Brwynllys, D. ap Meredydd, Griff. ap Llewelyn, Owen ap Llewelyn, Sion Keri, Ieuan Ddu'r Bilwg, Lewys Morganwg, Dafydd Llwyd, William Cynwal,' among others, warrant the conclusions we have here advanced. In their triennial circuits the bards of the late mediaeval period passed from monastery to priory, and from one country house to another, gaining easy entry by means of their bardic licence. The recital of their own works was a means of education to the people they visited; and they served them further by tracing and emblazoning their pedigrees, copying books of poetry and other literature for them in vellum volumes, teaching their children, and celebrating the virtues of the family or community in adulatory verse. In return they enjoyed the full hospitality of each house, including the use of its library, and a pecuniary reward—ranging from one shilling to forty-was not forgotten at their departure. Peniarth MS. 178 contains a list of the fees collected by the sixteenth-century poet Rhys Kain, during his absence from home between Christmas and Epiphany. The sum amounted to £23 2s. 6d. As a record it is probably unique, for Rhys's "Book of Circuits" (Llyfr Clera)-the only exemplar we are able to trace perished in the disastrous fire which destroyed the Wynnstay Library in 1858. The custom of reading aloud to the brethren of the monasteries was probably observed in Wales as in England, and it is not surprising that a monotonous recital of Gregory's "Moralia" would induce nodding in one corner and gossip in another. The lives of the saints were read in the religious houses as their anniversaries came round, and a large number of these lections are extant in Welsh MSS. The crowds that flocked to the monasteries to seek food in hard times would probably have homilies preached to them before their departure. Margam was celebrated for its munificence as early as the twelfth century, as Giraldus Cambrensis has recorded. As the communal rules grew laxer with wealthier times the old lore of the Principality, largely intermixed with charming fables, would find greedy auditors among the very 1 These names are not in chronological order. human people who occupied the cloisters, and whose superstitious minds were closely attuned to the glamour of such "historias". The bards of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries have given us glowing pictures of the sumptuous feasting at monastic tables, and the excellence of the wine has been described in superlative terms. But, as was to be expected, they have modestly omitted the part they themselves played in amusing their hosts by reciting poems of princely deeds, pæans to Mary and the Saints, and laudatory addresses to the abbots. A large number of these compositions, still extant in manuscript, tell their own tale. They sustain, in part only, De Bury's charge against the monks of his time, of loving "Liber Bacchus" only too well, and neglecting the other codex. Liber Codex is neglected And with scornful hand rejected In this regard, perhaps the South Wales monasteries. stand somewhat higher than those of the North. It is from the poetic effusions of the bards of the northern houses that we hear most frequently of the monastic tables flowing with rivers of wine. On the other hand, the palæographers tell us that the larger share of the MSS., and of the "historia" and romance writing, belong to South Wales. (To be continued.) WHERE WAS SOMMARIVA'S "BATRACHOMYO WHAT MACHIA" PRINTED? BY WILLIAM E. A. AXON, LL.D. HAT was the first book printed in Verona? The question has excited some curiosity and considerable diversity of opinion among bibliographers. The modern authorities regard the fine folio "De Re Militari" of Valturius, which was printed by John of Verona in the year 1472 as the first fruit of the Veronese press. But Sommariva's Italian version of the "Batracomiomachia" has a colophon which reads: "Verone die XV Januarii MCCCC LXX". The older writers accept this, without hesitation, as a proof that it is Verona's first book. But the nineteenth century was a sceptical age, and Dibdin argued stoutly that it was not printed at Verona and was not printed in 1470. Dibdin and Cavattoni and Giuliari argue that the date of 1470 refers to the translation not to the printing; that if it had been printed in Verona some copies would still be in the city as was actually the case with the Valturius of 1472; and that the colophon to the last named is an explicit denial of any earlier publication. This