337

William Baldwin (1518-1563)

A Treatise of Morall Phylosophie, contaynyng the sayinges of the wyse. Two Defective Copies.

London: Edwarde Whitchurche, 1547.
Copy 1: first edition; octavo, lacking 8 leaves: most of preliminary A3 torn away, 5 text leaves, colophon, and the final blank; preliminary blank A8 present; missing text leaves provided in facsimile [colophon not supplied]; bound in contemporary full blind-tooled sheepskin (worn, lacking ties; rebacked, endleaves renewed); 5 3/4 x 3 3/4 in.

STC 1253; ESTC S100585, rare, ESTC locates 2 copies worldwide and only the Huntington copy in the U.S.

Copy 2: second edition, octavo, London: Edwarde Whitchurche, 1550; lacking title page and blanks *8 and R8; bound in 17th century half speckled calf with marbled paper boards; with marginalia; 5 3/4 x 4 in.
STC 1254; ESTC S110390, two U.S. copies, one defective. (2)

Baldwin, the likely author of the first English-language novel, Beware the Cat, worked for the printer Edward Whitchurch after finishing at Oxford, correcting copy in the press. His other important work, A Mirror for Magistrates, came out in 1559. The present collection of proverbs, adages, precepts, and other "wyse sayinges" are culled from ancient authors, the Bible, and traditional sources. 

  • Condition: I: A8 (lacking A4), A-8 (lacking D8, R1, R2, R3, R6, R7, & R8 [blank].). II: *8 (lacking *1 [title] and *8), A-R8 (lacking R8 [blank]).

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    Grace Meschery-McCormack, Cataloguer: [email protected]


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