At Banbury he saw the Puritan who has become proverbial, “Hanging of his Cat on Monday For killing of a Mouse on Sunday.”

1. 488J.  Anonymous. By Richard Brathwait. 1588?-1673.

Drunken Barnaby’s four journeys to the north of England. In Latin and English verse. Wittily and Merrily (tho’ near One Hundred Years ago) compos’d; found among some old musty Books, that had a long time lain by in a Corner; and now at last made publick. To which is added, Bessy Bell

London: printed for S. Illidge, under Searle’s Gate Lincolns-Inn New-Square: and sold by S. Ballard in Little-Britain, J. Graves in St. James’s-Street, and J. Walthoe over-against the Royal Exchange 1716.                                                     price $2,800

Octavo:  14 x 9cm. Signatures: A4, B-L8.   2 unnumbered leaves of plates This is the first printing under this title, The only previous edition was published as’Barnabees journall’ in 1638.    This book describes Brathwait’s pilgrimages through England in doggerel English and Latin verse.  Brathwait’s highly improper doggerel recounting the perambulations of an alcoholic lecher attracted little attention in its own day but became wildly popular in the eighteenth century. “Bessy Bell” is a similarly genteel ballad of courtship between two rustics.  

 “Richard Brathwait’s most famous work is Barnabae Itinerarium or Barnabees Journall [1638], by ‘Corymbaeus,’ written in English and Latin rhyme. The title-page says it is written for the “travellers’ solace” and is to be chanted to the old tune of “Barnabe.” The story of “drunken Barnabee’s” four journeys to the north of England contains much amusing topographical information, and its gaiety is unflagging. Barnabee rarely visits a town or village without some notice of an excellent inn or a charming hostess, but he hardly deserves the epithet ‘drunken.’” (EB)

“Thence to Ashton, good as may be

Was the wine, brave Knight, bright Ladie,

All I saw was comely specious,

Seemly gratious, neatly precious;

My Muse with Bacchus so long traded,

When I walk’t, my legs denaid it.”

The text is printed in parallel Latin and English on facing pages. Southey described Barnabee’s Journal as ‘the best piece of rhymed Latin in modern literature.’ Later editions of this work, beginning with the second edition, printed in 1716, altered the usage and spelling of words in the original. This first edition therefore was the only one available to cavalier, roundhead and restoration readers. The First edition is exceedingly rare.

There is also a bit of Shakespeariana in Barnabee, as he mentions the phrase ‘As you like it,’ suggesting thereby that it was of common usage, and served as a titular parallel to ‘Much Ado About Nothing,’ of the bard’s pen. Braithwaite , speaks of ‘As You Like It’ as a proverbial motto, and this seems more likely to imply the true explanation of the title of Shakespeare’s play. The title of the comedy may, on this supposition, be exactly parallel with that of ‘ Much Ado about Nothing.’ The proverbial title of the play implies that freedom of thought and indifference to censure which characterizes the sayings and doings of most of the actors, in this comedy of human nature in a forest. It is well to remember that Barnaby’s Journal was not printed until 1648-50; in it ‘drunken Barnaby’ finds the shop where ‘Officina juncta mutata Uti fiet” nota certa Quae delineatur charta. –Halliwell-Phillips.

                          Here is the section in question.

A shop neighbouring neare Iacco,

Where Young vends his old Tobacco,

‘As you like it’ sometimes sealed

Which Impression since repealed,

‘As you make it,’ he will have it

And in Chart and Front engrave it.”Barnabae Itinerarium, Barnabees Journall, which in 1811 had not yet been attributed to Richard Braithwaite. Although the author of Barnabees Journall was unknown, Barnaby was commonly referred to as Barnaby Harrington because he was mistakenly associated with a town of that name. Insofar as the date of Bosworth’s birth is concerned, Allison had a reason for wishing Bosworth born no later than the early part of the seven- teenth century. In his 1805 edition of Drunken Barnaby’s Four Journeys, Joseph Haslewood calls attention to an occurrence in Part III where Bamaby seems to have been witness to an event that took place in York in 1634, (but at the age of) 8 at which date Bosworth/Barnaby (for so Allison almost certainly would have it) would have to be old enough to be on his drinking and wenching journeys.

