The Ship of Fools, Volume 1
Translated by Alexander Barclay
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The opening
Here begynneth the foles and first inprofytable bokes.
I am the firste fole of all the hole nauy To kepe the pompe, the helme and eke the sayle For this is my mynde, this one pleasoure haue I Of bokes to haue grete plenty and aparayle I take no wysdome by them: nor yet auayle Nor them preceyue nat: And then I them despyse Thus am I a foole and all that sewe that guyse
That in this shyp the chefe place I gouerne By this wyde see with folys wanderynge The cause is playne, and easy to dyscerne Styll am I besy bokes assemblynge For to haue plenty it is a plesaunt thynge In my conceyt and to haue them ay in honde But what they mene do I nat vnderstonde
But yet I haue them in great reuerence And honoure sauynge them from fylth and ordure By often brusshynge, and moche dylygence Full goodly bounde in pleasaunt couerture Of domas, satyn, or els of veluet pure I kepe them sure ferynge lyst they sholde be lost For in them is the connynge wherin I me bost.
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About this edition
- The words
- Alexander Barclay's English translation, copied word for word.
- Copied from
- Left out
- The source library's header, footer and license, in 2 places
- The title page and opening pages before chapter 1, in 2 places
- Notes and pages added by translators, editors or publishers, in 11 places
- The printed table of contents (the app makes its own), in 3 places
- A preface, foreword or afterword
- Pynson's printed colophon and publication statement
- James Locher's separately attributed prologue (2 blocks)
- Barclay's explicitly identified addition to his source author (8 blocks)