library: British Library

The British Library (UK)

Caxton, Aesop, 1484 (fol. 38r)

This version of Aesop’s Fables is the first ever to have been printed in English. Caxton translated from Julien Macho's 1482 French edition and replicated Jehan Rousset's woodcuts from that edition as well.

Holinshed, Chronicles, 1577 (b2v)

As is the case with many large chronicles, the woodcut illustrations here are reused throughout the book.

Holinshed, Chronicles, 1577, pub. Bishop (¶1r)

In some cases, when a group of publishers together paid for a work to be printed, the work would be printed with different states of the title page, each publisher being named separately. Here, although a group of men collaborated to pay for the publication of Holinshed's Chronicles, this state of the title page lists only Lucas Harrison as the publisher (compare to this copy of the work).

Shakespeare, Lear, 1608 (A2r)

The play which we now call King Lear was not first published with a much longer title, it also differs in its emphasis on Edgar as the lead of the subplot.