Robin hood is also mentioned

[English text:]

Thence to Nottingam, where rovers

High-way riders, Sherwood drovers,

Like old Robin-Hood, and Scarlet,

Or like Little John his varlet;

Here and there they shew them doughty,

Cells and Woods to get their booty. “

ESTC (RLIN),; T006263; Wither to Prior vol. I #78;  

 Shakespeare and Shakespeareana. CATALOGUE NO 493. Maggs Bros. #34 & 35,  THREE CENTURIES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE AND HISTORY. PART III–The Eighteenth Century. CATALOGUE NO 653.

[The principal authority for the life of Brathwaite is Joseph Haslewood, who published a very elaborate memoir and bibliography in 1820, as a preface to the ninth edition of Barnabee’s Journal. Some genealogical information has been supplied by Mr. W. Wiper of Manchester.]

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2.  415J Anonmyous.)  Waring, Robert, 1614-1658. Translated by John Noris.

Effigies amoris in English: or the picture of love unveil’d.

Oxford: London : Printed for James Good in Oxford, and sold by J. Nut [i.e. Nutt, London], 1701. Second edition of the English translation by John Norton.

price    $1,500 

¶ Duodecimo;  16 x 9 cm. signatures A-E¹², F¹¹ (A¹, half title, present) Bound in original full calf, recently rebacked . Some wonderful quotes for this book:

The Answer of R. W. to his Friend, importunately desiring to know what LOVE might be? Acknowledge the wanton Tyanny of imperious Love, that is always requiring the most difficult Trials of the Affections. Now though it be a kinde of an Herculean Labour itself to Love, considering those severe duties, those toyls, and hazards appendant to it; as if Cruelty were its sole delight: Nevertheless we believe it reasonable, what names soever we have given to Love, that he should exercise his Soveraignty, which is certainly very great and puissant; and by the Severity of his Commands, that he should augment the glory of his high Rule, and our obedient Submission.

“However, this is the supreme Office of Reason, to make a right choice of Disposition and Conditions; to choose a Companion with whom we are sure to live with more delight than with our selves; whose judgment we may be sure to follow as our own: or else to stay till we can finde a proper Ob∣ject of Love. Then also so to love, like one who is guided by Judgment, not carried away by Passion; like one so far from ceasing, that he is always beginning to Love. This is to joyn Patience with Constancy. This is to receive the Idea more fairly imprinted in the Minde, than in Wax, and to preserve more stedfastly. ‘Tis the Of∣fice of Vertue, to dete rmine upon one measure of wishing; to covet a dispo∣sition and inclination like his own, through all the changes of Fortune; and so to make two of one, that they may act the same person.”

The “Amoris Effigies (anon.), In 1680 appeared a loose English translation, by a Robert Nightingale, which deviated in many points from the Latin original. John Norris, under the pseudonym Phil-iconerus, published a fresh translation, London, 1682; 2nd edit., 1701; In his introduction, Norris wrote of Waring’s “sweetness of fancy, neatness of style, and lusciousness of hidden sense”.

Waring also wrote Latin verses, including in Jonsonus Virbius [playwright Ben Jonson.](1639), reprinted in the 1668 and subsequent editions of the Amoris Effigies, under the title of Carmen Lapidorium.” (DNB).           

ESTC Citation No. N1243

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3. 342 J Anonmyous.) Attributed to James Wright

The Humours and conversations of the town expos’d in two dialogues : the first, of the men, the second, of the women.

London : printed for R. Bentley, in Russel-Street, in Covent-Garden, and J. Tonson, at the Judge’s-Head in Chancery-Lane, 1693. Price: $ 2,300

Octavo 14 x 8.5 cm. Signatures; A⁶ B-G¹²  First and only edition. Bound in speckled calf, recently rebacked, with the signature of Jane Modgford on the title and page 1. Wright, James 1643-1713, antiquary and miscellaneous writer, “A versatile writer with a lucid style and a genuine touch of humour, especially as an essayist…” [DNB]. The attribution first appears, in Brice Harris’s facsimile of this edition printed in 1961. The work itself is written as a dialogue between Jovial and Pensive who have visited London and wish to return to the country. Jovial’s cousin, Sociable, enjoys the London social whirl. They argue about the various pleasures of the city versus the country. Dryden is discussed at one point: “the company of the author of Absalom and Achitophel is more valuable, tho’ not so talkative, than that of the modern men of banter; for what he says, is like what he writes; much to the purpose, and full of mighty sense…” This is followed by another, shorter, dialogue between Madam Townlove and Madam Thinkwell.

