Notes and Queries, Number 04, November 24, 1849 | Page 7

still kept up amongst booksellers, and which now passes under the designation of a "Trade edition;" the meaning of which being, that the copyright, instead of being the exclusive property of one person, is divided into shares and held by several. There are Trade editions of such voluminous authors as Shakspeare, Gibbon, Hume, and Robertson, for instance; and Alison's _Europe_, if published half a century back, might in all probability have been added to the list. The difference between the ancient and the modern usage appears to be this, that formerly when the type was set up for an edition "any of the company may laie on, (these two last words are still technically used by printers for supplying type with paper,) reasonablie at every impression," &c.; in other words, may print as many copies from the type "as they think good;" whereas now, the edition is first printed, and then the allotment of the copies, and the actual cost of them is made, according to the number of shares.
If this is a "Note" worth registering, it is much at your service, whilst for a "Query," I should be very glad to be informed, when a very able review, the date of which I neglected {56} to make at the time, appeared in the Times newspaper, of the 2nd edition of Cottle's Life of Coleridge.
With many good wishes for the success of your register,
I remain, &c.
JOHN MILAND.
* * * * *
DIBDIN'S TYPOGRAPHICAL ANTIQUITIES.
Sir,--I am very glad to have elicited the information contained in your number just published respecting the copy of Borde's work in the Chetham Library. As I have a great respect for Mr. Ames, I must remark that he had no share in the blunder, and whenever a new edition of his work is undertaken, it will be well to look rather curiously into the enlargements of Dibdin. In the mean time this information naturally leads to another Query--or rather, to more than one--namely, "Had Mr. Bindley's copy this unique imprint? and what became of it at the sale of his books? or is it only one of the imaginary editions which give bibliographers so much trouble?" Perhaps some one of your correspondents may be able to give information.
Yours, &c.
S.R. MAITLAND.
* * * * *
QUERIES ANSWERED, NO. 2
MADOC THE SON OF OWEN GWYNED.
The student who confines himself to a single question, may fairly expect a prompt and precise answer. To ask for general information on a particular subject, may be a less successful experiment. Who undertakes extensive research except for an especial purpose? Who can so far confide in his memory as to append his name to a list of authorities without seeming to prove his own superficiality? I throw out these ideas for consideration, just as they arise; but neither wish to repress the curiosity of _querists_, nor to prescribe bounds to the communicative disposition of respondents.
Did Madoc, son of Owen Gwynedd, prince of Wales, discover America? Stimulated by the importance of the question, and accustomed to admire the spirit of maritime enterprise, at whatever period it may have been called into action, I have sometimes reflected on this debatable point--but can neither affirm nor deny it.
I advise the _student_, as a preliminary step to the inquiry, to attempt a collection of all the accessible evidence, historical and ethnographic, and to place the materials which pertain to each class in the order of time. The historical evidence exists, I believe exclusively, in the works of the chroniclers and bards of Wales; and the ethnographic evidence in the narratives of travellers in America. The opinions of modern writers, the gifted author of Madoc not excepted, he is at liberty to consider as _hors-d'oeuere_--to be passed on, or tasted, _�� plaisir_. As an exemplification of this plan, I submit some short extracts, with critical remarks:--
"Madoc another of Owen Gwyneth his sonnes left the land [North-Wales] in contention betwixt his brethren, and prepared certaine ships with men and munition, and sought adventures by seas, sailing west, and leaving the coast of Ireland so far north, that he came to a land unknowen, where he saw manie strange things."--CARADOC OF LLANCARVAN, _continued--The historie of Cambria_, 1584. 4o. p. 227.
[The history of Caradoc ends with A.D. 1156. The continuation, to the year 1270, is ascribed by Powel, the editor of the volume, to the monks of Conway and Stratflur.]
Carmina Meredith filii Rhesi [Meredydd ab Rhys] mentionem facientia de Madoco filio Oweni Gwynedd, et de sua navigatione in terras incognitas. Vixit hic Meredith circiter annum Domini 1477.
Madoc wyf, mwyedic wedd, Iawn genau, Owen Gwynedd; Ni fynnum dir, fy enaid oedd, Na da mawr, ond y moroedd.
_The same in English._
Madoc I am the sonne of Owen Gwynedd With stature large, and comely grace adorned; No lands at home nor store of wealth me please,