Type No. 4 appears in 1480, and a re-casting of it (No. 4*) in 1483. In this fount are two editions of The Cronicles of Englond, Gower's Confessio Amantis, The Booke whiche the Knyght of the Toure made to the Enseygnement and Techyng of his Doughters, The Golden Legend, The Fables of Esope, The Booke of the Ordre of Chyualry, and upwards of twenty other known works. Another fount of ecclesiastical character (No. 5), closely resembling No. 3, came into use about 1487, and with it large Lombardic initial letters. The Royal Book in this type is the well-known Ayenbite of Inwit.

It was in the last-named year that Caxton, wishing to print the Missale ad usum Sarum, and not having suitable type, sent it to William Maynyal, of Paris. In the colophon we read that it was "Exaratum Parisi9 impensa optimi viri Guillermi Caxton. Arte vero et industria Magistri Guillermi Maynyal." When the books reached him Caxton printed a special device of his own on the last page, and afterwards made use of it in several of his own productions. It is shown in the accompanying cut. The initials . C. are distinct enough, but the interpretation of the central hieroglyphic is by no means so clear. It may mean 74, i.e., 1474, referring to his first essay in the art of printing. This still leaves the s c to be accounted for. Madden, upholding Caxton's connection with Cologne, suggests that they stand for Sancta Colonia. The evidence against this connection seems so strong that we have not thought it necessary to discuss it here. On the other hand, it has been suggested that it is only Caxton's old trade-mark as a mercer, worked up with a fancy border to serve as a device for his books.

Caxton's last fount (No. 6) seems to have been made in great part from No. 2. The earliest date in this type (1489) occurs in The Boke of the Fayts of Armes and of Chyualrye. Among many others The Fifteen Oes and other Prayers has, perhaps, the greatest interest.

This work is so called from the first fifteen prayers commencing with O. They are followed by others, some in English and some in Latin, making in all twenty-two leaves. The first recto is blank; the first verso occupied by a wood-cut of the Crucifixion, possessing considerable merit, and altogether very superior to those of which we have already spoken. It was, after Caxton's death, used in several works by his assistant and successor, Wynken de Worde. This and all the succeeding pages are surrounded by wood-cut borders, differing in this respect from every other known work of Caxton. They embrace all sorts of subjectsangels (one of whom, we think, must have come from beneath), human beings, faces, animals of kinds describable and indescribable, trees, flowers, vases, and arbitrary designs. It is worthy of note, as showing the carelessness of the compositor, and the absence of any correction of proof-sheets, that there are few leaves that have not one or more of these borders upside-down.

Our thanks are due to Messrs. Griffith and Farran, the publishers of a fac-simile reproduction of this book, for their kindness in having a page stereotyped for our use. We have selected the twentieth recto as showing most of the points of interest. Notice the curious faces at the top of the page and the odd position of the outside ones. In the middle is a dog curled up asleep. The left of the page is occupied by some fanciful designs of an arbitrary character. The right shows us a plesiosauric-looking animal in the act of devouring a snake. In lieu of a tail he has a plant growing, which occupies the rest of the cut. It gives rise to a variety of leaves and more than one kind of flower. About the centre a tropical bird is perched. The bottom cut shows a bird expostulating with a dragon, and, if expression goes for anything, the latter certainly seems to be getting the worst of it. The surrounding space is filled up with more well-executed floral work.

The

fitats/ad nichilum ædigas/et confilio mifericordie tue allidas/quatenus nul lis aduerfitatibz ksus. Bel kesa. Sed ab omni tribulacône et angustia liberatus Bel liberata gracias tibi in ecclefia tua ufero confolatus Bel consolata/Pez 0; minum noftzu Jhelum crista/

D

Contra mortalitatem hoim

er figna tau

a peste epedimie libera nos Jhefu. Hic est titulus triumphalis/Jhsus nazaœn9 Eex iuxozum/Cristus Benit in pace/æ us homo factus est Jhsus amen, Sanc & deus/Sanch fortis. Sack et inm02 talis/Agnus vi qui tollio peccata mu di miferere nobis. Signatum eft fuper nos Bultus tui comine, adisti leticiam in corde meo. Signum falutis pone comine in comibus in quibus habita:

type, it will be seen, closely resembles that of the Dictes, though slightly less in size. Notice how sometimes the double hyphen is used, and at others, when there is no room, as in line 12, omitted. Line 11 shows the curious mark of contraction 9 so frequently used when there was not room to finish the last word of a line. In several places will be seen words wanting a letter, generally for lack of space in the line-on line 7, without any apparent motive-but always showing the contraction by an accent over the previous or succeeding letter. The long commas (/) are used, and the lines are "justified." The logotypes are not nearly so numerous as in Type No. 2. Line 9 shows what is technically termed a "bite.”

These prayers are characterized by a devout and earnest spirit, and it has been suggested that they formed the first collection issued by the followers of Wycliffe. One is evidently intended to be addressed to the guardian angel of the person making use of it. It commences thus:

is a petition to St. Henry the Pious (otherwise the Lame), King of Germany, 1002-1024, canonised by Eugenius III. Its first line is a curious instance of the frequent contractions adopted by Caxton.

9

"Rex henricus sis amic, nob in agustia."

Near the end of the book the following encouragement to devotion is held out: