Marginal thinking: 10. English prayers

Nicolas Higman / François Regnault: Jesus being presented in the temple.
Presentation
Book of Common Prayer
"Symeon at Crystes cyrcuncision
These wordes unto the iewes dyde tell
Myn eyen beholdeth your redempcyon
The lyght and glory of ysraell.
Presentation

The Parisian publishers had great success, and as we've already seen they published translations in Latin, Spanish and Dutch.

The books were also published in English. The Royal Danish Library displays a copy published by Antoine Vérard in 1505 (see external link). The printer has had great problems, not just with the spelling, but also with the "foreign" letters W and K, which seems to have been in limited supply. Therefore he has been forced to be creative and has replaced the W with two V's, while the K has been replaced by a combination of a lowercase l and a rotunda-r (lꝛ).

The picture to the left is a book of hours by Nicolas Higman and François Regnault in Latin from 1519. The picture to the right is an English version for the use of Sarum / Salisbury.

As the text to the right shows, the English books as well as the French had a habit of conflating the circumcision of Jesus ("Crystes cyrcuncision") with the presentation in the temple.

Lord and knight
Richard Daye, Prayer 113
Esquire and gentleman
Richard Daye, Prayer 114

When it comes to dances of death, the record goes to the books of prayers published by John and Richard Daye: »A Booke of Christian Prayers, Collected Out of the Ancient Writers«.

The dance of death starts together with the psalms of David, and as the pictures to the left and right show, there's nothing like a few skeletons above and on both sides to spiffy up the old psalms.

The story in short is that John Daye (ca. 1522 - 1584) published Queen Elizabeth's book of prayers in 1559, and later on his son Richard (1552 - before 1607) used the same material for several editions.

The picture on the left shows the structure: In the margin are the two dancers. In this case lord and knight, who each receive a summons from Death: »Come lordings all: daunce at my call« and »Goe hence sir knight: tis almost night«. Below the body text is a horizontal image of a corpse / skeleton lying on a coffin, and a little verse about the same two dancers: »We Lords and Knights of late : now lie in low estate«.

In the example on the right it is esquireEsquire the braue: it bootes not to craue«) and gentlemanLustie, or sad; Thou must be had«). The skeleton in the horizontal image says: »Behold the Squire as in a glas: (i.e. a mirror) for as thou art, so he was«.

At a glance the figures are reminiscent of those of Thielman Kerver but there are more of them, while the Catholic figures such as pope, cardinal, patriarch and sundry monks are missing.

There are quite a few women, but most of them are just the wife of this or that man. In Simon Vostre's dance it is an open question whether e.g. la bourgoise, la marchande or la bergere had their own independent titles, or simply "borrowed" their husbands', but no doubt is possbile in the English books, where the same three women are called citizen's wife, merchant's wife and shepherd's wife.

The series is presented here twice: First, a modern facsimile from 1853 with slightly modernized language. The woodcuts are by Mary Byfield (1795-1871), who together with her older brother, John, created the very famous copies of Holbein's Dance of Death, that was published by Francis Douce. These copies of Richard Daye's prayer-book are considered to be her masterpiece.(1)

The other is an original edition from 1590. I have typed out the text over each image. Click any person to jump into the dance.

Next we'll take a look at a totally different tradition.

Go forth
 

The next chapter is about different dance of death cycle, which I for lack of a better name call "Las Horas".

The previous subject was Marcus Reinhart.

