Game and Playe of the Chesse.

by Caxton.

INTRODUCTION

The readers of the "Antiquary" will remember the anecdote told with so much effusion by Jonathan Oldbuck. '"Davy Wilson," he said, "commonly called Snuffy Davy, from his inveterate addiction to black rappee, was the very prince of scouts for searching blind alleys, cellars, and stalls, for rare volumes. He had the scent of a slow-hound, sir, and the snap of a bull-dog. He would detect you an old black-letter ballad among the leaves of a law-paper, and find an _editio princeps_ under the mask of a school Corderius. Snuffy Davy bought the 'Game of Chess, 1474,' the first book ever printed in England, from a stall in Holland for about two groschen, or two-pence of our money. He sold it to Osborne for twenty pounds, and as many books as came to twenty pounds more. Osborne re-sold this inimitable windfall to Dr. Askew for sixty guineas. At Dr.

Askew's sale," continued the old gentleman, kindling as he spoke, "this inestimable treasure blazed forth in its full value and was purchased by Royalty itself for one hundred and seventy pounds! Could a copy now occur, Lord only knows," he e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed with a deep sigh and lifted-up hands, "Lord only knows what would be its ransom; and yet it was originally secured, by skill and research, for the easy equivalent of two-pence sterling."'

Sir Walter Scott in a footnote adds:--"This bibliomaniacal anecdote is literally true; and David Wilson, the author need not tell his brethren of the Roxburghe and Bannatyne Clubs, was a real personage." Mr. Blades, whose iconoclastic temper is not moved to mercy even by this good story, says that although it "looks like a true bibliographical anecdote," its appearance is deceptive, and that "not a single statement is founded on fact."[1]

Jonathan Oldbuck did not venture to estimate the sum that would ransom a copy of the "Game of Chesse," and the world of the bibliomania has moved even since his days, so that prices which seemed fabulous, and were recounted with a sort of awe-struck wonder, have been surpa.s.sed in these latter days, and the chances of any successor of "Snuffy Davy" buying a Caxton for two groschen have been greatly reduced.

According to Mr. William Blades, our latest and best authority on the subject, there are but ten copies known of the first edition of the "Chesse" book.[2] There is a perfect copy in the King's Library in the British Museum. This is what ought to be Snuffy Davy's copy. A previous owner--R. Boys--has noted that it cost him 3_s_. The copy in the Grenville Library has the table and last leaf supplied in facsimile. The copy in the Public Library at Cambridge is defective to the extent of five leaves. The Bodleian copy wants the last leaf. The Duke of Devonshire's copy formerly belonged to Roger Wilbraham, and the first and eighth leaves are supplied in facsimile. The exemplar belonging to the Earl of Pembroke is perfect, "but on weak and stained paper." Earl Spencer's copy is perfect, clean, and unusually large. Mr. H. Cunliffe's copy came from the Alchorne and Inglis Libraries, and wants the first two printed leaves, two near the end, and the last two. Mr. J. Holford's copy is perfect and in its original binding. It was once in the library of Sir Henry Mainwaring of Peover Hall, as his bookplate shows. On a fly-leaf is written, "Ex dono Thomae Delves, Baronett 1682." The copy belonging to the Rev. Edward Bankes is imperfect, and wants the dedicatory leaf and is slightly wormed.

The book, when complete, consists of eight quaternions or eight leaves folded together and one quinternion or section of five sheets folded together, making in all seventy-four leaves, of which the first and last are blank. The only type used throughout is that styled No. 1 by Mr.

Blades. The lines are not s.p.a.ced out; the longest measure five inches; a full page has thirty-one lines. Without t.i.tle-page, signatures, numerals, or catch-words. The volume, as already mentioned, begins with a blank leaf, and on the second recto is Caxton's prologue, s.p.a.ce being left for a two-line initial, without director. The text begins with a dedication:--"(T)o the right n.o.ble/ right excellent & vertuous prince George duc of Clarence Erl of Warwyk and of Salisburye/ grete chamberlayn of Englond & leutenant of Ireland oldest broder of kynge Edward by the grace of G.o.d kynge of England and of France/ your most humble servant william Caxton amonge other of your servantes sendes unto yow peas. helthe. Joye and victorye upon your Enemyes/ Right highe puyssant and." The text ends on the seventy-third recto, thus:--"And sende yow thaccomplisshement of your hye n.o.ble. Joyous and vertuous desirs Amen:/: Fynysshid the lastday of Marche the yer of our lord G.o.d.

a. thousand foure honderd and LXXIIII. *. *. *. *." The seventy-fourth leaf is blank.

