[Illustration: William Morris Printer 1891-1896. ] EDITED BYALFRED POLLARD A SHORT HISTORY OF ENGLISH PRINTING 1476-1898 BY HENRY R. PLOMER LONDONKEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRÜBNERAND COMPANY, LIMITED1900 The EnglishBookman'sLibrary Edinburgh: T. And A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Majesty EDITOR'S PREFACE When Mr. Plomer consented at my request to write a short history ofEnglish printing which should stop neither at the end of the fifteenthcentury, nor at the end of the sixteenth century, nor at 1640, butshould come down, as best it could, to our own day, we were not withoutapprehensions that the task might prove one of some difficulty. Howdifficult it would be we had certainly no idea, or the book would neverhave been begun, and now that it is finished I would bespeak thereader's sympathies, on Mr. Plomer's behalf, that its inevitableshortcomings may be the more generously forgiven. If we look at what hasalready been written on the subject the difficulties will be more easilyappreciated. In England, as in other countries, the period in thehistory of the press which is best known to us is, by the perversity ofantiquaries, that which is furthest removed from our own time. Of allthat can be learnt about Caxton the late Mr. William Blades set down inhis monumental work nine-tenths, and the zeal of Henry Bradshaw, of Mr. Gordon Duff, and of Mr. E. J. L. Scott, has added nearly all that waslacking in this storehouse. Mr. Duff has extended his labours to theother English printers of the 15th century, giving in his _Early EnglishPrinting_ (Kegan Paul, 1896) a conspectus, with facsimiles of theirtypes, and in his privately printed Sandars Lectures presenting adetailed account of their work, based on the personal examination ofevery book or fragment from their presses which his unwearied diligencehas been able to discover. Originality for this period being out of thequestion, Mr. Plomer's task was to select, under a constant sense ofobligation, from the mass of details which have been brought togetherfor this short period, and to preserve due proportion in theirtreatment. Of the work of the printers of the next half-century our knowledge ismuch less detailed, and Mr. Plomer might fairly claim that he himself, by the numerous documents which he has unearthed at the Record Officeand at Somerset House, has made some contributions to it of considerablevalue and interest. It is to his credit, if I may say so, that so littleis written here of these discoveries. In a larger book the story of thebrawl in which Pynson's head came so nigh to being broken, or of JohnRastell's suit against the theatrical costumier who impounded thedresses used in his private theatre, would form pleasant digressions, but in a sketch of a large subject there is no room for digressions, andthese personal incidents have been sternly ignored by their discoverer. Even his first love, Robert Wyer, has been allotted not more than sixlines above the space which is due to him, and generally Mr. Plomer hascompressed the story told in the _Typographical Antiquities_ of Ames, Herbert, and Dibdin with much impartiality. When we pass beyond the year 1556, which witnessed the incorporation ofthe Stationers' Company, Mr. Arber's _Transcripts_ from the Company'sRegisters become the chief source of information, and Mr. Plomer's pagesbear ample record of the use he has made of them, and of the numerousdocuments printed by Mr. Arber in his prefaces. After 1603, the date atwhich Mr. Arber discontinues, to the sorrow of all bibliographers, hisepitome of the annual output of the press, information is far lessabundant. After 1640 it becomes a matter of shreds and patches, with noother continuous aid than Mr. Talbot Reed's admirable work, _A Historyof the Old English Letter Foundries_, written from a differentstandpoint, to serve as a guide. His own researches at the Record Officehave enabled Mr. Plomer to enlarge considerably our knowledge of theprinters at work during the second half of the seventeenth century, butwhen the State made up its mind to leave the printers alone, even thissource of information lapses, and the pioneer has to gather what he mayfrom the imprints in books which come under his hand, from notices of afew individual printers, and stray anecdotes and memoranda. Through thisalmost pathless forest Mr. Plomer has threaded his way, and though theroad he has made may be broken and imperfect, the fact that a roadexists, which they can widen and mend, will be of incalculable advantageto all students of printing. Besides the indebtedness already stated to the works of Blades, Mr. Gordon Duff, Mr. Arber, and Mr. Reed, acknowledgments are also due forthe help derived from Mr. Allnutt's papers on English ProvincialPrinting (_Bibliographica_, vol. Ii. ) and Mr. Warren's history of theChiswick Press (_The Charles Whittinghams, Printers_; Grolier Club, 1896). Lest Mr. Plomer should be made responsible for borrowed faults, it must also be stated that the account of the Kelmscott Press is mainlytaken from an article contributed to _The Guardian_ by the presentwriter. The hearty thanks of both author and editor are due to Messrs. Macmillan and Bowes for the use of two devices; to the Clarendon Pressfor the three pages of specimens of the types given to the University ofOxford by Fell and Junius; to the Chiswick Press for the examples of thedevices and ornamental initials which the second Whittinghamreintroduced, and for the type-facsimiles of the title-page of the bookwith which he revived the use of old-faced letters; to Messrs. Macmillanfor the specimen of the Macmillan Greek type, and to the Trustees of Mr. William Morris for their grant of the very exceptional privilege ofreproducing, with the skilful aid of Mr. Emery Walker, two pages ofbooks printed at the Kelmscott Press. That the illustrations are profuse at the beginning and end of the bookand scanty in the middle must be laid to the charge of the printers ofthe seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in whose work good ornamentfinds no place. It was due to Caslon and Baskerville to insert theirportraits, though they can hardly be called works of art. That of RogerL'Estrange, which is also given, may suggest, by its more prosperouslook, that in the evil days of the English press its Censor was theperson who most throve by it. ALFRED W. POLLARD. [Illustration: Decorative] CONTENTS AND LIST OF PLATES PAGE EDITOR'S PREFACE, vii CHAPTER I Caxton and his Contemporaries, 1 CHAPTER II From 1500 to the Death of Wynkyn de Worde, 31 CHAPTER III Thomas Berthelet to John Day, 61 CHAPTER IV John Day, 79 CHAPTER V John Day's Contemporaries, 103 CHAPTER VI Provincial Presses of the Sixteenth Century, 122 CHAPTER VII The Stuart Period (1603-1640), 154 CHAPTER VIII From 1640 to 1700, 187 CHAPTER IX From 1700 to 1750, 228 CHAPTER X From 1750 to 1800, 261 CHAPTER XI The Present Century, 282 INDEX, 323 LIST OF PLATES Portrait of William Morris, _Frontispiece_ Portrait of Roger L'Estrange, _at p. _ 203 Portrait of Caslon, " 239 Portrait of Baskerville, " 265 [Illustration: FIG. 1. --Device of William Caxton. ] CHAPTER I CAXTON AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES The art of printing had been known on the Continent for something overtwenty years, when William Caxton, a citizen and mercer of London, introduced it into England. Such facts as are known of the life of England's first printer are fewand simple. He tells us himself that he was born in the Weald of Kent, and he was probably educated in his native village. When old enough, hewas apprenticed to a well-to-do London mercer, Robert Large, who carriedon business in the Old Jewry. This was in 1438, and in 1441 his masterdied, leaving, among other legacies, a sum of twenty marks to WilliamCaxton. In all probability Caxton, whose term of apprenticeship had not expired, was transferred to some other master to serve the remainder of his term;but all we know is that he shortly afterwards left England for the LowCountries. In the prologue to the _Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye_he tells us that, at the time he began the translation, he had beenliving on the Continent for thirty years, in various places, Brabant, Flanders, Holland, and Zealand, but the city of Bruges, one of thelargest centres of trade in Europe at that time, was his headquarters. Caxton prospered in his business, and rose to be 'Governor to theEnglish Nation at Bruges, ' a position of importance, and one thatbrought him into contact with men of high rank. In the year 1468 Caxton appears to have had some leisure for literarywork, and began to translate a French book he had lately been reading, Raoul Le Fevre's _Recueil des Histoires de Troyes_; but after writing afew quires he threw down his pen in disgust at the feebleness of hisversion. Very shortly after this he entered the service of Margaret, Duchess ofBurgundy, sister of Edward IV. Of England, either as secretary orsteward. The Duchess used to talk with him on literary matters, and hetold her of his attempt to translate the _Recueil_. She asked him toshow her what he had written, pointed out how he might amend his 'rudeEnglish, ' and encouraged him to continue his work. Caxton took up thetask again, and in spite of many interruptions, including journeys toboth Ghent and Cologne, he completed it, in the latter city, on the 19thSeptember 1471. All this he tells us in the prologue, and at the end ofthe second book he says:-- 'And for as moche as I suppose the said two bokes ben not had to forethis tyme in oure English langage | therefore I had the better will toaccomplisshe this said werke | whiche werke was begonne in Brugis | andcontynued in Gaunt, and finyshed in Coleyn, . .. The yere of our lord athousand four honderd lxxi. ' He then goes on to speak of John Lydgate'stranslation of the third book, as making it needless to translate itinto English, but continues:-- 'But yet for as moche as I am bounde to contemplate my fayd ladyes goodgrace and also that his werke is in ryme | and as ferre as I knowe hitis not had in prose in our tonge . .. _and also because that I have nowgod leyzer beying in Coleyn, and have none other thing to doo at thistyme_, I have, ' etc. Then at the end of the third book he says that, having become weary ofwriting and yet having promised copies to divers gentlemen andfriends, -- 'Therfor I have practysed and lerned at my grete charge and dispense toordeyne this said book in prynte after the maner and forme as ye mayhere see, ' etc. The book when printed bore neither place of imprint, date of printing, or name of printer. The late William Blades, in his _Life of Caxton_(vol. I. Chap. V. Pp. 45-61), maintained that this book, and all theothers printed with the same type, were printed at Bruges by ColardMansion, and that it was at Bruges, and in conjunction with Mansion, that Caxton learned the art of printing. His principal reasons forcoming to this conclusion were: (1) That Caxton's stay in Cologne wasonly for six months, long enough for him to have finished thetranslation of the book, but too short a time in which to have printedit. (2) That the type in which it was printed was Colard Mansion's. (3)That the typographical features of the books printed in this type (No. 1) point to their having all of them come from the same printing office. Caxton's own statement in the epilogue to the third book certainlyappears to mean that during the course of the translation, in order tofulfil his promise of multiplying copies, he had learned to print. Hemight easily have done so in the six months during which he remained inCologne, or during his stay in Ghent. That it was in Cologne rather thanelsewhere, is confirmed by the oft-quoted stanza added by Wynkyn deWorde as a colophon to the English edition of _Bartholomæus deproprietatibus rerum_. 'And also of your charyte call to remembraunce The soule of William Caxton, the first prynter of this boke, In laten tongue at Coleyn, hymself to avaunce That every well-disposed man may thereon loke. ' [Illustration: FIG. 2. --Part of Caxton's Preface to the 'Recuyell of theHistories of Troye. ' (Type 1. )] If any one should have known the true facts of the case it was surelyCaxton's own foreman, who almost certainly came over to England withhim. On the other hand, it cannot be denied that type No. 1 is totallyunlike any type that we know of as used by a Cologne printer, and, moreover, Caxton's methods of working, and his late adoption of spacingand signatures, point to his having learnt his art in a school ofprinting less advanced than that of Cologne. In the face of thestatements of Caxton himself and Wynkyn de Worde, we seem bound tobelieve that Caxton did study printing at Cologne, but the inexpertnessbetrayed in his early books proves conclusively that his studies theredid not extend very far. In any case it must have been with the help ofColard Mansion that he set up and printed the _Recuyell_, probably in1472 or 1473. In addition to this book several others, printed in thesame type, and having other typographical features in common with it, were printed in the next few years. These were:-- _The Game and Playe of the Chess Moralised_, translated by Caxton, asmall folio of 74 leaves. _Le Recueil des Histoires de Troye_, a folio of 120 leaves. _Les Fais et Prouesses du noble et vaillant chevalier Jason_, a folio of134 leaves, printed, it is believed, by Mansion, after Caxton's removalto England. And, _Meditacions sur le sept Psaulmes Penitenciaulx_, a folio of 34 leaves, also ascribed to Mansion's press, about the year 1478. About the latter half of 1476 Caxton must have left Bruges and come toEngland, leaving type No. 1 in the hands of Mansion, and bringing withhim that picturesque secretary type, known as type 2. This, as Mr. Blades has undoubtedly proved, had already been used by Caxton andMansion in printing at least two books: _Les quatre derrenieres choses_, notable from the method of working the red ink, a method found in noother book of Colard Mansion; and _Propositio Johannis Russell_, a tractof four leaves, containing Russell's speech at the investiture of theDuke of Burgundy with the order of the Garter in 1470. [Illustration: FIG. 3. --Part of Caxton's Epilogue to the 'Dictes andSayinges of the Philosophers. ' (Type 2. )] On his arrival in England, Caxton settled in Westminster, within theprecincts of the Abbey, at the sign of the Red Pale, and from thence, onNovember 18th 1477, he issued _The Dictes and Sayinges of thePhilosophers_, the first book printed in England. It was a folio of 76leaves, without title-page, foliation, catchwords or signatures, in thisrespect being identical with the books printed in conjunction withMansion. Type 2, in which it was printed, was a very different fount tothat which is seen in the _Recuyell_ and its companion books. It wasundoubtedly modelled on the large Gros Batarde type of Colard Mansion, and was in all probability cut by Mansion himself. The letters arebold, and angular, with a close resemblance to the manuscripts of thetime, the most notable being the lowercase 'w, ' which is brought intoprominence by large loops over the top. The 'h's' and 'l's' are alsolooped letters, the final 'm's' and 'n's' are finished with an angularstroke, and the only letter at all akin to those in type No. 1 is thefinal 'd, ' which has the peculiar pump-handle finial seen in that fount. _The Dictes and Sayinges_ is printed throughout in black ink, in longlines, twenty-nine to a page, with space left at the beginning of thechapters for the insertion of initial letters. It has no colophon, butat the end of the work is an Epilogue, which begins thus:-- 'Here endeth the book named the dictes or sayengis | of thephilosophers, enprynted, by me william | Caxton at Westmestre the yereof our lord ·M· | CCCC·LXXVij. ' Caxton followed _The Dictes and Sayinges_ with an edition of Chaucer's_Canterbury Tales_, a folio of 372 leaves. The size of the book makes itprobable that it was put in hand simultaneously with its predecessor, and that the chief work of the poet, to whom Caxton paid more than oneeloquent tribute, engaged his attention as soon as he set up his pressin England. He also printed in the same type a Sarum _Ordinale_, knownonly by a fragment in the Bodleian, and a number of small quarto tracts, such as _The Moral Proverbs of Christyne_, which bears date the 20th ofFebruary; a Latin school-book called _Stans Puer ad Mensam_; twotranslations from the Distichs of Dionysius Cato, entitled respectively_Parvus Catho_ and _Magnus Catho_, of which a second edition wasspeedily called for; Lydgate's fable of the _Chorl and the Bird_, aquarto of 10 leaves, which also soon went to a second edition; Chaucer's_Anelida and Arcite_, and two editions of Lydgate's _The Horse, theSheep, and the Goose_. During the first three years of Caxton's residence at Westminster heprinted at least thirty books. In 1479 he recast type 2 (cited in itsnew form by Blades as type 2*), and this he continued to use until 1481. But about the same time he cast two other founts, Nos. 3 and 4. Thefirst of these was a large black letter of Missal character, usedchiefly for printing service books, but appearing in the books printedwith type 2* for headlines. With it he printed _Cordyale, or the FourLast Things_, a folio of 78 leaves, the work being a translation by EarlRivers of _Les Quatre Derrenieres Choses Advenir_, first printed in type2 in the office of Colard Mansion. A second edition of _The Dictes andSayinges_ was also printed in this type, while to the year 1478 or 1479must be ascribed the _Rhetorica Nova_ of Friar Laurence of Savona, afolio of 124 leaves, long attributed to the press of Cambridge. After 1479 Caxton began to space out his lines and to use signatures, customs that had been in vogue on the Continent for some years before heleft. In 1480 he brought the new type 4 into use. This was modelled ontype 2, but was much smaller, the body being most akin to modernEnglish. Although its appearance was not so striking as that of theearlier fount, it was a much neater letter and more adapted to theprinting of Indulgences, and it has been suggested that it was thearrival of John Lettou in London, and the neat look of his work, thatinduced Caxton to cut the fount in question. The most noticeable featureabout it is the absence of the loop to the lowercase 'd, ' so conspicuousa feature of the No. 2 type. With this type No. 4 he printed Kendale'sindulgence and the first edition of _The Chronicles of England_, datedthe 10th June 1480, a folio of 152 leaves. In the same year he printedwith type 3 three service-books. Of one of these, the _Horæ_, WilliamBlades found a few leaves, all that are known to exist, in the covers ofa copy of _Boethius_, printed also by Caxton, which he discovered in adeplorable state from damp, in a cupboard of the St. Albans GrammarSchool. This was an uncut copy, in the original binding, and the coversyielded as many as fifty-six half sheets of printed matter, fragments ofother books printed by Caxton. These proved the existence of threehitherto unknown examples of his press, the _Horæ_ above noted, the_Ordinale_, and the _Indulgence of Pope Sixtus IV. _, the remainingfragments yielding leaves from the _History of Jason_, printed in type2, the first edition of the _Chronicles_, the _Description of__Britain_; the second edition of the _Dictes and Sayinges_, the _DeCuria Sapientiæ_, Cicero's _De Senectute_, and the _Nativity of OurLady_, printed in the recast of type 4, known as type 4*. [Illustration: FIG. 4. --Caxton's earliest Woodcut. Headline in Type 3. ] The first book printed by Caxton with illustrations was the thirdedition of _Parvus_ and _Magnus Chato_, printed without date, butprobably in 1481. It contained two woodcuts, one showing five pupilskneeling before their tutor. These illustrations were very poorspecimens of the wood-cutter's art. To this period also belongs _The History of Reynard the Fox_ and thesecond edition of _The Game and Play of Chess_, printed with type 2*, and distinguished from the earlier edition by the eight woodcuts, someof which, according to the economical fashion of the day, were used morethan once. In type 4, Caxton printed (finishing it on the 20th November 1481) _TheHistory of Godfrey of Bologne; or, the Conquest of Jerusalem_, a folioof 144 leaves. In the following year (1482) appeared the second editionof the _Chronicles_, and another work of the same kind, the compilationof Roger of Chester and Ralph Higden, called _Polychronicon_. This workJohn of Trevisa had translated into English prose, bringing it down tothe year 1387. Caxton now added a further continuation to the year 1460, the only original work ever undertaken by him. Another English authorwhom Caxton printed at this time was John Gower, an edition in smallfolio (222 leaves in double columns) of whose _Confessio Amantis_ wasfinished on the 2nd September 1483. In this we see the first use of type4*, the two founts being found in one instance on the same page. Thefirst edition of the _Golden Legend_ also belongs to 1483, beingfinished at Westminster on the 20th November. This was the largest bookthat Caxton printed, there being no less than 449 leaves in doublecolumns, illustrated with as many as eighteen large and fifty-two smallwoodcuts. The text was in type 4*, the headlines, etc. , in type 3. Forthe performance of this work Caxton received from the Earl of Arundel, to whom the book was dedicated, the gift of a buck in summer and a doein winter, gifts probably exchanged for an annuity in money. Severalcopies of this book are still in existence, its large size serving as asafeguard against complete destruction, but none are perfect, most ofthem being made up from copies of the second edition. The insertions maybe recognised by the type of the headlines, those in the second editionbeing in type 5. Other books printed in type 4* were Chaucer's _Book ofFame_, Chaucer's _Troylus_, the _Lyf of Our Ladye_, the _Life of SaintWinifred_, and the _History of King Arthur_, this last, finished on July31, 1485, being almost as large a book as the _Golden Legend_. [Illustration: FIG. 5. --From Caxton's 'Golden Legend. ' (Types 4* and5. )] No work dated 1486 has been traced to Caxton's press, but in 1487 hebrought into use type 5, a smaller form of the black letter fount knownas No. 3, with which he sometimes used a set of Lombardic capitals. Withthis he printed, between 1487 and 1489, several important books, amongthem the _Royal Book_, a folio of 162 leaves, illustrated with six smallillustrations, the _Book of Good Manners_, the first edition of the_Directorium Sacerdotum_, and the _Speculum Vitæ Christi_. During 1487also he had printed for him at Paris an edition of the _Sarum Missal_, from the press of George Maynyal, the first book in which he used hiswell-known device. The second edition of the _Golden Legend_ is believedto have been published in 1488, and to about the same time belongs theIndulgence which Henry Bradshaw discovered in the University Library, Cambridge, and which seems to have been struck off in a hurry on thenearest piece of blank paper, which happened to be the last page of acopy of the _Colloquium peccatoris et Crucifixi J. C. _, printed atAntwerp. This was not the only remarkable find which that master of theart of bibliography made in connection with Caxton. On a waste sheet ofa copy of the _Fifteen Oes_, he noticed what appeared to be a set off ofanother book, and on closer inspection this turned out to be a page of aBook of Hours, of which no copy has ever been