Page:A dictionary of printers and printing.djvu/297

 ■

288 ■

HISTORY OF PRINTING.

and mcrclliMntes, and all others, that (without licence had of hym, that at his costesand charges printed tUs boke) they in no wyse do print, or utter in Side, or otherwyse at any place with in our savd Mverayne lordes dominions, this booke entitufcd and called Thenglyshe primer, at any tyuie witliin six years next after the nrynting hereof, as they will answer at theyr peryUes, and auoydc the penalties mentioned m the privilege hereunto graunted.

Inipreuted at London in Flete stiele by John Byddell, dwellyng at the signe of the Sonne, next to tlie Conduit, for Wylliam Marshall, the yere of our lorde God m.d.xxxv. the xri. daye of June.

The principal device used by Byddell was an upriglit parallelogram, contained within one line, and consisting of a large ill-drawn fig^ire, repre- scntiug his sign of ife Lady of Pitv. She is delineated as an angel with out-stretched wings, holdinjJT two elegant horns or torches; of which that on the left hand is pouring out a kind of stream terminating in drops, and is marked on the side with the word Gratia, in a thick black let- ter: the right hand horn contains fire, and is lettered Charitas. The lower ends of these horns arc rested by the angel upon two rude hejvtcr shields, surrounded by double lines, on the left one of which is engraven H Johan Byd- dell, Printer, in small broken black letters, and on the other is the annexed mark. Round the head of the figure are the words, "Virtus beates efiicit," engraven in rude black characters.

i

Byddell also used the above mark, cut on a black pronnd; and he sometimes added to his large device the letters I and B, enclosed by flourishings, with his name at full length placed at the bottom of the whole.

1544, In this year was printed at Basil a verjr rare work, with this title: — Paiquillorum, Tomi Duo.* The first containing the verse, and the second the prose pasquinades or satires which

« The statoeof Patqtdn (from whence the word patguin. age) and tbatoTlCutforio ue placed In Rome in two differ- ent quartcn. Marfbrto la en ancient statue of Mara found in the Forum, which the peofde have corrupted into Mar. forio. Paiqnin is a maffde statae, greatly mutilated, sup- poRcd tn be the figure of a g;ladiator. To one or oUier of these statues, diurlng; the concealment of the nigrht, are affixed those satires or lampoons which the authors wish should be dispersed about Rome without any danger to themsci vcs. These satirical statues are placed at opposite ends of the town, so that there is always sufficient time to make Marfoiio reply to the i^bes and jeers of Paaquin in walking from one to the other.

had appeared at Rome; and formed an ingeni- ous substitute for publishing to the world, what no Roman newspaper would dare to print.

Misson, in his Travels tn Italy, gives the fol- lowing account of the origin of the name of the statue of Patquin: — ^"A satirical tailor, who lived at Rome, and whose name was Patgvin, amused himself by severe raillery, liberally bestowed on those who passed by his shop; which in time became the lounge of the news- mongers. The tailor had precisely the talents to head a regiment of satirical wits ; and had he had time to publuh, he would have been the Peter Pindar of his day; but his genius seemed to have been satisfied to rest crosslegged on his shopboard. When any lampoons or amusing bon-mots were current at Rome, they were usuallv called, from bis shop, patquinada. After his death this statue of an ancient gladia- tor was found upon the pavement of his shop. It was soon set up, and by universal consent was inscribed with his name; and they still attempt to raise him frt>m the dead, and keep the caustic tailor alive, in the marble gladiator of wit.

Salleng^, in his Literary Memoirt, has given an account of this work; his own copy had formerly belonged to Daniel Heinsius, wno, in two verses written in his hand, describes its rarity and the price it cost.

Roma meoa firatrea igni dedit, noica Phoenix Vivo, aureisque venio centum Ueinsio.

'* Rome gave my brothers to the flames, but I survive, a solitary Phoenix. Helnsins bought me tot a hnndrad golden ducats."

This collection contains a great number of pieces, composed at different times, against the popes, cardinals, &c. They are not indeed materials for the historian, and they must be taken with grains of allowance. We find sar- castic epigrams on Leo X., and the infamotts Lucretia of Alexander YI.: even the corrupt Romans of the day were capable of expressing themselves with the utmost freedom. Of Alex- ander VI. we have an apology for his conduct.

Vendit Alexander daves, altaria, (Huistum, Emerat ille pilus, vendere jure potest.

"Alexander telU the keys, the altars, and Christ; As he bought them Arst, he had a right to seU (*<» /"

On Lucretia: —

Hoc tumolo dormit Lucretia nomine, sed re Thais j Alexandrl Alia, sponsa, nurua !

" Beneath this stone sleeps Lucretia by name, but by nature Thais, the daughter, the wife, and the daughter-in- law of Alexander I"

Leo X. was a frequent butt for the arrows of Pasquin: —

Sacra sub extrema, si forte requiritis, bora Cur Leo non potnit sumerej Tendiderat.

" Do yon ask why Leo did not take the sacrament on his death-bed I How could he ? He had sold it !"

Many of these satirical touches depend on puns. Urban VII. one of the Barberini family, pillaged the padtheon of brass to make cannon, on v^ich occasion Pasquin was made to say: — Quod non fecemnt Barbari Rome, fcdt Barkrnit.

VjOOQ IC