FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

type. Mr. Ottley seems to have formed a decided pinion, that the Biblia Pauperum and the Speculur Salvationis were both executed by the

same artist.

In Bibliography these books are described under two classes; namely, Books of Images without Text; and Books of Images with Text. Of the former class, the most celebrated specimen is the volume called the Biblia Pauperum; and of the latter, the Speculum Humane Falvationis is in the highest estimation.

not in the power of such a distinguished character
as Humphrey duke of Gloucester, to prevent his
duchess from being brought to an open trial, and
sentenced to a public penance and imprisonment
for life, upon an accusation of this kind.*
1433. Sixty-six pounds thirteen shillings and
fourpence, was paid for transcribing a copy of
the works of Nicholas de Lyra, in two vols. to
be chained in the library of Grey Friars, London.
It is most probable, however, that the illumina-
tions, as well as the ornaments, probably included
in the sum; if not the materials used, at least
the workmanship.

The Speculum Salvationis is the most celerated block book in the annals of typographical Sir Richard Whittington (the famed lord Catroversy; if indeed the appellation of block ock can properly be given to it, in which the mayor of London,) built the library of the Grey text accompanying the figures, is printed for Friars, now called Christ's Hospital, in London, Le most part with moveable characters: in one which was one hundred and twenty-nine feet ration of it, and in the other editions, entirely long, and twelve broad, (Pennant says thirty-one) 4. In truth, says Mr. Ottley, it seems to hold with twenty-eight desks, and eight double settles distant place, midway between the ordinary of wainscot; and was also ceiled with wainscot. os, printed entirely from engraved wooden In three years it was filled with books to the Borks, and the first specimen of typography in value of £556; of which Sir Richard contributed 's mature state; and is therefore independent of £400, and Dr. Thomas Winchelsey, a friar, of the Augustine's, supplied the rest. intrinsic merit, particularly interesting. The Latin edition is comprised in thirty-one sheets Walden, a learned Carmelite friar, who went by ad a half; and in the Dutch the introduction order of Henry V. to the council of Constance. cruples only four leaves, and consequently there and died approved in 1430, bequeathed to the are only sixty-two leaves in the whole. The same library as many MSS. of authors, written tk when entire, is composed of a preface, and in capital-roman characters, as were then estifive chapters in prose Latin, with rhyth-mated at more than two thousand pieces of goi 1; cal terminations to the lines, produced about

1446.

The change and improvement from the manin which these books of images were executed to moveable wooden characters, seems obvious and not difficult; but there is no evidence that they were ever used, except in the capital letters fe early printed books.

1431. About this period, Whethamstede, the leaned and liberal abbot of St. Albans, being deireas of familiarising the history of his patron want to the monks of his convent, employed Lydgate, as it should seem, then a monk of Bury, translate the Latin legend of his life in English rhymes. It was placed before the altar that saint, which Whethamstede afterwards red with much magnificence, in the abbey He paid for the translation, writing, and illumination of the legend one hundred lings, and expended on the binding and other or ornaments upwards of three pounds. The monk, who mentions it, and who lived after when it was still unfinished, exclaims, God grant that this work may receive, in our a happy consummation."-Warton's Hisf English Poetry.

Thomas

and adds, that this library, even in his time, exceeded all others in London, for multitude of books, and antiquity of copies.

The postillst of de Lyra are brief commentaries which he carried through the whole bible. They were formerly in great request. De Lyra is commended for having made the literal sense his primary object: but his writings partake strongly of the scholastic character. He obtained in the schools the appellation of doctor utilis.

