And than was he a go. And in her mynde thought tho; In spyte of them that saythe so. And all that wolde entre, Suche fortune had she tho. God dyd bete her surely Or she dyd hens go. But what of her dyde befall, Naye there do I ho; But they that rede this erly or late, I praye Jesu theyr soules take, 400 410 Emprynted at London without Newegate, in Saynt Pulkers Parysshe, by me the Olde Bayly. The Schole-house of Women. HE ERE begynneth a lytell boke named the Scole howse, wherein euery man may rede a goodly prayse of the condycyons of women. In seven-line stanzas. R. Wyer, n. d. 8vo. Herbert's Ames, fol. 375; he copies Ames; and Dibdin (iii. 181) copies him, Here begynneth a lytle boke named the Schole house of women: wherin euery man may rede a goodly prayse of the condicyons of The yeare of our Lorde. MDXLI. women. The colophon is Explicit. Prynted at London in Paules Churche yearde, at the sygne of the maydens heed, by Thomas Petyt. MDLXI. 8vo. D 2, in fours. Here Begynneth the Scole-house of women: wherein every man may reade a goodly prayse of the condicyons of women. Anno Domini MDLX. This title is in an architectural compartment and the initials T. R., possibly those of the artist, are in the centre at the bottom. The colophon is Imprinted at London in Paules Churcheyarde at the Sygne of the Swanne by John Kyng. 4to. Heer beginneth the Schole House of Women, wherin euery man may read a goodly lesson of the condicions of Women. Anno Domini M.D. [sic] 1572. [Col.] Imprinted at London at the long shop, adioyning vnto Saint Mildreds Church in the Pultrie by John Allde, 1572. 4to. These four editions are all of great scarcity. Of that of 1572 there is a copy among Selden's books in the Bodleian; and Mr. Utterson reprinted it in his Select Pieces of Early Popular Poetry in 1817. The present text is formed from a collation of the ed. of 1572 with that printed by King twelve years before, which has supplied a few better readings here and there. Warton in his History (iii. 426, ed. 1824), explicitly states that there was an edition of the Schole House of Women from the press of Robert Wyer in 1542, and he quotes the title as it has been given above, substituting, however, prayer for prayse; which seems too circumstantial a description of the volume to allow us to suppose, that he was merely speaking, as he so often does, at random. Warton's "Prayer" is, it is true, an error for "Prayse;" but it is not unlikely that the book was in the hands of a friend, and that the mistake was committed by the latter, who copied the title too carelessly; or it is by no means impossible that Warton himself, having been allowed to inspect the production, was guilty of this oversight. Wyer's edition may still be in existence, but it has never been heard of.1 But whoever was the first publisher of the Schole House, it is readily susceptible of proof that the tract was in print, when (after 1541) Edward Gosynhyll put forth his " Prayse of all Women, called Mulierum Pean:" for in the latter, the author says: "A wake, they sayde; slepe not so fast: Consyder our grefe, and how we be blamed; Whoever reported, however, that Gosynhyll had written the Scole of Women, reported what was not true, as we have attempted to explain elsewhere. Dibdin, in his edition of Herbert, evidently knew no more of the impression by Wyer than he found in Warton. Again, Bansley, in his "Treatyse shewing and declaring the pryde and abuse of Women now a dayes," printed about 1550, or at least, some time in the reign of Edward VI (1547-53), has the following apparent allusion to the present work: "The scole house of women is nowe well practysed, And to moche put in ure; Whych maketh manye a mans hayre to growe Thorowe his hoode, you may be verye sure.' We have used the term "apparent allusion," because we do not think that this passage, taken by itself, would be sufficient to establish the pre-existence of Gosynhyll's book: for works in popular literature were frequently entitled from fashionable cant, or current proverbial expressions, as is the case even now, and it is far from improbable that the Schole or Schole-house of Women was in vogue as a phrase, before Gosynhyll adopted it as the title to his lucubration, and that, in fact, its familiarity to the public ear recommended it to him or to his publisher. It will be observed that, in the copy which is given above of the title of Petyt's edition, there is an important discrepancy, the title bearing the date of 1541, and the colophon that of 1561. Such mistakes are not uncommon in old books, and in the present instance, we are disposed, contrary to the opinion of some bibliographers, to assign the appearance of Petyt's impression to the earlier year. The volume was evidently the property of John Kyng in 1560, and it is more than doubtful whether Petyt printed later than 1554.1 In Herbert, in his enlarged and improved edition of Ames, mentions no book from the press of Petyt later than 1554. Dibdin's additions to Herbert a volume occurs, supposed to have been printed by him in 1555, so that if the date on the colophon of the Schole house of Women is to be received as correct, one of two very improbable suppositions must be admitted, namely, either that Petyt suspended business for six or seven years, and then resumed it for the purpose of executing one book, or that all the books printed by him between 1554 or 1555 and 1561 have disappeared, leaving no trace whatever behind them. We think, on the whole, that the date on the title must be sustained. In 1557,' Edward More, of Hambledon, co. Bucks, a young man under twenty years of age, was provoked by the publication of the "Schole-house of Women" to a vindication of the calumniated sex, which did not come from the press, however, till 1560. More's book bears the ensuing title:-"A lytle & bryefe Treatyse called the defence of women, and especially of Englyshe Women, made agaynste the Schole howse of Women. Anno Domini M.D.LX. Imprinted at London in Paules churche varde at the signe of the Swane by John Kynge,” 4to. black letter. It was reprinted, in an imperfect and careless manner, in Select Pieces of Early Popular Poetry, 1817; but it was not thought worthy of a place in the present collection, as it is assuredly one of the most prosaic compositions in the language. It will be found, indeed, as a general rule, that the treatises, which were intended as diatribes and invectives against the female sex, are far more entertaining, and contain far better writing, than those published on the other side of the question. They were also, if a ballad-writer of the day may be credited, more popular and acceptable to the reading public. In his Crown Garland of Goulden Roses, 1612, Richard Johnson has a "Song in Praise and Dispraise of Women," which commences as follows: "Women to praise who taketh in hand, A number shall displease; But who so doth them most dispraise, Doth most live at their ease." More was not the only champion of the ladies against their unmannerly assailant. On the 27th May, 1560, John Allde paid fourpence for the right to print "a ballett called the defence agaynst them that commonly defame women," and other pieces of the same kind possibly existed at one time, though no longer known. He dates his book: "From Hambleden, the xx. day of Julye, M.D.LVjj;" so that it was not in answer to King's edition of the Schole House, as has been generally held. 2 Could this be More's book itself, miscalled a ballad by the clerk? Fourpence was, however, very little for a volume of such bulk. |