The original form ‘to a T’ is an old phrase and the earliest citation that I know of is in James Wright’s satire The Humours and Conversations of the Town.

“All the under Villages and Towns-men come to him for Redress; which he does to a T.”

The letter ‘T’ itself, as the initial of a word. If this is the derivation then the word in question is very likely to be ‘tittle’. A tittle is a small stroke or point in writing or printing and is now best remembered via the term jot or tittle. The best reason for believing that this is the source of the ‘T’ is that the phrase ‘to a tittle’ existed in English well before ‘to a T’, with the same meaning; for example, in Francis Beaumont’s Jacobean comedy drama The Woman Hater, 1607. we find: “Ile quote him to a tittle.”In this case, although there is no smoking gun, the ‘to a tittle’ derivation would probably stand up in court as ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. Very nice condition. 

Wing; H3720; Cf. Macdonald, Hugh. John Dryden; a bibliography. Oxford, 1939, p. 275-276. :Brett-Smith 305. ESTC Citation No. R31136 

http://estc.bl.uk/F/2Q5SSI4SVQHNH367AHEBKYI48ERDGNF97DX5TJXJ4GXQH4BJ72-07782?func=full-set-set&set_number=005564&set_entry=000001&format=999

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4. 508J  Anonmyous.) (The traditional attribution to Thomas à      Kempis is disputed) Thomas, à Kempis, 1380-1471, attributed name.

The following of Christ. Writen in Latine by Thomas of Kempis Canon regular of the order of St. Augustin. Translated into English and in this last edition, reviewed compared with several former editions. Together with the authors life

London: Printed for M.T. 1686.              Price $1,100

Duodecimo; 10.5 x6 cm. A¹²a¹² B-U¹²X^{9(10-12 presumed Blank)}

After the Bible, The Imitation of Christ is the all-time favorite book of Catholics throughout the world.  à Kempis or whoever the ‘author was’ presents a path to The Imitation of Christ based on a focus on the interior life and withdrawal from the world. The Imitation of Christ first issued in 1418, Thomas entered Mount St. Agnes in 1406. He was not ordained a priest, however, until almost a decade later. He became a prolific copyist and writer. Thomas received Holy Orders in 1413and was made sub-prior of the monastery in 1429.

Thomas à Kempis provided specific instructions for imitating Christ. His book is perhaps the most widely read Christian devotional work after the Bible. The approach taken by Kempis is characterized by its emphasis on the interior life and withdrawal from the world, as opposed to an active imitation of Christ (including outward preaching) by other friars.  The book places a high level of emphasis on the devotion to the Eucharist as key element of spiritual life

Kempis’s 1441 autograph manuscript of The Imitation of Christ is available in the Bibliothèque Royale in Brussels (shelfmark: MS 5455-61)

Wing  T953A

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5.  493H  Anonmyous.):  attributed name, Nathaniel    Crouch, 1632?-1725?.

The Secret History of the Reigns of K Charles II and K James II

 [London? : s.n.], Printed in the year1690.        

                                                     Price $900.

Duodecimo, 14 x 9 cm. Signatures: A² B-K^12. There are at least two other partial re-impressions of this title published in the same year. Text is continuous despite pagination.  This copy is bound in its contemporary binding, Hanging-on by alum tawed pig cords,  but a perfect example of how ‘cheap’ books were issued in 1690, with a signature from 1702 in the back of the final leaf.   The binding is full ruled sheep. Boards heavily rubbed and worn. Text is clean and free of marks, 

This is a strongly critical anti-Catholic history of the two reigns. With an advertisement printed on the verso of the title page.  Part of a spate of secret histories published during the late seventeenth century by Whig Polemicists this is a highly critical and anti-Catholic history of both reigns.  

 {Later published, in a very much altered version, as part 2 of “The secret history, of the four last monarchs of Great-Britain” (Wing C7346).} 

 Wing S2347;  ESTC; r9835

Copies – N.America        

               Harvard, Newberry , Union Theological 

            UCLA, University of Illinois University of Texas at        

                Austin, University of Toronto, Yale .