colophon reads: "Johannes ex verona oriundus: Nicolai cyrugiae medici filius: artis impressoriae magister: hunc de re militari elegantissimum : litteris et figuratis signis sua in patria primus impressit: An. MCCCCLXXII". Dibdin somewhat vaguely suggests that the printer was of Venice, Parma, Bologna, or Florence; "more probably the latter". But Valsecchi points to the absence of signatures and some irregularities in the lines as signs of early date, and, in the absence of the printer's name, Sommariva's book is only one of a crowd. To the four towns in which Dibdin thought it might have been printed why not add a fifth? Some of the early printers were known to go from town to town. It is of course certain that the Sommariva of 1470 and the Valturius of 1472 are not in the same type. In reply to the argument that no copies of Sommariva were to be found at Verona-not a very weighty argument-Valsecchi cited the evidence of Maffei who had seen it though his evidence antedates it by a year. Biadego also urges that John of Verona in his colophon does not claim to be the first printer in Verona, but that he was the first to print in his native country the book of Valturius. Let us now turn to the book of "1470". Of Giorgio Sommariva little seems to be known. He was born at Verona in 1435, was a doctor of laws, and afterwards professor of military art at Verona. In 1488 he was governor of Gradisca, and he died about the end of the fifteenth century. He translated the Satires of Juvenal which was printed in 1480. This was dedicated to Pietro Mocenigo, Doge of Venice, by the author in a "Sonetto colla cauda". His version is usually regarded as poor and rough in style. But in his own day he was praised by contemporaries from the Doge downwards. His "Rime" are mentioned, and are described by Maffei as few and bad. The fullest account of him is that by Giulio Guicciardini. So much for the author. He has no hesitation in assigning the humorous account of the battle of the frogs and mice to Homer though a modern scholar would go to the stake rather than sanction the ascription.1 There is a fine copy of this excessively rare tract in the John Rylands Library at Manchester, where it forms part of the famous Spencer collection. It is a small quarto book 1 There are references to Sommariva in the following: "Giornale de' Literati d'Italia" of Zeno, T. VIII, p. 45 (1711); Argelati: "Biblioteca degli Volgarizzatori" (1747), T. II, p. 175; T. III, p. 81; T. IV, pp. 2, 518; Maffei : "Verona illustrata," T. III, p. 134; Cavattoni: "L'antica stampa veronese (1853); Valsecchi: "Tre lettere . . . intorno il primo libro stampato in Verona " (1877); Dibdin: "Bibliotheca Spenceriana," Vol. IV, p. 44; Vol. VII, p. 31; Giuliari: "Della tipografia veronese (1871); Giuliari: "Della letteratura veronese al cadere del secolo XV" (1876); Biadego: "Da Libri e Manoscritti " (1883, p. 207); Michaud : "Biographie Universelle " (art. Sumaripa); Guicciardini: “La più antica traduzione in volgare della ‘Batracomiomachia'” (Bibliofilia, T. IX, p. 329). The last named is an excellent example of the scientific method of pursuing such an inquiry. let of ten leaves without pagination, foliation, or signatures. It measures 180 mm. by 128 mm. The watermarks are a pair of scales and an anchor. Of the first folio the recto is blank, the verse contains a dedicatory sonnet by Sommariva. The title begins at the top of the recto of the second folio which has also nineteen lines of text. A full page contains twenty-five lines. The colophon is: "Verone die, xv. Ianuarii. M.CCCC.LXX". The text of the version is thus introduced: Batrochomyomachia. i. ranarum murum pugna Homeri poetae clarissimi p Georgiu summaripam ueronensem uernaculum sermonem traducta ad sp. Nicolaum pontanum patauinum iufconsultum. It may be noticed that he misspells the title of the book he translates. As a specimen of his powers we may take the dedicatory sonnet : Georgius Summaripa Veronensis Sp. dño Nicolao pontano iurisconsulto patauino salutem Plurimam dicit. S pesso uacando da magior mie cure Per non passar el tempo in ocio uano E perche so che tu non se idiota Ma studioso; dotto: e intelligente Da te emendata fia ellegantemente It has been suggested by Dibdin that the book is not earlier than 1480, but there seems no good reason for so late a date. There is a strong resemblance in the type of Sommariva's book to that used in some of Jenson's publications at Venice. This is the view, amongst others, of the Rylands |