found. It appeared to havebeen printed in type 5, was surrounded by borders, and was no doubt theedition which Wynkyn de Worde reprinted in 1494. In 1489 Caxton began to use another type known as No. 6, cast from thematrices of No. 2 and 2*, but a shade smaller, and easilydistinguishable by the lowercase 'w, ' which is entirely different incharacter from that used in the earlier fount. With this he printed onthe 14th July 1489, the _Faytts of Armes and Chivalry_, and between thatdate and the day of his death three romances, the _Foure Sons of Aymon_, _Blanchardin_, and _Eneydos_; the second editions of _Reynard the Fox_, the _Book of Courtesy_, the _Mirror of the World_, and the _DirectoriumSacerdotum_, and the third edition of the _Dictes and Sayinges_. To thesame period belong the editions of the _Art and Craft to Know Well toDie_, the _Ars Moriendi_, and the _Vitas Patrum_. But in addition to type 6, which Blades believed to be the last used byCaxton, there is evidence of his having possessed two other fountsduring the latter part of his life. With one of them, type No. 7 (see E. G. Duff, _Early English Printing_), somewhat resembling types Nos. 3 and5, he printed two editions of the _Indulgence of Johannes de Gigliis_ in1489, and it was also used for the sidenotes to the _Speculum VitæChristi_, printed in 1494 by Wynkyn de Worde. Type No. 8 was also ablack letter of the same character, smaller than No. 3, anddistinguished from any other of Caxton's founts by the short, rounded, and tailless letter 'y' and the set of capitals with dots. He used it inthe _Liber Festivalis_, the _Ars Moriendi_, and the _Fifteen Oes_, hisonly extant book printed with borders, and it was afterwards used byWynkyn de Worde. Caxton died in the year 1491, after a long, busy, and useful life. Hisrecord is indeed a noble one. After spending the greater part of hislife in following the trade to which he was apprenticed, with all itsactive and onerous duties, he, at the time of life when most men beginto think of rest and quiet, set to work to learn the art of printingbooks. Nor was he content with this, but he devoted all the time that hecould spare to editing and translating for his press, and according toWynkyn de Worde it was 'at the laste daye of his lyff' that he finishedthe version of the _Lives of the Fathers_, which De Worde issued in1495. His work as an editor and translator shows him to have been a manof extensive reading, fairly acquainted with the French and Dutchlanguages, and to have possessed not only an earnest purpose, but withit a quiet sense of humour, that crops up like ore in a vein of rock inmany of his prologues. [Illustration: FIG. 6. --From Caxton's 'Fifteen Oes. ' (Type 6. )] Of his private life we know nothing, but the 'Mawde Caxston' who figuresin the churchwarden's accounts of St. Margaret's is generally believedto have been his wife. His will has not yet been discovered, though itvery likely exists among the uncalendared documents at WestminsterAbbey, from which Mr. Scott has already gleaned a few records relatingto him, though none of biographical interest. We know, however, from theparish accounts of St. Margaret's, Westminster, that he left to thatchurch fifteen copies of the _Golden Legend_, twelve of which were soldat prices varying between 6s. 8d. And 5s. 4d. Caxton used only one device, a simple square block with his initials W. C. Cut upon it, and certain hieroglyphics said to stand for the figures74, with a border at the top and bottom. It was probably of Englishworkmanship, as those found in the books of foreign printers were muchmore finely cut. This block, which Caxton did not begin to use until1487, afterwards passed to his successor, who made it the basis ofseveral elaborate variations. Upon the death of Caxton in 1491, his business came into the hands ofhis chief workman, Wynkyn de Worde. From the letters of naturalisationwhich this printer took out in 1496, we learn that he was a native ofLorraine. It was suggested by Herbert that he was one of Caxton'soriginal workmen, and came with him to England, and this has recentlybeen confirmed by the discovery of a document among the records atWestminster, proving that his wife rented a house from the Abbey asearly as 1480. In any case there is little doubt that Wynkyn de Wordehad been in intimate association with Caxton during the greater part ofhis career as a printer, and when Caxton died he seems to have takenover the whole business just as it stood, continuing to live at the RedPale until 1500, and to use the types which Caxton had been using in hislatest books. This fact led Blades to ascribe several books to Caxtonwhich were probably not printed until after his death. These are _TheChastising of Gods Children_, _The Book of Courtesye_, and the _Treatiseof Love_, printed with type No. 6; but, in addition to these, two otherbooks, probably in the press at the time of Caxton's death, were issuedfrom the Westminster office without a printer's name, but printed in atype resembling type 4*. These are an edition of the _Golden Legend_ andthe _Life of St. Catherine of Sienna_. Wynkyn de Worde's name is foundfor the first time in the _Liber Festivalis_, printed in 1493. In thefollowing year was issued Walter Hylton's _Scala Perfectionis_, and areprint of Bonaventura's _Speculum Vite Christi_, the sidenotes to whichwere printed in Caxton's type No. 7, which de Worde does not seem tohave used in any other book. Besides this, there was the _Sarum Horæ_, no doubt a reprint of Caxton's edition now lost. He used for these booksCaxton's type No. 8, with the tailless 'y' and the dotted capitals. Speaking of this type in his _Early Printed Books_, Mr. E. G. Duffpoints out its close resemblance to that used by the Paris printers P. Levet and Jean Higman in 1490, and argues that it was either obtainedfrom them or from the type-cutter who cut their founts. [1] To the year 1495 belongs the _Vitas Patrum_, the book of which Caxtonhad finished the translation on the day of his death, and beside this, there were reprints of the _Polychronicon_ and the _DirectoriumSacerdotum_. The reprint of the _Boke of St. Albans_, which was issuedin 1496, is noticeable as being printed in the type which De Wordeobtained from Godfried van Os, the Gouda printer. This broad square setletter is not found in any other book of De Worde's, though he continuedto use a set of initial letters which he obtained from the same printerfor many years. Among other books printed in 1496, were _Dives and Pauper_, a folio, andseveral quartos such as the _Abbey of the Holy Ghost_, the _Meditationsof St. Bernard_, and the _Liber Festialis_. In 1497 we find the_Chronicles of England_, and in 1498 an edition of Chaucer's _CanterburyTales_, a second edition of the _Morte d'Arthur_, and another of the_Golden Legend_, in fact nearly all De Worde's dated books up to 1500were reprints of works issued by Caxton. But amongst the undated bookswe notice many new works, such as Lydgate's _Assembly of Gods_, and_Sege of Thebes_, Skelton's _Bowghe of Court_, _The Three Kings ofCologne_, and several school books. In 1499 De Worde printed the _Liber Equivocorum_ of Joannes deGarlandia, using for it a very small Black Letter making nine and a halflines to the inch, probably obtained from Paris. This type was generallykept for scholastic books, and in addition to the book above noted, Wynkyn de Worde printed with it, in the same year or the year following, an _Ortus Vocabulorum_. From the time when he succeeded to Caxton'sbusiness down to the year 1500, in which he left Westminster and settledin Fleet Street, De Worde printed at least a hundred books, the bulk ofthem undated. As will be seen, several printers from the Low Countries seem to havecome to England soon after Caxton. The year after he settled atWestminster, a book was printed at Oxford without printer's name, andwith a misprint of the date, that has set bibliographers by the earsever since. This book was the _Exposicio sancti Jeromini us simbolumapostolorum_, and the colophon ran, 'Impressa Oxonie et finita annodomini M. Cccc. Lxviij. , xvij. Die decembris. ' The facts that two otherbooks that are dated 1479 (the _Aegidius de originali peccato_ and_Sextus ethicorum Aristotelis_) have many points in common with the_Exposicio_, that the _Exposicio_ has been found bound with other booksof 1478, and that the dropping of an x from the date in a colophon isnot an uncommon misprint, have led to the conclusion that the_Exposicio_ was printed in 1478 and not 1468. The printer of these firstOxford books is believed to have been Theodoric Rood of Cologne, whosename appeared in the colophon to the _De Anima_ of Aristotle, printed atOxford in 1481. This was followed in 1482 by a _Commentary on theLamentation of Jeremiah_, by John Lattebury, and later editions of thesetwo books are distinguished by a handsome woodcut border printed roundthe first page of the text. About 1483 Rood took as a partner Thomas Hunt, a stationer of Oxford, and together they issued John Anwykyll's Latin Grammar, together withthe _Vulgaria Terencii_, Richard Rolle of Hampole's _Explanationes superlectiones beati Job_, a sermon of Augustine's, of which the only knowncopy is in the British Museum, a collection of treatises upon logic, oneof which is by Roger Swyneshede, the first edition of _Lyndewode'sProvincial Constitutions_ (a large folio of 366 leaves with a woodcut, the earliest example found in any Oxford book), and the _Epistles ofPhalaris_, with a lengthy colophon in Latin verse. The last book toappear from the press was the _Liber Festivalis_ by John Mirk, a folioof 174 leaves, containing eleven large woodcuts and five smaller ones, apparently meant for an edition of the _Golden Legend_, as they were cutdown to fit the _Festial_. After the appearance of this book, printingat Oxford suddenly ceased, and it has been surmised that Theodoric Roodreturned to Cologne. Altogether the Oxford press lasted for eight years, and fifteen books remain to testify to its activity. In these, threefounts of type were used, the first two having all the characteristicsof the Cologne printers, while the third shows the influence of Rood'sresidence in England. A full account of these will be found in Mr. Falconer Madan's admirable work _The Early Oxford Press_. The St. Albans Press started in 1479. Only eight books are known withthis imprint, not all of them perfect, none give the name of theprinter, and only one has a device. Most of them are scholastic books, printed for the use of the Grammar School. These included the _AugustiniDati elegancie_, a quarto, dated 1480, the _Rhetorica Nova_, whichCaxton was printing at Westminster at the same time, and Antonius Andreæ_super Logica Aristotelis_. But in addition to these, two other notableworks came from this press, the _Chronicles of England_ and the _Book ofSt. Albans_. Out of the four types which are found in these books, two at least wereCaxton's type No. 2 and type No. 3. There was plainly some connectionbetween the two offices, and as it was a frequent custom for monasteriesto subsidize printers to print their service books, it seems possiblethat Caxton may have had some hand in establishing this press, and thatit was for St. Albans Abbey that he cast type No. 3, which (puttingaside its subordinate employment for headlines) we find used exclusivelyfor service books. Three years after Caxton had settled at Westminster, viz. In 1480, an_Indulgence_ was issued by John Kendale, asking for aid against theTurks. Caxton printed some copies of this, and others are found in asmall neat type, and are ascribed to the press of John Lettou. _Lettou_is an old form of Lithuania, but whether John Lettou came from Lithuaniais not known. In this same year 1480, Lettou published the _Quæstiones Antonii Andreæsuper duodecim libros metaphysicæ Aristotelis_, a small folio of 106leaves, printed in double columns, of which only one perfect copy isknown, that in the Library of Sion College. The type is small, andremarkable from its numerous abbreviations. Mr. E. G. Duff in his _EarlyPrinted Books_, p. 161, speaks of its great resemblance to those ofMatthias Moravus, a Naples printer, and suggests a common origin fortheir types. In his _Early English Printing_, on the other hand, hewrites: 'There are very strong reasons for believing that he [Lettou] isthe same person as the Johannes Bremer, _alias_ Bulle, who is mentionedby Hain as having printed two books at Rome in 1478 and 1479. The typewhich this printer used is identical (with the exception of one of thecapital letters) with that used in the books printed by John Lettou inLondon. ' A few years later Lettou was joined by William de Machlinia. They werechiefly associated in printing law-books, but whether they had anypatent from the king cannot be discovered. Only one of the five booksthey are known to have printed, the _Tenores Novelli_, has any colophon, and none of them has any date. The address they gave was 'juxtaecclesiam omnium sanctorum, ' but as there were several churches sodedicated, the locality cannot be fixed. We next find Machlinia working alone, but out of the twenty-two books oreditions that have been traced to his press, only four contain his name, and none have a date. All we can say is that he printed from twoaddresses, 'in Holborn, ' and 'By Flete-brigge. ' Mr. Duff inclines to theopinion that the 'Flete-brigge' is the earlier, but it seems almosthopeless to attempt to place these books in any chronological order fromtheir typographical peculiarities. In the Fleet-Bridge type are two books by Albertus Magnus, the _Liberaggregationis_ and the _De Secretis Mulierum_. The type is of a blackletter character, not unlike that in which the _Nova Statuta_ wereprinted, and is distinguishable by the peculiar shape of the capital M. In the same type we find the _Revelation of St. Nicholas to a Monk ofEvesham_, a reprint of the _Tenores Novelli_, and some fragments of a_Sarum Horæ_ found in old bindings; a woodcut border was used in someparts of it. Besides these Machlinia printed an edition of the _VulgariaTerentii_. A larger number of books is found in the Holborn types, the mostimportant being the _Chronicles of England_, of which only one perfectcopy is known. The _Speculum Christiani_ is interesting as containing specimens ofearly poetry, and _The Treatise on the Pestilence_, of Kamitus orCanutus, bishop of Aarhus, ran to three editions, one of which containsa title-page, and was therefore presumably printed late in Machlinia'scareer, _i. E. _ about 1490. In addition to these, there were three law-books, the _Statutes ofRichard III. _, and several theological and scholastic works. One of thefounts of type used by Machlinia is of peculiar interest, by reason ofits close resemblance to Caxton's type No. 2*, and its still greatersimilarity to the type used by Jean Brito of Bruges. Machlinia's business seems to have been taken over by Richard Pynson. There is no direct evidence of this, but like Machlinia he took up thebusiness of printing law-books (being the first printer in this countryto receive a royal patent); he is found using a woodcut border used inMachlinia's _Horæ_; and, in addition to this, waste from Machlinia bookshas been found in Pynson bindings. Richard Pynson was a native of Normandy. He had business relations withLe Talleur, a printer of Rouen. His methods also were those of Rouen, rather than of any English master. Wherever he came from, Richard Pynsonwas the finest printer this country had yet seen, and no one, until theappearance of John Day, approached him in excellence of work. [Illustration: FIG. 7. --Pynson's Mark. ] The earliest examples of his press appear to be a fragment of a_Donatus_ in the Bodleian and the _Canterbury Tales_ of Chaucer. Thetype he used for these was a bold, unevenly cast fount of black letter, somewhat resembling that used by Machlinia at Fleet Bridge. The_Chaucer_, however, contained a second fount of small sloping Gothic. The first book of Pynson found with a date is a _Doctrinale_, printed inNovember 1492, now in the John Rylands Library. This was followed by the_Dialogue of Dives and Pauper_, printed in 1493 with a new type, distinguishable by the sharp angular finish to the letter 'h. ' Severalquartos without date were printed in the same type. From this time till 1500, the majority of his books were printed in thesmall type of the _Chaucer_. Another printer who worked at this time was Julian Notary. He wasassociated in the production of books with Jean Barbier, and anotherwhose initials, J. H. , are believed to be those of J. Huvin, a printerof Paris. They established themselves in London at the sign of St. Thomas the Apostle, and their most important book was the _QuestionesAlberti de modis significandi_, which they followed up in 1497 with anoctavo edition of the _Horæ ad usum Sarum_. In 1498 Barbier and Notaryremoved to King Street, Westminster, where they printed in folio a_Missale ad usum Sarum_. Soon afterwards Notary was printing by himself, his partner, Barbier, having returned to France. Two quartos, the _LiberFestivalis_ and _Quattuor Sermones_, are all that can be traced to hispress in 1499, and a small edition of the _Horæ ad usum Sarum_ is thesole record of this work in 1500. [Illustration: FIG. 8. --Notary's Mark. ] Notary was also a bookbinder, and some of his stamped bindings are stillmet with. [Footnote 1: E. G. Duff, _Early Printed Books_, pp. 84 and 139. ] CHAPTER II FROM 1500 TO THE DEATH OF WYNKYN DE WORDE In the year 1500 Wynkyn de Worde moved from Westminster to the 'Sunne'in Fleet Street. His business had probably outgrown the limitedaccommodation of the 'Red Pale, ' and the change brought him nearer theheart of the bookselling trade then, and for many years after, seated inSt. Paul's Churchyard and Fleet Street. He carried with him the blackletter type with which he had printed the _Liber Festivalis_ in 1496, and continued to use it until 1508 or 1509, when he seems to have soldit to a printer in York, Hugo Goes. He brought with him also thescholastic type in use in 1499. Besides these, we find, _e. G. _ in the 1512 reprint of the _GoldenLegend_, two other founts of black letter. The larger of the two seemsto have been introduced about 1503, to print a Sarum _Horæ_. The smallerfount came into use a few years later. It was somewhat larger, lessangular, and much more English in character, than that which theprinter had brought with him from Westminster. The bulk of Wynkyn deWorde's books to the day of his death were printed with these types. They were, doubtless, recast from time to time, but a close examinationfails to detect any difference in size or form during the whole period. De Worde first began to use Roman type in 1520 for his scholastic books, but he does not seem ever to have made any general use of it, remainingfaithful to English black letter to the end of his days. The onlyexceptions are the educational books, which he invariably printed, as infact did all the other printers of the period, in a miniature fount ofgothic of a kind very popular on the Continent in the fifteenth andsixteenth centuries, being used by the French and Italian printers aswell as those of the Low Countries. De Worde's, however, was anexceptionally small fount. Those most generally in use averaged eightfull lines of a quarto page, set close, to the inch, whereas De Worde'saveraged nine lines to the inch. But in 1513 he procured another fountof this type, in which he printed the _Flowers of Ovid_, quarto, and inthis the letters are of English character, as may be seen particularlyin the lowercase 'h. ' This fount, which was slightly larger, averagingonly eight lines to the inch, he does not seem to have used veryfrequently. As Julian Notary printed the _Sermones Discipuli_ in 1510, in the same type, it may have been lent by one printer to the other. Inor about 1533 De Worde introduced the italic letter into some of hisscholastic books, and in Colet's _Grammar_, which was amongst the lastbooks he printed, we find it in combination with English black letter, the small 'grammar type, ' and Roman. In these various types, between the beginning of the century and hisdeath in 1534, Wynkyn de Worde printed upwards of five hundred bookswhich have come down to us, complete or in fragments. Thanks to theindefatigable energy of Mr. Gordon Duff, we possess now a very fullrecord of his books, enabling us not only to estimate his merit as aprinter, but to see at a glance how consistently as a publisher hemaintained the entirely popular character which Caxton had given to hispress. As regards books which required a considerable outlay, he was far lessadventurous than Caxton, his large folios being confined almost entirelyto those in which his master had led the way, such as the _GoldenLegend_, of which he issued several editions, the _Speculum VitæChristi_, the _Morte d'Arthur_, _Canterbury Tales_, _Polychronicon_, and_Chronicles of England_. The _Vitas Patrum_ of 1495 he could hardly helpprinting, as Caxton had laboured on its translation in the last year ofhis life, and it may have been respect for Caxton also which led to thepublication of his finest book, the really splendid edition ofBartholomæus' _De Proprietatibus Rerum_, issued towards the close of thefifteenth century, from the colophon of which I have already quoted thelines referring to Caxton's having worked at a Latin edition of it atCologne. The _Book of St. Albans_ was another reprint to which theprobable connection of the Westminster and St. Albans presses gave aCaxton flavour; and when we have enumerated these and the _Dives andPauper_, produced apparently out of rivalry with Pynson in 1496, and afew devotional books such as the _Orcharde of Syon_ and the _Flour ofthe Commandments of God_, to which this form was given, very few Wynkynde Worde folios remain unmentioned. But to one book in folio, Wynkyn de Worde printed some five-and-twentyin quarto, eschewing as a rule smaller forms, though now and again wefind a _Horæ_, or a _Manipulus Curatorum_, or a _Book of Good Mannersfor Children_ in eights or twelves. [2] He was in fact a popular printer who issued small works in a cheap form, and without, it must be added, greatly concerning himself as to theirappearance. Popular books of devotion or of a moral character figuremost largely among the books he printed; but students of our olderliterature owe him gratitude for having preserved in their later formsmany old romances, and also a few plays, and he published every class ofbook, including many educational works, for which a ready sale wasassured. The majority of these books were illustrated, if only with acut on the title-page of a schoolmaster with a birch-rod, or a knight onhorseback who did duty for many heroes in succession. When theillustrations were more profuse, they were too often produced from wornblocks, purchased from French publishers, or rudely copied from Frenchoriginals, and used again and again without a thought as to theirrelevance to the text. It must also be owned that many of Wynkyn deWorde's cheap books are badly set up and badly printed, and thataltogether his reputation stands rather higher than his work as aprinter really deserves. But he printed some fine books, and rescuedmany popular works from destruction, and we need not grudge him thehonour he has received--an honour amply witnessed by the high pricesfetched by books from his press whenever they come into the market. [Illustration: FIG. 9. --De Worde's 'Sagittarius' Device. ] There was no originality about Wynkyn de Worde's devices, of which heused no fewer than sixteen different varieties. The most familiar, as itwas the earliest of these, was Caxton's, and next to this must be placedwhat is usually described as the Sagittarius device. There were twoforms of this, a square and an oblong. It consisted of three divisions, the upper part containing the sun and stars, the centre, the Caxtondevice, and the lower part, a ribbon with his name, with a dog on oneside and an archer on the other. There are three distinct stages ofthis device, that used between 1506-1518 being replaced in 1519, andagain in 1528. This last is distinguished by having only ten small starsto the left of the sun and ten to the right, whereas the two precedinghad eleven stars to the left of the sun and nine to the right. Theoblong block had the moon added in the top compartment, and in thebottom division the sagittarius and dog are reversed. This blockcontinued in use from 1507 to 1529, and the stages in its dilapidationare useful in dating the books in which it occurs. Besides these, andsome smaller forms, Wynkyn de Worde used a large architectural device, sometimes enclosed with a border of four pieces, the upper and lower ofwhich seem to have afterwards come into the possession of John Skot. Wynkyn de Worde died in 1534, his will being proved on the 19th January1535. His executors were John Byddell, who succeeded to his business, and James Gaver, while three other London stationers, Henry Pepwell, John Gough, and Robert Copland were made overseers of it, and receivedlegacies. Julian Notary remained at Westminster two years after the departure ofWynkyn de Worde, when he too flitted eastwards, settling at the sign ofthe Three Kings without Temple Bar, probably to be nearer De Worde. Hecombined with his trade of printer that of bookbinder, and probablybound as well as printed many books for Wynkyn de Worde. His printinglay principally in the direction of service books for the church, but heprinted both the _Golden Legend_ and the _Chronicle of England_ infolio, one or two lives of saints, and a few small tracts of lightervein, such as 'How John Splynter made his testament, ' and 'How aserjeaunt wolde lerne to be a frere, ' both in quarto without date. In the _Golden Legend_ of 1503 and the _Chronicles of England_ of 1515, the black letter type used was identical in character with that ofWynkyn de Worde. No book is found printed by Notary between the years 1510 and 1515. Inthe former year he appears to have had a house in St. Paul's Churchyard, as well as the Three Kings without Temple Bar. In 1515 he speaks only ofthe sign of St. Mark in St. Paul's Churchyard, and three years laterthis is altered to the sign of the Three Kings. It is just conceivablethat this last was a misprint, or that the St. Mark was a temporaryoffice used only while the Three Kings was under repair. In 1507 Notary exchanged the simple merchant's mark that had hithertoserved him as a device for one of a more elaborate character. This tookthe form of a helmet over a shield with his mark upon it, withdecorative border, and below all his name. From this a still largerblock was made in the same year, and this was strongly French incharacter. It showed the smaller block affixed to a tree with bird andflowers all round it, and two fabulous creatures on either side of thebase. The initials 'J. N. ' are seen at the top. This he sometimes usedas a frontispiece, substituting for the centre piece a block of adifferent character. Richard Pynson also changed his address shortly after Wynkyn de Worde, moving from outside Temple Bar to the George in Fleet Street, next toSt. Dunstan's Church. He also appears to have entirely given up the useof Gothic type in favour of English black letter about this time. It isnot easy to form a conjecture as to the motive which led to theabandonment of this type, and it is impossible to regard the stepwithout regret. Even in its rudest forms it was a striking type; in thehands of a man like Pynson it was far more effective than the blackletter which took its place. With regard to this latter, there seemsreason to believe, from the great similarity both in size and form ofthe fount in use by De Worde, Notary, and Pynson at this time, that itwas obtained by all the printers from one common foundry. Nor is it onlythe letters which lead to this conclusion, but the common use of thesame ornaments points in the same direction. The only difference betweenthe black letter in use by Pynson in the first years of the sixteenthcentury and that of his contemporaries, is the occurrence of a lowercase 'w' of a different fount. In 1509 Pynson is believed to have introduced Roman type into England, using it with his scholastic type to print the _Sermo Fratris Hieronymide Ferraria_. In the same year he also issued a very fine edition ofAlexander Barclay's translation of Brandt's _Shyp of Folys of theWorlde_. In this, the Latin original and the English translation are setside by side. The book was printed in folio in two founts, one of Romanand one of black letter. It was profusely illustrated with woodcutscopied from those in the German edition. About 1510 Pynson became the royal printer in the place of W. Faques, and continued to hold the post until his death. At first he received asalary of 40s. Per annum (_see_ L. And P. H. 8, vol. 1, p. 364), butthis was afterwards increased to £4 per annum (L. And P. H. 8, vol. 2, p. 875). In this capacity he printed numbers of Proclamations, numerousYear-books, and all the Statutes, and received large sums of money. In1513 he printed _The Sege and Dystrucyon of Troye_, of which severalcopies (some of them on vellum) are still in existence. Other books ofwhich he printed copies on vellum are the _Sarum Missal_ of 1520, and_Assertio Septem Sacramentorum_ of 1521. Besides these and his official work, Pynson printed numbers of usefulbooks in all classes of literature. The works of Chaucer and Skelton andLydgate, the history of Froissart and the Chronicle of St. Albans; bookssuch as _Æsop's Fables_ and _Reynard the Fox_, romances such as _SirBevis of Hampton_ are scattered freely amongst works of a more learnedcharacter. On the whole he deserves a much higher place than De Worde. It is rare, indeed, to find a carelessly printed book of Pynson's, whilst such books as the Boccaccio of 1494, the Missal printed in 1500at the expense of Cardinal Morton, and known as the Morton Missal, andthe _Intrationum excellentissimus liber_ of 1510 are certainly thefinest specimens of typographical art which had been produced in thiscountry. [Illustration: FIG. 10. --Richard Pynson's Device. ] Pynson's earliest device, as Mr. Duff has noted, resembled in many waysthat of Le Talleur, and consisted of his initials cut on wood. In 1496he used two new forms. One shows his mark upon a shield surmounted by ahelmet with a bird above it. Beneath is his name upon a ribbon, and thewhole is enclosed in a border of animals, birds, and flowers. The otherwas a metal block of much the same character, having the shield with hismark, and as supporters two naked figures. The border, which wasseparate and in one piece, had crowned figures in it and a ribbon. Thebottom portion of this border began to give way about 1500, was verymuch out of shape in 1503, and finally broke entirely in 1513. Thisborder was sometimes placed the wrong way up, as in the British Museumcopy of _Mandeville's Ways to Jerusalem_ (G. 6713). It was succeeded bya woodcut block of a much larger form, which may be seen in the_Mirroure of Good Manners_ (s. A. , fol. ). The block itself measures5-5/8'' x 3-5/8'' and has no border. The initials print black on a whiteground. The figures supporting the shield have a much better pose, andthose of the king and queen differ materially. The bird on the shield ismuch larger, and is more like a stork or heron. Pynson died in the year 1529, while passing through the press_L'Esclarcissement de la Langue Francoyse_, which was finished by hisexecutor John Hawkins, of whom nothing else is definitely known. Whilst these three printers had been at work, many other stationers, booksellers, and printers had settled in London. They seem to havefavoured St. Paul's Churchyard and Fleet Street; but they were alsoscattered over various parts of the city and outlying districts, even asfar west as the suburb of Charing. In 1518, Henry Pepwell settled at the sign of the Trinity in St. Paul'sChurchyard, and used the device previously belonging to Jacobi andPelgrim, two stationers who imported books printed by Wolfgang andHopyl. His books fall into two classes--those printed between 1518-1523, and those between 1531-1539. The first were printed entirely in ablack-letter fount that appears to have belonged to Pynson. The secondseries were printed entirely in Roman letter. A copy of his earliestbook, the _Castle of Pleasure_, 4to, 1518, is in the British Museum, aswell as the _Dietary of Ghostly Helthe_, 4to, 1521; _ExornatoriumCuratorum_, 4to, n. D. ; Du Castel's _Citye of Ladyes_, 4to, 1521. Hisedition of _Christiani hominis Institutum_, 4to, 1520, is only knownfrom a fragment in the Bodleian. Several books have been ascribedwrongly to this printer (Duff, _Bibliographica_, vol. I. Pp. 93, 175, 499). [Illustration: FIG. 11. --William Faques' Device. ] In the year 1504, a printer named William Faques had settled in AbchurchLane. He was a Norman by birth, and Ames suggested that he learnt hisart with John Le Bourgeois at Rouen, but this is unconfirmed. He styledhimself the king's printer. Of his books only some eight are inexistence, three with the date 1504, and the remainder undated. Hisworkmanship was excellent. The _Psalterium_ which he printed in octavowas in a large well cut English black letter, and each page wassurrounded by a chain border. The Statutes of Henry VII. Are also in thesame type with the same ornament, but the _Omelia Origenis_, one of theundated books, is in the small foreign letter so much in vogue with theprinters of this time. His device has the double merit of beauty andoriginality. It consisted of two triangles intersected with hisinitials in the centre and the word 'Guillam' beneath. His subsequentcareer is totally unknown, but his type, ornaments, etc. , passed intothe hands of Richard Fawkes or Faques, who printed at the sign of theMaiden's Head, in St. Paul's Churchyard, in the year 1509, Guillame deSaliceto's _Salus corporis Salus anime_, in folio. Not only is the typeused in this identical with that in the _Psalterium_ of William Faques, but the chain ornament is also found in it. After this we find no otherdated book by Richard Faques until 1523, when he printed Skelton's_Goodly Garland_ in quarto, in three founts of black letter, and a fountof Roman, and a great primer for titles. Amongst his undated works is acopy of the _Liber Festivalis_, believed to have been printed in 1510, and an _Horœ ad usum Sarum_ printed for him in Paris by J. Bignon. During the interval he had moved from the Maiden's Head in St. Paul'sChurchyard to another house in the same locality, with the sign of theA. B. C, and he also had a second printing office in Durham Rents, without Temple Bar, that is in some house adjacent to Durham House inthe Strand. The earliest extant printed ballad was issued by RichardFaques, the _Ballad of the Scottish King_, of which the only known copyis in the British Museum, and amongst his undated books is one which heprinted for Robert Wyer, the Charing Cross printer, under the title of_De Cursione Lunæ_. It was printed with the Gothic type, and the blockswere supplied by Wyer. Richard Faques' device was a copy of that of theParis bookseller Thielmann Kerver, with an arrow substituted for thetree, and the design on the shield altered. The custom of adapting othermen's devices was very common, and is one of the many evidences ofdearth of originality on the part of the early English printers. [Illustration: FIG. 12. --Richard Faques' Device. ] The latest date found in the books of this printer is 1530. Another prominent figure in the early years of the sixteenth century wasthat of Robert Copland. He was a man of considerable ability, a goodFrench scholar, and a writer of mediocre verse. Apart from this, he wasalso, in the truest sense of the word, a book lover, and used hisinfluence to produce books that were likely to be useful, or such aswere worth reading. In the prologue to the _Kalendar of Shepherdes_, which Wynkyn de Worde printed in 1508, he described himself as servantto that printer. This has been taken to mean that he was one of DeWorde's apprentices. But in 1514, if not earlier, he had started inbusiness for himself as a stationer and printer, at the sign of the RoseGarland in Fleet Street. Very few of the books that he printed nowexist, and this, taken in conjunction with the fact that he translatedand wrote prologues for so many books printed by De Worde, has led allwriters upon early English printing to conclude that he was an odd manabout De Worde's office, and that he was in fact subsidised by thatprinter. There is evidence, however, that many of the books printed byDe Worde, that have prologues by Robert Copland, were first printed byhim, and that in others he had a share in the copies. [Illustration: FIG. 13. --Robert Copland's Device. ] In the British Museum copy of the _Dyeynge Creature_, printed by DeWorde in 1514, it is noticeable that on the last leaf is the mark ordevice of Robert Copland, not that of the printer, while in the copy nowin the University Library, Cambridge, De Worde's device is on the lastleaf. This would appear to indicate that both printers were associated in theventure, though the work actually passed through De Worde's press, andthat those copies which Copland took and paid for were distinguished byhis device. Again, in several of these books, found with De Worde'scolophons, Copland speaks of himself as the 'printer, ' or 'the bukeprinter, ' and the inference is that they were reprints of books whichCopland had previously printed. Indeed in one instance the evidence isstill stronger. In 1518, Henry Pepwell printed at the sign of theTrinity the _Castell of Pleasure_. The prologue to this takes the formof a dialogue in verse between Copland and the author, of which thefollowing lines are the most important:-- 'Emprynt this boke, Copland, at my request And put it forth to every maner state. ' To which Copland replies:-- 'At your instaunce I shall it gladly impresse But the utterance, I thynke, will be but small Bokes be not set by: there tymes is past, I gesse; The dyse and cardes, in drynkynge wyne and ale, Tables, cayles, and balles, they be now sette a sale Men lete theyr chyldren use all such harlotry That byenge of bokes they utterly deny. ' If this means anything, it is impossible to avoid the inference thatRobert Copland printed the first edition of this book. Amongst othersthat he was in some way interested in may be noticed a curious book byAlexander Barclay, _Of the Introductory to write French_, fol. , 1521, ofwhich there is a copy in the Bodleian; _The Mirrour of the Church_, 4to, 1521, a devotional work, printed by Wynkyn de Worde, with a variety ofcurious woodcuts; the _Rutter of the Sea_, the first English book onnavigation, translated from _Le Grande Routier_ of Pierre Garcie;Chaucer's _Assemble of Foules_ and the _Questionary of Cyrurgyens_, printed by Robert Wyer in 1541. Copland was also the author, and without doubt the printer, of twohumorous poems that are amongst the earliest known specimens of thiskind of writing. The one called _The Hye Way to the Spyttell hous_ tookthe form of a dialogue between Copland and the porter of St. Bartholomew's, and turns upon the various kinds of beggars andimpostors, with a running commentary upon the vices and follies thatbring men to poverty. _Iyll of Brentford_, the second of thesecompositions, is a somewhat different production. It recounts thelegacies left by a certain lady, but the humour, though to the taste ofthe times, was excessively broad. In 1542 Dr. Andrew Borde spoke of his _Introduction of Knowledge_ asprinting at 'old Robert Copland's, the eldest printer in England. 'Whether he meant the oldest in point of age or in his craft is notclear; but it may well be that, seeing that De Worde, Pynson, and thetwo Faques were dead, this printing house was the oldest then in London. John Rastell also began to print about the year 1514. He is believed tohave been educated at Oxford, and was trained for the law. In additionto his legal business, he translated and compiled many law-books, themost notable being the _Great Abridgement of the Statutes_. This book heprinted himself, and it is certainly one of the finest examples ofsixteenth century printing to be found. The work was divided into threeparts, each of which consisted of more than two hundred large foliopages. When it is remembered that the method of printing books at thisperiod was slow, at the most only two folio pages being printed at apull, the time and capital employed upon the production of this bookmust have been very great. The type was the small secretary in use atRouen, and it is just possible the book was printed there and not inEngland. John Rastell's first printing office in London was on the south side ofSt. Paul's Churchyard. Williarn Bonham, the stationer with whom Rastellwas afterwards associated, had some premises there, and as late as theseventeenth century there was a house in Sermon Lane, known as theMermaid, and it may be that in one or other of these Rastell printed theundated edition of Linacre's _Grammar_, which bears the address, 'yesowth side of paulys. ' But in 1520 he moved to 'the Mermayd at Powlysgate next to chepe syde. ' There he printed _The Pastyme of People_, andSir Thomas More's _Supplicacyon of Souls_, besides several interludesand two remarkable jest-books, _The Twelve mery gestys of one calledEdith_ and _A Hundred Mery Talys_. The last named became one of the mostpopular books of the time, but only one perfect copy of it is now known, and that, alas! is not in this country. Rastell was brother-in-law ofSir Thomas More, and up to the year 1530 a zealous Roman Catholic. Sostrong were his religious opinions that in that year he wrote andprinted a defence of the Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory, under thetitle of the _New Boke of Purgatory_. This was answered by John Frith, the Reformer, who is credited with having achieved John Rastell'sconversion. By whatever means the change was brought about, John Rastelldid soon afterwards become a Protestant; but the change in his beliefmade him many enemies. He was arrested for his opinions, and if he didnot die in prison, he was in prison just before his death, which tookplace in 1536. During the last sixteen years of his life he does notappear to have paid much attention to his business. A document now inthe Record Office shows that he was in the habit of locking up hisprinting office in Cheapside, and going down into the country for monthsat a time. But a part of the premises he sublet, and this was occupiedfor various periods by several stationers--William Bonham, Thomas Kele, John Heron, and John Gough, being particularly named. Like all hispredecessors, he dropped the use of the secretary type in favour ofblack letter, and his books, as specimens of printing, greatlydeteriorated. Dibdin, in his reprint of _The Pastyme of the People_, wasvery severe upon the careless printing of the original, but it is morethan likely that it was the work of one of Rastell's apprentices, ratherthan his own. Amongst those whom he employed we find the names ofWilliam Mayhewes, of whom nothing is known; Leonard Andrewe, who mayhave been a relative of Laurence Andrewe, another English printer; andone Guerin, a Norman. John Rastell left two sons, William and John. The former became aprinter during his father's lifetime and succeeded him in business, buthis work lies outside the scope of the present chapter. The same remarkapplies to William Bonham. John Gough began his career as a bookseller in Fleet Street in 1526. In1528 he was suspected of dealing in prohibited books (see _Letters andPapers of Henry VIII. _, vol. Iv. Pt. Ii. Art. 4004), but managed toclear himself. In 1532 he moved to the 'Mermaid' in Cheapside, and inthe same year Wynkyn de Worde printed two books for him concerning thecoronation of Anne Boleyn. In 1536, whilst still living there, he issueda very creditable Salisbury _Primer_. He calls himself the printer ofthis, but it is extremely doubtful if this can be taken to mean anythingmore than that he found the capital, and, perhaps, the material withwhich it was printed. Wynkyn de Worde appointed John Gough one of theoverseers of his will. Of his subsequent career more will be said at alater period. Another of the printers who worked for Wynkyn de Worde during the latterpart of his life was John Skot. In 1521, when we first meet with him, hewas living in St. Sepulchre's parish, without Newgate. In that year heprinted the _Body of Policie_ and the _Justyces of Peas_, and in 1522_The Myrrour of Gold_; amongst his undated books are, _Jacob and hisxii sons_, _Carta Feodi simplicis_, and the _Book of Maid Emlyn_, allthese being in quarto. His next dated book appeared in 1528, with thecolophon 'in Paule's Churchyard, ' and here he appears to have remainedfor some years. He is next found in Fauster Lane, St. Leonard's parish, where he printed, amongst other books, the ballad of _The Nut BrowneMaid_. He also appears to have been at George Alley Gate, St. Botolph'sparish, where he printed, but without date, Stanbridge's _Accidence_. His devices were three in number, and several of his border pieces wereobtained from Wynkyn de Worde. Richard Bankes began business at the long shop in the Poultry, next toSt. Mildred's church, and six doors from the Stockes or Stocks Market, which at that time stood on the present site of the Mansion House. In1523 he printed a very curious tract with the following title:-- 'Here begynneth a lytell newe treatyse or mater intytuled and called Theix. Drunkardes, which tratythe of dyuerse and goodly storyes ryghtplesaunte and frutefull for all parsones to pastyme with. ' It was printed in octavo, black letter, and the only known copy is inthe Douce collection at the Bodleian. Another equally rare piece ofBankes' printing was the old English romance of _Sir Eglamour_, knownonly by a fragment of four leaves in the possession of Mr. Jenkinson ofthe University Library, Cambridge. This was also somewhat roughlyprinted in black letter. In 1525 he printed a medical tract called the_Seynge of Uryns_, in quarto, and three years later was associated withRobert Copland in the production of the _Rutter of the Sea_. He alsoissued from this address _A Herball_, and another popular medical workcalled the _Treasure of Pore Men_. Bankes is, however, best known as theprinter of the works of Richard Taverner, the Reformer, but this waslater, and will be noticed when we come to them. Peter Treveris, or Peter of Treves, was working at the sign of theWodows, in Southwark, between the years 1521 and 1533. He used as hisdevice the 'wild men, ' first seen in the device of the Paris printer, P. Pigouchet. The fact of his printing the _Opusculum Insolubilium_, to besold at Oxford 'apud J. T. ', that is probably for John Thome thebookseller, points to his being at work about the year 1520. In 1521 heis believed to have issued an edition of Arnold's _Chronicles_, translated by Laurence Andrewe. Two other books of his printing were the_Handy Worke of Surgery_, in folio, 1525, a book notable for the manyanatomical diagrams with which it was illustrated, and as a