Polycronycon [translated into English with additions by John Trevisa, with a continuation by William Caxton], third edition, black letter, double-column, 44 lines to a complete page, title printed in red and black with large woodcut of St. George slaying the dragon, a profile portrait of King Henry VIII flanked by the royal arms and the arms of the City of London, and John Reynes' printers mark in red [McKerrow 55], the colophon at end within a border of hunting scenes [McKerrow and Ferguson 12] and full-page illustration on verso [McKerrow 61], woodcut illustrations including a full-page cut of a battle scene, woodcut musical notation illustrating diapason on n5r, decorative woodcut initials, lacks blank hh6, title with small restoration to blank margin,
lower corner of bb1 restored with partial loss of a few letters, final leaf cut down with some loss to border and woodcut, some early ink marginal annotations and underlinings, ownership inscription of William Ffarington of Worden on the title, Ffarington family bookplate inside upper cover, modern morocco with Ffarington crest stamped on sides, g.e. [STC 13440; Pforzheimer 490], folio (285 x 192mm.), Southwark, Peter Treveris, 16 May 1527
Footnotes
FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION OF "THE POLYCHRONICON". Written by the Benedictine monk Ranulf Higden (d. 1364) The Polychronicon "offered to the educated and learned audience of fourteenth-century England a clear and original picture of world history based upon medieval tradition, but with a new interest in antiquity, and with the early history of Britain related as part of the whole" (ODNB). The English translation of John Trevisa (c.1330-1412), commissioned by Thomas, Lord Berkeley, was completed on 18 April 1387. The complete text was first printed by Caxton in 1482, followed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1495. The woodcuts in the Peter Treveris edition appear here for the first time.