Covers

The 1617 copy was titled “Esop Eables Tranſlated Grammatically, and alſo in propriety of our English phrase; and euery way, in ſuch ſort as may bee most profitable for the Grammar ſchoole”. In this title, the s has been replaced with the ſ. This letter resembling

15 Pictures in this thesis are for references only. All the examples of editions of Aesop’s Fables were retrieved from their digital facsimile. A complete transcript of a text will not be provided if a text is legible.

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an f without the crossbar is a tall variant used at the start and in the middle of a word.

It is how the Middle English distinguishes between a hard “s” and a soft “s”. The “ſ”

represents the soft “s” which, in this cover, is used in words such as “tranſlated”, ”alſo”,

“ſuch”, and “ſort”. The word “euery” is equal to “every” for in the Middle English usage, just as Latin, both the U and V were used for both the vowel “u” and the consonant “v”.

The letter “v” appeared at the beginning of a word was served as the sound “u”. Same rules should be applied to the following copies when reading their content¹⁶.

Therefore, it is made clear the cover indicates that this book has been grammatically translated. It used proper English phrases of the time to render the translation. Readers should apply this book to their learning according to the directions in the preface. The cover also reads that “for more fully set downe in Ludus Lit, or the Grammar-ſchoole”

which refers to a book, “Ludus Lit, or the Grammar-ſchoole”*, written by the same author, John Brinsley. The lower part of the cover reads “London. Printed by H. L. for Thomas Man. 1617” and spells out the publisher and the publication year. H. L. stand for Humphrey Lownes, a bookseller and printer based in London.

16 Middle English usage is extracted from http://www.nativlang.com/middle-english/index.php

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Figure 1 The cover of the 1617 copy

The second copy, published in 1646, was titled “Æsops fables, with the fables of Phaedrvs. Moralized, TRANSLATED VERBATIM, ACCORDING to the Latine. FOR THE VSE OF GRAMMAR SCHOOLES, AND FOR CHILDREN, That with the more delight, they may learne to reade the English Tongue.” According to the title, some fables used in this book were from the Phaedrus edition. The cover also inscribed that it has moralized fables. The 1646 copy put emphasis on verbatim translation.

Nevertheless it didn’t provide readers with the original text. The copy further reads that it was designed for use in grammar schools and suitable for children. In other words, this copy aspired to delight children as they learned to read English. It also implied that the use of fables severed as an entertainment for the readers. It was published by H. P., printed by I. L. for Andrew Hebb. The title page bore the inscription, "London. At the Bell in St. Paul’s churchyard", indicating the place where the book was sold.

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Figure 2 The cover of the 1646 copy

The third copy, published in 1651, was titled “ÆSOPS FABLES, With THEIR MORALLS, IN PROSE AND VERSE. Grammatically tranſlated. Illustrated with

Pictures and Emblems. Together with the Hiſtory of his LIFE and DEATH, newly and exactly tranſlated out of the Original Greek.” The title suggests the form the fables will be pesented. All fables presented in the book were in both prose and verse with morals attached to the end of the story. This copy featured pictures and emblems with each story. Moreover, there were chapters at the end describing the life of Aesop. It was printed by Robert Dawlman, a publisher, for Francis Eglesfield, a London bookseller who owned the shop at the Marygold in St Paul’s Churchyard. (Herrick & Cain, 2013) At the bottom of the over the Roman numeral MDCLI were inscribed which correspond to the Arabic number 1651, the publication year of this copy.

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Figure 3 The cover of the 1651 copy

The copy, from 1673, reads: “Æsop Improved, OR, Above three hundred and fifty FABLES, MOSTLY Æ SOP'S, With their MORALS, Paraphrased in English VERSE.

Amounting to about one hundred and fifty more than do appear to have been so rendered by any other Hand.” The 1673 copy made much of the fact that, though lacking illustrations and emblems, it excelled at the quantity of fables offered. This copy was published in London by the bookseller Thomas Parkhurst who lived at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside.

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Figure 4 The cover of the 1673 copy

The fifth copy was published by Sir Roger L’Estrange in 1692. The cover was inscribed:

“Fables OF ÆSOP And other Eminent MYTHOLOGISTS WITH morals and reflections”. The bottom of the cover lists the names of the booksellers and the publication year. Different from the other copies, the 1692 copy has Sir Roger L’Estrange’s self-portrait adorned next to the cover page.

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Figure 5 The cover of the 1692 copy

The last copy selected is the 1700 copy with the longest title “Æsop's FABLES English and Latin: Every one whereof is divided into its distinct periods, marked with Figures:

so that little Children being uſed to write and tranſlate them, may not only more exactly underſtand all the Rules of Grammar; but alſo learn to imitate the right Compoſition of Words and the proper Forms of Speech belonging to both languages”. The title takes up all the space on the book cover and is followed by a name, Charles Hoole, the author of the copy. This copy features Latin-English parallel texts and was specifically designed for language learning. From grammar rules, words compositions to speech form, this copy provides readers with as many as 207 fables to learn how to command both the English and Latin languages. The publisher was the Stationers’ Company which used to have a nationwide monopoly on printing.

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Figure 6 The cover of the 1700 copy

These six covers are all similar in terms of font style, design and layout, which is mostly consists of titles. Some usages of the Middle English can be seen throughout various versions with some subtle variations. For example, the earliest copy contains no ‘Æ”

while the other five copies all adopted the letter. The usage of “ſ” is presented in all six covers but the interchange of “u” and “v” only appears in the first two. These six copies, from the first, published in 1617 to the last, published in 1700, almost stretch across a century. Though the information is meager, we can still observe the language changes over time. It is also safe to say that the later the version, the closer the language practice is to the Modern English.

All the covers use capital letters freely whenever there is a need for emphasis. Judging only by these covers, we can identify that these publications are used or suggested to

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be used in either grammar schools or for language learning purposes. They were not produced merely as fables to read or to entertain children with, but with the purpose of being utilized as language learning materials.