The following is a leaf from Sebastian Brant, Ship of Fools, trans. Alexander Barclay (London, 1509) printed by Richard Pynson (c. 1449-c. 1529).
Pynson, Norman by birth but naturalised as an Englishman around 1493, is one of the first printers in England, and was King's Printer to Henry VII and Henry VIII. His first dated work, Doctrinale by Alexander Grammaticus was published in 1492, while he was appointed King's Printer in 1506.
It is said that Pynson introduced roman type to England when he printed this book in 1509; those words on the margin of the recto page of this leaf are part of the earliest example of the use of roman type in England!
Someone damaged the picture of the Crucifixion perhaps for religious indignation but the damaged part is neatly filled with a piece of seemingly contemporary paper (it may even be from the same book, as the colour and texture of the piece perfectly matches those of the rest of the page).
PR