companion tothat work, _The Great Herball_ Treveris also shared with Wynkyn deWorde most of the printing of Richard Whittington's scholastic works, all in quarto, and mostly without date. Laurence Andrewe, who lived for some years at Calais, translated one ormore books for John van Doesborch, the Antwerp printer, set up a pressin London about 1527, and printed a second edition of the _Handy Workeof Surgery_, above noticed, a tract called _The Debate and Strifebetwene Somer and Winter_, to be sold by Robert Wyer at Charing Cross;_The destillacyon of Waters_, in 1527; and a reprint of Caxton's editionof the _Mirroure of the Worlde_, in folios, 1527. His printing calls forno special notice, but Mr. Proctor, in his monograph on _Doesborgh_, surmises that he learnt his art in an English printing house rather thanabroad, and the presence of a Leonarde Andrewe in the service of JohnRastell may mean that the two men were related and were both pupils ofthe same master. Turning now westwards, we find 'in the Bishop of Norwiche's Rentes inthe felde besyde Charynge Cross, ' that is near the present VillierStreet, a printer named Robert Wyer, the sign of whose house was that ofSt. John the Evangelist. There are several early references to the houseas that of a bookseller's, but without any name mentioned. For instance, Richard Pynson printed, without date, an edition of the curious tract of_Solomon and Marcolphus_, to be sold at the sign of St. John theEvangelist beside Charing Cross; the _Debate between Somer and Winter_, printed by Laurence Andrewe, has the same colophon, and the _De CursioneLune_, from the press of Richard Faques, has the same words, but notWyer's name. His first dated book was the _Golden Pystle_, printed in1531. It was printed in a small secretary of Parisian character. Hisgreat primer, for which he has been especially noted by somebibliographers, was very probably that used by Richard Faques. He hadalso a number of woodcut face initials similar to those used by Wynkynde Worde, and many of the small blocks found in his books were copies ofthose belonging to Antoine Verard, the famous Paris publisher. [Illustration: FIG. 14. --Robert Wyer's Device. ] Robert Wyer was essentially a popular printer. Many of his publicationswere mere tracts of a few leaves, abridgments of larger works, and thesubjects which they chiefly treated were theology and medicine. Unfortunately, the great bulk of his work bears no date, but severalcircumstances in his career, coupled with internal evidence gatheredfrom the books themselves, enable us to get very near their date ofissue. Like his contemporaries he abandoned the secretary type in favourof black letter, but neither so readily nor so entirely as they did. Hisfirst black letter, in use before 1536, was also a very well cut andbeautiful letter; with it he printed the _Epistle_ of Erasmus, inoctavo, and the _Book of Good Works_, of which the only copy known is inthe library of St. John's College, Oxford. But unquestionably the twomost important books known of this printer are William Marshall's_Defence of Peace_, folio, 1535, printed in secretary, and the_Questionary of Cyrurgyens_, which he printed for Henry Dabbe and R. Bankes. In 1536 the house in which he was working changed hands, passinginto the possession of the Duke of Suffolk, consequently all bookswhich have in the colophon 'in the Duke of Suffolkes Rentes, ' or 'Besidethe Duke of Suffolkes Place, ' were printed after that year. As Wyercontinued to print until 1555, this circumstance does not help us much;it may, however, be taken as some further guide that all his later workwas done in black letter. Robert Wyer appears to have done a great deal of work for hiscontemporaries, notably Richard Bankes, Richard Kele, and John Gough. Most of his books have woodcuts, the most profusely illustrated was histranslation of Christine de Pisan's _Hundred Histories of Troy_. Thisbook had been printed in Paris by Pigouchet, and the illustrations inWyer's edition are rude copies of those in the French edition. They are, without doubt, wretched specimens of the woodcutter's art; but in thisrespect they are no worse than the woodcuts found in other English booksat this date, and the number and variety of them speak well for theprinter's patience. Robert Wyer's device represented the Evangelist onthe Island of Patmos, with an eagle on his right hand holding aninkhorn. With this he used a separate block with his name and mark. Hehad also a smaller block of the Evangelist from which the eagle wasomitted. This is generally found on the title-page or in the front partof his books. [Footnote 2: It is rather remarkable that of the eight books dated 1534six are in octavo. Readers of the works of Erasmus, Colet, and Lily seemto have shown a preference for this form, which is used most frequentlyfor the works of these friendly authors. ] CHAPTER III THOMAS BERTHELET TO JOHN DAY On the death of Pynson, in 1529, the office of royal printer wasconferred upon Thomas Berthelet, who was in business at the sign of theLucretia Romana in Fleet Street. Herbert gives the first book from hispress as an edition of the Statutes, printed in 1529; but there is someevidence that he was at work two or three years, and perhaps more, before this. Among the writings of Robert Copland, the printer-author, was a humorous tract entitled _The Seuen sorowes that women have whentheyr husbandes be dead_ (British Museum, C. 20, c. 42 (5)), which hasat the end this curious passage:-- 'Go lytle quayr, god gyve the wel to sayle To that good sheppe, ycleped Bertelet. * * * * * * And from all nacyons, if that it be thy lot Lest thou be hurt, medle not with a Scot. ' This is, without doubt, an allusion to the two London printers, ThomasBerthelet and John Skot; and certain references in the prologue seem topoint to the printing of the first edition of the _Seuen Sorowes_, as ayear or two earlier than the date given by Herbert. [Illustration: FIG. 15. --Thomas Berthelet's Device. ] There also seems to be conclusive evidence that Berthelet, or, as he wassometimes called, Bartlett, was a native of Wales. He certainly heldland in the county of Hereford, and he was succeeded in business by anephew, Thomas Powell, a Welshman. Berthelet was one of the few Englishprinters of that period whose work is worth looking at. He had a variedassortment of types, all of them good, and his workmanship was as a ruleexcellent; and as very few of his books are illustrated, we may inferthat he was loth to spoil a good book with the rough and often unsightlywoodcuts of that time. Berthelet was also a bookbinder and bookseller, and some of his finebindings for Henry VIII. And his successors are still to be seen. He wasapparently the first English binder to use gold tooling. Of his official work very little need be said. It consisted in printingall Acts of Parliament, proclamations, injunctions, and other officialdocuments. In the second volume of the _Transcript_ (pp. 50-60), Professor Arber has printed three of Berthelet's yearly accounts, inwhich the titles of the various documents are given, with the number ofcopies of each that were struck off, and the nature and cost of theirbindings. In the year 1530 the divorce of Queen Katherine and the King's marriageto Anne Boleyn filled the public mind, and in connection with thisevent he printed, both in Latin and English, a small octavo, with thetitle: _The determinations of the moste famous and moofte excellentVniversities of Italy and France that it is so unlefull for a man tomarie his brother's wyfe that the Pope hath no power to despensetherewith. _ Berthelet, in 1531, printed Sir Thomas Elyot's _Boke named theGovernour_, an octavo, in a large Gothic type, very bold and clear. Thistype, however, is seen to much better advantage in the folio edition ofGower's _Confessio Amantis_, which came from this press in 1532. In thisinstance the title-page is striking, the title being enclosed within apanel which gives it the appearance of a book cover. The text of thework was printed in double columns of forty-eight lines each. In 1533 Berthelet appears to have purchased a new fount of this type, with which he printed Erasmus's _De Immensa Dei Misericordia_. Ifpossible this new letter was more beautiful than the other, thelowercase 'h' finishing in a bold outward curve, which was absent in theearlier fount. These founts of Gothic closely resemble some in use inItaly at this time. To the year 1534 belongs St. Cyprian's _Sermon_ on the mortality of man, translated by Sir Thomas Elyot, as well as a second edition of _The Bokenamed the Governour_. Berthelet also brought into use during this year a woodcut border of anarchitectural character, with the date 1534 cut upon it. It was usedonly in octavo books, and he continued to use it for some years withouterasing the date, a fact that has led to much confusion in theclassification of his books. We meet with the large Gothic type again in 1535, in an edition of the_De Proprietatibus Rerum_ of Bartholomæus Anglicus, which Bertheletprinted in that year. But his most notable undertaking during the nextfew years was the book for regulating and settling nice points ofreligious belief, which had been compiled by the bishops, and was issuedunder the King's authority, with the title:-- _The Institution of a Christian Man conteyninge the Exposition orInterpretation of the commune Crede, of the Seven sacraments, of the Xcommandments, and of the Pater Noster, and the Ave Maria, Justyfication& Purgatory. _ When the book was finished, Latimer, then Bishop of Worcester, suggestedto Cromwell that the printing should be given to Thomas Gibson. ButLatimer's recommendation was overlooked, and the work was given toBerthelet. It would be interesting to know how many copies of the firstedition of this book he printed. It was issued both in quarto and octavoform, the quarto printed in a very beautiful fount of English blackletter, modelled on the lines of De Worde's founts. The opening lines ofthe title were, however, printed in Roman of four founts, and the wholepage was enclosed within a woodcut border of children. The octavo editions of this notable book were printed in a smaller fountof black letter, and the title-page was enclosed within the 1534 border. Several editions were issued in 1537, and the book was afterwardsrevised and reprinted under a new title. At the same time Berthelet was passing through the press Sir ThomasElyot's _Dictionary_, a work of no small labour, if one may judge fromthe number of founts used in printing it. It was finished and issued in1538. Berthelet, who, as befitted a royal printer, plainly took some pains tokeep himself clear of all controversies, did not stir in the matter ofBible translation until the 1538 edition by Grafton and Whitchurch wasalready in the market. In 1539, however, he published, but did not print, Taverner's edition ofthe Bible, and in the following year an edition of Cranmer's Bible. Thatof 1539 came from the press of John Byddell, and that of 1540 wasprinted for him by Robert Redman and Thomas Petit. Among the Patent Rolls for the year 1543 (P. R. 36 Hen. 8. M. 12) is agrant to Berthelet of certain crown lands in London and other parts ofthe country, in payment of a debt of £220. His office as royal printerceased upon the accession of Edward VI. , and though many books are foundwith the imprint, 'in aedibus Thomas Berthelet, ' down to the time of hisdeath in 1556, he probably took very little active part in businessaffairs after that time. Meanwhile Pynson's premises were taken by Robert Redman, who, from aboutthe year 1523, had been living just outside Temple Bar. No new factshave come to light about Redman, and the reasons why he moved intoPynson's house and continued to use his devices are as puzzling as ever. He began as a printer of law books, and printed little else. Inconjunction with Petit he printed an edition of the Bible for Berthelet, and among his other theological books was _A treatise concernynge thedivision betwene the Spirytualtie and Temporaltie_, the date of which isfixed by a note in the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII. (vol. Vi. , p. 215), from which it appears that, in 1553, Redman entered into a bond of500 marks not to sell this book or any other licensed by the King. Redman was also the printer of Leonard Coxe's _Arte and Crafte ofRhethoryke_, one of the earliest treatises on this subject published inEnglish. It has recently been republished by Professor Carpenter ofChicago, with copious notes. Redman's work fell very much below that of his predecessor. Much of histype had been in use in Pynson's office for some years, and was badlyworn. He had, however, a good fount of Roman, seen in the _De Judiciiset Praecognitionibus_ of Edward Edguardus. The title of this book isenclosed in a border, having at the top a dove, and at the bottom theinitials J. N. Redman's will was proved on the 4th November 1540. His widow, Elizabeth, married again, but several books were printed with her name in theinterval. His son-in-law, Henry Smith, lived in St. Clement's parishwithout Temple Bar, and printed law books in the years 1545 and 1546. Redman's successor at the George was William Middleton, who continuedthe printing of law books, and brought out a folio edition ofFroissart's _Chronicles_, with Pynson's colophon and the date 1525, which has led some to assume that this edition was printed by Pynson. Upon Middleton's death in 1547, his widow married William Powell, whothereupon succeeded to the business. Among those for whom Wynkyn de Worde worked shortly before his death wasJohn Byddell, a stationer living at the sign of 'Our Lady of Pity, ' nextFleet Bridge, who for some reason spoke of himself under the name ofSalisbury. He used as his device a figure of Virtue, copied from one ofthose in use by Jacques Sacon, printer at Lyons between 1498 and 1522(see _Silvestre_, Nos. 548 and 912). The same design, only in a largerform, was also in use in Italy at this time. In the collection oftitle-pages in the British Museum (618, ll. 18, 19) is one enclosedwithin a border found in books printed at Venice, on which the figure ofVirtue occurs. The only difference between it and the mark of Byddellbeing that the two shields show the lion of St. Mark, and the wholething is much larger. Byddell had probably been established as a stationer some years beforethe appearance of Erasmus's _Enchiridion Militis Christiani_ from thepress of De Worde in 1533, with his name in the colophon. Another bookprinted for him by De Worde, in the same year, was a quarto edition ofthe _Life of Hyldebrand_. Both these works De Worde reprinted in 1534, in addition to printing for him John Roberts' _A Mustre of scismatykeBysshoppes_. Byddell was appointed one of the executors to De Worde'swill, and very shortly after his death, _i. E. _ in 1535, moved to DeWorde's premises, the 'Sun, ' in Fleet Street. Most of Byddell's books were of a theological character. He printed aquarto _Horae ad usum Sarum_ in 1535, a small _Primer in English_ in1536, and a folio edition of Taverner's Bible in 1539 for ThomasBerthelet. Among the miscellaneous books that came through his press, one or twoare especially interesting. In 1538 we find him printing in quartoLindsay's _Complaynte and Testament of a Popinjay_, a work that hadfirst appeared in Scotland eight years before, and created considerablestir. A quarto edition of William Turner's _Libellus de Re Herbaria_bears the same date; while among the books of the year 1540 areeditions, in octavo, of _Tully's Offices_ and _De Senectute_. The latest date found in any book of Byddell's printing is 1544, afterwhich Edward Whitchurch is found at the 'Sun, ' in Fleet Street, whitherhe moved after dissolving partnership with Richard Grafton. The early history of these two men has a powerful interest, not only forstudents of early English printing, but for all English-speaking people. To their enterprise and perseverance the nation was indebted for thesecond English Bible. Some very interesting and highly valuable evidence respecting thehistory of these men has been brought to light of recent years, perhapsthe most valuable being Mr. J. A. Kingdon's _Incidents in the Lives ofThomas Poyntz and Richard Grafton_, privately printed in 1895. [Illustration: FIG. 16. --Richard Grafton's Device. ] From the affidavit of Emmanuel Demetrius [_i. E. _ Van Meteren], discovered in 1884 at the Dutch Church in Austin Friars, [3] it seemsclear that in 1535 Edward Whitchurch was working with Jacob van Meternat Antwerp in printing Coverdale's translation of the Bible. Richard Grafton was the son of Nicholas Grafton of Shrewsbury. The firstrecord we have of him is his apprenticeship to John Blage, a grocer ofLondon, in 1526. He was admitted a freeman of the Company in 1534, andat that time seems to have employed himself chiefly in furthering theproject of an English translation of the whole Bible. On the 13th August1537, Grafton sent to Archbishop Cranmer a copy of the Bible printedabroad. The text was a modification of Coverdale's translationostensibly by Thomas Mathew, but in reality by John Rogers the editor. In 1538, Coverdale, Grafton, and Whitchurch were together in Paris, busyupon a third edition of the Bible. In June of that year they sent twospecimens of the text to Cromwell, with a letter stating that theyfollowed the Hebrew text with Chaldee or Greek interpretations. Theprinting was done at the press of Francis Regnault, but before manysheets had been struck off, the University of Paris seized the press and2000 copies of the printed sheets, while the promoters had to make ahasty escape to this country. The presses and types were afterwardsbought by Cromwell, and the work was subsequently finished and publishedin 1539. The work had an engraved title-page, ascribed to Holbein, andthe price was fixed at ten shillings per copy unbound, and twelveshillings bound. Before leaving Paris, Grafton and Whitchurch had issued an edition ofCoverdale's translation of the New Testament, giving as their reasonthat James Nicholson of Southwark had printed a very imperfect versionof it. In 1540 Grafton and Whitchurch printed in 'the house late the grayefreers, ' _The Prymer both in Englysshe and Latin_, to be sold at thesign of the Bible in St. Paul's Churchyard. In the same year theyprinted with a prologue by Cranmer, a second edition of the Great Bible, half of which bore the name of Grafton and half of Whitchurch, and inall probability the subsequent editions were published in the same way. Two very good initial letters were used in the New Testament, and seemto have been cut especially for Whitchurch. On the 28th January 1543-44Grafton and Whitchurch received an exclusive patent for printing churchservice books (Rymer, _Fœdera_, xiv. 766), and a few years later theyare found with an exclusive right for printing primers in Latin andEnglish. Upon the accession of Edward VI. Grafton became the royalprinter, but upon the king's death he printed the proclamation of LadyJane Grey, and was for that reason deprived of his office by Queen Mary. The remainder of his life he spent in the compilation of English_Chronicles_ in keen rivalry with John Stow. Richard Grafton died in 1573. He was twice married. By his first wife, Anne, daughter of ---- Crome of Salisbury, he had four sons and onedaughter, Joan, who married Richard Tottell, the law printer. By hissecond wife, Alice, he left one son, Nicholas. Grafton used as his device a tun with grafted fruit-tree growing throughit. Among the noted booksellers and printers in St. Paul's Churchyard atthis time must be mentioned William Bonham. As yet it is not clearwhether he belonged to the Essex family of that name, or to anotherbranch that is found in Kent. From a series of documents discovered at the Record Office relating toJohn Rastell and his house called the Mermaid in Cheapside, it appearsthat in the year 1520 William Bonham was working in London as abookseller, and on two different occasions was a sub-tenant of Rastell'sat the Mermaid. Yet not a single dated book with his name is foundbefore 1542, at which time he was living at the sign of the Red Lion inSt. Paul's Churchyard, and issued a folio edition of Fabyan's_Chronicles_, besides having a share with his neighbour, Robert Toye, ina folio edition of Chaucer. Even at this time William Bonham held somesort of office in the Guild or Society of Stationers, for from a curiousletter written by Abbot Stevenage to Cromwell in 1539, about a certainbook printed in St. Albans Abbey, he says he has sent the printer toLondon with Harry Pepwell, Toy, and 'Bonere' (_Letters and Papers_, H. 8, vol. Xiv. P. 2, No. 315), so that it would look as if they werecommissioned to hunt down popish heretical and seditious books. By themarriage of his daughter, Joan, to William Norton, the bookseller, whoin turn named his son Bonham Norton, the history of the descendants ofWilliam Bonham can be followed up for quite a century later. At the Long Shop in the Poultry we can see the press at work almostwithout a break from the early years of the sixteenth century till theclose of the first quarter of the seventeenth. Upon the removal ofRichard Bankes into Fleet Street its next occupant seems to have beenone John Mychell, of whose work a solitary fragment, fortunately thatbearing the colophon, of an undated quarto edition of the _Life of St. Margaret_, is now in the hands of Mr. F. Jenkinson of the UniversityLibrary, Cambridge. Whether this John Mychell is the same person as theJohn Mychell found a few years later printing at Canterbury there is noevidence to show. Nor do we know how long he occupied the Long Shop. In1542 Richard Kele's name is found in a _Primer in Englysh_, which wasissued from this house. He may have been some relation to the ThomasKele who, in 1526, had occupied John Rastell's house, the Mermaid, asstated by Bonham in his evidence. During 1543, in company with Byddell, Grafton, Middleton, Mayler, Petit, and Lant, Richard Kele was imprisonedin the Poultry Compter for printing unlawful books (_Acts of PrivyCouncil_, New Series, vol. I. Pp. 107, 117, 125). Most of the books thatbear his name came from the presses of William Seres, Robert Wyer, andWilliam Copland. Perhaps the most interesting of his publications nextto the edition of Chaucer, which he shared with Toye and Bonham, are theseries of poems by John Skelton, called _Why Come ye not to Courte?