It is unnecessary to say that this book seldom comes into the market.

The recorded sales are very few. In 1682 R. Smith sold a perfect copy for 13s. 2d. In 1773 J. West's copy was bought by George III. for.32 0s. 6d. Alchorne's imperfect copy was bought by Inglis for 54 12s., and at the sale of his books found a purchaser in Lord Audley for 31 10s., and was again transferred, in 1855, to the possession of Mr. J. Cunliffe for 60 l0s. 0d.[3] Mr. J. Holford's copy was bought at the Mainwaring sale for 101.

The last copy offered for sale was described in one of Mr. Bernard Quaritch's catalogues issued in 1872, and the account given by that veteran bibliopole is well worth reproduction.

CAXTON'S GAME AND PLAY OF CHESS MORALIZED, (translated 1474) FIRST EDITION, folio, 65 LEAVES (of the 72), bound in old ruffia gilt, 400.

[Blackletter: Fynyshid the last day of Marche the yer of our Lord G.o.d, a thousand foure hondred and lxxiiii....]

An extremely large, though somewhat imperfect copy of

THE FIRST BOOK PRINTED IN ENGLAND, from Caxton's press.

Mr. Blades quotes 9 copies (4 perfect, 5 imperfect), the present is the 10th known copy, and is TALLER than even the Grenville--hitherto the tallest known copy; my copy measures 11-1/8 inch in height by 8 in width, whilst the Grenville copy (also imperfect) is only 11 inches high.

COLLATION of _my copy_:

[Blackletter: This Booke conteyneth iiii traytees] 1 _leaf_.

[Blackletter: This first chapiter of the first tractate] 1 _leaf_.

[Blackletter: The trouthe for to do Justice right wysly,]

etc. to the end 62 _leaves_.

_The last leaf with the date:_ [Blackletter: In conquerynge his rightful inheritance,]

_ending:_ [Blackletter: fynyshed], _etc._ 1474 1 _leaf_.

------------- 65 leaves.

My copy wants therefore 7 leaves, the two blank ones being out of question. The imperfections include the first leaf, and two leaves in the second chapitre of the fourth tractate, the end is all right. I should be glad to hear of any IMPERFECT COPY of this work, which would supply me with what I want. In the mean time this precious relic of the Infancy of Printing in England can be feen by BUYERS of Rare books.

_See_ Dibdin's Bibl. Spenc. IV. p. 189.

No copy of this edition has been sold for years; in 1813, Alchorne's copy, wanting first two leaves, the last two leaves and two leaves in the second chapter of the fourth tractate, fetched at Evans', 54.

12_s_. The value of this cla.s.s of books has much risen since then, and may now be considered, as ten times greater.

In comparing the first edition of "Caxton's Game of Chess" with the second, one perceives many variations in the spelling. I confider the _first edition_ to be the more interesting, for a variety of reasons:

1. It is the first book printed in England.

2. It is the _Editio princeps_ of the English version.

3. It shows the Art of Printing in its crudest form.

4. It has a Post-script not in the second edition.

Both editions run on together to the pa.s.sage on the last page of the second edition:

[Blackletter: And a mon that lyvyth in thys world without vertues lyveth not as a man but as a beste.]

The first edition ends thus:

[Blackletter: And therefore my right redoubted Lord I pray almighty G.o.d to save the Kyng our soverain lord to gyve him grace to yssue as a Kynge tabounde in all vertues/ to be a.s.sisted with all other his lordes in such wyse yn his n.o.ble royame of England may prospere/ habounde in vertues and yn synne may be eschewid justice kepte/ the royame defended good men rewarded malefactours punyshid the ydle peple to be put to laboure that he wyth the n.o.bles of the royame may regne gloriously.