John and Richard Daye's dancers

Emperor
Richard Daye 1863: Emperor
King
Richard Daye 1863: King
Duke
Richard Daye 1863: Duke
Marquis
Richard Daye 1863: Marquis
Baron
Richard Daye 1863: Baron
Viscount
Richard Daye 1863: Viscount
Archbishop
Richard Daye 1863: Archbishop
Bishop
Richard Daye 1863: Bishop
Doctor
Richard Daye 1863: Doctor
Preacher
Richard Daye 1863: Preacher
Lord
Richard Daye 1863: Lord
Knight
Richard Daye 1863: Knight
Esquire
Richard Daye 1863: Esquire
Gentleman
Richard Daye 1863: Gentleman
Judge
Richard Daye 1863: Judge
Justice
Richard Daye 1863: Justice
Sergeant at law
Richard Daye 1863: Sergeant at law
Attorney
Richard Daye 1863: Attorney
Mayor
Richard Daye 1863: Mayor
Sheriff
Richard Daye 1863: Sheriff
Bailiff
Richard Daye 1863: Bailiff
Constable
Richard Daye 1863: Constable
Physician
Richard Daye 1863: Physician
Astronomer
Richard Daye 1863: Astronomer
Herald
Richard Daye 1863: Herald
Sergeant at arms
Richard Daye 1863: Sergeant at arms
Trumpeter
Richard Daye 1863: Trumpeter
Pursuivant
Richard Daye 1863: Pursuivant
Drummer
Richard Daye 1863: Drummer
Fife
Richard Daye 1863: Fife
Captain
Richard Daye 1863: Captain
Soldier
Richard Daye 1863: Soldier
Merchant
Richard Daye 1863: Merchant
Citizen
Richard Daye 1863: Citizen
Printers
Richard Daye 1863: Printers
Rich man
Richard Daye 1863: Rich man
Aged man
Richard Daye 1863: Aged man
Artificer
Richard Daye 1863: Artificer
Husbandman
Richard Daye 1863: Husbandman
Musicians
Richard Daye 1863: Musicians
Shepherd
Richard Daye 1863: Shepherd
Fool
Richard Daye 1863: Fool
Beggar
Richard Daye 1863: Beggar
Rogue
Richard Daye 1863: Rogue
Of youth
Richard Daye 1863: Of youth
Infancy
Richard Daye 1863: Infancy
Empress
Richard Daye 1863: Empress
Queen
Richard Daye 1863: Queen
Princess
Richard Daye 1863: Princess
Duchess
Richard Daye 1863: Duchess
Countess
Richard Daye 1863: Countess
Viscountess
Richard Daye 1863: Viscountess
Baroness
Richard Daye 1863: Baroness
Lady
Richard Daye 1863: Lady
Judge's wife
Richard Daye 1863: Judge's wife
Lawyer's wife
Richard Daye 1863: Lawyer's wife
Gentlewoman
Richard Daye 1863: Gentlewoman
Alderman's wife
Richard Daye 1863: Alderman's wife
Merchant's wife
Richard Daye 1863: Merchant's wife
Citizen's wife
Richard Daye 1863: Citizen's wife
Rich man's wife
Richard Daye 1863: Rich man's wife
Young woman
Richard Daye 1863: Young woman
Maid
Richard Daye 1863: Maid
Damoiselle
Richard Daye 1863: Damoiselle
Farmer's wife
Richard Daye 1863: Farmer's wife
Husbandman's wife
Richard Daye 1863: Husbandman's wife
Countrywoman
Richard Daye 1863: Countrywoman
Nurse
Richard Daye 1863: Nurse
Shepherd's wife
Richard Daye 1863: Shepherd's wife
Aged woman
Richard Daye 1863: Aged woman
Cripple
Richard Daye 1863: Cripple
Poor woman
Richard Daye 1863: Poor woman
Infant
Richard Daye 1863: Infant
Fool
Richard Daye 1863: Fool
Mohammed
Richard Daye 1569: Mohammed
Prayer 113
Richard Daye 1569: Prayer 113
Prayer 114
Richard Daye 1569: Prayer 114
Physician
Richard Daye 1569: Physician
Emperor
Richard Daye 1590: Emperor
King
Richard Daye 1590: King
Duke
Richard Daye 1590: Duke
Marquis
Richard Daye 1590: Marquis
Baron
Richard Daye 1590: Baron
Viscount
