ath .viii.
chapitres.

The first is of the eschequer.

The seconde of the yssue and progression of the kynge.

The thirde of the yssue of the quene.

The fourth is of the yssue of the alphyns.

The fifth is of the yssue of the knyghtes.

The sixty chapitre of the yssue of the rooks.

The seuenth is of the meuynge & yssue of the comyn peple.

And the eyght and laste chapitre is of the epilegacion and of the
recapitulacion of all these forsaid chapitres.

GLOSSARY

INDEX

INTRODUCTION

The readers of the "Antiquary" will remember the anecdote told with so
much effusion by Jonathan Oldbuck. '"Davy Wilson," he said, "commonly
called Snuffy Davy, from his inveterate addiction to black rappee, was
the very prince of scouts for searching blind alleys, cellars, and
stalls, for rare volumes. He had the scent of a slow-hound, sir, and the
snap of a bull-dog. He would detect you an old black-letter ballad among
the leaves of a law-paper, and find an _editio princeps_ under the mask
of a school Corderius. Snuffy Davy bought the 'Game of Chess, 1474,' the
first book ever printed in England, from a stall in Holland for about
two groschen, or two-pence of our money. He sold it to Osborne for
twenty pounds, and as many books as came to twenty pounds more. Osborne
re-sold this inimitable windfall to Dr. Askew for sixty guineas. At Dr.
Askew's sale," continued the old gentleman, kindling as he spoke, "this
inestimable treasure blazed forth in its full value and was purchased by
Royalty itself for one hundred and seventy pounds! Could a copy now
occur, Lord only knows," he ejaculated with a deep sigh and lifted-up
hands, "Lord only knows what would be its ransom; and yet it was
originally secured, by skill and research, for the easy equivalent of
two-pence sterling."'

Sir Walter Scott in a footnote adds:--"This bibliomaniacal anecdote is
literally true; and David Wilson, the author need not tell his brethren
of the Roxburghe and Bannatyne Clubs, was a real personage." Mr. Blades,
whose iconoclastic temper is not moved to mercy even by this good story,
says that although it "looks like a true bibliographical anecdote," its
appearance is deceptive, and that "not a single statement is founded
on fact."[1]

Jonathan Oldbuck did not venture to estimate the sum that would ransom a
copy of the "Game of Chesse," and the world of the bibliomania has moved
even since his days, so that prices