4. Various short offices and prayers. 5. The seven penitential psalms. 6. The fifteen psalms. 7. Vigils of the dead. 8. The Commendations. 9. The Psalms of the Passion. 10. Psalter of S. Jerom. 11. A "prayer of Saynt Thomas of Aquyne, translatyd out of latyn ynto Englyshe by the moste exselent Prynces,6 Mary, doughter to the moste hygh and myghty Prynce and Prynces kyng Henry the .viij. and Quene Kateryn hys wyfe. In the yere of oure lorde god M. ccccc xxvij. And the xj. yere of here age." This and the prayer 65 in a later hand.66 The above contents compared with the following from 64 Erased and blotted with ink. 65 Blotted, but still legible. This book must have fallen into the possession of some one about 1535 or 1540 who was an ardent partizan of the legality of the King's marriage with Anne Boleyn, and consequently of the illegality of his first marriage. The date of the erasure can scarcely be later than 1540. 66 The reader may find this prayer reprinted in Vol. 2. p. 266. The following are among the autographs, upon blank pages or in the margins. "Madame I pray you Remembre me, your louyng maister. Henry. R." (Henry VII.) Below this; "Madam I pray you forget not me to pray to god that I may haue part of your prayers. Elysabeth ye quene." (Elizabeth of York, Queen of Henry VII.) "Henry. R." (Henry VIII.) "I thinke the Katherina prayres of a frend be most acceptable vnto god, and because I take you for one of myn assured I pray you to remembre me in yours. by (Queen Katherine of Arragon.) The last two words probably "the Queen" are blotted with ink; nor am I quite certain whether the name which is partially blotted, is Katherine or Katherina. These two last autographs are also on one page. Nearly at the end of the volume is: "I haue red that no bodye lyuethe as he shulde doo but he that foloweth vertu and I rekenyng you to be one of them I pray you to remembre me yn your deuocyons. Marye..." (Queen Mary, when princess: which title has been also, as in the case of her mother, blotted with ink.) another manuscript "ad Usum Sarum," of an earlier date, about 1350,67 will shew that they varied but little in their contents. This has a Calendar, the Hours, the seven penitential psalms: the xv Psalms: the Litany: Dirge Commendations: and prayers of the Passion. But not only were manuscripts ornamented; many of the printed editions, especially those from the foreign presses, and of Paris in particular, are matchless specimens of typography, ornamented with an almost endless variety of woodcuts, large and small, copying the ancient illuminations: with decorated calendars, and margins covered with grotesque borders, or little representations of sacred histories, or the dance of death. Among such editions, those by Kerver, and Simon Vostre of Paris, are the most beautiful. I have entered at some length into the subject of the Horæ, in another part of this work,68 to which the reader may refer, and I shall now think it only necessary to add the full table of contents of one of these complete editions. • Title. "Hore presentes ad vsum Sarum impresse fuerunt Parisiis pro Symone vostre: librario commorante ibidem in vico nuncupato nouo beate Marie. in intersignio sancti Johannis euangeliste." 8vo. 1507. At the end. "The contentis of thys booke. The Kalender. : The foye gospelles. And the passion. A prayer 67 In my possession. printed abroad: and therefore 68 Dissertation on the Prymer would (not improbably) have nuin English. 69 The reader must remember that this, and very many editions of English books of that age were merous errors in those instances in which the vulgar tongue was corrected by people who commonly knew but little of it. This will to the trinite. auxiliatrix. Another. piissime deus. Crux triumphalis. Wyth the colet of the thre Kynges. To the crosse. Crucem tuam. To answere the preest atte masse whan he sayth, Orate pro me fratres. O anima christi. In entryng the chirche and takyng holy water. Domine in multitudine. aqua benedicta. Discedite a me. O bone iesu tu nouisti. A prayer for carnal delectacion. Another for tentacion of the flesche. A prayer for diuerse oures of the day. A prayer of seynt augustin. in the nyge. (night.). A prayer of seynt anselme. Pater noster. Aue maria: and Credo. A confession general. Suscipere digneris. account for such a word as foye, evidently intended for four. To give an idea of French printing of English, the following is an extract from a most curious edition of the Manner to live and to die well. It is part of one of the pains of hell, immediately below a descriptive and most horrible woodcut. 66 Thayr was oon greyt qwantyte of saowllys of men & women that war glowttons, et so gret oon nombyr that wyth payn they myght nombyr them. the qwych inpunyshon of theyr glowtonny was fyllyt by the dewyllys of padokys, serpentys, et heddars, and. aspys, et others bestys, wenymews and abbrewyt.-Et theyr vas theyr Beelphebor Dewyl of hel captayn of the sayd glowtons wyth company of other syndry dewyllys, qwych strenges by merweylows strangeyng, et sorowful et dreydabyl fygurys, the whych swellys the sayd saowllys et in corporys in theym the sayd serpens." Sign. v.iij. I do not hesitate to assert that the above is not an unfavourable specimen of the book. From a copy in my possession: in my possession: Date about 1490. Folio. 70"Pro vera pœnitentia." A prayer tofore thou receyue the sacrament. Another whan thou hast receyued it. Certnyn (certain) collectis for synnes. For unclen thoughtis. For the king. For thy frend lyuing. For way faryngmen. For ty (thy) frende beynge seke. For thy fader and moder deed. For thy frendis deed. For all lyuing and deed. Matines of oure lady with prime and the houres, wyth the houres of the passion of oure lorde. And of the compassion of oure lady. Salue regina wyth the versis. De profundis for alle cristen soules. A prayer to our lady and seynt iohon theuangelyst. O intemerata. Another to thyen " Sancta maria regina. Stella celi. Prayers to the sacrament atte leuacion. Aue verum corpus. And another to the trynite. Sancta trinitas unus deus. Deus qui superbis. Deus qui liberasti. Two lytil prayers, whyche kyng harry the sixth made. Domine iesu christe qui me creasti. Domine iesu christe qui solus. Item two prayers wyth .ij. collectis to the thre kynges of coleyn. rex iaspar. &c. And trium regum trium munus. The xv. houres of the passion of our lorde."? 71 There are three prayers not noticed, before the "Sancta Maria regina." Query, thyen? 72 More commonly "the xv oos." Adoro te domine iesu christe wyth indulgences. A deuoute prayer to our lord crucified and to hys fyue woundes. O pie crucifixe. . The prayer of saynt bernardyn. O bone iesu. wyth anthem and colet. O rex gloriose. To the crosse. Sanctifica me. To the propre angel. O sancte angele. Diuerse commemoracions to these saintes folowing. Tho saint iames the more. To saynt sebastyan. To saynt george. To saynt anne. To saynt iames the lasse. To saynt martyn. To saynt antony. To vi. thousand virgines. To alle seyntes. To saynt apolyn. Two deuout prayers in english to iesu. Deuoute prayers to be said in the agonye or (of?) deth and also dayly. A deuote prayer to the fader. Another to the sone. And the thyrd to the holy goost. A special prayer late shewe (shewed) to a monke of Vynham. Deus propicius esto wyth a colet to sainct michel. An anteme wyth a colet to sainct gabriel. Another to saint raphael. A deuote blessyng. The .vij. psalmes. xv. psalmes wyth the letanye and suffrages. The .viij. versis of saint bernard. Thre short prayers taught by our lady to seynt brigitte. A prayer ayenst thonder and tempeste shewed by an angel to seynt edward. Titulus triumphalis iesus. Placebo, dirige, and commendacyon. |