLES OF COLOPHONS USED AT MAINZ, 8-29;
difficulty of exactly translating words used in, 12 sq., 24, 53;
phrases taken over from one colophon to another, 15 sq.;
possible significance of this, 17 sq., 52;
attachment of printers’ devices to, 20, 23, 82;
their evidence as to the invention of printing, 25 sqq.;
EXAMPLES OF VENETIAN COLOPHONS, 30-56;
their information as to the size of early Venice editions, 32, 34, 37;
use of verse in, 31, 52, 54;
misprinted dates in, 43 sqq., 60;
PRINTERS’ COLOPHONS IN GENERAL, 57-90;
frequent expression of religious feeling in, 57 sq., 92 sq.;
boastfulness in, 58;
often used to claim credit for introducing printing into a particular
town, 58-60;
allusion in an Oxford colophon to Venice printers, 62;
Florentine allusion to spaces left for Greek words, 64;
their allusions to the plague, 65 sqq.;
tell us of books begun in one place and ended at another, 67 sqq.;
their allusions to war, 69 sq.;
to deaths of printers, 36, 71 sq.;
to relations between masters and workmen, 72 sq., 78;
their apologies for misprints, 72-74;
allusions in a Naples colophon to the printers’ enemies, 75;
boasts of loyalty, 76 sq.;
references in colophons to types, 80;
an Augsburg colophon with an acrostic of the printer’s name (see under
Capitales litterae), 81;
references to their printers’ marks, 82-86;
express their printers’ desire to make their names known, 87 sq.;
PUBLISHERS’ COLOPHONS, 91-122;
their professions of unselfish zeal, 91 sqq.;
praise of the books to which they are appended, 94 sqq.;
their demand for gratitude, 92;
allusions to the help given by patrons, 99 sqq.;
or by a philanthropic partner, 101, 108;
the publisher in one case a bell-ringer, 102;
in another a poet, 103;
colophons often precise in their note of their publishers’ address,
104;
their vaunts of cheapness, 106;
or of a correctness beyond price, 108;
allusions to quick printing, 109;
their references to privileges for exclusive printing, 110-120;
their scanty allusions to pictures in books, 121 sq.;
COLOPHONS OF AUTHORS AND EDITORS, 123-158;
examples of these in combination with printers’ or publishers’
colophons, 124 sqq.;
colophons an outlet for the author’s thankfulness, 125;
or his complaints—a grumble at overwork, 127;
complaints of printers, 129;
apologies for bad Latin, 130;
details as to author’s age, 131;
an author’s precaution to prevent his colophon being omitted, 132;
colophons of William Caxton, 133-138;
colophons used to advertise the author, 139 sq.;
or to allow editors to depreciate their predecessors, 140 sqq.;
colophons of liturgical printers and editors, 145-148;
of editors of classical texts, 149-153;
allusions to textual difficulties also in modern works, 154;
editorial pleas for indulgence, 156;
editorial gratitude to helpers, 157;
REPETITIONS, THEFTS, AND ADAPTATIONS OF COLOPHONS, 159-169;
grammatical errors introduced by thieves, 165;
DATES IN COLOPHONS, 170-184;
common errors in reading them, 183 sq.

Conrad of Westphalia, steals a colophon of Veldener’s, 162.

Copyright, possibly more respected in German cities than elsewhere,
17 sq.;
at first dependent on courtesy or rules of trade-guilds, 22;
secured by ‘privileges,’ 110-120.

Corallus, Stephanus, colophon quoted, 109.

Cornazanus, Antonius, his verse colophons, 31.

Corniger, Franciscus, prints his patron’s poems, 103.

Creusner, Fridericus, copies a Valdarfer colophon, 161.

Damilas, Demetrio, corrector of the Florentine Homer, 5 sq.

Dates in colophons, 170-184.

Daubeney, W., urges Caxton to print ‘Charles the Great,’ 99, 136.

Deaths of printers, allusions to, in colophons, 36, 71.

Demetrio of Milan. See Damilas.

Devices, attached to colophons, 82;
examples of portraits used as, 84 sq.

Diel, Florentinus, his charges against previous editors, 143.

Doges, names of, in colophons, 41;
list of, 173.

Dupré and Gerard, colophon quoted, 179.

Easter day, 1470-1521, list of dates on which it fell, 178;
French year began with, 179.

Editions, number of copies in those first printed at Venice, 32, 34, 37;
at Milan, 151 sq.