__Colin Clout_, and _The Boke of Phyllip Sparowe_. They were issued inoctavo form, and were evidently very hastily turned out from the press, type, woodcuts, and workmanship being of the worst description. At theend of _Colin Clout_ is a woodcut of a figure at a desk, supposed torepresent the author, but it is doubtful whether it is anything morethan an old block with his name cut upon it. Looking back over the work done at this time, it is impossible to avoidthe conclusion that the art of printing in England had much deterioratedsince the days of Pynson, while the best of it, even that of Berthelet, could not be compared with that of the continental presses of the sameperiod. There was an entire absence of originality among the Englishprinters. Types, woodcuts, initial letters, ornaments, and devices, wereobtained by the printers from abroad, and had seen some service beforetheir arrival in this country. But just at this time a printer came tothe front in this country, who for a few years placed the art on ahigher footing than any of his predecessors. [Footnote 3: The _Registers of the Dutch Church, Austin Friars_, editedby W. J. C. Moens (Introduction, pp. Xiii. -xiv. ). ] [Illustration: FIG. 17. --John Day. ] CHAPTER IV JOHN DAY John Day, one of the best and most enterprising of printers, was born inthe year 1522 at Dunwich, in Suffolk, a once flourishing town, nowburied beneath the sea. From the fact that Day was in possession of a device found in the booksof Thomas Gibson, the printer whom Latimer unsuccessfully recommended toCromwell, it has been supposed that it was from Gibson he learnt theart. He may have done so; but whatever he learnt there or elsewhere, inhis 'prentice days, he later on threw aside, and by his own enterpriseand the excellence of his workmanship raised himself to the proudposition of the finest printer England had ever seen. In John Day's first books there was no sign of the skill he afterwardsmanifested. These were published in conjunction with William Seres, ofwhom we know little or nothing, outside his connection with Day. Thesepartners began work in the year 1546 at the sign of the Resurrection onSnow Hill, a little above Holborn Conduit, that is somewhere in theneighbourhood of the present viaduct. They had also another shop inCheapside. Their first book, so far as we know, was Sir David Lindsay'spoem, '_The Tragical death, of David Beaton, Bishop of St. Andrews inScotland; Wherunto is joyned the martyrdom of maister G. Wyseharte . .. For whose sake the aforesayd bishoppe was not long after slayne_' (1546, 8vo). In the following year (1547) Day and Seres printed several other booksof a religious character, nearly all of them in octavo, including Cope's_Godly Meditacion upon the psalms_, and Tyndale's _Parable of the WickedMammon_. Their work in 1548 included a second edition of the _Consultation_ ofHermann, the bishop of Cologne, Robert Crowley's _Confutation of MylesHoggarde_, a sermon of Latimer's, a metrical dialogue aimed at thepriesthood and entitled _John Bon and Mast Person_, and, as a relief toso much theological literature, the _Herbal_ of William Turner. The types used in printing these books were not a whit better thananybody else's, in fact if anything they were a shade worse. There wasthe usual fount of large black letter, not by any means new, anothermuch smaller letter of the same character, and a fount of Romancapitals, very bad indeed. Whether these types belonged to Day or toSeres it is impossible to say, but I think the smaller of the twobelonged to Day, as it is sometimes found in his later books. The workmanship was no better than the types. There was no pagination inthese books, and no devices, and the setting of the letterpress was veryuneven. In 1548 Seres seems to have joined partnership with another Londonprinter, Anthony Scoloker, and to have moved to a house in St. Paul'sChurchyard, called Peter College; but his name still continued to appearwith Day's down to the year 1551, when the partnership was dissolved, Day moving to Aldersgate, but retaining his shop in Cheapside. [Illustration: FIG. 18. --From a Bible printed by John Day. London, 1551. 4to. ] The most important undertaking of the partnership was a folio edition ofthe Bible in 1549. This was printed in the smaller of the two founts ofblack letter in double columns, with some good initials and a greatmany woodcuts that had evidently been used before, as they extend beyondthe letterpress. Another edition printed by Day alone appeared in 1551, in which a good initial E, showing Edward VI. On his throne, is found. On the accession of Queen Mary, Day went abroad and his press was silentfor several years; meanwhile the ancient brotherhood of Stationers wasincorporated by Royal Charter as the 'Worshipful Company of Stationers. 'The existence of the brotherhood has been traced to very early times, and it is frequently mentioned in the wills of printers and booksellersin the first half of the sixteenth century. By the Charter of 1556 itnow received the Royal authority to make its own laws for the regulationof the trade, although, as Mr. Arber has pointed out, the charter'rather confirmed existing customs than erected fresh powers. ' There isabundant evidence that the Queen's main reason for granting the charterwas the wish to keep the printing trade under closer control. The newly incorporated company included nearly all the men connectedwith the book trade, not only printers, but booksellers, bookbinders, and typefounders. There were some who, for some unexplained reason, werenot enrolled. On the other hand, two of those whose names appeared inthe charter died the year of its incorporation. These were ThomasBerthelet, who was dead before the 26th January 1556, and Robert Toy, who died in February. In the registers of the Company were recorded the names of the wardensand masters, the names of all apprentices, with the masters to whom theywere bound, and the names of those who took up their freedom. The titlesof all books were supposed to be entered by the printer or publisher, asmall fee being paid in each case. As a matter of fact many books werenot so entered. Entries of gifts to the Corporation, and of fines leviedon the members, also form part of the annual statements. Literary men of the eighteenth century were the first to discover andmake use of the wealth of information contained in the Registers of theStationers' Company; but it fell to the lot of Mr. Arber to give Englishscholars a full transcript of the earlier registers. In order to make itcomplete, he has supplemented the work with numerous valuable papers inthe Record Office and other archives, and a bibliographical list down tothe year 1603, which is of such immense value that it is impossible tobe content until it has been continued to the year 1640. The first master of the Company was Thomas Dockwray, Proctor of theCourt of Arches; and the wardens were John Cawood, the Queen's Printer, and Henry Cooke. [Illustration: FIG. 19. --Heraldic Initial containing the Arms of Dudley, Earl of Leicester. ] It does not follow that because Day's name occurs in the charter thathe was in England in 1556, but he certainly was so in the followingyear, for there is a Sarum Missal of that date with his imprint, besidesseveral other books, including Thomas Tusser's _Hundred Points of GoodHusserye_ (_i. E. _ Housewifery); William Bullein's _Government ofHealth_, and sundry proclamations. But it was not until 1559 that hisbooks began to show that excellence of workmanship that laid thefoundation of his fame. In that year he issued in folio _TheCosmographicall Glasse_ of William Cunningham, a physician of Norwich. As a specimen of the printer's art this was far in advance of any ofDay's previous work, and, moreover, was in advance of anything seen inEngland before that time. The text was printed in a large, flowingitalic letter of great beauty, further enhanced by several well-executedwoodcut initials. Amongst these was a letter 'D, ' containing the arms ofthe Earl of Leicester, to whom the work was dedicated. There were alsoscattered through the book several diagrams and maps, a fine portrait ofthe author, and a plan of the city of Norwich. Some of theseillustrations and initials were signed J. B. , others J. D. Thetitle-page was also engraved with allegorical figures of the arts andsciences. There can be very little doubt that Day had spent his timeabroad in studying the best models in the typographical art. Students and lovers of good books may well pay a tribute to the memoryof that scholarly churchman, who rescued so many of the books that werescattered at the dissolution of the monasteries, and enriched CambridgeUniversity and some of its colleges by his gifts of books andmanuscripts. But Matthew Parker did not stop short at book-collecting. He believed that good books should be well printed, and on his accessionto power under Elizabeth, he encouraged John Day and others, both withhis authority and his purse, to cut new founts of type and to printbooks in a worthy form. In 1560 Day began to print the collected works of Thomas Becon, thereformer. The whole impression occupied three large folio volumes, andwas not completed until 1564. The founts chiefly used in this were blackletter of two sizes, supplemented with italic and Roman. The initialsused in the _Cosmographicall Glasse_ appeared again in this, and thetitle-page to each part was enclosed in an elaborate architecturalborder, having in the bottom panel Day's small device, a block showing asleeper awakened, and the words, 'Arise, for it is Day. ' At the end wasa fine portrait of the printer. Another important undertaking of the year 1560 was a folio edition ofthe _Commentaries_ of Joannes Philippson, otherwise Sleidanus. This Dayprinted for Nicholas England, the fount of large italic being used inconjunction with black letter. Sermons of Calvin, Bullinger, and Latimer are all that we have toillustrate his work during the next two years. But in 1563 appeared ahandsome folio, the editio princeps of _Acts and Monumentes of theselatter and perillous Dayes, touching matters of the Church_, betterknown as Foxe's Book of Martyrs. During Mary's reign Foxe had found a home on the Continent, and maythere have met with Day. In 1554, while at Strasburg, he had published, through the press of Wendelin Richel, a Latin treatise on thepersecutions of the reformers, under the title of _Commentarii rerum inEcclesia gestarum maximarumque persecutionem a Vuiclevi temporibusdescriptio_. From Strasburg he removed to Basle, and from the press ofOporinus, in 1559, appeared the Latin edition of the _Book of Martyrs_. He did not return to England until October of that year, when hesettled in Aldgate, and made weekly visits to the printing-house of JohnDay, who was then busy on the English edition. [Illustration: FIG. 20. --From Foxe's 'Actes and Monumentes, ' printed byJohn Day, 1576. ] Foxe's _Actes and Monumentes_ is a work of 2008 folio pages, printed indouble columns, the type used being a small English black letter, thesame which had been used in Becon's _Works_, supplemented with varioussizes of italic and Roman. It was illustrated throughout with woodcuts, representing the tortures and deaths of the martyrs. A very handsomeinitial letter E, showing Queen Elizabeth and her courtiers, is alsofound in it. A Royal proclamation ordered that a copy of it should beset up in every parish church. From this time Foxe appears to haveworked as translator and editor for John Day, and was for a while livingin the printer's house. Archbishop Parker meanwhile had induced Day to cast a fount of Saxontypes in metal. The first book in which these were used was Aelfric's'Saxon Homily, ' _i. E. _ the Sermon of the Paschal Lamb, appointed by theSaxon bishop to be read at Easter before the Sacrament, an Epistle ofAelfric to Wulfsine, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the TenCommandments, all of which were included in the general title of _ATestimonye of Antiquity_, 'shewing the auncient fayth in the Church ofEngland touching the Sacrament of the body and bloude of the Lord herepublykely preached and also receaved in the Saxons tyme, above 600yeares agoe. ' Speaking of Day's Saxon fount, the late Mr. Talbot Reed, in his _OldEnglish Letter Foundries_ (p. 96), says:-- 'The Saxon fount . .. Is an English in body, very clear and bold. Of the capitals eight only, including two diphthongs are distinctively Saxon, the remaining eighteen letters being ordinary Roman; while in the lowercase there are twelve Saxon letters, as against fifteen of the Roman. The accuracy and regularity with which this fount was cut and cast is highly creditable to Day's excellence as a founder. ' Although this book (an octavo) bore no date, the names of thesubscribing bishops fix it as 1566 or 1567. In the latter year appearedthe Archbishop's metrical version of the _Psalter_, which he hadcompiled during his enforced exile under Mary. In connection with thisit may be well to point out that Day printed many editions of the_Psalter_ with musical notes. In 1568 he used the Saxon types again toprint William Lambard's _Archaionomia_, a book of Saxon laws. Amongsthis other productions of that year must be mentioned the folio editionof Peter Martyr's _Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans_; Gildas thehistorian's _De excidio et conquestu Britanniæ_, 1568, 8vo; and a Frenchversion of Vandernoot's _Theatre for Worldlings_, 'Le Theatre auquelsont exposés et monstrés les inconveniens et misères qui suivent lesmondains et vicieux, ensemble les plaisirs et contentements dont lesfidèles jouissent. ' There is a copy of this very rare book in theGrenville collection. The _Theatre for Worldlings_ was translated intoEnglish the following year, and contained verses from the pen of EdmundSpenser, then a boy of sixteen. But Day's press played little part inthe spread of the romantic literature with which the name of Spenser isso closely linked. Day's work was with the Reformation and the religiousquestions of the time. Nevertheless, that he felt the influence of thecoming change is shown from a publication that issued from his press in1570. This was the authorised version of a play which had been actednine years before by the gentlemen of the Inner Temple before HerMajesty. It had shortly afterwards been published by William Griffith ofFleet Street as:-- 'The Tragedy of Gorboduc, whereof Three Actes were wrytten by ThomasNorton and the two last by Thomas Sackvyle. Set forth as the same wasshewed before the Queenes most excellent Maiestie in her highnes Courtof Whitehall, the xviii day of January Anno Domini 1561, By thegentlemen of Thynner Temple in London. ' Day's edition was entitled:-- 'The Tragidie of Ferrex and Porrex, set forth without addition oralteration, but altogether as the same was showed on stage before theQueens Maiestie about nine yeares past, viz. The xviii day of Januarie1561, by the gentlemen of the Inner Temple. ' Another important work of this year (1570) was Roger Ascham's_Scholemaster_, in quarto. In 1571 Day was busy with Church matters. There was just then much talk of Church discipline, and it shows itselfin the _Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum_, a quarto of some 300 pages, published by him this year. In this book we find a new device used byDay. It represents two hands holding a slab upon which is a cruciblewith a heart in it, surrounded by flames, the word 'Christus' being onthe slab. From the wrists hangs a chain, and in the centre of this issuspended a globe, and beneath that again is a representation of thesun. Round the chain is a ribbon with the words '_Horum Charitas_. ' Thisdevice was placed on the title-page, which was surrounded by a neatborder of printers' ornaments. The _Booke of certaine Canons_, 4to, was another publication of thisyear for the due ordering of the Church. This, like most publicdocuments, was in a large black letter. There were also 'Articles of theLondon Synod of 1562. ' As a specimen of the religious sermons ordiscourses of the time, we have a very good example in another of Day'spublications in 1571, a reprint of _The Poore Mans Librarie_, adiscourse by George Alley, Bishop of Exeter, upon the First Epistle ofSt. Peter, which made up a very respectable folio, printed in Day's bestmanner, and with a great number of founts. But Day's prosperity roused the envy of his fellow-stationers, and theytried their best to hinder the sale of his books and cause himannoyance. This opposition took a violent form in 1572, when Day, whosepremises at Aldersgate had become too small to carry on his growingbusiness, his stock being valued at that time between £2000 and £3000, obtained the leave of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's to set up alittle shop in St. Paul's Churchyard for the sale of his books. Thebooksellers appealed to the Lord Mayor, who was prevailed upon to stopDay's proceedings, and it required all the power and influence ofArchbishop Parker, backed by an order of the Privy Council, to enablethe printer to carry out his project. [4] The Archbishop meanwhile had been busy furnishing replies to NicholasSanders' book _De Visibili Monarchia_, and amongst those whom heselected for the work was Dr. Clerke of Cambridge, who accordingly wrotea Latin treatise entitled _Fidelis Servi subdito infideli Responsio_. From a letter written by the Archbishop to Lord Burleigh at this time, we learn that John Day had cast a special fount of Italian letter forthis book at a cost of forty marks. [5] By Italian letter is here meant Roman, and not Italic, as Mr. Reedsupposes, for the _Responsio_ was printed in a new fount of that type, clear, even, and free from abbreviations. In the same year (1572) Day printed at the Archbishop's private pressat Lambeth his great work _De Antiquitate Britannicae Ecclesiae_ infolio, in a new fount of Italic, with preface in Roman, and the titlesand sub-titles in the larger Italic of the _Cosmographicall Glasse_. Itwas a special feature of Day's letter-founding that he cut the Roman andItalic letters to the same size. Before his time there was nouniformity; the separate founts mixed badly, and spoilt the appearanceof many books that would otherwise have been well printed. The _De Antiquitate_ is believed to have been the first book printed ata private press in England. The issue was limited to fifty copies, andthe majority of them were in the Archbishop's possession at the time ofhis death. But while he encouraged printing in one direction, Matthew Parkerrigorously persecuted it in another. Just at this time there was muchdivision among Protestants on matters of doctrine and ceremonial, andone Thomas Cartwright published, in 1572, a book entitled _A SecondAdmonition to the Parliament_, in which he defended those who had beenimprisoned for airing their opinions in the first _Admonition_. Thisbook, like many others of the time, was printed secretly, and strenuoussearch was made by the Wardens of the Stationers' Company, Day beingone, to discover the hidden press. The search was successful, butunpleasant consequences followed for John Day. One of the printers ofthe prohibited book turned out to be an apprentice of his own, namedAsplyn. He was released after examination, and again taken into serviceby his late master. But the following year the Archbishop reported tothe Council that this man Asplyn had tried to kill both Day and hiswife. Day's work in 1573 included a folio edition of the whole works ofWilliam Tyndale, John Frith, and Doctor Barnes, in two volumes. This wasprinted in two columns, with type of the same size and character as thatused in the 'Works' of Becon, some of the initial letters closelyresembling those found in books printed by Reginald Wolfe. In the sameyear Day issued a life of Bishop Jewel, for which he cut in wood anumber of Hebrew words. In 1574 we reach the summit of excellence in Day's work. It was in thatyear that he printed for Archbishop Parker Asser's Life of Alfred theGreat (_Aelfredi Regis Res Gestæ_) in folio. In this the Saxon type castfor the Saxon Homily in 1567 was again used in conjunction with themagnificent founts of double pica Roman and Italic. With it is usuallybound Walsingham's _Ypodigme Neustria_ and _Historia Brevis_, the firstprinted by Day, and the second by Bynneman, who unquestionably used thesame types, so that it may be inferred that the fount was at thedisposal of the Archbishop, at whose expense all three books wereissued. Another series of publications that came from the press of John Day, in1574, were the writings of John Caius on the history and antiquities ofthe two Universities. They are generally found bound together in thefollowing order:-- 1. De Antiquitate Cantabrigiensis Academiæ. 2. Assertio Antiquitatis Oxoniensis Academiæ. 3. Historia Cantabrigiensis Academiæ. 4. Johannis Caii Angli De Pronunciatione Græcæ et Latinæ linguæ cumscriptione noua libellus. The 'Antiquities' and 'History' of Cambridge were both books ofconsiderable size, the first having 268 pages, without countingprefatory matter and indexes. The other two were little better thantracts, the one having only 27 and the other 23 pages. Some editions ofthe _De Antiquitate_ are found with a map of Cambridge, while the'History' contained plates showing the arms of the various colleges. Allfour were printed in quarto. The type used for the text was in each casean Italic of English size, with a small Roman for indexes. Thetitle-page was enclosed in a border of printers' ornaments, and theprinter's device of the Heart was on the last leaf of two out of thefour. Matthew Parker died in 1575, and the art of printing, as well as everyother art and science, lost a generous patron. But Day's work was notyet done, though he printed few large books after this date. A verycurious folio, written by John Dee, the famous astronomer, entitled_General and Rare Memorials concerning Navigation_, came from his pressin 1577. This work had an elaborate allegorical title-page, by no meansa bad specimen of wood-engraving. It was a history in itself, thecentral object being a ship with the Queen seated in the after part. In 1578 Day printed a book in Greek and Latin for the use of scholars, _Christianæ pietatis prima institutio_, the Greek type being a greatimprovement on any that had previously appeared. Indeed, it has beenconsidered equal to those in use by the Estiennes of Paris. The year 1580 saw Day Master of the Stationers' Company. Two years laterhe was engaged in a series of law-suits about his _A B C and litellCatechism_, a book for which he had obtained a patent in the days ofEdward VI. As we have already noted, the aim of the Corporation of the Stationers'Company was not primarily the promotion of good printing or literature. Printers were looked upon by the authorities as dangerous persons whomit was necessary to watch closely. Only six years after coming to thethrone, Elizabeth signed a decree passed by the Star Chamber, requiringevery printer to enter into substantial recognisances for his goodbehaviour. No books were to be printed or imported without the sanctionof a Special Commission of Ecclesiastical Authorities, under a penaltyof three months' imprisonment and the forfeiture of all right to carryon business as a master printer or bookseller in future, while theofficers of the Company were instructed to carry out strict search forall prohibited books. On the other hand, while thus retaining a tight rein on the printingtrade, the Queen, no doubt for monetary considerations, granted specialpatents for the sole printing of certain classes of books to individualmaster printers, and threatened pains and penalties upon any othermember of the craft who should print any such books. In this way all thebest-paying work in the trade became the property of some dozen or so ofprinters. Master Tottell was allowed the sole printing of Law Books, Master Jugge the sole printing of Bibles, James Roberts and RichardWatkins the sole printing of Almanacs; Thomas Vautrollier, a stranger, was allowed to print all Latin books except the Grammars, which weregiven to Thomas Marsh, and John Day had received the right of printingand selling the _A B C and Litell Catechism_, a book largely bought forschools, and which Christopher Barker, in his Complaint, declared wasonce 'the onelye reliefe of the porest sort of that Company. ' On everyside the best work was seized and monopolised. Nor did the evil ceasethere. These patents were invariably granted for life with reversion toa successor, and they were bought and sold freely. Hence the poorermembers of the Company daily found it harder to live. There was verylittle light literature, and what there was had few readers. Theirappeals for redress of