In conquerynge his rightfull inheritaunce / that verraypeas and charitie may endure in both his royames and that marchandise may have his cours in suche wise that every man eschewe synne/ and encrese in vertuous occupacions / Praynge your good grace to resseyve this lityll and symple book made under the hope and shadow of your n.o.ble protection by hym that is your most humble servant in gree and thanke. And I shall praye almighty G.o.d for your long lyf & welfare / which he preserve And sende now thaccomplishment of your hye n.o.ble joyous and vertuous desirs Amen:|:

Fynysshid the last day of marche the yer of our lord G.o.d a. thousand four hondred and lxxiiii. *.:.:.*.]

The second edition ends thus:

[Blackletter: Thenne late every man of what condycion he be that redyth or herith this litel book redde. take therby ensaumple to amend hym.

Explicit per Caxton.]

This copy came from the library of Mr. L.M. Pet.i.t.[4]

It will be noticed that Mr. Quaritch calls the _editio princeps_ of Caxton's "Game and Play of the Chesse" the first book printed in England. This was the general opinion of bibliographers before the investigations of Mr. Blades. Dibdin, although he seems to have had some doubt, p.r.o.nounced in favour of that view. Yet it is clearly erroneous.

The only materials for judgment are those afforded by the colophon and the prologue to the second edition, with the silent but eloquent testimony of typography. Caxton ends the first edition with the words:--"Fynysshid the last day of Marche the yer of our lord G.o.d a thousand four hondred and LXXIIII." The word "fynysshid," as Mr. Blades observes, "has doubtless the same signification here as in the epilogue to the second book of Caxton's translation of the Histories of Troy, 'Begonne in Brugis, contynued in Gaunt and finysshed in Coleyn,' which evidently refers to the translation only. The date, 1475-6, has been affixed, because in the Low Countries at that time the year commenced on Easter-day; this in 1474 fell on April 10th, thus giving, as the day of the conclusion of the translation, 31 March 1475, the same year being the earliest possible period of its appearance as a printed book." Then there is Caxton's own racy account of the circ.u.mstances under which the book first appeared:--

"And emong alle other good werkys It is a werke of ryght special recomendacion to enforme and to late vnderstonde wysedom and vertue vnto them that be not lernyd ne can not dyscerne wysedom fro folye Th[=e]ne emonge whom there was an excellent doctour of dyuynyte in the royame of fraunce of the ordre of thospytal of Saynt Johns of Jherusalem which entended the same and hath made a book of the chesse moralysed whiche at suche tyme as I was resident in brudgys in the counte of Flaundres cam into my handes/ whiche whan I had redde and ouerseen/ me semed ful necessarye for to be had in englisshe/ And in eschewyng of ydlenes And to thende that s[=o]me which haue not seen it/ ne [=v]nderstonde frenssh ne latyn J delybered in my self to translate it in to our maternal tonge/ And whan I so had achyeued the sayd translacion/ J dyde doo sette in enprynte a certeyn nombre of theym/ Whiche anone were depesshed and solde wherfore by cause thys sayd book is ful of holsom wysedom and requysyte vnto euery astate and degree/ J haue purposed to enprynte it/ shewyng therin the figures of suche persons as longen to the playe."

It is clear from this that both the translation and printing belong to the period of Caxton's residence in Bruges. From the use of the instrumental form "dyde doo sette en enprynte" it might be thought that Caxton employed the services of some printer, but although commonly so employed, there are instances which will not bear this interpretation of its intention.[5] He either employed a printer or made some partnerfhip with one, and there are various indications that confirm Mr. Blades'

theory that the book came from the press of Colard Mansion.

The second edition is undoubtedly the work of our first English printer.

"Explicit per Caxton" is the unambiguous statement of the colophon. It is a much more advanced specimen of typography than the first edition.

It has signatures, of which _a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i,_ are quaternions, _k_ and _l_ are terternions, making in all eighty-four leaves, of which the first is blank. There is no t.i.tle-page, and the type used is that which Mr. Blades reckons as No. 2*. The lines are s.p.a.ced out to an even length. There are twenty-nine lines to a full page, and the full line measures 4-7/8 inches. The prologue begins on _a ij_., and the table of chapters begins on the next page. The text begins on the recto of _a iii_. The text ends on the recto of _l_ 6, the last page being blank. There are sixteen woodcuts in the volume, which are used twenty-four times. There has been some diversity of opinion as to the year in which this "Game of the Chesse" came from the press of Caxton. The book is not dated. Dibdin thought it one of the printer's earliest efforts. Figgins regarded it as the earliest issue of the Westminster press, and further believed that it was printed from cut metal types. This is not the view of Mr. Blades, who says: "An examination of the work, however, with a typographical eye does not afford a single evidence of very early workmanship. All Caxton's early books were uneven in the length of their lines--this is quite even. Not one of the early works had any signatures--this is signed throughout.

