2nd s, NO 42., Oct. 18. '56.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



311 



plates, and at the end of the book is a Latin anagram by 

 one Jer. CoHer. 



" In the year 1661, he published his Penna Volans, or 

 Youmj Mail's Accomplishment. To which he prefixes this 

 distich : 



' Whereby ingenious j'ouths m&y soon be made, 

 For clerkship fit, or management of trade,' 



invented, written, and engraved by himself. It contains 

 24 plates, besides his picture at the beginning. In each 

 leaf there are directions for the principle rules of Arith- 

 metic. 



"Anno l)om. 1GG4, he published his Guide to Penman- 

 ship; of which there is another edition in 1673. It con- 

 tains 22 oblong folio plates, besides his picture at the 

 beginning; where he is drawn in his own hair, with a 

 laced band, and a pen in his hand, and these lines under- 

 neath : 



' Behold rare Cocker's life, resembling shade. 

 Whom envy's clouds have more illustrious made ; 

 Whose pen and graver, have display'd his name. 

 With virtuoso's, in the book of fame.' 

 This book was printed for John Ruddiard, at the Unicorn 

 in Cornhill. 



"Anno Dom. 1672 he published his Magnum in Parvo, 

 or The Pen's Perfection; invented, written, and engraven 

 by himself. It contains 26 plates in large octavo, and 

 ■was engraved vpon silver plates ! The book was sold by 

 John Garret, in Cornhill. 



" Anno Dom. he published, The Tutor to Writing 



and Arithmetic ; invented, written, and engraven by the 

 author (but without any date). It contains 16 small 

 quarto oblong copper-plates, mostly in secretary, and 

 bastard Italian, but very meanly done. To which is 

 added, a tract, containing rules for writing ; and a sketch 

 of arithmetic, but only as far as the rule of thi-ce, in 57 

 leaves of letter- press work. It was printed for John Gar- 

 ret, in Cornhill. 



" Some time before the year 1676. he published his 

 Compkat Writing Blaster, containing 23 pages in octavo. 

 But as I have not been able to see this last-mentioned 

 book, I can give no further account of it. 



*' He also published, some time before his death, The 

 London Writing-Blaster, or Scholar's Guide, in 15 small 

 plates, but without a date. On the last leaf there is this 

 short note in chancerj' hand, viz. Zealously performed by 

 E. Cocker, living in Gutter-lane, near Cheapside. 



" Besides these works he published : 



1. England's Penman, folio. 



2. Multum-in Parvo, or the Pen's Gallantrij, quarto, 

 price Is. 



3. Youth's Directions, to write without a teacher. 



4. Young Lawyer's Writing Master. 



5. The Pen's Facility. 



6. The Country School Master. 



" I cannot ascertain the precise time of Mr. Cocker's 

 death, nor wdiere he died; but if I remember right, I 

 think it was in the year 1677, which if true, was the 46tli 

 of his age. 



" The works that we have of this laborious author, that 

 came from the letter press, are these : 



" 1. A book, intituled, Morals, or the Muses Spring- 

 Garden ; a quarto of 50 pages, containing distichs in an 

 alphabetical order, for the use of writing schools. It was 

 printed for Thomas Lac}', in Southwark, stationer. The 

 impression that I copy this from, is in 1694, but am not 

 certain that it is the first ; for if so it must have been a 

 posthumous work. 



"2. In the year 1&7 7, John Hawkins, writing master, 

 at St. George's church, Southwark, published Cocker's 

 Vulgar Aritfimeiic, a small octavo ; a posthumous work, 



recommended to the world by John Collens and thirteen 

 other eminent mathematicians, or writing masters 



" Anno Dom. 1695, the aforesaid John Hawkins, pub- 

 lished Cocker's Decimal Arithmetic, in octavo, to which is 

 added his artificial arithmetic, shewing the genesis, or 

 fabric of logarithms, &c 



" I have been informed that Mr. Cocker had a large 

 library of rare MSS. done by many eminent hands ; and 

 printed books in various languages relating to the sciences 

 he professed ! Some of the most curious were procured 

 (or purchased) by a nobleman at a great price." 



These notes have been incorporated (at least so 

 I am informed) into W. Massey's Account of the 

 most celebrated English Penmen, printed some- 

 where about the middle of the last century. 



Edward F. Rimbadlt. 



You have several times alluded to Cocker's 

 Arithmetic, which after all must be more famous 

 than rare. I have two copies of it, which I have 

 lately turned up among some old papers. One is 

 the twentieth edition, carefully corrected with ad- 

 ditions, printed in 1700. The other is the forty- 

 eighth edition, carefully corrected and amended, 

 printed in 17-36. A list of the existing editions of 

 Cocker, so far as known, might be easily made by 

 your correspondents. 



At the same time with Cocker, I met with 

 Oughtred's Circle of Proportion, and the Hori- 

 zontal Instrument, an English translation by Wil- 

 liam Forster, 1633. To this is appended "an 

 Apologetical Epistle," by Wil. Oughtred, against 

 Richard Delamain, but it is unfortunately im- 

 perfect. The introduction to the book contains 

 some particulars concerning the invention of the 

 sliding-rule, &c., by Wm. Oughtred. 



A third discovery was of a large quantity of 

 old almanacks, chiefly of the first half of the last 

 century, but there were two of which I think a 

 note should be made. One is in old English type, 

 in black and red, and has the following title : 



"Allestree, 1620. A New Almanack, or Annuall Ca- 

 lender, with a Compendious Prognostication thereunto 

 appending, serving for this j'eare of our Lord, 1620. Being 

 Bissextile or leap yeare. Calculated and properly re- 

 ferred, to the longitude and sublimitie of the Pole 

 Articke of the famous town of Derby: and may serve 

 generally, for the most part of Great Britaine. 



"Made and written according to lawfuU Art, by Ri- 

 chard Allestree, Practicioner in Sidera, Scientia, & *iAa- 

 A))5t)S. Sine te nihil auxilii, nihil est opis, Deus Omnipo." 



This is followed by the text Deut. xxix. 29 , 

 and the words " cum Privilegio," but no name of 

 place or printer. It contains some curious matter, 

 but I can only give this : 



" Si tibi deficiunt medici, medici tibi fiant, 

 Haic tria, mens lajta, requies, moderata dieta. 



" Vse three Physitians skill, first Doctor Quiet, 

 Next Doctor Meriman, and Doctor Dj'et." 



These latter lines are not unknown at this day. 

 The other almanack to which I would refer is, 

 " Pond, an Almanack for the Year of our Lord God, 