Nicholas de Lyra of Normandy was, as some He assumed the pretend, a converted Jew. habit of the Friars Minors, 1291: came to Paris, and, for a considerable time, expounded the scriptures with applause in the convent of his order. He obtained the patronage of Jane of Burgundy, wife of Philip V., surnamed the long, who appointed him one of her executors. De Lyra died at a very advanced age, October 23, Both Luther and Wiclif were 1340.

con

* Roger Bolinbroke, chaplain to the Duke of Gloucester, Margery Jourdain, the witch of Eye, and their associates, being accused of necromancy, were publicly exposed at St. Paul's, in July, 1441, and on the 21st of October follow

ing, Mrs. Jourdain was condemned to be burnt for furnishing love-potions to Eleanor Cobham, wife to the Duke , May 30. Joan of Arc burned at Rouen. of Gloucester.-See Shakspeare's Henry VI. + The term postilla frequently adopted by the commen. The peral ignorance and barbarity of the times tators of period, was generally applied to those explanatory arked by several curious and very striking notes after the text, and was probably derived from the illa to be a corruption from posta a page.-Du Cangd. tances. When Joan of Arc, the heroic Latin postea, or postilla, unless we suppose the word post. As to the term postilla so often given to these early anOrleans was cruelly put to death, the their condemnation of her, were influ- notations, Lomeir says that Alcuin, preceptor of Charlemagne, by order of that monarch, first collected the homilies haerious opinion that she was a sorceress, of the fathers upon those portions of the gospels which are hipper of the devil. Indeed, the in- termed in the Breviary" Dominicalir," and as these homifation with the respect of the belief of witch-lies were to be read after the gospels, respectively, hence Cat have been irresistable, when it was

the terms "Post illa," which in process of time were joined together, and converted into a nown "fœminini generis."

siderably indebted to his Postilla; for it has been | his genius may possibly be questioned. In this affirmed, that

Somewhere about this time he appears to have attached himself to a young lady called ISERNEN 1437, Feb. 21. James I. King of Scotl THURE, of the christian name of Anne, and murdered at Perth. The character of this whom, there is every reason to think, he even-reign shines with distinguished excellence in tually married. Whether she brought him any literary annals of his country. The misfort property, or whether the sweets of love gave a more fortunate, as well as more ardent turn to

FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

of his youth, his early and long captivity, the in- | cident which gave rise to his passion, its purity, constancy, and happy issue, are all displayed by invention and fancy, by genuine simplicity of sentiment, and by the felicity of poetical description. To his knowledge of the Greek and Latin languages, the last of which he is represented as having written with ease, he added an acquaintance with the philosophy of the age. But the studies to which he was more particularly deVoted were those of poetry and music. Various Werks were written by him, both in prose and verse, most of which are unfortunately lost. Four of James's pieces, which have happily escaped the depredations of time, are a Song on his Mistress; The King's Quair; Peblis to the Play; and Christ's Kirk on the Green. The King's Quair is a poem of large extent, being divided into six cantos. Its theme is the royal author's love to Jane, daughter to the Earl of Somerset, a beautiful lady, of whom he became enamoured while a prisoner at the castle of Windsor, and who was afterwards his queen. Several men of ingenuity and taste have contended that James is little if at all inferior to Chaucer. If the former's Court of Venus be compared to the latter's Court of Love, the royal author will lose nothing by the comparison. The Je, in particular, of King James, is painted with a beauty and delicacy that are not equalled in Chancer's Rosial. It is to be lamented that ay of the graces of the King's Quair are concealed, at least from common view in the antiquity of the language.

Three other Scottish poets are named in this period, but they are, on the whole, contemptible, when compared with the monarch of the country. Andrew Winton, a canon regular of St. Andrew's, and prior of the monastery in Lochleven, and who preceded James the First, wrote in verse a very age chronicle of Scotland. Notwithstanding his mode of composition, he ought, perhaps, ather to be considered as an historian than a poet. His work, which is valuable so far as it relates to his own country, and which contains Materials not to be met with in Fordun, whom had never seen, has not to our knowledge been pablished. It would be a desirable accession to he history of North Britain. Holland was the thor of a poem entitled The Howlat, which us to have described the poetical employand the musical entertainments of the Heary, the minstrel, who, on account of being blind from his birth, is usually called Harry, composed the Life of Wallace. It ance, like Barbour's Bruce, but not to be with it in point of excellence. At the time, it is not destitute of merit, and there Arious things in it which cannot fail to the curiosity of the antiquary and the

Lydgate, a monk of the Benedictine abBury, in Suffolk, was the poet whose putation stands the highest among the English of this age. He possessed the advantage as good an education as the times could afford.