Richard Daye 1590: Viscount
Archbishop
Richard Daye 1590: Archbishop
Bishop
Richard Daye 1590: Bishop
Doctor
Richard Daye 1590: Doctor
Preacher
Richard Daye 1590: Preacher
Lord
Richard Daye 1590: Lord
Knight
Richard Daye 1590: Knight
Esquire
Richard Daye 1590: Esquire
Gentleman
Richard Daye 1590: Gentleman
Judge
Richard Daye 1590: Judge
Justice
Richard Daye 1590: Justice
Sergeant at law
Richard Daye 1590: Sergeant at law
Attorney
Richard Daye 1590: Attorney
Mayor
Richard Daye 1590: Mayor
Sheriff
Richard Daye 1590: Sheriff
Bailiff
Richard Daye 1590: Bailiff
Constable
Richard Daye 1590: Constable
Physician
Richard Daye 1590: Physician
Astronomer
Richard Daye 1590: Astronomer
Herald
Richard Daye 1590: Herald
Sergeant at arms
Richard Daye 1590: Sergeant at arms
Trumpeter
Richard Daye 1590: Trumpeter
Pursuivant
Richard Daye 1590: Pursuivant
Drummer
Richard Daye 1590: Drummer
Fife
Richard Daye 1590: Fife
Captain
Richard Daye 1590: Captain
Soldier
Richard Daye 1590: Soldier
Merchant
Richard Daye 1590: Merchant
Citizen
Richard Daye 1590: Citizen
Printers
Richard Daye 1590: Printers
Rich man
Richard Daye 1590: Rich man
Aged man
Richard Daye 1590: Aged man
Artificer
Richard Daye 1590: Artificer
Husbandman
Richard Daye 1590: Husbandman
Musicians
Richard Daye 1590: Musicians
Shepherd
Richard Daye 1590: Shepherd
Fool
Richard Daye 1590: Fool
Beggar
Richard Daye 1590: Beggar
Rogue
Richard Daye 1590: Rogue
Of youth
Richard Daye 1590: Of youth
Infancy
Richard Daye 1590: Infancy
Empress
Richard Daye 1590: Empress
Queen
Richard Daye 1590: Queen
Princess
Richard Daye 1590: Princess
Duchess
Richard Daye 1590: Duchess
Countess
Richard Daye 1590: Countess
Viscountess
Richard Daye 1590: Viscountess
Baroness
Richard Daye 1590: Baroness
Lady
Richard Daye 1590: Lady
Judge's wife
Richard Daye 1590: Judge's wife
Lawyer's wife
Richard Daye 1590: Lawyer's wife
Gentlewoman
Richard Daye 1590: Gentlewoman
Alderman's wife
Richard Daye 1590: Alderman's wife
Merchant's wife
Richard Daye 1590: Merchant's wife
Citizen's wife
Richard Daye 1590: Citizen's wife
Rich man's wife
Richard Daye 1590: Rich man's wife
Young woman
Richard Daye 1590: Young woman
Maid
Richard Daye 1590: Maid
Damoiselle
Richard Daye 1590: Damoiselle
Farmer's wife
Richard Daye 1590: Farmer's wife
Husbandman's wife
Richard Daye 1590: Husbandman's wife
Countrywoman
Richard Daye 1590: Countrywoman
Nurse
Richard Daye 1590: Nurse
Shepherd's wife
Richard Daye 1590: Shepherd's wife
Aged woman
Richard Daye 1590: Aged woman
Cripple
Richard Daye 1590: Cripple
Poor woman
Richard Daye 1590: Poor woman
Infant
Richard Daye 1590: Infant
Fool
Richard Daye 1590: Fool

External links

Footnotes: (1)

Pickering's 1853 edition of Queen Elizabeth's Prayer Book of 1569 (p. 17) was perhaps Mary Byfield's masterpiece, and every page contains her work; she cut over a hundred blocks for it, mostly based on the designs of Holbein, Dürer, Tory and others. The cuts harmonize perfectly with the type (which is Caslon) and this small volume (of which some copies were printed on vellum) is a triumph of printing as well as of illustration and typography.

(Ruari McLean, Victorian book design and colour printing, 1972, page 12)