Valentine: Why how do you know that I am in love? Speed: Marry, by these special marks:— you have learned ... to sign like a schoolboy that had lost his A B C. UNIQUE XVITH CENTURY ENGLISH CHILD'S BOOK A. B. C. WITH THE PATER NOSTER, AVE, CREDE AND X commandments. Folio, single sheet; folded to make a booklet of 4 leaves, 12mo. 3⅞ by 2¾ inches. Preserved in full morocco box. Printed at London in the Old bailie by Richard Lant. No date, but about 1536. A unique child's' book which had disappeared from sight for over a century. Variously considered by authorities as having been intended as a Horn Book or as an education book for the very young scholar. Last seen by bibliographers at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century, the volume is described as follows by Ames-Herbert-Dibden's Typographical Antiquities, 1816, Vol. III, page 581, item 1779:— " The ABC etc. Without date. Octavo. It gins with five different Alphabets, and Gloria Patri▪ then the Paternoster, etc., grace before meat, and after. Printed only on one side, to be folded as blank pages to be pasted together, and make one leaf of two; or four small leaves of the whole sheet. Licenced by the Company." From 1816 on, the volume seems to have disappeared. Pollard, apparently from the above entry, records the fact that the work was printed by Lant (Handlist of Books Printed by English Printers Bibliographical Society) but indicateth no copy known. Duff, Century of the English Book Trade also had not seen a copy. He records that the Old Bailey address was the first of several addresses at which Lant printed,— hence books without date printed at that address must of necessity ante-date those of established dates printed at other location. Though Pollard, in a haphazard fashion, gives Lant's dates as 1542-1563 (op. Cit.), Duff records that" Richard Lant, Printer, in London, was made a freeman of the Stationers on the 6th September, 1537, and paid 44 shillings for the privilege .... When he started printing, he was living in the Old Bailey." Thus proving Pollard in error, and establishing the fact that in 1537, Lant was already a recognised printer of sufficient standing to be admitted to the Stationer's Company. The volume under consideration bears a manuscript date of 1536, written in an old hand. While this is not conclusive evidence of its actual date, the writer may have had access to evidence now no longer available. Certainly the sheet was printed before 1542 when Lant was sent to the Fleet prison for printing Tolwyn's The Man of Sin (of which no copy now survives.) The date of 1536, if it is the correct date, would establish this as the earliest known English A. B. C., the earliest known English Horn Book (for it can be considered as such) and the earliest known book printed in England strictly for children! Lant, moreover, is the rarest of all English printers; far more rare, for instance, than is Caxton. Of the many books that he printed from 1536 or 1537 until 1563, most have disappeared entirely. Only two of his works are recorded in the British Museum for instance, and there are none at Cambridge. Of English A. B. C. s, the following are now known. 1. The present example, printed by Richard Lant. Unique. Not in the Short Title Catalogue. 2. A.B.C. for children. J. King. No date. Entered at the Stationer's 1561/2. S.T.C. No. 18. Unique copy at Queen's College, Oxford. 3. The B. A. C. (sic) book in Latyn and in english. T. Petyt. No date but said to be 15●8. S.T.C. No. 19 Unique copy at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. 4. The A. B. C. set forth by the Kings Majesty. W. powel. No date, but said to be 1545. S.T.C. No. 20. Unique copy in the British Museum. 5. The A. B. C.; with the catechism. for the Company of Stationers, 1633. S.T.C. No. 21. Unique copy was in the Guild Hall Library, London. The rarity of these little books requires no summing up after the above evidence. The a b c with the Pater noster ave/ Credo/ and ten commandments in english newly translated and set forth at the king most gracious commandment. 1536 ¶ Printed at London in the Old bailie up Richard Lant ✚ A a b c d e f g h i k l m n o p q r r s s t v u w x y z & ꝰ. Est Amen. A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V W X Y Z. A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X. ✚ A a b c d e f g h i k l m n o p q r s s t v u w x y z &. est Amen. A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T V X. In the name of the father & son/ & the holy ghost. Amen. ¶ The seven petitions of the Pater noster. Our father which art in heaven/ hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth/ as it is in heaven. give us this day our daily bred. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us. And let us not be led into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen. The salutation of the An●●l/ called ave Maria. Hail MARI full of grace/ the lord is with the. Blessed art thou ●●onge women. And blessed 〈◊〉 the fruit of thy womb. Amen. The Crede/ or the xii artyles of the christian faith. I Believe in GOD the father almighty make● 〈◊〉 heaven and earth. ●●d in jesus Christ/ his only son our lord. Which was conceived by the holy ghost/ born of the virgin Mary. Suffered under Pons pilate was crucified/ deed/ buried/ and descended into hell. And the third day he rose again from death. He ascended in to heaven/ and sytteh on the right hand of god the father almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the deed I believe in the holy ghost. The holy catholic church. The communion of saints/ the forgiveness of sins. The resurrection of the body And the life everlasting Amen The ten commandments of almighty God. thou shalt have none other Gods but me Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image nor any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above/ or in earth beneath/ nor in the water under the earth/ thou shalt not bow down to them/ nor worship them. Thou shalt not take the name of thy lord god in vain. Remember that thou keep holy thy Saboth day. Honour thy father & thy mother Thou shalt do no murder. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt bear no false witness against thy neighbour Thou shalt not desire thy neighbours house/ thou shalt not desire thy neighbours wife nor his servant/ nor his maid nor his ox nor his ass/ nor any thing that is thy neighbours. ¶ Grace afore meat. The lord above/ grant us to take. His gracious gifts/ with thanks giving And his gospel not to forsake which is our health & life lasting Our father. etc. ¶ Grace after meat. Thanks to that lords that all hath sent For this our food convenient And for his word/ which is our health And life of soul as scripture telleth. Our father which act in heaven. etc. Finis.