grievances, whether addressed to the State or tothe Company, which pretended to look after their welfare, were alike invain, and at length they rose in open revolt. Half a dozen of them, headed by Roger Ward and John Wolf, boldly printed the books owned bythe patentees. Roger Ward seized upon this _A B C_ of Day's, and at asecret press, with type supplied to him by a workman of Thomas Purfoot, printed many thousand copies of the work with Day's mark. Hence theproceedings in the Star Chamber. They did very little good. Ward defiedimprisonment; and the agitators would undoubtedly have gained more thanthey did, and might even have saved the art of printing from fallinginto the hopeless state it afterwards reached, had it not been for thedesertion of John Wolf, who, after declaring that he would work areformation in the printing trade similar to that which Luther hadworked in religion, quietly allowed himself to be bought over, and diedin eminent respectability as Printer to the City of London, leavingWard and others to carry on the war. This they did with such effect, that, forced to find a remedy, the patentees of the Company at lengthagreed to relax their grasp of some of the books that they had laidtheir hands upon. Day is said to have been most generous, relinquishingno less than fifty-three, and this number is in itself a commentary onthe magnitude of the monopolies. [Illustration: FIG. 21. --Day's large Device. ] John Day died at Walden, in Essex, on the 23rd July 1584, at the age ofsixty-two, and was buried at Bradley Parva, where there is a fair tomband a lengthy poetical epitaph on his virtues and abilities. He wastwice married, and is said to have had twenty-six children, of whom oneson, Richard, was for a short time a printer, and another, John, tookOrders, and became rector of Little Thurlow, in Suffolk. John Day had three devices. His earliest, and perhaps his best, was alarge block of a skeleton lying on an elaborately chased bier, with atree at the back, and two figures, an old man and a young, standingbeside it. This may have been typical of the Resurrection, the sign ofthe house in which he began business. Then we find the device of theHeart in his later books, and finally there is the block of the SleeperAwakened, but this almost always formed part of the title-page. [Footnote 4: See Strype's _Life of Parker_, p. 541. Arber's Transcript, vol. Ii. ] [Footnote 5: Strype's _Life of Parker_, pp. 382, 541. ] APPENDIX LIST OF PRINTERS AND STATIONERS ENROLLED IN THE CHARTER Alday, John. Baldwyn, Richard. Baldwyn, William. Blythe, Robert. Bonham, John. Bonham, William. Bourman, Nicholas. Boyden, Thomas. Brodehead, Gregory. Broke, Robert. Browne, Edward. Burtoft, John. Bylton, Thomas. Case, John. Cater, Edward. Cawood, John. Clarke, John. Cleston, Nicholas. Cooke, Henry. Cooke, William. Copland, William. Cottesford, Hugh. Coston, Simon. Croke, Adam. Crosse, Richard. Crost, Anthony. Day, John. Devell, Thomas. Dockwray, Thomas. Duxwell, Thos. Fayreberne, John. Fox, John. Frenche, Peter. Gamlyn _or_ Gammon, Allen. Gee, Thomas. Gonneld, James. Gough, John. Greffen _or_ Griffith, William. Grene, Richard. Harryson, Richard. Harvey, Richard. Hester, Andrew. Hyll, John. Hyll, Richard. Hyll, William. Holder, Robert. Holyland, James. Huke, Gyles. Ireland, Roger. Jaques, John. Judson, John. Jugge, Richard. Kele, John. Keball, John. Kevall, junior, Richard. Kevall, Stephen. Kyng, John. Lant, Richard. Lobel, Michael. Marten, Will. Marsh, Thos. Markall, Thomas. Norton, Henry. Norton, William. Paget, Richard. Parker, Thomas. Pattinson, Thomas. Pickering, William. Powell, Humphrey. Powell, Thomas. Powell, William. Purfoot, Thomas. Radborne, Robert. Richardson, Richard. Rogers, John. Rogers, Owen. Ryddall, Will. Sawyer, Thomas. Seres, William. Shereman, John. Sherewe, Thomas. Smyth, Anthony. Spylman, Simon. Steward, William. Sutton, Edward. Sutton, Henry. Taverner, Nicholas. Tottle, Richard. Turke, John. Tyer, Randolph. Tysdale, John. Walley, Charles. Walley, John. Wallys, Richard. Way, Richard. Whitney, John. Wolfe, Reginald. Amongst the men whose names were not included in the charter were:-- Baker, John, made free 24th Oct. 1555. Caley, Robert. Chandeler, Giles, made free 24 Oct. 1555. Charlewood, John. Hacket, Thomas. Singleton, Hugh. Wayland, JohnWyer, Robert. CHAPTER V JOHN DAY'S CONTEMPORARIES Most notable of all the men who lived and worked with Day, was Reginaldor Reyner Wolfe, of the Brazen Serpent in St. Paul's Churchyard. Much aswe have to regret the scantiness of all material for a study of thelives of the early English printers, it is doubly felt in the case ofReginald Wolfe. The little that is made known to us is just sufficientto whet the appetite and kindle the curiosity. It reveals to us anactive business man, evidently with large capital behind him, setting upas a bookseller, under the shadow of the great Cathedral, and rapidlybecoming known to the learned and the rich. We see him passing backwardsand forwards between this country and the book-fair at Frankfort, executing commissions for great nobles, and at the same time acting asthe King's courier. Later on we find him adding the trade of printer tothat of bookseller, and I have very little doubt that it was partly tothe advice and influence of Reginald Wolfe that we owe the improvementthat took place in John Day's printing after his return from abroad. Asa printer he stands beside Day in the excellence of his workmanship, andhe was the first in England who possessed any large stock of Greek type. Reyner Wolfe was a native of Dretunhe(?), in Gelderland, as shown by theletters of denization which he took out on the 2nd January 1533-4. (State Papers, Hen. 8. Vol. 6. No. 105. ) He had been established inSaint Paul's Churchyard some years before this, however, as in a letterfrom Thomas Tebold to the Earl of Wiltshire, dated the 4th April 1530, he says he has arrived at Frankfort, and hopes to hear from his lordshipthrough 'Reygnard Wolf, bookseller, of St. Pauls Churchyard, London, whowill be here in two days. ' Again, in 1539, in the same series of _Letters and Papers_ (vol. Xiv. Pt. 2. No. 781), is an entry of the payment of 100s. To 'Rayner Wolf'for conveying the King's letters to Christopher Mounte, his Grace'sagent in 'High Almayne'. But it was not until 1542 that he began toprint. The British Museum fortunately possesses copies of all his earlyworks as a printer, which began with several of the writings of JohnLeland the antiquary. The first was _Naeniae in mortem T. Viati, Equitisincomparabilis, Joanne Lelando, antiquario, authore_, a quarto, printedin a well-cut fount of Roman. This was followed in the same year by_Genethliacon_, a work specially written by Leland for Prince Edward, with a dedication to Prince Henry, the first part being printed inItalic and the second in Roman type. On the verso of the last leaf isthe printer's very beautiful device of children throwing at anapple-tree, certainly one of the most artistic devices in use amongstthe printers of that time. [Illustration: FIG. 22. --Wolfe's Device. ] To this work succeeded, in 1543, the _Homilies_ of Saint Chrysostom, ofwhich John Cheke, Professor in Greek at Cambridge University, waseditor. The whole of the first part of the work, with the exception ofthe dedication, was in Greek letter, making thirty lines to the quartopage. The second part, which had a separate title-page, was printed withthe Italic, and the supplementary parts with the Roman types. Some veryfine pictorial initial letters were used throughout the work, and thelarger form of the apple-tree device occurs on the last leaf, with aGreek and Latin motto. A very rare specimen of Wolfe's work in 1543 is Robert Recorde's _Thegroūd of artes teachyng the worke and practise of Arithmetike mochnecessary for all states of men_, a small octavo printed in blackletter, but of no particular merit. In the same type and form he issuedin the following year a tract entitled _The late expedicion inScotlande_, etc. Chrysostom's _De Providentia Dei_ and _Laudatio Pacis_were printed in the Roman and Italic founts during 1545 and 1546, andare the only record we have left of Wolfe's work as a printer duringthose years. In 1547 he was appointed the king's printer in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and was granted an annuity of twenty-six shillingsand eightpence during his life (Pat. Rol. 19 April 1547). In 1553 trouble arose between Wolfe and Day as to their respectiverights of printing Edward the Sixth's catechism. The matter was settledby Wolfe having the privilege for printing the Latin version, and Daythat in English, but neither party reaped much benefit, as upon theking's death the book was called in, having only been in circulation afew months. During Mary's reign the only important work that seems tohave come from Wolfe's press was Recorde's _Castle of Knowledge_, afolio, with an elaborately designed title-page, and a dedication toCardinal Pole. In 1560 Wolfe became Master of the Company of Stationers, a position to which he was elected on three subsequent occasions, in1564, 1567, and 1572. His patents were renewed to him under Elizabeth, and he came in for his share of the patronage of Matthew Parker, whoseedition of Jewel's _Apologia_ he printed in quarto form in 1562. In 1563appeared from his press the _Commonplaces of Scripture_, by WolfgangMusculus, a folio, chiefly notable for a very fine pictorial initial'I, ' measuring nearly 3-1/2 inches square, and representing theCreation, which had obviously formed part of the opening chapter ofGenesis in some early edition of the Bible. It was certainly used againin the 1577 edition of Holinshed's _Chronicle_. Almost his last work was Matthew Paris's _Historia Major_, edited byMatthew Parker, a handsome folio with an engraved title-page, severalgood pictorial initials, and his large device of the apple-tree, printedin 1571. Without doubt the printer was greatly interested in this work. He had himself collected materials for a chronicle of his adoptedcountry, which he amused himself with in his spare time. But he did notlive to print it, his death taking place late in the year 1573. His willwas short, and mentioned none of his children by name. His property inSt. Paul's Churchyard, which included the Chapel or Charnel House on thenorth side, which he had purchased of King Henry VIII. , he left to hiswife, and the witnesses to his will were George Bishop, RaphaelHolinshed, John Hunn, and John Shepparde. [6] His wife, Joan Wolfe, onlysurvived him a few months, her will, which is also preserved in thePrerogative Court of Canterbury, [7] being proved on the 20th July 1574. In it occurs the following passage: 'I will that Raphell Hollingshed shall have and enjoye all such benefit, proffit, and commoditie as was promised unto him by my said late husbande Reginald Wolfe, for or concerning the translating and prynting of a certain crownacle which my said husband before his decease did prepare and intende to have prynted. ' She further mentioned in her will a son Robert, a son Henry, and adaughter Mary, the wife of John Harrison, citizen and stationer, as wellas Luke Harrison, a citizen and stationer, while among the witnesses toit was Gabriel Cawood, the son of John Cawood, who lived hard by at thesign of the Holy Ghost, next to 'Powles Gate. ' From a document in the Heralds' College (W. Grafton, vi. , A. B. C. , Lond. ), it appears that John Cawood, who began to print about the sametime as Day, came from a Yorkshire family of good standing. He wasapprenticed to John Reynes, a bookseller and bookbinder, who at thattime, about 1542, worked at the George Inn in this locality. Cawoodgreatly respected his master, and in aftertimes, when he had become aprosperous man, placed a window in Stationers' Hall to the memory ofJohn Reynes. Reynes died in 1543, but there is no mention of Cawood inhis will, perhaps because Cawood was no longer in his service; but inthat of his widow, Lucy Reynes, there was a legacy to John Cawood'sdaughter. Cawood began to print in the year 1546, the first specimen of his presswork being a little octavo, entitled _The Decree for Tythes to be payedin the Citye of London_. With few exceptions the printers of this period easily enough conformedto the religious factions of the day. Thus Cawood prints Protestantbooks under Edward VI. , Catholic books under Mary, and again Protestantbooks under Elizabeth. Upon the accession of Mary he was appointed royalprinter in the place of Grafton, who had dared to print theproclamation of Lady Jane Grey (Rymer's _Fœdera_, vol. Xv. , p. 125). He also received the reversion of Wolfe's patent for printing Latin, Greek, and Hebrew books, as well as all statute books, acts, proclamations, and other official documents, with a salary of £6, 13s. 4d. The British Museum possesses a volume (505. G. 14) containing thestatutes of the reign of Queen Mary, printed in small folio by Cawood. From these it will be seen that he used some very artistic woodcutborders for his title-pages, notably one with bacchanalian figures inthe lower panel signed 'A. S. ' in monogram, evidently the same artistthat cut the woodcut initials seen in these and other books printed bythis printer, and who is believed to have been Anton Sylvius, an Antwerpengraver. Cawood was one of the first wardens of the Stationers' Companyin 1554, and again served from 1555-7, and continued to take greatinterest in its welfare throughout his life. In 1557, Cawood, in companywith John Waley and Richard Tottell, published the Works of Sir ThomasMore in a large and handsome folio. The editor was William Rastell, Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, son of John Rastell the printer, andnephew of the great chancellor. The book was printed at the Hand and Star in Fleet Street by Tottell, but the woodcut initials were certainly supplied by Cawood, and perhapssome of the type. On the accession of Elizabeth, he again received apatent as royal printer, but jointly with Richard Jugge, whose name isalways found first. Nevertheless, Cawood printed at least two editionsof the Bible in quarto, with his name alone on the title-page. They werevery poor productions, the text being printed in the diminutivesemi-gothic type that had done duty since the days of Caxton, and thewoodcut borders being made up of odds and ends that happened to behandy. His rapidly increasing business had already compelled him tolease from the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's a vault under thechurchyard, and two sheds adjoining the church, and in addition to thishe now took a room at Stationers' Hall at a rental of 20s. Per year. In conjunction with Jugge he printed many editions of the _Book ofCommon Prayer_ in all sizes. He also reprinted in 1570 Barclay's _Shipof Fools_ with the original illustrations. Cawood was three times Masterof the Company of Stationers, in 1561, 1562, and 1566. In 1564 he wasappointed by Elizabeth Toye, the widow of Robert Toye, one of theoverseers to her will, and his partner Jugge was one of the witnesses tothe document (P. C. C, 25 Morrison). His death took place in 1572, andfrom his epitaph it appeared that he was three times married, and by hisfirst wife, Joan, had three sons and four daughters. His eldest son, John, was bachelor of laws and fellow of New College, Oxford, and diedin 1570; Gabriel, the second son, succeeded to his father's business, and the third son died young. His eldest daughter, Mary, married GeorgeBishop, one of the deputies to Christopher Barker; a second, Isabel, married Thomas Woodcock, a stationer; Susannah was the wife of RobertBullock, and Barbara married Mark Norton. Richard Jugge was another of those who owed much to the patronage andencouragement of Archbishop Parker. He is believed to have been born atWaterbeach in Cambridgeshire, and was educated, first at Eton, andafterwards at Cambridge. He set up at the sign of The Bible in 1548, andused as his device a pelican plucking at her breast to feed her youngwho are clamouring around her. In 1550 he obtained a licence to printthe New Testament, and in 1556 books of Common Law. Under Elizabeth in1560 he was made senior Queen's Printer. When the new edition of theBible was about to be issued in 1569, Archbishop Parker wrote to Cecil, asking that Jugge might be entrusted with the printing, as there werefew men who could do it better. In this way he became the printer of thefirst edition of the 'Bishops' Bible, ' a second edition coming from hispress the year following. In this work he used several large decorativeinitial letters, with the arms of the several patrons of the work, aswell as a finely designed engraved title-page, with a portrait of theQueen, and other portraits of Burleigh and Leicester. In his edition ofthe New Testament were numerous large cuts, evidently of foreignworkmanship, some of them signed with the initials 'E. B. ' Richard Juggedied in 1577. Another of Day's contemporaries, whose name is remembered by allstudents of English literature, was Richard Tottell, who lived at theHand and Star in Fleet Street, and printed there the collection ofpoetry known as Tottell's Miscellany. There is reason to believe that Richard Tottell was the third son ofHenry Tottell, a famous citizen of Exeter. The name was spelt in a greatvariety of ways, such as Tothill, Tuthill, Tottle, Tathyll, and Tottell. Richard Tottell at the time of his death held lands in Devon, and someof the same lands that belonged to the Tothill family of Exeter. Moreover, his coat of arms was the same as theirs. But before 1552 hewas in London, for in that year he received a patent for the printing oflaw books, and was generally known as Richard Tottell of London, gentleman. He appears to have married Joan, a sister of Richard Grafton, and in this way became possessed of considerable land in the county ofBucks. From this we may assume that he had business relations withRichard Grafton, and it becomes only natural that he should haveprinted various editions of Grafton's _Chronicle_, and come intopossession of some of his finest woodcut borders. [Illustration: FIG. 23. --Richard Tottell's Device. ] It was in June 1557 that he printed his 'Miscellany, ' an unpretentiousquarto, with the title: _Songes and Sonnettes, written by the RyghtHonorable Lorde Henry Hawarde, late Earl of Surrey and other_. Beforethe 31st July a second edition became necessary, and several new poemswere added. The third edition appeared in 1559, the fourth in 1565, andbefore the end of the sixteenth century, four more editions were calledfor. Another of Tottell's works was Gerard Legh's _Accedens of Armory_, an octavo, printed throughout in italic type, with a curiously engravedtitle-page, besides numerous illustrations of coats of arms, and severalfull-page illustrations. It was printed in 1562, and again in 1576 and1591. The best of Tottell's work as a printer is to be found in the law-books, for which he was a patentee. In these he used several handsome bordersto title-pages, one of an architectural character with his initials R. T. At the two lower corners, another, evidently Grafton's, with a viewof the King and Parliament in the top panel, and Grafton's punningdevice in the centre of the bottom panel. In 1573 Richard Tottell tried to establish a paper mill in England. Hewrote to Cecil, pointing out that nearly all paper came from France, andundertaking to establish a mill in England if the Government would givehim the necessary land and the sole privilege of making paper for thirtyyears (Arber, i. 242). But as nothing was ever done in the matter, theGovernment evidently did not entertain the proposal. Tottell was Masterof the Company of Stationers in 1579 and 1584. During the latter part ofhis life he withdrew from business, and lived at Wiston, inPembrokeshire, where he died in 1593. He left several children, of whomthe eldest, William Tottell, succeeded to his estates. In the precincts of the Blackfriars, Thomas Vautrollier, a foreigner, was at work as a printer in 1566, having been admitted a 'brother' ofthe Company of Stationers on the 2nd October 1564. He soon afterwardsreceived a patent for the printing of certain Latin books, andChristopher Barker, in a report to Lord Burghley in 1582, says:-- 'He has the printing of Tullie, Ovid, and diverse other great workes in Latin. He doth yet, neither great good nor great harme withall. .. . He hath other small thinges wherewith he keepeth his presses on work, and also worketh for bookesellers of the Companye, who kepe no presses. ' In 1580, on the invitation of the General Assembly, Vautrollier visitedScotland, taking with him a stock of books, but no press, and in 1584 heagain went north, and set up a press at Edinburgh, still keeping on hisbusiness in London. The venture does not seem to have turned out asuccess, for Vautrollier returned to London in 1586, taking with him aMS. Of John Knox's _History of the Reformation_, but the work was seizedwhile it was in the press (_Works of John Knox_, vol. I. P. 32). As a printer Vautrollier ranks far above most of the men around him, both for the beauty of his types and the excellence of his presswork. The bulk of his books were printed in Roman and Italic, of which he hadseveral well-cut founts. He had also some good initials, ornaments, andborders. In the folio edition of Plutarch's _Lives_, which he printed in1579, each life is preceded by a medallion portrait, enclosed in a frameof geometrical pattern; some of these, notably the first, and also thoseshown on a white background, are very effective. His device was ananchor held by a hand issuing from clouds, with two sprigs of laurel, and the motto 'Anchora Spei, ' the whole enclosed in an oval frame. Vautrollier was succeeded in business by his son-in-law, Richard Field, another case of the apprentice marrying his master's daughter. Field wasa native of Stratford-on-Avon, and therefore a fellow-townsman ofShakespeare's, whose first poem, _Venus and Adonis_, he printed forHarrison in 1593. But we have no knowledge of any intercourse betweenthem. Field succeeded to the stock of his predecessor, and his work is freefrom the haste and slovenly appearance so general at that time. Anotherwork from his press was Puttenham's _Arte of English Poesy_, 1589, 4to. The first edition, of which there is a copy in the British Museum, hadno author's name, but was dedicated by the printer to Lord Burghley. Inthe second book, four pages were suppressed. They are inserted in thecopy under notice, but are not paged. This edition also contained as afrontispiece a portrait of the Queen. Another notable work of Field'swas Sir John Harington's translation of _Orlando Furioso_ (1591, fol. ). This book had an elaborate frontispiece, with a portrait of thetranslator, and thirty-six engraved illustrations, that make up invigour of treatment, and breadth of imagination, for shortcomings in thematter of draughtsmanship. The text was printed in double columns, andeach verse of the Argument was enclosed in a border of printers'ornaments. A second edition, alike in almost every respect, passedthrough the same press in 1607. In 1594 Field printed a second editionof _Venus and Adonis_, and the first edition of _Lucrece_. His laterwork included David Hume's _Daphne-Amaryllis_, 1605, 4to; Chapman'stranslation of the _Odyssey_ (1614, folio); and an edition of _Virgil_in quarto in 1620. Foremost among the later men of this century stands Christopher Barker, the Queen's printer, who was born about 1529, and is said to have beengrand-nephew to Sir Christopher Barker, Garter King-at-Arms. Originallya member of the