Caxton Chaucer Leaf: Rare Book of the Week
The Wife of Bath's Prologue
This week's Rare Book of the Week is an incunablula leaf from the Caxton Chaucer from The Wife of Bath's Prologue which appears at the Freeman's Hindman November 14 Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana auction in Chicago.
Going under the hammer with an estimate of $7,500 - $9,000, the single leaf comes from the first edition of William Caxton's 1476 printing of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The passage begins with the line "Eche man as hym liste to shifte" and ends with "And bad our husbondis forto love us weel" (lines 104-161 of the Prologue). In this section the Wife of Bath discusses virginity and religion, arguing that women were allowed to use sex for both procreation and pleasure, and that a married woman has power over her husband.
The leaf was originally from Lord Ashburnham's incomplete copy of the Canterbury Tales sold at Sotheby's in May 1898, the Caxton Club acquiring 148 leaves for this edition.
