*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77124 *** This ebook, based on a book first published c. 1525, was created in honour of Distributed Proofreaders’ 25th Anniversary. Here foloweth a lytell treatyse of the Beaute of Women newly translated out of Frenshe in to Englyshe. [Illustration: A woman playing a stringed instrument. The border of the illustration contains the Latin motto: PECCATI FORMA FEMINA EST ET HORTIS CONDICIO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The sōne of the mayde whome neuer none resembled In beaulte nor bounte syth the worlde began For both in hyr were perfaytely assembled Named is she Marye doughter to saynt Anne Guyde myne hande so that the gentylman That me desyred to reduce thys boke From frenshe to englyshe / be content / and than I take lytell cure what other there on loke. In frenshe (la beaute de femmes) is yt named The beaulte of women / in our Englyshe languag wherof to treate / I ought well to be blamed Consydered that I had neuer the vsage womens beaulte in body nor vysage For to regarde / and there vpon good reason Syth I am made (as an vnpleasant page) A cast a way from presence at eche season But what therof shall I leue of to wryte Syth no man hauyng more practyse then I wyll take the payne to set blacke on the whyte And yt a thynge so dygne of memory Nay trust me playne I shall my selffe applye Of the frenshe boke to folow the sentence Beaulte (as ryght requireth) to gloryfye what euer foloweth of the consequence what caused the wourthy Troylus of Troye To cast hys loue on Cresyde the shene why set Parys on fayre Helayne hys ioye what caused Achylles to loue Polexene why loued Trystram la belle Isoude the quene Or Arthur of bretayne the fayre Florence All cam of theyr beaulte and theyr plesant eyen what haue I to do as of the consequence. Beaulte as for the fyrste require wolde That the womam (how euer stande the case) Symple manyer and countenaunce sholde holde For otherwyse she wyll avoyde the place womans beaulte eche person reproueth yf so be that she bayre the countenaunce More eleuate or hygh than yt behoueth Hyr beaulte tourneth but all to dysplesance Beaulte requireth as for the seconde parte That woman bayre euer naturally Symple regade and not ouerthwarte wyth playsante and symple castyng of the eye Beaulte is lost in woman oultrely yf she haue thys of very condycyon As to regarde or loke dyspyteously For that is the manner of the lyon womans beaulte requireth thyrdely That stedfastly with out oultrage She kepe as dyscrete cōtynually Symple answer euer in her language womans beaulte that sholde be magnyfyed Lyetly compassed in these thre poyntes onely what beaulte so euer is to her applyed The woman ought to lede hyr lyffe symply Beaulte of suerty doeth that woman folowe That hath the browes and raynes of the backe And there withall the fete lyght and holowe yf these thre be holowe there is no lacke. Beaulte in woman is nothyng pleasant That glometh with her eyen with frowarde chere And is of hyr raynes so heuy and pesant And of hyr fete as yf a beest yt were womans beaulte shall ye fynde doubtlesse In thre hygh poyntes that on hyr body gent Ought for to be / & them I shall expresse Here after / yf my remembraunce assent Beaulte sayeth / the fyrst poynt to knowe The woman sholde haue the forhed hygh & fayre For whan she hath the forhed ouer lowe Euyll hyr besemeth a frontelet to bayre womans beaulte requyreth secondly Of beaulte a ryght who that enquire wolde That woman ought to haue the hed hygh The better therwyth hyr hat she doeth vpholde Beaulte in woman playnly doeth habounde yf she ne fayle as for the thyrde parte To haue the brestes hygh fayre and rounde wyth fyne gorgias well and fayre couert womans beaulte as in preemynence Requireth these thre poyntes pryncypall For to be founde vpon hyr corpulence And well on hyght they ought for to be all womans beaulte expresly for to showe As to the regarde of hyr countenaunce Requireth ouer thys to haue thre poyntes lowe whych all women ought to haue in remembraunce womans beaulte that pourchase wyll praysyng woll that the woman set her besy cure To maynteyne in hyr selfe a low laughyng To laugh ouer hygh besemeth no creature Beaulte yet cōmaundeth afterwarde Vnto all women thys poynt secondely To haue alwayes a lowely regarde Not ouer moche but moderately That woman hath the bent of beaultyes bowe That can regarde in helth and in dysease whan she shall neese to make the sounde but lowe To do otherwyse yt may no person please womans beaulte wyll in conclusyon Of these lowe poyntes without desloyaulte That women bere euer a lowly condycyon For otherwyse she leseth her beaulte. Beaulte demaundeth these poyntes to haue sene In women that be fayre and fayte at all To haue trayteys the browes / and traytys eyen And lytell the handes / traytys slendre and small Beaulte hath she that hath the chyn dympled The ioyntes of the handes sholde be in lyke manere The chekes also be they bare or wympled Especyally whan she smyleth with hyr chere. Beaulte requireth large to haue these thre The fyrste is the space goyng from eye to eye Betwyxt the sholdres sholde the seconde be The thyrde betwyxt the raynes ye shall espye. Perfayt beaulte ye may well determyne In woman / so that these thre in hyr repayre The nayles and the lyppes cōplexyon sanguyne And ruddy the chekes well vermayled and fayre womans beaulte thou doest well expose Or mayst expose wythout taryeng yf thou retayne in thy mynde close All that is set before in this wrytyng. Of beaulte yf there be any woman More purely sped than is cōprysed in this was neuer woman syth the worlde began So perfaytly sped of beaulte as she is I haue expressed theyr preemynence As well of theyr bodyes as of theyr mayntyen But speke what ye wyll apert or in scylence Beaulte sans bonte ne vault rien. Beaultyes there be in women infynyte But of bontyes there is but lytell speche Beaulte is them geuen as thyng requisyte who wyll haue bonte let hym go seche Thys not wythstandyng I coulde a man teche To fynde ryght good of the gendre feminyn And fayre also / but what euer we preche Beaulte sans bonte ne vault rien. Beaulte ennobleth the person doubtlesse And playnly she is of the more valeure But wyth beaulte is requisyte goodnesse To speke a ryght who so wyll sett hys cure Bonte wyll not be vnder coverture where euer she be / hyr purete is so fyne wherfore I set agayne in thys scrypture Beaulte sans bonte ne vault rien. Mayde / wyfe / or wydowe / dame / or damoysell That haue the raye of beaulte comprysed in your face Adiouste therto bonte / than shall ye do ryght well For beaulte with bonte assembled in a place Gyue demonstrance of an especyall grace Geuen to the person / & as I take the cause At syse smyleth bonte / where beaulte laugheth at ace As dayly yt is sene / and there a fynall clause. F I N I S Thus endeth the Beaulte of women neuly Imprynted By Rycharde Fawkes dwellyng in duram rent ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcriber’s Notes New original cover art included with this ebook is granted to the public domain. Pilcrows, which separated the stanzas of the poem in the printed text, have been omitted in this edition. Stanzas are instead separated by a blank line. The original printed edition did not use uppercase “w” or “y”, even at the beginning of a line of verse. This has been retained in this edition. All spellings, even those likely to be errors in printing (such as “womam” for “woman” in the fifth stanza), have been left as in the printed original. In the Latin motto on the title page, reproduced in HTML and other illustrated versions, “HORTIS” is likely an error; it should be “MORTIS.” *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77124 ***