William Baldwin (author)

William Baldwin (fl. 1547) was an English author, poet, printer and cleric.

Early life

From the West Country of England, perhaps Shropshire, or even from Wales.^[1] Nothing certain is known of Baldwin's life until 1547, when he started employment as a corrector in the London printing shop of Edward Whitchurch.^[2] Previously, he seems to have studied logic and philosophy at Oxford.

Career

During the reigns of Edward VI and Queen Mary, it appears Baldwin played an occasional role in the production of theatrical exhibitions at court, while continuing to work at the printing shop. Records of the master of the revels, Thomas Cawarden, show that he had a hand in "a comedy concerning the way of life" and a morality play, but this cannot be confirmed.

He is probably the William Baldwin who was ordained deacon by Archbishop Grindal in 1563; the same man was described as a minister in the 1587 Mirror for Magistrates, and was noted to have given up printing for an appointment in the church, viz. as vicar of Tortington, Sussex, in 1559–60; and then as rector of St Michael-le-Querne, London, in 1561.

Death

He died some time before 1 November 1563. A further possible identification is in Stowe's account in Historical Memoranda of one Baldwin preaching at Paul's Cross in September 1563, who died a week later of the plague.^[3]

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.

In 1553 Baldwin wrote Beware the Cat, a satirical novel that wasn’t published until 1570. Some scholars suggest that in 1556 he published an epistolary novel entitled The Image of Idleness under the pseudonym Oliver Oldwanton. These are generally considered the first two novels in English literature.^[4]

The 1559 Mirror for Magistrates was superintended by Baldwin, who also contributed four poems to the work. These contributions were:

The Story of Richard, Earl of Cambridge, being put to death at Southampton;
How Thomas Montague, Earl of Salisbury, in the midst of his glory was by chance slain by a Piece of Ordnance;
Story of William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, being punished for abusing his King and causing the Destruction of good Duke Humphrey;
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. 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 1569 A new Booke called The Shippe of Safegarde, wrytten by G. B. was probably written by Baldwin.

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

References

^ King, John N. (2004). "Baldwin, William (d. in or before 1563), author and printer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1171. Retrieved 24 February 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ King, John N. (2004). "Baldwin, William (d. in or before 1563), author and printer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1171. Retrieved 24 February 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ King, John N. (2004). "Baldwin, William (d. in or before 1563), author and printer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1171. Retrieved 24 February 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Michael Flachmann, “The First English Epistolary Novel: ‘The Image of Idleness (1555)’. Text, Introduction, and Notes,” Studies in Philology 87.1 (Winter 1990): 1-74; Robert W. Maslen, “William Baldwin and the Politics of Pseudo-Philosophy in Tudor Prose Fiction,” Studies in Philology 97.1 (Winter 2000): 29-60.

"Baldwin, William (fl.1547)" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Baldwin, William (fl.1547)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

External links

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

[1] King, John N. (2004). "Baldwin, William (d. in or before 1563), author and printer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1171. Retrieved 24 February 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[2] King, John N. (2004). "Baldwin, William (d. in or before 1563), author and printer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1171. Retrieved 24 February 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[3] King, John N. (2004). "Baldwin, William (d. in or before 1563), author and printer". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1171. Retrieved 24 February 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[4] Michael Flachmann, “The First English Epistolary Novel: ‘The Image of Idleness (1555)’. Text, Introduction, and Notes,” Studies in Philology 87.1 (Winter 1990): 1-74; Robert W. Maslen, “William Baldwin and the Politics of Pseudo-Philosophy in Tudor Prose Fiction,” Studies in Philology 97.1 (Winter 2000): 29-60.

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