Fabyan [(Robert)], The firste (sic) [& second] volume of...

Hammer

£3,000

Fabyan [(Robert)], The firste (sic) [& second] volume of Fabyans cronycle (sic), Conteynyng the cronycles of Englande and of Fraunce, from the begynnyng of the reygne of King Rycharch the fyrste, untyll the begynnyng of the reyne of our moste redoubted soverayne lord kynge Henry the. viii. (sic), two parts issued and bound as one, second edition, London: Prentyd [...] By Wyllyam (sic) Rastell, 1533, a broad-margined copy (leaves 29.1 x 20cm), second part's woodcut architectural title-page only - altered to read 'firste' and bound accordingly c. 1800, enclosing musicians and William Rastell's initials, Gothic Black Letter, some Roman and Italic, historiated initials, double-column, lacking four leaves only, some mispaginated leaves, but extant contents collating: [9], 174; [7], 14, 17-234ff; i.e. [*1] A2-5 B⁴ a-z⁶ +⁶ ²A-E⁶; *2-[8] ²a-b⁶ ²c⁴ ²d-z⁶ ²+⁶ ²A-P⁶, the first part missing A1 & A6, the second ²C5-6, infrequent contemporaneous and slightly later manuscript annotation in places, mostly glosses, generally a bright and fresh copy, yet one quarter of the text block is affected by a water-stained fore-margin of varying degrees, never affecting legibility, a handful or so of leaves have repaired corners or edges, never with loss of text or legibility, some occasional further and lighter marks in places, [k6] with thinned paper affecting four or so lines, no loss of sense, late 18th/early 19th c russia, gilt fillet borders, lettered in gilt, upper-cover detached, with traces of former tape repairs, lower-cover split and just holding, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, small folio (30.4 x 22cm)

Provenance: 1) Verso of colophon with English manuscript ownership inscription dated 1570. 2) Tho Duke his book 1674; dated ownership inscription to A2. 3) John Jessop, early 19th c bibliophile; his armorial bookplate to pastedown, ffep with a note viz. Payne & Foss, 1822 - purchased from them?, another leaf with notes on the different editions of Fabyan's Chronicles in Edward Vernon Utterson's 1852 auctions. 4) Eventually - and generously - presented to Major Sir Thomas Philip Barber, 1st Baronet (1876-1961), of Lamb Close House, Greasley, Nottinghamshire; loosely-inserted envelope inscribed: Dear Major/Please accept the Gift, in/appreciation, for some very happy/days, spent in the fields./With best wishes for a prosperous/New Year/George; thence by descent.