GOWER, John. De confessione Amantis. London: Thomas Berthelet, 12 March, 1554. 2° in sixes (246 x 170 mm). Collation: * 6, A-Z 6, Aa-Ii 6 (-Ii6 final blank). Black letter in double column, woodcut title-border, several woodcut initials, (a few corners repaired, primarily to first quire, a few headlines trimmed, a very few contemporary annotations, faint water-stain to bottom margin, some scattered ink stains to a few leaves). Early 19th century mottled calf, gilt rules to sides, (corners rubbed, hinges starting, spine head chipped, flaking to spine). Provenance: a few annotations in several early hands, including one to the title-page: 'For the King, John Trumball' -- Thomas Edward Watson (bookplate; by descent to the present owners). THIRD EDITION, after Caxton's first of 1483 and Berthelet's own second of 1532. Jackson considers Berthelet's edition 'textually an improvement over [Caxton]. It is also a good example of workmanlike printing, much above the average English work of the period.' Gower's only English poem, written between 1386-1390 in eight-syllable rhymed lines, includes more than a hundred separate tales drawn from a wide range of classical and medieval sources. The story of Pericles occurs in the eighth book under the name of 'Apollonius of Tyre'. It was drawn from the Gesta Romanorum and provided Shakespeare with the plot of Pericles (first printed in 1609), a play where Gower himself appears as a chorus. Johnson wrote in his Dictionary : 'He that reads the works of Gower will find smooth numbers and easy rhymes, of which Chaucer is supposed to have been the inventor, and the French words, whether good or bad, of which Chaucer is charged as the inventor.' Pforzheimer 422; ESTC S120946.
GOWER, John. De confessione Amantis. London: Thomas Berthelet, 12 March, 1554. 2° in sixes (246 x 170 mm). Collation: * 6, A-Z 6, Aa-Ii 6 (-Ii6 final blank). Black letter in double column, woodcut title-border, several woodcut initials, (a few corners repaired, primarily to first quire, a few headlines trimmed, a very few contemporary annotations, faint water-stain to bottom margin, some scattered ink stains to a few leaves). Early 19th century mottled calf, gilt rules to sides, (corners rubbed, hinges starting, spine head chipped, flaking to spine). Provenance: a few annotations in several early hands, including one to the title-page: 'For the King, John Trumball' -- Thomas Edward Watson (bookplate; by descent to the present owners). THIRD EDITION, after Caxton's first of 1483 and Berthelet's own second of 1532. Jackson considers Berthelet's edition 'textually an improvement over [Caxton]. It is also a good example of workmanlike printing, much above the average English work of the period.' Gower's only English poem, written between 1386-1390 in eight-syllable rhymed lines, includes more than a hundred separate tales drawn from a wide range of classical and medieval sources. The story of Pericles occurs in the eighth book under the name of 'Apollonius of Tyre'. It was drawn from the Gesta Romanorum and provided Shakespeare with the plot of Pericles (first printed in 1609), a play where Gower himself appears as a chorus. Johnson wrote in his Dictionary : 'He that reads the works of Gower will find smooth numbers and easy rhymes, of which Chaucer is supposed to have been the inventor, and the French words, whether good or bad, of which Chaucer is charged as the inventor.' Pforzheimer 422; ESTC S120946.
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