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6.   346J Anonmyous.)   J.B. Gent.

The young lovers guide, or, The unsuccessful amours of Philabius, a country lover; set forth in several kind epistles, writ by him to his beautious-unkind mistress. Teaching lovers how to comport themselves with resignation in their love-disasters. With The answer of Helena to Paris, by a country shepherdess. As also, The sixth Æneid and fourth eclogue of Virgil, both newly translated by J.B. Gent.

London : Printed and are to be Sold by the Booksellers of London, 1699.      Price: $3,500

Octavo:17 x 11cm. signatures A^4, B-G⁸,H⁶ I². A¹, frontispiece Present;  but,  I^3&’4, advertisements lacking.    FIRST EDITION The frontispiece is signed: M· Vander Gucht. scul:. 1660-1725. This copy is bound in original paneled sheep with spine cracking but cords holding Strong. The Engraved frontispiece is of a Mistress holding a fan,

“Bold Poets and rash Painters may aspire With pen and pencill to describe my Faire, Alas; their arts in the performance fayle, And reach not that divine Original, Some Shadd’wy glimpse they may present to view, And this is all poore humane art Can doe” title within double rule border, 2 of4-pages of publisher`s advertisements at the end., The author remains unknown.

A very rare slyly misogynistic “guide’ for what turns out be emotional turmoil and Love-DisastersWing (2nd ed.), B131; Arber’s Term cat.; III 142

pies – N.America : Folger , Harvard, Huntington, Newberry, University of Illinois

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7.  509J   Anonmyous.) R.B. = R. Burton, i.e. Nathaniel Crouch

The English hero: or, Sir Francis Drake reviv’d being a full account of the dangerous voyages, admirable adventures, notable discoveries, and magnanimous atchievements of that valiant and renowned commander. I. His voyage in 1572. To Nombre de Dios in the West Indies, where they saw a pile of bars of silver near 70 foot long, ten foot broad, and twelve foot high. II. His incompassing the whole world in 1577. Which he perform’d in two years and ten months, gaining a vast quantity of gold and silver. III. His voyage into America in 1585, and taking the towns of St. Jago, St. Domingo, Carthagena and St. Augustine. Also his worthy actions when vice-admiral of England in the Spanish invasion, 1588. IV. His last voyage in those countries in 1595, with the manner of his death and burial. Recommended to the imitation of all heroick spirits. Inlarged, reduced into chapters with contents, and beautified with pictures. By R.B. 

London : Printed for Nath. Crouch at the Bell against Grocers-Alley in the Poultry near Cheapside, 1710.                                Price 1,900

Duodecimo: 14 x 9 cm. Signatures: A-H¹².page count iv,[175],[13]pp lacking frontispiece. portrait. 

Burton’s account of the exploits of Sir Francis Drake was itself mainly cribbed from a work originally published in 1653. His first edition appeared in 1687. Sabin records this as the fifth edition of Burton’s version. that may have been counting from 1653, or as Kraus suggests, the second and third editions may never have existed. An important work in the Drake legend, it describes the Nombre de Dios voyage of 1572, the circumnavigation of 1575-77, Drake’s defeat of the Armada in 1588, and his final American voyages.  This brief biography of Drake, a key contribution to his legendary status in the popular imagination, includes accounts of his global circumnavigation, his defeat of the Spanish Armada and his voyages to North America. “Based largely on Fletcher’s World encompassed [1628] and on Nichol’s Sir Francis Drake revived [1626], this account… seems to have struck English popular fancy more forcibly” than its sources (Howes B1035). In fact, although the title page denotes this the “sixteenth edition,” the book actually saw 23 by 1762. “R.B.” are initials for “Robert Burton,” a pseudonym bookseller and publisher Nathaniel Crouch

Copies – N.America :                                                                        Univ of  Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Center

“A biography of Drake in chap-book form…like all such chap-book publications, copies are seldom found” – Kraus (commenting on the 1695 edition). 

ESTC Citation No.  T71202: SABIN 9500. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 710/30.:   KRAUS, WORLD ENCOMPASSED 45 (1695 ed).