These two features alone are quite sufficient to fix its date of impression at least as late as 1480, when Caxton first began the use of signatures; but when we find that every known copy of this edition of the 'Chess-Book' presents a thicker and more worn appearance than any one copy of any other book, there is good reason for supposing that this may have followed the 'Tulli' of 1481, and have been the last book for which Type No. 2* was used."[6]

Mr. Blades describes nine known copies, so that even fewer exemplars remain of the second edition than of its predecessor. The copy in the King's Library in the British Museum is imperfect, wanting several leaves, and is mended in many places. The copy in the Pepysian Collection at Cambridge wants one-half of the last leaf. Trinity College, Cambridge, has a perfect copy, "but a bad impression." The Bodleian copy is defective in not having the last leaf. St. John's College, Oxford, has a copy, from which one-half of _d iii_. has been torn away. The Imperial Library at Vienna has an imperfect copy. The Duke of Devonshire's copy is perfect, but it is "a poor impression, and slightly stained." The Earl of Pembroke's copy is very imperfect. Earl Spencer's is only slightly imperfect. The prices fetched by the second edition have a sufficiently wide range. In 1698, at Dr. Bernard's sale, a copy fold for 1s. 6d. Farmer's copy in 1798 fetched 4 4s. Ratcliffe's copy was bought at his sale for 16 by Willett; and when his books came to the hammer in 1813, it was purchased by the Duke of Devonshire for 173 5s.[7] It is interesting to know that the copy of the second edition in the Bibliotheca Spenceriana formerly belonged to Laurence Sterne, who bought it for a few shillings at York![8]

In the present reprint, the text followed is that of the first edition, transcribed from the copy in the British Museum; but the variations, alterations, and additions made in the second issue are all recorded in footnotes. The reader has, therefore, before him the work in all its fulness. The same reasons that have led to the adoption of this course have also decided the publisher to include facsimiles of the curious woodcuts which appeared in the second edition. These, although necessarily reductions in size, reproduce the quaint vigour of the originals.

Caxton, we have seen, translated the "Game of the Chesse" from the French. There were in effect two, if not three, from which he may have taken his version. One of these is by Jean Faron, Perron, or Feron (as the name is variously spelled), a monk of the order of St. Dominic, of whom the notices are exceedingly scanty.[9] La Croix du Maine styles him "de l'Ordre des Freres Prescheurs ou Jacobins du Paris." La Monnaye says that the translation was made from the Latin of Cessoles, and was begun in the year 1347. It has not been printed.[10] The translation is considered a literal version of the Latin of Cessoles.

The prologue of Perron's version is as follows:--"Chy ensuit le geu des Eschas moralise, ouquel a plusiers exemples bien a noter. A n.o.blehomme, Bertrand de Tarascon, frere Jehan Perron, de l'ordre des Freres precheurs de Paris, son petil et humble chappelain soy tout. Le Sainte Escripture dit que Dieux a fait a chascun commandement de pourcha.s.sier a tous nos prochains leur sauvement. Or est-il ainsi que nos prochains ne sont pas tout un, ains sont de diverses condicions, estas et manieres, sy comme il appert. Car les uns sont n.o.bles; les aultres non: les aultres sont de cler engin; les aultres, non: les aultres sont enclins a devocion; les aultres, non. Et pour ce, affin que le commandement de Dieu soit mis a execution bien convenablement, il convient avoir plusiers voyes et baillier a chascun ce qui lui est plus convenable; et ainsi pourroit il le commandement de Dieu accomplir; .... Pour tant je, vostre pet.i.t chappelain, a vostre requeste, que je tieng pour commendement, vous ai volu translata de latin en francais le Gieu des Eschas moralise, que fist l'un de nos freres, appele frere Jaques de Cossoles, maistre en divinite, si que vous l'entendes plus legierrement; et a exemple des n.o.bles hystoires qui y sont nottees, veuilles maintenir, quant a vous, honnestement, et quant aux autres justement....