120 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 224. 



various editions which are known under the title 

 of The Great Bible, or Cranmer's Bible. He 

 begins his description of the edition of April, 

 1539, thus : 



" As this volume is commonly called the First Edi- 

 tion of Cranmer's or the Great Bible, I class it with 

 the Six following; although in fact the Archbishop 

 had nothing whatever to do with either the translation 

 or publication. It was put forth entirely by Thomas 

 Lord Cromwell, vide Herbert's Amen, p. 1 550. vol. iii., 

 who employed Coverdale to revise the existing trans- 

 lations. The first wherein Cranmer took any part is 

 the large folio of April 1549, the text of which differs 

 from this edition materially. The pages of this volume 

 and of the four next following begin and end alike ; 

 and the general appearance of the whole five is so very 

 similar that at first sight, one may be mistaken for 

 another by those ignorant of the fact that they are all 

 separate and distinct impressions : the whole of the 

 titles, of which there are five in each Book, and every 

 leaf of kalendar, prologue, text, and tables being en- 

 tirely recomposed, and varying throughout in ortho- 

 graphy, &c. The desire to make perfect copies out of 

 several imperfect, has also caused extreme confusion, by 

 uniting portions of different editions without due re- 

 gard to their identity. These remarks apply equally 

 to the editions of Nov. 1510, and Nov. 1541, of which, 

 in like manner, each page begins and ends with the 

 same words. Although the distinctive marks are 

 very numerous, yet being chiefly typographical orna- 

 ments or arrangement, it is impossible to give here suf- 

 ficient guides to ensure the integrity of each volume." 

 — Page 12. 



On the next page but one is added : 



" The following lines of the forty-first chapter of Job 

 differ in composition in all the seven volumes, and for 

 ■the purpose of distinguishing the edition I have given 

 •them to each." 



No. I. April, 1539. 



Mf<9 mi ii £0 rtttelt, that ii able 



1 tcf stere htm up. * ££S;j0 te able 



« ta s"tauae before me? Or tiuha 



B hath geue me anything afore 



1 ■ bxntte, that 1 mane retoarbe 



i)tm agayne? 311 tbyutrcs" fans 



No. 2. April, 1540. 



YT6 wait ii ia ciurll, g* is" able 



1 to stere ftt up. *ffimho ii able 



1 to s"tao"c before me? Or Jtoho 



1 hath geueti me any tbtjurr a- 



fore hatfe, y* I mane retuars 



ire htm agayne ? 8u thymes' 



No. 3. July, 1540. 



1«t& man ii ia cruell, w' i€ able 



1 ta stere ftym up. 'tuba is" 



1 able to s"ta'fce before me ? Or 



I t &>ho bath qmen me aun 



1 1 thyncrc aforeljauife, that t 



maye rrtoarae him agayne? 



N 



No. 4. May, 1541. 



O man is" ia rrttell, that it ha* 

 ble to styrre hym bp. *Bfflftfl ii 

 bafale to Staube before me? Or 

 tiofya Tjath rcette me any thing 

 aforehanbe, tljat S maye re= 

 bjarbe hym agayue ? 9lu thyu» 



No. 5. December, 1541. 



O ma ii ia cruel, that is" abTe 

 to slyrre hym bp. * iKUfja ii 

 hable to iinxxQ before me? Or 

 \ vtdjo \>nt\)t gyuen me anyc 

 tljyuge afore hance, that 5 

 maye retuarbe hym agayne? 



No. 6. November, 1540. 



•a v& man ii ia trttell tbat ii able to s*tyr 



% hym bp. *U3l)a ii able to stance be* 



1 fore me ? Or \ bjha hath geucn me any 



1 ■ thynge afore hanbe, tbat 3E maye re* 



No. 7. November, 1541. 



•mtO man is" ia rruell that ii hable ta 



\ sturre hym bp. * £2Hha ii hable ta 



1 s'tanbe be'fore me ? Or i tiofya hath rjy= 



1 tteu me any thyug afore hanbe, that 



Hi maye reujarbe bl'm agaune? 811 



I believe the foregoing to be an exact copy of 

 Mr. Wilson's catalogue, but, of com'se, I cannot 

 be responsible for the accuracy of his transcripts. 

 Perhaps none but those who were admitted to his 

 library ever had an opportunity of comparing to- 

 gether all those editions ; and nobody would have 

 done it with more care and fidelity than himself. 



S. R. M. 



SOVEREIGNS DINING AND STJPriNG IN PUBLIC. 



In some observations which I made upon two 

 or three pictures in Hampton Court Palace, in 

 Vol. viii., p. 538 , I specified two worthy of notice 

 on the above subject, and which are the first 

 instances of such ceremony I have met with. It 

 has been supposed to have been a foreign custom, 

 but I do not find any traces of it upon record.* 



[* The custom was observed at a much earlier 

 period; for we find that King Edward II. and his 

 queen Isabella of France kept their court at West- 

 minster during the Whitsuntide festival of 1317 : and 

 on one occasion, as they were dining in public in the 

 great banqueting-hall, a woman in a mask entered on 

 horseback, and riding up to the royal table, delivered 

 a letter to King Edward, who, imagining that it con- 

 tained some pleasant conceit or elegant compliment, 

 ordered it to be opened and read aloud for the amuse- 

 ment of his courtiers ; but, to his great mortification, 

 it was a cutting satire on his unkingly propensities, 

 setting forth in no measured terms all the calamities 