Drapers' Company, he began to publish books in 1569(Arber, i. P. 398), and to print in 1576, and purchased from Sir ThomasWilkes his patent to print the Old and New Testament in English. Barkerissued in 1578 a circular offering his large Bible to the LondonCompanies at the rate of 24s. Each bound, and 20s. Unbound, the clerksof the various Companies to receive 4d. Apiece for every Bible sold, andthe hall of each Company that took £40 worth to receive a presentationcopy (Lemon's _Catal. Of Broadsides_). [Illustration: FIG. 24. --Christopher Barker's Device. ] In 1582 Barker sent to Lord Burghley an account of the various printingmonopolies granted since the beginning of the reign, and expresseshimself freely on them. He also attempted to suppress the printers inCambridge University. In and after 1588 he carried on his business bydeputies, George Bishop and Ralph Newbery, and in the following year, onthe disgrace of Sir Thomas Wilkes, he obtained an exclusive patent forhimself and his son to print all official documents, as well as Biblesand Testaments. At one time Barker had no fewer than five presses, andbetween 1575 and 1585 he printed as many as thirty-eight editions of theScriptures, an almost equal number being printed by his deputies before1600. Christopher Barker died in 1599, and was succeeded in his post ofroyal printer by Robert Barker, his eldest son. On the 23rd June 1586 was issued _The Newe Decrees of the Starre Chamberfor orders in Printing_, which is reprinted in full in the second volumeof Arber's _Transcripts_, pp. 807-812. It was the most importantenactment concerning printing of Queen Elizabeth's reign, and formed themodel upon which all subsequent 'whips and scorpions' for the printerswere manufactured. Its chief clauses were these: It restricted allprinting to London and the two Universities. The number of presses thenin London was to be reduced to such proportions as the Archbishop ofCanterbury and the Bishop of London should think sufficient. No bookswere to be printed without being licensed, and the wardens were giventhe right to search all premises on suspicion. The penalties wereimprisonment and defacement of stock. [Footnote 6: P. C. C. , 1 Martyn. ] [Footnote 7: P. C. C. , 32 Martyn. ] CHAPTER VI PROVINCIAL PRESSES OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY[8] In the first half of the sixteenth century, before the incorporation ofthe Stationers' Company and the subsequent restriction of printing toLondon and the Universities, there were ten places in England where theart was carried on. Taking them chronologically, the earliest was thecity of York. Mr. Davies, in his _Memoirs of the York Press_, claimsthat Frederick Freez, a book-printer, was at work there in 1497; but Mr. Allnutt has clearly shown that there is no evidence in support of this, no specimen of his printing being in existence. The first printer in thecity of York who can be traced with certainty was Hugo Goez, said tohave been the son of Matthias van der Goez, an Antwerp printer. Twoschool-books, a _Donatus Minor_ and an _Accidence_, as well as the_Directorium Sacerdotum_, dated in the colophon February 18th, 1509, were printed by him, and it is believed that he was for a time inpartnership in London with a bookseller named Henry Watson (E. G. Duff, _Early Printed Books_). Ames, in his _Typographical Antiquities_, mentions a broadside 'containing a wooden cut of a man on horseback witha spear in his right hand, and a shield of the arms of France in hisleft. "Emprynted at Beverley in the Hyegate by me Hewe Goes, " with hismark, or rebus, of a great H and a goose. ' But this cannot now betraced. Another printer in York, of whom it is possible to speak with certainty, was Ursyn Milner, who printed a _Festum visitationis Beate MarieVirginis_, without date, and a Latin syntax by Robert Whitinton, entitled _Editio de concinnitate grammatices et constructione noviterimpressa_, with the date December 20th, 1516, and a woodcut that hadbelonged to Wynkyn de Worde. The second Oxford press began about 1517. In that year there appeared, _Tractatus expositorius super libros posteriorum Aristotelis_, by WalterBurley, bearing the date December 4th, 1517, without printer's name, butascribed from the appearance of the types to the press of John Scolar, whose name is found in some of the similar tracts that appeared thefollowing year. These included _Questiones moralissime super librosethicorum_, by John Dedicus, dated May 15, 1518. On June 5th was issued_Compendium questionum de luce et lumine_, on June 7th Walter Burley's_Tractatus perbrevis de materia et forma_, on June 27th Whitinton's _DeHeteroclitis nominibus_. The latest book, dated 5th February 1519, _Compotus manualis ad usum Oxoniensium_, bore the name of CharlesKyrfoth, but nothing further is known of any such printer. No more is heard of a press at Oxford until nearly the close of thesixteenth century, a gap of nearly seventy years, and a strange andunaccountable interval. At any rate, the next Oxford printed book, sofar as is at present known, was John Case's _Speculum Moraliumquaestionum in universam ethicen Aristotelis_, with the colophon, 'Oxoniæ ex officina typographica Josephi Barnesii Celeberrimae AcademiaeOxoniensis Typographi. Anno 1585. ' Joseph Barnes, the printer, had been admitted a bookseller in 1573, andon August 15th, 1584, the University lent him £100 with which to start apress. During the time that he remained printer to the University, hispress was actively employed, no less than three hundred books, many ofthem in Greek and Latin, being traced to it. In 1595 appeared the firstWelsh book printed at the University, a translation into Welsh by HughLewis of O. Wermueller's _Spiritual and Most Precious Pearl_, and in1596 two founts of Hebrew letter were used by Barnes, but the stock ofthis letter was small. In 1528, John Scolar, no doubt the same with the Oxford printer, isfound at Abingdon, where he printed a _Breviary_ for the use of theabbey there; only one copy has survived, and is now at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. [Illustration: FIG. 25. --Device of Joseph Barnes. ] The first Cambridge printer was John Siberch, whose history, like thatof so many other early printers, is totally unknown. Nine specimens ofhis printing during the years 1521-22 are extant. The first is the_Oratio_ of Henry Bullock, a tract of eight quarto leaves, with adedication dated February 13, 1521, and the date of the imprint February1521, so that it probably appeared between the 13th and 28th of thatmonth. The type used was a new fount of Roman. The book had noornamentation of any kind, neither device nor initial letters. Afacsimile of this book, with an introduction and bibliographical studyof Siberch's productions, was issued by the late Henry Bradshaw in 1886. The title-page of the second book, _Cuiusdam fidelis Christiani epistolaad Christianos omnes_, by Augustine, shows the title between two uprightwoodcuts, each containing scenes from the Last Judgment. The third book, an edition of Lucian, has a very ugly architectural border. The fifthbook from Siberch's press, the _Libellus de Conscribendis epistolis, autore D. Erasmo_, printed between the 22nd and 31st of October 1521, contains the privilege which, it is believed, he obtained from BishopFisher. In the far west of England a press was established in the monastery ofTavistock, in Devon, of which two curious examples are preserved. Thefirst is _The Boke of Comfort, called in laten Boetius de Consolationephilosophie. Translated into English tonge . .. Enprented in the exemptmonastery of Tauestock in Den̅shyre, By me Dan Thomas Rycharde, monkeof the sayde monastery, To the instant desyre of the ryght worshypfulesquyer Mayster Robert Langdon. Anno d. ' M. Dxxv. _, 4to. The BodleianLibrary at Oxford has two imperfect copies of this book, and a third, also imperfect, is in the library of Exeter College, Oxford. The lattercollege is also fortunate in possessing the only known copy of thesecond book, which has this title:-- _Here foloweth the confirmation of the Charter perteynynge to all thetynners wythyn the Coūty of devonshyre, with there Statutes also madeat Crockeryntorre_. _Imprented at Tavystoke ye xx day of August the yere of the reygne offour souerayne Lord Kyng Henry ye viii the xxvi yere_, i. E. 1534. To this same year, 1534, belongs the first dated book of John Herford, the St. Albans printer. It seems probable that he was established theresome years earlier, but this is the first certain date we have. In thatyear appeared a small quarto, with the title, _Here begynnethe yeglorious lyfe and passion of Seint Albon prothomartyr of Englande, andalso the lyfe and passion of Saint Amphabel, whiche conuerted saintAlbon to the fayth of Christe_, of which John Lydgate was the author. Itwas printed at the request of Robert Catton, abbot of the monastery, andit would seem as if Herford's press was situated within the abbeyprecincts. The next book, _The confutacyon of the first parte of Frythesboke . .. Put forth by John Gwynneth clerk_, 1536, 8vo, was the work ofone of the monks of the abbey, who in the previous year had signed apetition to Sir Francis Brian on the state of the monastery (_Lettersand Papers, Henry VIII. _, vol. Ix. P. 394). Another of the signatoriesto that petition was Richard Stevenage, who was at that time chambererof the abbey, and was created abbot on the deprivation of Robert Cattonin 1538. Of the three books which Herford printed in that year, two wereexpressly printed for Richard Stevenage. These were _A Godly disputationbetweene Justus and Peccator and Senex and Juvenis_, and _An Epistleagaynste the enemies of poore people_, both octavos, of which no copiesare now known. In some of Herford's books is a curious device with theletters R. S. Intertwined on it, which undoubtedly stand for RichardStevenage. His reign as abbot was a short one, for on 5th December 1539he delivered the abbey over to Henry VIII's commissioners. Just beforethat event, on the 12th October, he wrote a letter to Cromwell in whichthe following passage occurs:-- 'Sent John Pryntare to London with Harry Pepwell, Bonere and Tabbe, of Powlles churchyard stationers, to order him at your pleasure. Never heard of the little book of detestable heresies till the stationers showed it me. '--(_Letters and Papers, Hen. VIII. _, Vol. Xiv. , Pt. 2, No. 315. ) The 'John Pryntare' can be none other than John Herford. 'Bonere' was amisreading for _Bonham_, and these three, Pepwell, Tab, and Bonham, allof them printers or booksellers in St. Paul's Churchyard, were evidentlysent down especially to inquire into the matter. We next hear of John Herford as in London in 1542, but meanwhile amodification of Stevenage's device was used by a London printer namedBourman. From the _Letters and Papers of Henry VIII. _, vol. Xv. Pp. 115, etc. , it appears that after his retirement from the abbey, RichardStevenage went by the name of Boreman. He is invariably spoken of as'Stevenage _alias_ Boreman, ' so that the Nicholas Bourman, the Londonprinter, was perhaps a relative. The Rev. S. Sayers in his _Memoirs of Bristol_, 1823, vol. Ii. P. 228, states, on the authority of documents in the city archives, that a presswas at work in the castle in the year 1546. Of this press, if it everexisted, not so much as a leaf remains. In 1547 Anthony Scoloker was established as a printer at Ipswich. Inthat year he printed _The just reckenyng or accompt of the whole nomberof yeares, from the beginnynge of the world, vnto this present yeare of1547. Translated out of Germaine tonge by Anthony Scoloker the 6 daye ofJuly 1547_. He was chiefly concerned with the movements of theReformation, and his publications were mostly small octavos, thewritings of Luther, Zwingli, and Ochino, printed in type of a Germancharacter and of no great merit. In 1548 he moved to London, where for atime he was in partnership with William Seres. The adjoining cut, theearliest English representation of a printing press, is taken from the_Ordinarye of Christians_, printed by Scoloker after he had settled inLondon. [Illustration: FIG. 26. --From the _Ordinarye of Christians_, c. 1550. ] A second printer in Ipswich is believed to have been John Overton, whoin 1548 printed there two sheets of Bale's _Illustrium maioris Britanniæscriptorum summarium_, the remainder of which was printed at Wesel. Nothing else of his appears to be known. The third printer at Ipswich was John Oswen, who was also establishedthere in 1548. Nine books can be traced to his press there. The firstwas _The Mynde of the Godly and excellent lerned man M. Jhon Caluynewhat a Faithful man, whiche is instructe in the Worde of God ought todo, dwellinge amongest the Papistes. Imprinted at Ippyswiche by me JohnOswen_. 8vo. This was followed by Calvin's _Brief declaration of thefained sacrament commonly called the extreame unction_. The remainder ofhis books were of a theological character. He left Ipswich aboutChristmas 1548, and is next found at Worcester, where, on the 30thJanuary 1549, he printed _A Consultarie for all Christians most godlyand ernestly warnying al people to beware least they beare the name ofChristians in vayne. Now first imprinted the xxx day of Januarie Anno M. D. Xlix. At Worceter by John Oswen. Cum priuilegio Regali ad imprimendumsolum. Per septennium_. The privilege, which was dated January 6th, 1548-9, authorised Oswen to print all sorts of service or prayer-booksand other works relating to the scriptures 'within our Principalitie ofWales and Marches of the same. '[9] Oswen followed this by another edition of the _Domestycal or HouseholdSermons_ of Christopher Hegendorff, which was printed on the last dayof February 1549. Then came his first important undertaking, a quarto edition of _The bokeof common praier_. Imprinted the xxiv day of May Anno MDXLIX. The folioedition appeared in July of the same year. Two months later he printedan edition of the _Psalter or Psalmes of David_, 4to. On January 12, 1550, appeared a quarto edition of the _New Testament_, of which thereis a copy in Balliol College Library, and this was followed in the sameyear by Zwingli's _Short Pathwaye_, translated by John Veron; by atranslation by Edward Aglionby of Mathew Gribalde's _Notable andmarveilous epistle_, and the _Godly sayings of the old auncientfathers_, compiled by John Veron. Two or three books of the same kindwere issued in 1551, and in 1552 he issued another edition of the Bookof Common Prayer. The last we hear of him is in 1553, when he printed anedition of the Statutes of 6th Edward VI. , and _An Homelye to read inthe tyme of pestylence_. What became of Oswen is not known. He verylikely went abroad on the accession of Queen Mary. In Kent there was a press at Canterbury, from which eleven books areknown to have been printed between 1549 and 1556. John Mychell, the printer of these, began work in London at the LongShop in the Poultry, some time between the departure of Richard Banckesin 1539 and the tenancy of Richard Kele in 1542. In 1549 he appears tohave moved to Canterbury, where he printed a quarto edition of thePsalms, with the colophon, 'Printed at Canterbury in Saynt Paulesparyshe by John Mychell. ' In 1552 he issued _A Breuiat Croniclecontayninge all the Kynges from Brute to this daye_, and in 1556, the_Articles of Cardinal Pole's Visitation_. He also issued several minortheological tracts without dates. The Norwich press began about 1566, when Anthony de Solemne, orSolempne, set up a press among the refugees who had fled from theNetherlands and taken refuge in that city. Most of his books wereprinted in Dutch, and all of them are excessively rare. The earliestwas:-- _Der Siecken Troost, Onderwijsinghe on gewillichlick te steruen. Troostinghe | on den siecken totte rechten gheloue ende betrouwen inChristo te onderwijsen. Ghemeyn bekenisse der sonden | met | scoongebeden. Ghedruct in Jaer ons Heeren. Anno 1566_. The only known copy ofthe book is in Trinity College Library, Dublin. The Psalms of David in Dutch appeared in 1568, and the New Testament inthe same year. He was also the printer of certain Tables concerning God's word, byAntonius Corranus, pastor of the Spanish Protestant congregation atAntwerp. It was printed in four languages, Latin, French, Dutch, andEnglish. The only known specimen of Solempne's printing in the English languageis a broadside now in the Bodleian:-- _Certayne versis | written by Thomas Brooke Gētleman | in the tyme ofhis imprysōment | the daye before his deathe | who sufferyd atNorwich the 30 of August 1570. Imprynted at Norwiche in the Paryshe ofSaynct Andrewe | by Anthony de Solempne 1570. _ In this year Solempne also printed _Eenen Calendier Historiael |eewelick gheduerende_, 8vo, a tract of eight leaves printed in black andred, of which there are copies in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, and the Bodleian. There is then a gap of eight years in his work, the next book foundbeing a sermon, printed in 1578, _Het tweede boeck vande sermoenen deswel vermaerden Predicant B. Cornelis Adriaensen van Dordrechtminrebroeder tot Brugges_. Of this there are two copies known, one inthe library of Trinity College, Dublin. The last book traced to Solempne's press is _Chronyc. Historie derNederlandtscher Oorlogen. Gedruct tot Norrtwitz na de copie van Basel, Anno 1579_, 8vo, of which there remain copies in the Bodleian, University Library, Cambridge, and in the private collection of LordAmherst. In 1583, after an interval similar to that at Oxford, another press wasstarted at Cambridge, when, on May 3rd of that year, Thomas Thomas wasappointed University printer. His career was marked by manydifficulties. The Company of Stationers at once seized his press as aninfringement of their privileges, and this in the face of the fact thatfor many years the University had possessed the royal licence, thoughhitherto it had not been used. The Bishop of London, writing toBurghley, declared on hearsay evidence that Thomas was a man 'vtterlieignoraunte in printinge. ' The University protested, and as it wasclearly shown that they held the royal privilege, the Company wereobliged to submit, but they did the Cambridge printer all the injurythey could by freely printing books that were his sole copyright(Arber's _Transcripts_, vol. Ii. Pp. 782, 813, 819-20). He printed forthe use of scholars small editions of classical works. In 1585 he issuedin octavo the Latin Grammar of Peter Ramus, and in 1587 the LatinGrammar of James Carmichael in quarto (Hazlitt, _Collections and Notes_, 3rd series, p. 17). He was also the compiler of a Dictionary, firstprinted about 1588, of which five editions were called for before theend of the century. Thomas died in August 1588, and the University, on the 2nd November, appointed John Legate his successor, as 'he is reported to be skilfulin the art of printing books. ' On the 26th April 1589 he received as anapprentice Cantrell Legge, who afterwards succeeded him. From 1590 to1609 he appears in the parish books of St. Mary the Great, Cambridge, aspaying 5s. A year for the rent of a shop. He had the exclusive right ofprinting Thomas's Dictionary, and he printed most of the books ofWilliam Perkins. He subsequently left Cambridge and settled in London. [Illustration: FIG. 27. --Device used by John Legate. ] The books printed by these two Cambridge printers show that they had agood variety of Roman and Italic, very regularly cast, besides some neatornaments and initials. Whether these founts belonged to theUniversity, or to Thomas in the first place, is not clear. Nor do thesebooks bear out the Bishop of London's statement as to Thomas beingignorant of printing; on the contrary, the presswork was such as couldonly have been done by a skilled workman. In addition to the foregoing, there were several secret presses at workin various parts of the country during the second half of the century. The Cartwright controversy, which began in 1572 with the publication ofa tract entitled _An Admonition to the Parliament_, was carried out bymeans of a secret press at which John Stroud is believed to have worked, and had as assistants two men named Lacy and Asplyn. The Stationers'Company employed Toy and Day to hunt it out, with the result that it wasseized at Hempstead, probably Hemel Hempstead, Herts, or Hempstead nearSaffron Walden, Essex. The type was handed over to Bynneman, who used itin printing an answer to Cartwright's book. It was in consequence of hisaction in this matter that John Day was in danger of being killed byAsplyn. A few years later books by Jesuit authors were printed from a secretpress which, from some notes written by F. Parsons in 1598, and nowpreserved in the library of Stonyhurst College, we know began work atGreenstreet House, East Ham, but was afterwards removed to Stonor Park. The overseer of this press was Stephen Brinckley, who had several menunder him, and the most noted book issued from it was Campion's_Rationes Decem_, with the colophon, 'Cosmopoli 1581. ' Finally, there was the Marprelate press, of which Robert Waldegrave wasthe chief printer. He was the son of a Worcestershire yeoman, and puthimself apprentice to William Griffith, from the 24th June 1568, foreight years. He was therefore out of his time in 1576, and in 1578 thereis entered to him a book entitled _A Castell for the Soul_. Hissubsequent publications were of the same character, including, in 1581, _The Confession and Declaration of John Knox_, _The Confession of theProtestants of Scotland_, and a sermon of Luther's. It was not, however, until the 7th April 1588 that he got into trouble. In that year heprinted a tract of John Udall's, entitled _The State of the Church ofEngland_. His press was seized and his type defaced, but he succeeded incarrying off some of it to the house of a Mrs. Crane at East Molesey, where he printed another of Udall's tracts, and the first of theMarprelate series: _O read over D. John Bridges for it is a worthyework. Printed oversea in Europe within two furlongs of a BounsingPriest, at the cost and charges of M. Marprelate, gentleman_. From East Molesey the press was afterwards removed to Fawsley, nearDaventry, and from thence to Coventry. But the hue and cry after thehidden press was so keen that another shift was made to Wolston Priory, the seat of Sir R. Knightley, and finally Waldegrave fled over sea, taking with him his black-letter type. He went first to Rochelle, andthence to Edinburgh, where in 1590 he was appointed King's printer. The Marprelate press was afterwards carried on by Samuel Hoskins orHodgkys, who had as his workmen Valentine Symmes and Arthur Thomlyn. Thelast of the Marprelate tracts, _The Protestacyon of Martin Marprelate_, was printed at Haseley, near Warwick, about September 1589. [Footnote 8: For the materials of this chapter free use has been made ofMr. Allnutt's series of papers contributed to the second volume of_Bibliographica_, to whom my thanks are due. ] [Footnote 9: Forty-second Report of the Worcester Diocesan Arch, andArchæological Society. Paper by Rev. J. R. Burton on 'EarlyWorcestershire Printers and Books. '] PRINTING IN SCOTLAND AND IRELAND DURING THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY[10] On the 15th September 1507, King James IV. Of Scotland granted to hisfaithful subjects, Walter Chepman and Androw Myllar, burgesses ofEdinburgh, leave to import a printing-press and letter, and gave themlicence to print law books, breviaries, and so forth, more particularlythe Breviary of William, Bishop of Aberdeen. Walter Chepman was ageneral merchant, and probably his chief part in the