Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 12.djvu/249

 9" S. XII. SEPT. 26, 1903.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

241

LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1903.

CONTENTS. No. 300.

NOTES: The "E" Printer, 'Ml Journal of a London Citizen, 242 Charles Reade, 243 Genius, 244 Envelopes " Chaperon " " While there is life there is hope"- ' Midsummer Night's Dream,' 245 "Sent on suspicion" Remarkable Fecundity Sham Burials Heber's ' Pales- tine '"Tonka bean," 246.

QUERIES :-Pan.jandrum " Panier " Cistercian Visita- tions King Edgar's Blazon, 247 S. Miles, Watchmaker- Charles Reade in Bolton Row Capt. P. Puget Red Play- bills Logan ' ' Solent " Pannell Orders obtained by Bribery Standon Priory, 248 Magdeburg Law William of Wykeham " Tabby all over " T. Sibson, Artist Gin- Palaces "Son comfort et liesse" Leonines Souvenir Normand Hugh de Gunville, 249 R. Huncke, 250.

REPLIES : Raleigh in America, 250 Sir Ferdinando Gorges, 251 Lloyd Family, 252 Dupuy Venison Feast St. Mary Axe. 253 Hotspur's Body King's Champion Charlotte Walpole, 254-John Gilpin, 255-The Haps- burgs, 258 Nature Study John Angier "Crying down credit "Naval Pronunciation R. Dickson, 257.

NOTES ON BOOKS : Lucas's Edition of Lamb 'Cam- pion's Songs and Masques ' ' Letters of a Templar ' Bayne's * Wilkie ' ' The Doukhobors ' ' Shakespeare's Garden ' Skelton's Poetical Works' House Mottoes ' 1 Selections from the British Apollo ' ' Old Cookery Books ' Booksellers' Catalogues.

Notices to Correspondents.

THE "R" PRINTER.

ONE of the greatest puzzles of fifteenth- century printing yet remaining to be solved is the identification of the R printer, so called from the peculiar shape of the R which he used in both his Roman and semi-Gothic types. His work consists of nearly thirty volumes and single sheets, none of which has any date, but the dates of several of them can be determined by MS. notes, &c.

Before referring to the dates I will first give the titles of each work, beginning with those in Roman type. They are : Durandus, uerso'; Petrarca, 'Secretum,' 'DeContemptu Mundi,"De Uita Solitaria'; Biblia Latina; Servius, ' Commentaries super Vergilium'; Plutarchi 'Uitse'; J^neas Silvius, 'Epis- tulse ' ; Dionysius de Burgo, ' Commentarius super Valerium Maximum ' ; Donatus, ' Com- mentarius super Terentium'; Jacobus Mag- nus, * Sophologium ' (two editions) ; Bollanus, ' De Conceptione B.V. Mariae ' ; Seneca, 1 Epistulse ad Lucilium ' ; Caracciolus, * Ser- mones per Aduentum' ; and two single sheets, viz., Sixtus IV., 'Bulla de Fratribus Mendi- cantibus' (prsecipue Esslingse), and 4 Sum- marium Bullse Indulgentiarum pro Ecclesia
 * Rationale ' ; Rabanus Maurus, ' De Uni-

in Vrach Latse,' in Latin and German, the latter in a different type.

The books in semi-Gothic type are these, viz., Vincentius Bellovacensis, ' Speculum Doctrinale ' (two editions) ; Vincentius Bello- vacensis, * Speculum Historiale ' ; Vincentius Bellovacensis, ' Speculum Naturale ' ; Avi- cenna, 'Canon'; Balbus, 'Catholicon' (two editions, one without the R) ; Herolt, * Ser- mones de Tempore, de Sanctis ' ; ' Promp- tuarium ' ; ' Tractatus Plurimi luris ' (' Modus Legendi Abbreuiaturas ') ; Jacobus de Don- dis, ' Aggregator ' ; and Silvaticus, ' Liber Pandectarum Medicinse.'

Panzer, in the 4 Annales Typographic!,' ascribed all these books to the press of Johann Mentelin at Strassburg, and the reason he did so seems to be this : the letter R printer printed, as we have already seen, editions of three of the ' Specula ' of Vincent of Beauvais ; they have sixty-seven lines to a full page. Mentelin also printed an edition of these ' Specula ' with sixty-two lines to the full page. The British Museum possesses an edition made up in this manner, viz., the ' Speculum Doctrinale ' and ' Speculum Naturale ' in the R type, the ' Speculum Doctrinale ' only containing the 1 ; the 'Speculum Historiale,' which is one of the few books which bear Mentelin's name ; and the 'Speculum Morale,' also in Mentelin's type, but without his name. Panzer had probably seen these volumes combined in this manner, and therefore concluded that they were all printed by Menteliu, and con- sequently put all the other R books as having been printed by Mentelin. It is a curious circumstance that he gives the number of lines to the * Specula ' undoubtedly printed by Mentelin, but omits to give those of the R printer. Hain, in the ' Reper- torium Bibliographicum,' ascribes some to Strassburg and some to Cologne, in one in- stance stating that the work was printed at Cologne on account of the peculiar R, but he makes no attempt to explain his statement ; Falkenstein also suggested Cologne, but gave no reason ; Klemm, in his ' Beschreibender Catalog,' argues in favour of Strassburg ; Placidus Braun, * Notitia,' &c., declares that the books in the semi- Gothic character were printed by Mentelin as to those in the Roman type he could not say, but thought they were, perhaps, printed at Venice ; and lastly M. Madden, in the 'Lettres d'un Bibliographe,' endeavours to show that the Brothers of the Common Life, residing in the monastery of Weydenbach, near Cologne, had a press, and believes that they printed the books containing this form of the R.