Piers Plowman

Piers Plowman (written ca. 1360–1387) or Visio Willelmi de Petro Ploughman (William's Vision of Piers Plowman) is the title of a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in unrhymed alliterative verse divided into sections called "passus" (Latin for "step").

Piers is considered by many critics to be one of the early great works of English literature along with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight during the Middle Ages.



It is commonly accepted that Piers Plowman was written by William Langland, about whom little is known. This attribution of the poem to Langland rests principally on the evidence of an early-fifteenth-century manuscript of the C-text (see below) of Piers held at Trinity College, Dublin (MS 212), which ascribes the work to one 'Willielmus de Langlond'.

However a new theory about the authorship has been put forward. That the author of Piers Plowman was actually the Bishop of Exeter in Devon - by the name of John Grandisson (1328-1369). John Grandisson also founded The Kings School in a town not far from Exeter called Ottery St Mary.

The Bay Psalm Book

The Bay Psalm Book
First Book ever to be printed in the United States of America
Published by Stephen Day
Cambridge Massachusetts 1640





The oldest surviving book printed in what became the United States is, as is widely known, The Whole Booke of Psalmes, a.k.a the Bay Psalm Book. Eleven copies of it are known to exist. People get excited about it; they want to come and see it. It's American. It's really old, it's historic and it's part of America's history.

Bay Psalm Book - showing Psalms










Comedies and Tragedies of Beaumont and Fletcher
Francis Beaumont & John Fletcher
Never Printed Before
London 1647

After a long break.....

Nieuhoff, Johannes. 1763
An EMBASSY from the East-India Company of the UNITED PROVINCES, to the Grand Tartar Cham emperor of CHINA, deliver'd by their Excellencies Peter de Goyer and Jacob de Keyzer, at His Imperial City of PEKING. Wherein the cities, towns, villages, ports, rivers, &c. in their passages from CANTON to PEKING, are ingeniously describ'd, by Mr. John Nieuhoff, steward to the AMBASSADORS.


Also an epistle of Father John Adams their autagonist, concerning the whole Negotiations. With an appendix of several remarks taken out of Father Athanasius Kircher, English'd, and set forth with their several Scolptures, By John Ogilby Esq. His Majesties cartographer, geographical printer and maker of the rolls in the Kingdom of Ireland. The second edition. London. 1673.

Folio, 431 p. (28x42 cm.) 2 page map of China, 2 page plan of Canton, 46 engr. plates





Letters to a Married Woman 1792












Mona Antiqua Restaurata

An Archaeological Discourse on the ANTIQUITIES, Natural and Historical, of the ISLE of ANGLESEY. The Ancient Seat of the British Druids.

In Two Essays.

With an APPENDIX containing a Comparative Table of ?? words and Derivatives of them in several tongues of Europe with remarks upon them.



Together with some LETTERS and Three CATALOGUES added thereunso

1 Of the Members of Parliament from the County of Anglesey
2 Of the High Sheriffs and
3 Of the Beneficed Clergy thereof

By HENRY ROWLANDS vicar of Llanjdam in the Isle of Anglesey.

DUBLIN
Printed by AARON M?? for ROBERT OWEN Bookseller in ??
MDCCXXll (1722)

SOURCE

The Gutenberg Press

In this revealing documentary, Stephen Fry investigates the story of one of the most important machines ever invented - the Gutenberg Press.

The printing press was the world's first mass-production machine. Its invention in the 1450s changed the world as dramatically as splitting the atom or sending men into space, sparking a cultural revolution that shaped the modern age. It is the machine that made us who we are today.

Stephen's investigation combines historical detective work and a hands-on challenge. He travels to France and Germany on the trail of Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press and early media entrepreneur. Along the way he discovers the lengths Gutenberg went to keep his project secret, explores the role of avaricious investors and unscrupulous competitors, and discovers why printing mattered so much in medieval Europe.

But to really understand the man and his machine, Stephen gets his hands dirty - assembling a team of craftsmen and helping them build a working replica of Gutenberg's original press. He learns how to make paper the 15th-century way and works as an apprentice in a metal foundry in preparation for the experiment to put the replica press through its paces. Can Stephen's modern-day team match the achievement of Gutenberg's medieval craftsmen?

UNFORTUNATELY - In 2012 I discovered that this entire documentary has been removed from Youtube - probably for Copyright Infringement.

A very great pity - it was a wonderful documentary!!!



10 minutes



10 minutes



10 minutes



10 minutes



10 minutes



9 minutes

Philadephia Rare Books & Manuscripts

I have heard and seen various mentions of the Philadelphia Rare Books and Manuscript Company. But I have never seen their website - until today. WOW. They have tons of old and rare books.


Samuel Johnson's Dictionary Published in 1773.










Introduction to the Dictionary as written by Samuel Johnson in 1773





Samuel Johnson's Dictionary - Published in 1786 - 8th edition










Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe - Published 1790










Not forgetting Leigh Hunt...
An author requested by Helene Hanff from 84 Charing Cross Road.
published 1801









Aristophanes Published in 1783