The fourth centenary of Wolsey's death, already com- memorated by
Professor Pollard's masterly memoir, has now led to the republication of George Cavendish's Life and Death of Thomas Wolsey in a superb quarto, printed at the Alcuin Press of Chipping Campden, on hand-made paper (Richards Press, E4 4s.). Cavendish, who was Wolsey's gentleman usher, may be regarded as the first English biographer, and his detailed account of Wolsey's arrest and of his last days at Leicester Abbey is a pathetic story and a remarkable piece of Tudor English prose. His book did not see the light till the days of the Long Parliament. It was first printed in full in 1815, and again in 1893 by William Morns. It has now been transcribed afresh and in full from Cavendish's MS. in the British Museum, so that this beautiful book contains the authentic text.
* * * *
Previous page
