Life

From the West Country

West Country

The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Baldwin studied logic and philosophy at Oxford. On leaving Oxford, he became a corrector of the press to the printer Edward Whitchurch

Edward Whitchurch

Edward Whitchurch , was an English publisher of Protestant works.Whitchurch published the first complete version of the Bible in English. Other published works included The 1547 A Treatise of Morall Phylosophie, contayning the Sayinges of the Wyse, authored by William Baldwin.-References:Attribution...

. During the reigns of Edward VI and Queen Mary, it appears that Baldwin was employed in preparing theatrical exhibitions for the court. Of Baldwin's closing years we have no record; he is supposed to have died early in the reign of Queen Elizabeth

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

.

Works

Baldwin wrote and published a number of works between 1547 and 1569.

The 1547 A Treatise of Morall Phylosophie, contayning the Sayinges of the Wyse, authored by Baldwin and printed by Whitchurch, was a small black-letter octavo of 142 leaves. An enlarged edition of this work was later published by Thomas Paulfreyman, and continued to be popular for a century.

In 1547 Baldwin prefixed a copy of verses to a work by Christopher Langton (1521–1578), the Treatise ordrely declaring the Principall Partes of Physick.

The 1549 Canticles or Balades of Salomon, phraselyke declared in Englyshe Metres was printed by Baldwin from the types of Whitchurch.

The 1559 Mirror for Magistrates

Mirror for Magistrates

Mirror for Magistrates is a collection of English poems from the Tudor period by various authors which retell the lives and the tragic ends of various historical figures.-Background:...

was superintended by Baldwin, who also contributed four poems to the work. These contributions were:

1. The Story of Richard, Earl of Cambridge, being put to death at Southampton;
2. How Thomas Montague, Earl of Salisbury, in the midst of his glory was by chance slain by a Piece of Ordnance;
3. Story of William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, being punished for abusing his King and causing the Destruction of good Duke Humphrey;
4. The Story of Jack Cade naming himself Mortimer, and his Rebelling against the King.

In the preface, Baldwin speaks of having been 'called to other trades of lyfe.'

The 1560 The Funeralles of King Edward the Sixt; wherein are declared the Causers and Causes of his Death. was a poetical tract in twelve leaves. On the title-page is a woodcut portrait of Edward VI of England

Edward VI of England

Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...

. The elegy is followed by An Exhortation to the Repentaunce of Sinnes and Amendment of Life, consisting of twelve eight-line stanzas; and the tract concludes with an Epitaph: The Death Playnt or Life Prayse of the most Noble and Vertuous Prince, King Edward the Sixt.

The 1561 Beware the Cat (also 1571 & 1584) was an early satirical piece, shown by John Payne Collier

John Payne Collier

John Payne Collier , English Shakespearian critic and forger, was born in London.-Reporter and solicitor:...

 (1848) to be the work of Baldwin. He based this attribution on an entry in the Registers of the Company of Stationers of London

Stationers' Register

The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. The company is a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with the publishing industry, including printers, bookbinders, booksellers, and publishers in England...

(1568–69) and upon a strident anonymous broadsheet published circa 1561 which attacked the work as written pseudonymously by Baldwin. Prior to Collier's work, the connection had not been made with Baldwin, and the existence of a 1561 edition relies on evidence from Joseph Ritson

Joseph Ritson

Joseph Ritson was an English antiquary.He was born at Stockton-on-Tees, of a Westmorland yeoman family. He was educated for the law, and settled in London as a conveyancer at the age of twenty-two. He devoted his spare time to literature, and in 1782 published an attack on Thomas Warton's History...

 and the discovery of the broadsheet. No edition prior to that of 1571 is known to exist, and this latter edition only exists, apart from title page and introduction, in the form of 19th century transcripts. The 1584 edition is the only original (and incomplete, missing title page) edition. In this work personal allusions abound, and there are many attacks on Roman Catholics. The purpose is to show that cats are gifted with speech and reason; and in the course of the narrative, which consists of prose and verse, a number of tales are introduced.

The 1569 A new Booke called The Shippe of Safegards, wrytten by G. B. was probably written by Baldwin.

Anthony Wood

Anthony Wood

Anthony Wood or Anthony à Wood was an English antiquary.-Early life:Anthony Wood was the fourth son of Thomas Wood , BCL of Oxford, where Anthony was born...

ascribes to him a work entitled The Use of Adagies; Similies and Proverbs; Comedies, of which nothing is known.

External links

• presscom.co.uk, original extant texts for 'Beware the Cat'