Here begynneth…the Cronycles of Englande, Fraunce, Spayne, Portyngale, Scotlaude [sic], Bretayne, Flaunders: and other places adioynynge. Translated out of frenche into our mater[n]all Englysshe tonge, by Johan Bouchier…

[London: [R. Redman, n.d., ca. 1535 and] Wyllyam Myddleton, [n.d., 1542?] (Volume I) [and] [Rycharde Pynson, 31 August 1525] (Volume II).

First edition in English of Volume II (with “baylye” on A1r, second column, last line) and second edition in English of Volume I (with “kyng in his be” with no hyphen on b1r, second column, third to last line, and “lytell hakeneys” with comma on b2r, first column, first line). Two folio volumes in one (12 1/2 x 8 7/8 inches; 317 x 226 mm.). [10], cccxxii; [8], cccxix [i.e., cccxx] leaves. Black letter, two columns. First title within composite woodcut border, second title within full pictorial woodcut border after Hans Holbein (McKerrow & Ferguson 8). Verso of title-page in each volume with the same full-page woodcut of the arms of Henry VIII with supporters and portcullises and the Tudor rose supported by two angels. Numerous decorative woodcut initials. The last leaf of Volume II is supplied in an exceptionally good facsimile. Nineteenth century full red morocco by W. Pratt. Boards ruled and stamped in giltSpine lettered and elaborately stamped in gilt. Board edges double-ruled in gilt. Giltdentelles. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Four previous owner’s bookplates to frontpastedown including William Morris. Spine a bit darkened. A few minor scuffs to boards. Pinhole worming throughout both volumes, relatively unobtrusive. Volume I with title-page and A2 re-margined affecting some text in the top right-hand corner which has been supplied in excellent facsimile following Marsh’s 1563 edition, some other margins with small repairs only affecting the text at o5. Volume II with some marginal closed tears, repaired and barely touching text at P5, P6, and 3F5. All of signature 3O with corner repairs, affecting foliation numbers one leaves 3O5, 3O6. Leaf 3O7 repaired with a portion of the text in excellent facsimile, and 3O8 is supplied in facsimile of Marsh’s colophon from the second edition of 1563: “Richard Pinson… ” 1525.

An exceptionally fine, fresh, and very bright copy.

“From the library of William Morris, with his Hammersmith library label on the front paste down, whose admiration for Froissart, and Berner’s translation in particular, was evident from his earliest attempts at poetry as a student while at Oxford in the late 1850s, and in his Defence of Guenevere, 1858. Towards the end of his life Morris returned to Froissart intending to publish the Chronicles as a companion to his magnum opus the Kelmscott Chaucer: ‘You cannot have a better text than old Berners’s. It’s fine old English and would take a lot of beating… my reprint is full folio and will take up two volumes. I also intend to publish it in four parts. Those who may like a strong binding will be able to get one for both the Chaucer as well as the Froissart. It will be in white pigskin… no book that I could do would give me half the pleasure I am getting from the Froissart. I am simply revelling in it. It’s such a noble and gloriouswork, and every page as it leaves the press delights me more than I can say.’ (Morris, Ideal Book, pp 111-112). In the event only sixteen pages of the Kelmscott Froissart were printed (and given to personal friends) before Morris’s death, the Chaucer having taken precedence. Morris used a later and less valuable edition of the text, published by Rivington in 1812, to prepare these sheets, and that copy is now in the library at Kelmscott Manor.” (Christie’s)

“William Morris possessed a library of higher quality than any other major English literary figure” (Needham) One of the most important sources for information on the Hundred Years’ War, and one of the texts most expressive of the fourteenth-century European cult of chivalry, the chronicles of Froissart (ca. 1330-1400) were especially popular during the first century of printing.

This Chronicle is also an important Shakespeare source book, namely for his Edward III and Richard II. This lively translation from Froissart’s text by John Bourchier, second Baron Berners (1467-1533), established the Cronycles as not only the most extensive historical work yet to appear in English, but as an important influence on English writing throughout the sixteenth and beyond. Complete sets of the first edition are very rare, with most sets ininstitutions being mixed editions or imperfect (including the British Library, the Bodleian Library, Harvard, and Yale). The reprint of the first volume was begun by R. Redman in 1535, and completed by William Middleton around 1543, and a reprint of both volumes by T. Marsh was published in 1563.

PROVENANCE: William Horatio Crawford (bookplate; his sale Sotheby’s London, 12 March 1891, lot 1286); William Morris (1824-1896) English designer, author, visionary socialist and founder of the Kelmscott Press (bookplate; his sale Sotheby’s London, 7th December 1898, lot 535); James W. Ellsworth (1849-1925), owner of a Gutenberg Bible, now Scheide’s, and of the four Shakespeare folios, who sold his collection to Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach; Harold Douthit (bookplate). Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts Including Americana–12/5/2008

STC 11396.5 (Volume I) and 11397 (Volume II).