Editors’ and authors’ colophons, 123-158.

Eggestein, Heinrich, his books before 1471 not dated, 11.

Elementa, Elementatum, meaning of the words, 24-80.

England, year used to begin on March 25th in, 176;
regnal years of kings (1461-1603), 172.

Errors of dating in colophons and in reading them, 183 sq.

Floods, allusion to, in a colophon, 167.

Florence, colophons of books printed at, 5, 63, 154, 160;
Florentine year began on Lady day, 181.

Foresti, Jacobus. See Jacobus Bergomensis.

Fossa, Evangelio, privilege granted to, for all his writings, 113.

France, regnal years of kings (1461-1610), 172.

Franciscus, Magister, his verses in Mainz editions of Justinian, 26.

Free trade, effect of, on English printing, 110.

Freiberg, first book printed at, 67.

Fust, Johann, colophons from books printed by, 10 sqq.;
failure of his health, 18.

Geese of the Capitol, Ulrich Han’s allusion to, 88.

‘Germani fidelissimi,’ who they were, 77.

Germany, day on which the year began in, 177;
method of indicating days of the month and week by saints’ days,
introits, etc., used in, 182 sq.;
privileges for exclusive printing granted in, 119.

Grammars vaunted as royal roads to learning, 95 sqq.

Grammatical slips in borrowed colophons, 165 sq.

Greek, allusion in a Florentine colophon to the practice of leaving
blank spaces for Greek quotations, 64;
a Greek colophon, 5.

Gregorii, J. and G., colophons quoted, 112 sqq.

Gutenberg, Johann, never put his name to any printed book, 11;
his tradition of secrecy imitated, _ib._;
sale of his types, 17.

Hamann, Johann, adopts part of a colophon, 169.

Han, Ulrich, colophons quoted, 88, 101, 108, 120;
financed by Simon Chardella, 101;
copies Schoeffer’s colophons and makes blunders in them, 165-168.

Henry VII, Caxton’s relations with, 137.

Herbort, Johann, colophons quoted, 78 sq.

Hoemberch, Conrad de. See Winters.

Horae, references in, to their pictures, 120.

Hortus Sanitatis, reference in the colophon of Meidenbach’s edition to
its pictures, 121.

Ides, method of dating by, 182.

Indictions, method of reckoning by, used in colophons, 170.

Introit at high mass, first word used to denote the Sunday to which it
belonged, 183.

Invocavit Sunday, 184.

Jacobus Bergomensis, his age when he finished different editions of the
Supplementum Chronicarum, 131 sq.

Jakob of Amsfort, Ulrich Zell’s acknowledgment of his help, 157.

Januensis (of Genoa), 81.

Jenson, Nicolas, colophons quoted, 41-49;
partnership with John of Cologne, 78;
one of his colophons reprinted at Naples, 162.

John of Cologne, finances Wendelin of Speier, 36;
colophons quoted, 55, 77 sq., 169.

John of Speier, colophons in his books, 32 sq.

John of Verona, colophons quoted, 120.

John of Westphalia, his portrait device mentioned in his colophons, 84,
86.

Justinian, verses of Magister Franciscus in Mainz editions of the
Institutes and Decretals, 26.

Kachelofen, Conrad, colophon to Meissen Missal, 67.

Kessler, N., colophon quoted, 155.

Koberger, Anton, colophons quoted, 121, 148;
borrows a Cologne colophon, 168.

Koelhoff, Johann, book dated ‘1458’ printed by, 47 note.

Lady day, March 25, in England and Florence year used to begin on, 176,
181.

Laetare Sunday, 183.

Latis, Bonetus de, asks indulgence for his bad Latin, 131.

Lavagna, F. da, colophons quoted, 60, 149.

Leeu, Gerard, allusion to his death, 72.

Levet, Pierre, uses a Cologne colophon, 168.

Libri, Bartolommeo di, Proctor’s discovery of his importance as a
Florentine printer, 4-6.

Lisa, Gerard de, colophon quoted, 59.

Liturgical books, colophons in, 145-148.

Livy, verses in Wendelin of Speier’s 1470 edition of, 37.

Lucca, first book printed at, 59.

Lucretius, rarity of medieval texts of, 153.

Mainz colophons, 8-29.

Malory, Sir Thomas, his illness and death, 124.

Manthen, Johann, partnership with John of Cologne, 78.