After having studied at Oxford, he travelled for
improvement into France and Italy. Here he
acquired the knowledge not only of the language,
but of the literature of these countries, and paid
a very particular attention to the poetry of both
nations. Besides obtaining an acquaintance with
all the polite learning which was then cultivated,
he was no inconsiderable proficient in the fashion-
able philosophy and theology of his cotemporaries.
The vivacity of his genius, and the versatility of
his talents, enabled him to write a great number
of poems, extremely diversified in their subjects,
and in the nature of their composition. His three
chief productions were the Fall of Princes, the
Siege of Thebes, and the Destruction of Troy;
he likewise composed a procession of pageants
from the Creation. Lydgate is to be reckoned
among the improvers of the English tongue.
His language is uncommonly perspicuous for the
times he lived in, and his verses frequently excite
surprise from their modest cast. He seems to
have been ambitious, at least in the structure and
modulation of his style, of having rivalled Chau-
cer; but undoubtedly he was far inferior to him
in the grand requisites of poetical excellence.
His mode of writing is diffuse, and he is not
distinguished by animation or pathos. Never-
theless, he is not destitute of beauties; and his
Destruction of Troy, in particular, displays much
power of description, in conjunction with clear
He died in the year
and harmonious numbers.
1440, and was buried in the monastery at Bury.
Having dwelt so largely on the poetical his-
tory of this period, for which the materials are

more copious than for most other articles, and
which will always constitute a prime object in a
view of the progress of taste and literature, we
proceed to the rest of the polite arts, concerning
the rest of which, however, there is little to be
said. Although the civil wars of the fifteenth
century were a great hindrance to the erection of
magnificent buildings, at least by private per-
sons, a skill in architecture, where there was an
opportunity of displaying it, was by no means
upon the decline. That species of it which hath
commonly, though improperly, been styled the
Gothic, was gradually improved, and carried to
its highest pitch of perfection. Of this several
striking examples may be mentioned; such as
the chapel of King's College at Cambridge, the
Divinity School at Oxford, the collegiate church
at Fotheringay, and the chapel of St. George at
Windsor. The most admired of these structures
is King's College chapel at Cambridge, which
was erected by that pious prince, Henry the
Sixth. It is distinguished by its lightness, lofti-
ness, and beauty, and the contemplation of it
will afford peculiar pleasure to men of taste and
judgment.

Sculpture and statuary did not decline in this age, or fail of receiving ample encouragement. In fact, the artists in these branches had fuller employment, and obtained higher rewards than had been conferred upon them in former times. The very opposite which was made, by the followers of Wiclif, to the veneration and worship

of images, contributed to this event. Hence the | clergy were more solicitous to please the people by the elegant and splendid execution of works of this nature: nor were their efforts unsuccessful.

fied, till the manuscripts, which lay buried and neglected, were brought to light. The researches of literary men were chiefly directed to this point; every part of Europe and Greece was ransacked; and, the glorious end considered, there was something sublime in this humble industry, which often recovered a lost author of antiquity, and gave one more classic to the world. This occu

Sepulchral architecture, in particular, was advanced to much perfection in the present period. The monuments were adorned with statues, and with figures in basso and alto re-pation was caried on with enthusiasm, and a kind lievo, and the public taste in this respect called forth the abilities of the sculptor and the statuary. It is to the honour of our country that the English artists were of equal reputation with those of other kingdoms, and were occasionally employed by foreign princes. Thomas Colyn, Thomas Holewell, and Thomas Poppehowe, were engaged to make the alabaster tomb of John the Fourth, Duke of Brittany. The work was executed by them in London, after which they carried it over, and erected it in the cathedral of Nantes. Of five artists who were appointed to construct the monument of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, and to adorn it with images, four were natives of England. The images, besides a large one representing the earl, were thirty-two in number. In an age when almost every person of rank and wealth had a monument erected to his memory, with his effigies upon it, either in free-stone, marble, or metal, it was impossible but that the zeal and emulation of the artists must have been excited, and some degree of improvement be hence communicated to their arts.

