“The history of Cawood the Rooke or the Assembly of Birds” was entered into the Stationers’ Register, a precursor to copyright, on July 23, 1638, under the name “ffrancis Groue,” aka Francis Grove. (See A Transcript of the Registers of the Company of Stationers of London, Volume IV, p. 399, and Stationers’ Register Online).
Over the next several decades many editions of “The Pleasant History of Cawwood the Rooke, or the Assembly of Birds, with the Severall Speeches which the Birds made to the Eagle, in hope to have the Government in his absence: and lastly, how the Rooke was banished; with the Reason why crafty Fellowes are called Rookes. As also fit Morrals and Expositions added to every Chapter.” were printed.
This is a directory of surviving copies, with links to their catalog records and where they can be found online if they’ve been digitized. This list is based on the “Cawwood the Rook” entry in A list of English tales and prose romances printed before 1740 by Arundell Esdaile and on the English Short Title Catalogue. I did not trace the copies associated with “Reynard the Fox.”
1640
Title: The pleasant history of Cawwood the rooke. Or, The assembly of birds, with the severall speeches which the birds made to the eagle, in hope to have the government in his absence: and lastly, how the rooke was banished; with the reason why crafty fellowes are called rookes. As also fit morralls and expositions added to every chapter.
Publisher: London : Printed by T. C[otes] for F. Grove, and are to be sold at his shoppe, at the upper end of Snow-Hill, neere the Sarazens head without Nevv-Gate, 1640.
- STC 4889
- ESTC System No. 006188646
- ESTC Citation No. S117294
Physical Locations:
Electronic Locations:
- Early English Books Online (institutional access only)
- University of Michigan (text only)
- Oxford Text Archive (text only)
- Yale (only first page digitized)
1656
Title: The pleasant history of Cawwood the rook. Or, The assembly of birds, with the several speeches which the birds made to the eagle, in hope to have the government in his absence: and lastly, how the rook was banished; with the reason why crafty fellows are called rooks. As also fit morals and expositions added to every chapter.
Publisher: London : printed by R[obert]. I[bbitson]. for Francis Grove dwelling on Snow-hill, neer the Sarazens head, without Newgate, 1656.
- ESTC System No. 006105134
- ESTC Citation No. R8367
Physical Locations:
Electronic Locations:
- Early English Books Online (institutional access only)
- Google Books
1683
Title: The pleasant history of Cawwood the rook. Or, The assembly of birds. With the several speeches which the birds made to the eagle: in hope to have the goverment in his absence. And lastly, how the rook was banished; with the reason why crafty fellows are called rooks. As also fit morrals and expositions added to every chapter.
Publisher: [London] : Printed for I. Wright, I. Clarke, W. Thackeray, and T. Passinger, 1683.
- ESTC System No. 006128150
- ESTC Citation No. R221521
Physical Locations:
- British Library
- Cambridge University Magdalene College Pepysian Library (no catalogue online)
Electronic Locations:
- Early English Books Online (institutional access only)
17– ? Imperfect
Title: The pleasant history of Cawwood the rooke, or, The assembly of birds, with their several speeches to the … eagle.
Publisher: Lond. [17–].
English Short Title Catalogue:
- none
Physical Locations:
Electronic Locations:
- none
circa 1700
Title: The pleasant history of Cawwood the rook. Or The assembly of birds. With their several speeches to the eagle, in hopes to have the government in his absence. And how the rook was banished, with the reason why crafty fellows are call’d rooks. With fit morals and expositions added to every chapter. To which is added, The birds harmony.
Publisher: London : printed by, and for W.O. and sold by the booksellers, [ca. 1700]
- ESTC System No. 006128151
- ESTC Citation No. R221522
Physical Locations:
Electronic Locations:
- Early English Books Online (institutional access only)
Related Posts
I discovered this work while researching the history of “The Bird Song.”
Another old work I came across was the “Harmony of Birds,” which I transcribed in full in a separate post.
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