Mantua, first book printed at, 59.

Marnef, Geoffroi, colophon quoted, 106.

Masters and workmen, references to the relations between, 72 sq., 78.

Matthias Moravus, was he one of the ‘Germani fidelissimi’? 77.

Mentelin, Johann, his books before 1473 not dated, 11.

Milan, rival claims to the first introduction of printing at, 60.

Misinta, Bernard, his attribution of his 1499 Politian to Florence, 160.

Misprints, apologies for, 72 sqq.;
in dates in colophons, 43-48.

Missal printers, their special claims to accuracy, 145 sqq.

Müller, Johann, his advertisement of his books, 89.

Natta, Georgius, embassy to Milan, 127.

Nerli, Bernardo and Nerio, finance the Florentine Homer, 5 sq.

New Year, date of, in various countries, 175 sqq.

Nicolaus de Auximo, finishes in 1444 his Supplementum Summae Pisanellae,
133.

Nones, method of dating by, 182.

Oculi Sunday, 183.

Olympiades Dominicae, 79, 170.

Olympiads, Theodoric Rood’s misreckoning by, 61, 170.

Omnibonus Leonicenus, his verse colophons, 31, 42.

Orlandi, Sebastian and Raphael dei, patrons of Pescia printers, 99.

Ortus Sanitatis. See Hortus.

Oxford, book dated ‘1468’ printed at, 46 note;
the colophon of the 1485 ‘Phalaris,’ 62.

Paderborn, John of. See John of Westphalia.

Paganinus de Paganinis, adopts part of a John of Cologne and Jenson
colophon, 169.

Palares, Antonio, bell-ringer, finances a Lerida breviary, 102.

Pannartz, Arnold, his praise of Valla’s ‘De Elegantia Linguae Latinae,’
96;
see also Sweynheym and Pannartz.

Pavia, first book printed at, 58.

Pictures in early printed books, colophons alluding to, 120-122.

Pigouchet and Vostre, colophon quoted, 179.

Plague, allusions to, in colophons, 65, 67.

Pleydenwurff, W., illustrator of the ‘Nuremberg Chronicle,’ 121.

Politian, edition of, printed at Brescia with the false imprint
‘Florentiae,’ 159.

Popes, 1458-1534, list of, 171 sq.

Portrait devices, 84 sq.

Pratt, William, urges Caxton to print the ‘Book of Good Manners,’ 99.

Printers’ devices, use of, in colophons, 20;
their significance, 22.

Printing, invention of, secrecy observed by Gutenberg and his followers
as to, 11;
evidence obtainable from colophons as to, 25 sq.;
Johann Schoeffer’s account of, 27 sqq.

Privileges for exclusive printing, early history of, 110-120.

Proctor, Robert, his identifications of the printers of incunabula, 4
sqq.;
his arrangement of the earliest Venetian books, 34.

Punctuation, explanation of the system used in a Salzburg Missal, 145.

Pynson, Richard, colophon quoted, 118.

Ratdolt, Erhard, book dated ‘1468’ printed by, 46 note;
his specimen-sheet, 89.

Regiomontanus, Joannes. See Müller.

Regnal years of popes and kings of England and France, 171 sqq.

Religious feeling in colophons, 57.

Reminiscere Sunday, 183.

Richel, Bernard, his books before 1474 not dated, 11;
adopts a Rougemont colophon, 167.

Ricius, Bernardus, colophon quoted, 111.

Riessinger, Sixtus, complains of his enemies, 75;
relations with F. Tuppo, 76.

Roman letter, first book wholly printed in, in England, 118.

Rood, Theodoric, his misreckoning by Olympiads, 61, 170;
colophon of his ‘Phalaris’ quoted, 61.

Rougemont, Cluniac monastery at, colophon of book printed there, 167.

Ruppel, Bertold, never dated any of his books, 11.

Sabellico, Marc’ Antonio, privilege for exclusive printing granted to,
111.

Saints’ days, German books often dated by, 182.

Schoeffer, Johann, his account of the invention of printing, 27-29.

Schoeffer, Peter, his colophons quoted, 8, 10, 16, 18, 20 sqq.;
his glorification of the art of printing, 11;
his allusion to his printer’s device imitated by Wenssler, 22;
copies one of Valdarfer’s colophons, 161;
his own colophons copied by Han, 165, and Wenssler, 168.

Scinzenzeler, Ulrich, colophon quoted, 115.