At this period the pay of a labourer was threepence per day; a quarter of wheat was sold for five shillings to five shillings and sixpence; a quarter of malt, four shillings; clothing for a servant for a year, four shillings; a quarter of oats, two shillings; a flitch of bacon, one shilling and eightpence; a yard of cloth for a shepherd, one shilling; two gallons of ale, threepence.

The countess of Anjou paid for a copy of the Homilies of bishop Haiman, two hundred sheep, five quarters of wheat, five quarters of barley, and five quarters of millet. Picolimini relates, that eighty golden crowns were demanded for a small part of the works of Plutarch, and sixteen golden crowns for a few tracts of Seneca.

of mania possessed many who exhausted their fortunes in distant voyages and profuse prices. The acquisition of a province would not have given so much satisfaction as the discovery of an author little known, or not known at all. Some of the half-witted, who joined in this great hunt, were often thrown out, and some paid high for manuscripts not authentic. In reading the correspondence of the learned Italians of these times, their adventures of manuscript hunting are very amusing: and their raptures, their congratula tions, or at times their condolence, and even their censures, are all immoderate. It is curious to observe that in these vast importations into Italy of manuscripts from Asia, John Aurispas, who brought many hundreds of Greek manuscripts, laments that he had chosen more profane than sacred writers; which circumstance was owing to the Greeks, who would not so easily part with theological works, but they did not highly value profane writers!

These manuscripts were discovered in the ob scurest recesses of monasteries; they were not always imprisoned in libraries, but rotting in dark unfrequented corners with rubbish. It required not less ingenuity to find out places where t grope in, than to understand the value of the acquisition. It sometimes happened that manu scripts were discovered in the last agonies of existence. Papirius Masson found, in the house of a bookbinder at Lyons, the works of Agobart the binder was on the point of using the manu scripts to line the covers of his books. A page of the second decade of Livy it is said was found by a man of letters in the parchment of his battledore, while he was amusing himself in the country. He hastened to the maker of the battledore-but arrived too late! The man had finished the last page of Livy-about a week before. The original manuscript of Justinian's code was discovered by the Pisans, accidentally, when they took a city in Calabria; that vast code of laws had been in a manner unknown from the time of that emperor. This curious book was brought to Pisa; and when Pisa was taken by the Florentines, was transferred to Florence, where it is still preserved. The most valuable copy of Tacitus, of whom so much is wanting, was discovered in a monastery of Westphalia. It is a curious circumstance in literary history, that we should owe Tacitus to this single copy; for the Roman emperor of that name had copies of the works of his illustrious ancestor placed in all the libraries of the empire, and every year had ten copies transcribed; but the Roman libraries seem to have been all destaken by the second Mahomet, in May, 1453. The beautiful troyed, and the imperial protection availed no

The revival of Greek literature in Italy is dated from this time, when Europe could boast of fifty universities. Italy had above five hundred associations like our societies, called academies, for general or particular pursuits. Petrarch, Boccacio, and Chrysoloras, was then dead; but Poggio and Aretin still flourished with the elder Medicis, and Chalcocondyles, Pope Nicholas V. Pulci, and Boiardo soon followed in their illustrious train. Long before the fall of Constantinople, the love of classical literature had been gradually reviving ;-that event increased it, by compelling a great number of learned Greeks to seek shelter in Italy. But it could not be grati

* Constantinople, the capital of the Greek empire was

Irene whose fate was dramatised by Dr. Johnson, was one of the captives.

thing against the teeth of time.