§9. "The Book of St. Albans". XIII. The Introduction of Printing into England and the Early Work of the Press. Vol. 2. The End of the Middle Ages. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature: An Encyclopedia in Eighteen Volumes. 1907

The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
Volume II. The End of the Middle Ages.

XIII. The Introduction of Printing into England and the Early Work of the Press.

§ 9. The Book of St. Albans.

The last book from this press is well known under the title of The Book of St. Albans. It contains three treatises, the first on hawking, the second on hunting and the last on coat-armour or heraldry. Much has been written about the authorship of this book, which is probably not all from one hand. The part on hunting, which is in verse, ends with the words “Explicit Dam Julyans Barnes in her boke of huntyng,” and this is generally considered to refer to a somewhat mythical Juliana Berners, traditionally prioress of the nunnery of Sopwell near St. Albans. The treatise on heraldry is expressly said to have been translated and compiled at St. Albans, and is probably derived, in great part, from a work on the same subject written, in 1441, by Nicholas Upton and dedicated to Humphrey, duke of Gloucester. Whatever part dame Juliana Berners may have taken in the compilation of The Book of St. Albans, it is certainly not an original work, and the greater part of the books on hawking and hunting are derived from the Venerie de Twety, a work composed early in the fourteenth century. The work on fishing, which was added to succeeding editions of the book, appears, from internal evidence, to have been originally composed in English.