CHAPTER V.

1483-1487.

The publication of the _Liber Festivalis_ on the last day of June, 1483, marks the beginning of a new group of books, for in it first appears a recasting of type No. 4 on a slightly larger body, and with one or two different letters, thus giving us a clear date by which to divide all books in this type into two divisions.

The _Liber Festivalis_, or _Festial_ as it should more properly be called, was compiled by John Mirk, canon of the abbey of St. Mary at Lilleshall, in Shropshire. It was intended, as the compiler tells us, to supply short sermons for ignorant priests to expound to their congregations on saints' days, and the stories were obtained from the _Golden Legend_ and the _Gesta Romanorum_. It was in no way a service book, though often so considered, indeed, it is included in Dickinson's _List of printed service books according to the ancient uses of the Anglican Church_, but was more in the nature of a preacher's assistant, such as are published to the present day, giving a series of headings and anecdotes applicable to particular subjects.

This first edition of Caxton's differs considerably in the text from all later editions, which follow the version printed at Oxford by Rood and Hunte in 1486.

It is a folio of 116 leaves, of which the first is blank, and has 38 lines to the page.

With it was issued a supplement of 30 leaves, called _Quattuor Sermones_, which were homilies on such matters as the Seven Sacraments, Seven Deadly Sins, and the like.

About this time was issued the _Sex Epistolae_, edited by Petrus Carmelianus, an Italian scholar settled in England, who afterwards became Latin secretary to Henry VII. The letters were published in the interest of the Venetians, who were indignant at the separate terms made between Pope Sixtus IV. and the Duke of Ferrara.

This book, one of the earliest known separate publications of diplomatic correspondence, is quite different in character from any of Caxton's other books, except perhaps the _Oration_ of John Russell. The only known copy of the tract was discovered in 1874 in the Hecht-Heine Library at Halberstadt, bound up in a volume of late theological pamphlets, by Dr. Könnecke, Archivist at Marburg, and after various cautious overtures, was finally secured by the trustees for the British Museum. It is a very uninteresting-looking quarto of 24 leaves, of which the first is blank. Lidgate's _Life of Our Lady_, a folio of 96 leaves, appeared about this time. There were apparently two editions issued, one of which has almost entirely disappeared, with the exception of a few leaves, which evidently varied very considerably in the text. Blades mentions only the one edition, and in this connexion a rather curious and amusing point may be noticed. When he published his _Enemies of Books_ he was anxious to give an illustration of the ravages of a book-worm, and for this purpose gave a fac-simile of two fragments of a Caxton almost destroyed by these pests. Now, the very pages which he reproduced were from this variant edition of the _Life of Our Lady_, and yet, not thinking of comparing them with the ordinary edition, he missed the opportunity of adding another to his list of Caxtons.

The second edition of Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_, also ascribed to the year 1483, is an interesting book in many ways. The prologue shows very strongly how much enthusiasm Caxton took in the literary side of his work. I give the following quotation in his own words: "Whyche