"[T]His book was compyled by dan John lydgate monke of burye, at the excitacion and styryng of the noble and victoryous prynce, Kyng harry the fyfthe, in thonoure glorye & reuerence of the byrthe of our moste blessyd lady mayde wyf, and moder of our lord Jhesu cryst ..." (leaf [pi]1r).
Collation: [pi]² a-l⁸ m⁶: 96 leaves, leaf m6 blank.
Imprint from colophon (leaf m5r).
Paper format: Chancery folio
PML copy complete, but De Ricci thought leaf m6 (and perhaps [pi]) supplied from Ratcliffe copy (see De Ricci, Census of Caxtons, 71.1 and .5); however, the rubrication of [pi] matches that of the rest of the work while the Ratcliffe copy (now University of Glasgow Library, Sp. Coll. Hunterian Bv.2.20) is unrubricated.
PML copy leaf dimensions: 25.1 x 18.5 cm
Printed in Caxton's type 4:100G.
Sheets a2.7 and a3.6 are known in a different setting, all recovered as fragments of printers' waste from bindings. Proctor and Bühler believed they represented an otherwise unknown edition, but it seems more likely that they were rejected as faulty after printing, and have been replaced by reprinted sheets in the complete copies known (BMC XI 139-40).
Title from explicit (leaf m4v): "Here endeth the book of thelyf of our lady made by dan John lydgate monke of bury at thynstaunce of the moste crysten kynge kyng harry the fyfth."
Verse.
Hand decoration: Rubricated, red lombards and paragraph marks (likely in Caxton's workshop, see BMC XI 346). C-type paragraph marks, usually with curl at terminals. "Blessed be the" in contemporary hand on leaf m5r. Rawlinson note, "C & P" (front fly leaf).