Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 04.djvu/396

 from an old worn-out fount of type which had been discarded by Caxton, and after the stoppage of the press at St. Albans (probably by Cardinal Wolsey) this same fount returned to Westminster, and was actually used by Wynkyn de Worde in his reprints (1496-7) of the two English books which had been issued by the press of St. Albans (, Introd. to the Boke of St, Albans, pp. 17-23).

The first edition of the 'Boke of St. Albans' (1486) consists of four separate treatises on ' Hawking,' 'Hunting,' the 'Lynage of Coote Armiris,' and the 'Blasyng of Armys,' together with a good deal of intercalated matter resembling the subjects usually found at the end of a modern almanac. Warton, Blades, and most moderns consider these treatises as but translations, probably from French manuscripts, much as Cædmon's poems are probably but the versification of previous Saxon paraphrases. Indeed, the colophon at the end of the 'Blasyng of Armys' states: 'Here now endyth the boke of blasyng of armys translatyd and compylyt togedyr at Seynt albons.' There is also internal evidence to the same effect. What seems to render this certain, however, is that in 1883 Messrs. Satchell published the 'Treatyse of Fysshynge with an Angle' from a manuscript in the possession of A. Denison, Esq., which differs considerably in orthography, phrase, and sense from that in the 'Boke of St. Albans;' and Professor Skeat is inclined to assign to it an earlier date than 1400. After full consideration, Haslewood finally attributes to the dame's pen (1) a small portion of the treatise on Hawking; (2) the whole treatise upon Hunting; (3) a short list of the beasts of chase; (4) another short one of beasts and fowls. 'It is plain Julyans Bernes wrote the book of Hunting' ( and Ames, ii. 65, 1810). Chalmers states that 'what relates to the blazing of arms contains no more than abstracts from a performance of Nicholas Upton, written about 1441.' Only three perfect copies of this first edition are known. One is in the Althorp Library, another in the Earl of Pembroke's collection, and the third is in the library of the Earl of Devon. The only copy which has appeared in an auction-room this century (with the exception of that in the Duke of Roxburghe's sale, which was very imperfect) was itself imperfect. It came from the library of Mr. F. L. Popham of Littlecote, and was sold in March 1882 for 600 guineas to Mr. Quaritch.

In the next edition (1496), that of Wynkyn de Worde, first appears the celebrated 'Treatyse on Fysshynge with an Angle.' A hundred years after its first publication the work features, in 1586, as the 'Boke of St. Albans, Hawking, Hunting, Fishing, with the True-Measures of Blowing' (b.l. Printed by Edward Allde, 4to, 6 leaves). During the sixteenth century the 'Boke' was so frequently reprinted, owing to its extreme popularity, as almost to defy the bibliographer's skill. Its 'circulation for a long time vied with and perhaps exceeded that of every other contemporary production of the press of lesser eminence than Holy Writ' (, p. 21).

The first edition of the 'Boke' is illustrated with coats of arms in black and red, but in the second edition, 1496, appear the quaint and celebrated woodcuts. These are three in number. The first consists of a group of men going hawking, while a hawk flies over them, and two dogs like Italian greyhounds run at their side. The costume of the sportsmen is as noticeable as the character of their dogs. In the second appears a 'bevy' or 'sege' of fowls (as the dame orders them to be called), some of which are flying, others swimming, others again standing on the banks of a stream. A lion is seizing one of these which resembles a bittern. The woodcut attached to the 'Treatyse of Fysshynge' is probably better known than the other two, owing to its numerous reproductions. A countryman is engaged with rueful face in angling. His rod and line are extremely primitive. An open tub lies at his side, in which he is intended to place his captives and keep them alive until they could be deposited in the 'stew.'

An excellent facsimile of the original edition of the 'Boke' was published by Mr. E. Stock in 1881: and a reproduction, also in facsimile, of the 'Treatyse of Fysshynge' in 1880.

 BERNHER, AUGUSTINE (fl. 1554), clerk and servant of Latimer, bishop of Worcester, was a Swiss, or, according to Fox, a Belgian. During the reign of Mary he was minister of a congregation in London, and is said to have lived much at Baxterley. He was married. When Latimer was committed to the Tower (13 Sept. 1553)