undertaking at theoutset was of a financial character. Andrew Myllar had for some yearscarried on the business of a bookseller in Edinburgh, and books wereprinted for him in Rouen by Pierre Violette. There is, moreover, evidence that Myllar himself learnt the art of printing in that city. The printing-house of the firm in Edinburgh was in the Southgait (nowthe Cowgate), and they lost no time in setting to work, devotingthemselves chiefly to printing some of the popular metrical tales ofEngland and Scotland. A volume containing eleven such pieces, most ofthem printed in 1508, is preserved in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh. Among the pieces found in it are--_Sir Eglamoure of Artoys_, _Maying ordesport of Chaucer_, _Buke of Gude Counsale to the Kyng_, _Flytting ofDunbar & Kennedy_, and _Twa Marrit Wemen and the wedo_. Three founts of black letter, somewhat resembling in size and shapethose of Wynkyn de Worde, were used in printing these books, and thedevices of both men are found in them. That of Chepman was a copy of thedevice of the Paris printer, Pigouchet, while Myllar adopted the punningdevice of a windmill with a miller bearing sacks into the mill, with asmall shield charged with three fleur-de-lys in each of the uppercorners. [Illustration: FIG. 28. --Device of Andrew Miller. ] After printing the above-mentioned works, Myllar disappears, and thefamous _Breviarium Aberdonense_, the work for which the King had mainlygranted the license, was finished in 1509-10 by Chepman alone. It is anunpretentious little octavo, printed in double columns, in red andblack, as became a breviary, but with no special marks of typographicalbeauty. Four copies of it are known to exist, but none of these areperfect. Chepman then disappears as mysteriously as his partner. In theGlamis copy of the _Bremarium_, Dr. David Laing discovered a singlesheet of eight leaves of a book with the imprint: _Impressū Edinburgiper Johane Story nomine & mandato Karoli Stule_. Nothing more, however, is known of this John Story. In 1541-2 another printer, Thomas Davidson, is found printing _The NewActis and Constitutionis of Parliament maid Be the Rycht ExcellentPrince James the Fift King of Scottis_, 1540. Davidson's press, whichwas situated 'above the nether bow, on the north syde of the gait, ' wasalso very short-lived, and very few examples of it are now in existence;one of these, a quarto of four leaves, with the title _Ad SerenissimumScotorum Regem Jacobum Quintum de suscepto Regni Regimine a diisfeliciter ominato Strena_, is the earliest instance of the use of Romantype in Scotland. His most important undertaking, besides the Acts ofParliament, was a Scottish history, printed about 1542. The next printer we hear of is John Scot or Skot. There was a printer ofthis name in London between 1521 and 1537, but whether he is to beidentified with this slightly later Scottish printer is not known. Between 1552 and 1571 Scot printed a great many books, most of them of atheological character. Among them was Ninian Winziet's _Certanetractatis for Reformatioune of Doctryne and Maneris_, a quarto, printedon the 21st May 1562, and the same author's _Last Blast of the Trumpet_. For these he was arrested and thrown into prison, and his printingmaterials were handed over to Thomas Bassandyne. In 1568 he was atliberty again and printed for Henry Charteris, _The Warkes of the famous& vorthie Knicht Schir David Lyndesay_; while among his numerous undatedbooks is found Lyndsay's _Ane Dialog betwix Experience and AneCourtier_, of which he printed two editions, the second containingseveral other poems by the same author. Scot was succeeded by Robert Lekpreuik, who began to print, in 1561, hisfirst dated book, a small black-letter octavo of twenty-four pages, called _The Confessione of the fayght and doctrin beleued and professedby the Protestantes of the Realme of Scotland. Imprinted at Edinburgh beRobert Lekpreuik, Cum privilegio_, 1561. In the following year the Kirk lent him £200 with which to print thePsalms. The copy now in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, bound withthe _Book of Common Order_ printed by Lekpreuik in the same year, probably belongs to this edition. Two years later, in 1564-5, he obtained a license under the Privy Sealto print the Acts of Parliament of Queen Mary and the Psalms of David inScottish metre. Of this edition of the Psalms there is a perfect copy inthe library of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Again, in 1567, Lekpreuikobtained the royal license as king's printer for twenty years, duringwhich time he was to have the monopoly of printing _Donatus pro pueris_, _Rudimentis of Pelisso_, _Acts of Parliament_, _Chronicles of theRealm_, the book called _Regia Majestas_, the _Psalms_, the _Homelies_, and _Rudimenta Artis Grammaticae_. Among his other work of that year may be noticed a ballad entitled _Thetestament and tragedie of vmquhile King Henry Stewart of gude memory_, abroadside of sixteen twelve-line stanzas, from the pen of Robert Sempil. A copy of this is in the British Museum (Cott. Caligula, C. I. Fol. 17). In 1568 there was danger of plague in Edinburgh, and Lekpreuik printed asmall octavo of twenty-four leaves, in Roman type, with the title, _Anebreve description of the Pest, Quhair in the Cavsis signes and sumspeciall preservatiovn and cvre thairof ar contenit. Set furth beMaister Gilbert Skeyne, Doctoure in Medicine_. In 1570 he printed for Henry Charteris a quarto edition of the _Actisand Deides of Sir William Wallace_, and in 1571 _The Actis and Lyfe ofRobert Bruce_. This was printed early in the year, as on the 14th AprilSecretary Maitland made a raid upon Lekpreuik's premises, under thebelief that he was the printer of Buchanan's _Chameleon_. The printer, however, had received timely warning and retired to Stirling, where, before the 6th of August, he printed Buchanan's _Admonition_, and also aletter from John Knox 'To his loving Brethren. ' His sojourn there wasvery short, as on the 4th September Stirling was attacked and Lekpreuikthereupon withdrew to St. Andrews, where his press was active throughoutthe year 1572 and part of 1573. In the month of April 1573 Lekpreuikreturned to Edinburgh and printed Sir William Drury's _Regulations_ forthe army under his command. But in January 1573-74 he was thrown intoprison and his press and property confiscated. How long he remained aprisoner is not clear, but in all probability until after the executionof the Regent Morton in 1581. In that year he printed the followingbooks--Patrick Adamson's _Catechismus Latino Carmine Redditus et inlibros quatuor digestus_, a small octavo of forty leaves, printed inRoman type; Fowler's _Answer to John Hamilton_, a quarto of twenty-eightleaves; and a _Declaration_ without place or printer's name, butattributed to his press: after this nothing more is heard of him. Contemporary with Lekpreuik was Thomas Bassandyne, who is believed tohave worked both in Paris and Leyden before setting up as a printer inEdinburgh. His first appearance, in 1568, was not a very creditable one. An orderof the General Assembly, on the 1st July of that year, directsBassandyne to call in a book entitled _The Fall of the Roman Kirk_, inwhich the king was called 'supreme head of the Primitive Church, ' andalso orders him to delete an obscene song called _Welcome Fortune_ whichhe had printed at the end of a psalm-book. The Assembly appointed Mr. Alexander Arbuthnot to revise these things. In 1574 Bassandyne printed a quarto edition of Sir David Lindsay's_Works_, of which he had 510 copies in stock at the time of his death. [Illustration: FIG. 29. --Device of Alexander Arbuthnot. ] On the 7th March 1574-75, in partnership with Alexander Arbuthnot (whowas not the same as the Alexander Arbuthnot who had been appointed toexercise a supervision of Bassandyne's books in 1568), Bassandyne laidproposals before the General Assembly for printing an edition of theBible, the first ever printed in Scotland. The General Assembly gave himhearty support, and required every parish to provide itself with one ofthe new Bibles as soon as they were printed. On the other hand, theprinters were to deliver a certain number of copies before the last ofMarch 1576, and the cost of it was to be £5. The terms of this agreementwere not carried out by the printers. The New Testament only wascompleted and issued in 1576, with the name of Thomas Bassandyne as theprinter. The whole Bible was not finished until the close of the year1579, and Bassandyne did not live to see its completion, his deathtaking place on the 18th October 1577. Like most of his predecessors, Bassandyne was a bookseller; and on pp. 292-304 of their work _Annals of Scottish Printing_, Messrs. Dickson andEdmond have printed the Inventory of the goods he possessed, includingthe whole of his stock of books, which is of the greatest interest andvalue. Unfortunately such inventories are not to be met with in the caseof English printers. Bassandyne used as his device a modification of the serpent and anchormark of John Crespin of Geneva. Arbuthnot was now left to carry on the business alone, and was madeKing's printer in 1579. But he was a slow, slovenly, and ignorantworkman, and the General Assembly were so disgusted with the delivery ofthe Bible and the wretched appearance of his work, that, on the 13thFebruary 1579-80, they decided to accept the offer of ThomasVautrollier, a London printer, to establish a press in Edinburgh. Arbuthnot died on September 1st, 1585. His device was a copy of that ofRichard Jugge of London, and is believed to have been the work of aFlemish artist, Assuerus vol Londersel. Another printer in Edinburgh between 1574-80 was John Ross. He workedchiefly for Henry Charteris, for whom he printed the _Catechisme_ in1574, and a metrical version of the Psalms in 1578. For the samebookseller he also printed a poem, _The seuin Seages, Translatit out ofprois in Scottis meter be Johne Rolland in Dalkeith_, a quarto, now sorare that only one copy is now known, that in the Britwell Library. In 1579 Ross printed _Ad virulentum Archbaldi Hamiltonii Apostatædialogum, de confusione Calvinianæ Sectæ apud Scotos, impie conscriptum, orthodoxa responsio, Thoma Smetonio Scoto anctore_, a quarto, printed inRoman letter, and followed it up with two editions of Buchanan's _DeJure Regni apud Scotos dialogus_. Ross used a device showing Truth with an open book in her right hand, alighted candle in her left, surrounded with the motto 'Vincet tandemveritas. ' This device was afterwards used by both Charteris andWaldegrave. Ross died in 1580, when his stock passed into the hands ofHenry Charteris, who began printing in the following year. As we haveseen, he employed Scot, Lekpreuik, and Ross to print for him. Up to 1581he confined himself to bookselling. His printing was confined to variouseditions of Sir David Lindsay's _Works_ and theological tracts. He usedtwo devices, that of Ross, and another emblematical of Justice andReligion, with his initials. He died on the 9th August 1599. In 1580, at the express invitation of the General Assembly, ThomasVautrollier visited Edinburgh, and set up as a bookseller, no doubt withthe view of seeing what scope there was likely to be for a printer witha good stock of type. The Treasurer's accounts for this period show thathe received royal patronage. On his second visit, a year or two later, he went armed with a letter toGeorge Buchanan from Daniel Rodgers, and set up a press in Edinburgh. But in spite of the support of the Assembly and the patronage that anintroduction to Buchanan must have brought him, he evidently soon foundthere was not enough business in Edinburgh to support a printer, for heremained there little more than a year, when he again returned toLondon. During his short career as a printer in Edinburgh he printed atleast eight books, of which the most important were Henry Balnave's_Confession of Faith_, 1584, 8vo, and King James's _Essayes of aPrentice in the Divine Art of Poesie_, 4to. Scotland's next important printer was Robert Waldegrave, who, after hisadventures as a secret printer in England, set up a press in Edinburghin 1590, and continued printing there till the close of the century. One of his first works was a quarto in Roman type entitled _TheConfession of Faith, Subscribed by the Kingis Maiestie and hishouseholde: Togither with the Copie of the Bande, maid touching themaintenaunce of the true Religion_. Among his other work, which waschiefly theological, may be mentioned King James's _Demonologie_, 1597, 4to, and the first edition of the _Basilikon Doron_, in quarto, of whichit is said only seven copies were printed. Contemporary with him was a Robert Smyth, who married the widow ofThomas Bassandyne, and who in 1599 received license to print thefollowing books:--'The double and single catechism, the plane Donet, thehaill four pairtes of grammar according to Sebastian, the Dialauges ofCorderius, the celect and familiar Epistles of Cicero, the buik callitSevin Seages, the Ballat buik, the Secund rudimentis of Dunbar, thePsalmes of Buchanan and Psalme buik. ' The only known copy of Smyth's edition of Holland's _Seven Sages_ isthat in the British Museum. The last of the Scottish printers of the sixteenth century was RobertCharteris, the son and successor of Henry Charteris, but he did notsucceed to the business until 1599, and his work lies chiefly in thesucceeding century. It may safely be said that the earliest press in Ireland of which thereis any authentic notice was that of Humphrey Powell, of which there isthe following note in the _Act Books of the Privy Council_ (New Series, vol. Iii. P. 84), under date 18th July 1550:-- 'A warrant to ----, to deliver xxli unto Powell the printer, given him by the Kinges Majestie towarde his setting up in Ireland. ' Nothing is known of Humphrey Powell's work in England beyond severalsmall theological works issued between 1548 and 1549 from a shop inHolborn above the Conduit. On his arrival in Ireland he set up his press in Dublin, and printedthere the Prayer Book of Edward VI. With the colophon:-- 'Imprinted by Humphrey Powell, printer to the Kynges Maieste, in his Highnesse realme of Ireland dwellynge in the citie of Dublin in the great toure by the Crane Cum Privelegio ad imprimendum solum. Anno Domini, M. D. L. I. ' Timperley, in his _Encyclopædia_ (p. 314), says that Powell continuedprinting in Dublin for fifteen years, and removed to the southern sideof the river to St. Nicholas Street. In 1571 the first fount of Irish type was presented by Queen Elizabethto John O'Kearney, treasurer of St. Patrick's, to print the _Catechism_which appeared in that year from the press of John Franckton. (Reed, _Old English Letter Foundries_, pp. 75, 186-7. ) It was not a Pure Irishcharacter, but a hybrid fount consisting for the most part of Roman andItalic letters, with the seven distinctly Irish sorts added. A copy ofthe _Catechism_ is exhibited in the King's Library, British Museum, andin the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, is a copy of abroadside _Poem on the last Judgement_, sent over to the Archbishop ofCanterbury as a specimen. This type was afterwards used to print William O'Donnell's, or Daniel's, Irish Testament in 1602. [Footnote 10: For the material of this chapter I am chiefly indebted tothe valuable work of Messrs. Dickson and Edmond, _Annals of ScottishPrinting_. ] CHAPTER VII THE STUART PERIOD 1603-1640 One of the first acts of King James on his accession to the Englishthrone was to strengthen the hands of the already powerful Company ofStationers. Hitherto all Primers and Psalters had been the exclusiveprivilege of the successors of Day and Seres, while Almanacs andPrognostications, another large and profitable source of revenue, hadbeen the property of James Roberts and Richard Watkins. But now, by theroyal authority, these two valuable patents were turned over to theStationers to form part of their English stock. At the same time, theprivileges of Robert Barker, son and successor to Christopher Barker, and king's printer by reversion, were increased by grants for printingall statutes, hitherto the monopoly of other printers. On the otherhand, Robert Barker did not retain the sole possession of the royalbusiness as men like Berthelet and Pynson had been wont to do, but hadjoined with him in the patent John Norton, who had a special grant forprinting all books in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and John Bill, whoprobably obtained his share by purchase. These three men were thus thechief printers during the early part of this reign. Robert Barker had been made free of the Stationers' Company in 1589, when he joined his father's assigns, George Bishop and Ralph Newbery, inthe management of the business. He was admitted to the livery of theCompany in 1592, and upon his father's death succeeded to the office ofKing's printer by reversion. In 1601-2 he was warden of the Company, andfilled the office of Master in 1605. Some time before 1618 he sold hismoiety of the business to Bonham Norton and John Bill, and thisarrangement was confirmed by Royal Charter in 1627. Upon the death of Bonham Norton, Barker's name again appears in theimprint of the firm, and he continued printing until about 1645. It issaid by Ames (vol. Ii. P. 1091), and has been repeated by all writerssince his day, that Robert Barker was committed to the King's BenchPrison in 1635, and that he remained a prisoner there until his death in1645. No confirmation of this can be found in the State Papers; indeedthe fact that he accompanied Charles I. To Newcastle in 1636, and wasprinting in other parts of England until 1640, proves that he could nothave been in prison the whole of the time from 1635 to 1645. Robert Barker's work was almost entirely of an official character, theprinting of the Scriptures, Book of Common Prayer, Statutes andProclamations. His work was very unequal, and his type, mostly of black letter, was notof the best. His most important undertaking was the so-called 'authorised version' ofthe Bible in 1611. As a matter of fact it never was authorised in anyofficial sense. The undertaking was proposed at a conference of divines, held at Hampton Court in 1604. The King manifested great interest in thescheme, but did not put his hand in his pocket towards the expenses, andthe divines who undertook the translation obtained little except famefor their labours, while the whole cost of printing was borne by RobertBarker. Like all previous editions of the Scriptures in folio, thisBible of 1611 was printed in great primer black letter. It was precededby an elaborately engraved title-page, the work of C. Boel of Richmond, and had also an engraved map of Canaan, partly the work of John Speed. The type and ornaments were the same as had been used to print the firstedition of the 'Bishops' Bible, ' the initial letter to the Psalmscontaining the arms of Whittingham and Cecil. [Illustration: FIG. 30. --From the Bible of 1611. ] Barker also possessed the handsome pictorial initial letters which hadbeen used by John Day, and many of the ornaments and initials previouslyin the office of Henry Bynneman. John Norton was the son of Richard Norton, a yeoman of Billingsley, county Shropshire; he was nephew of William Norton, and cousin of BonhamNorton, and was thus connected by marriage with the sixteenth centurybookseller, William Bonham. He was three times Master of the Stationers'Company, in 1607, 1610, and 1612. On his death, in 1612, he left £1000to the Company of Stationers, not as is generally stated as a legacy ofhis own, but rather as trustee of the bequest of his uncle, WilliamNorton. The bulk of his property he left to his cousin, Bonham Norton(P. C. C. 5 Capell). His press will always be remembered for the magnificent edition of the_Works of St. Chrysostom_, in eight folio volumes, printed at Eton in1610, at the charge of Sir Henry Savile, the editor. The late T. B. Reed, in his _History of the Old English Letter Foundries_ (p. 140), speaks of this edition as 'one of the most splendid examples of Greekprinting in this country, ' and further describes the types with which itwas printed as 'a great primer body, very elegantly and regularly cast, with the usual numerous ligatures and abbreviations which characterisedthe Greek typography of that period' (p. 141). [Illustration: FIG. 31. --Dedication of Savile's _St. Chrysostom_. Eton, 1610. ] The work is said to have cost its promoter £8000. The title-page to the first volume was handsomely engraved, and a highlyornamental series of initial letters were used in it. Another Greek work that Norton completed at Eton in the same year wasthe _Sancti Gregorii Nazianzeni in Julianum Invectivae duae_, in quarto. In addition to his patent for printing Greek and Latin books, Nortonalso acquired from Francis Rea his patent for printing grammars, and byhis will he directed a sum of money to be paid out of the profits ofthis patent to his wife Joyce. John Bill was the son of Walter Bill, husbandman, of Wenlock, countySalop, and on the 25th July 1592 he apprenticed himself to John Norton. In 1601 he was admitted a freeman of the Company. He appears to have been a man of shrewd business ability and somescholarship, as we find him writing in Latin to Dr. Wideman of Augsburgon the subject of books. He was also looked upon by the Government as anauthority on matters concerning his business. Under his partnership withBonham Norton, he secured a large share in the Royal business. JohnNorton bequeathed him a legacy of £10, and a similar sum to his wife. John Bill died in 1632, and on the 26th August of that year the whole ofhis stock was assigned to Mistress Joyce Norton, the widow of JohnNorton, and Master Whittaker. The list fills upwards of two pages ofArber's _Transcripts_ (vol. Iv. Pp. 283-285), and includes the followingnotable works:-- Beza's _Testament_ in Latin, Camden's _Britannia_, Comines' _History_, Cornelius Tacitus, Du Moulin's _Defence of the Catholique Faith_, Gerard's _Herball_, Goodwin's _History of Henry VIII. _, Plutarch's_Works_, Rider's _Dictionary_, Spalato's _Sermons_, Usher's _Gravissimæquestiones_, Verstegan's _Restitution of Decayed Intelligence_. The reversion of John Norton's patent for Greek and Latin books had beengranted in 1604 to Robert Barker (Dom. S. P. 1604), but the yearfollowing Norton's death it was granted to Bonham Norton for thirtyyears (Dom. S. P. I. , vol. 72, No. 5), and he also seems to haveacquired the patent for printing grammars. Bonham Norton was the only son of William Norton, stationer of London, who died in 1593, by his wife Joan, the daughter of William Bonham. Hetook up his freedom on the 4th February 1594, and was Master of theStationers' Company in the years 1613, 1626, and 1629, and must havebeen one of the richest men in the trade. He was joined with ThomasWight in a patent for printing _Abridgements of the Statutes_ in 1599, and later with John Bill in a share of the Royal printing-house. He isfrequently mentioned in wills and other documents of this period. At thetime of John Norton's death Bonham had a family of five sons and fourdaughters. He died intestate on the 5th April 1635, and administrationof his estate was granted to his son John on the 28th May 1636 (Admon, Act Book 1636). On the 9th May 1615 an order was made by the Court of the Stationers'Company, upon complaint made by the master printers of the number ofpresses then at work, that only nineteen printers, exclusive of thepatentees, _i. E. _ Robert Barker, John Bill, and Bonham Norton, shouldexercise the craft of printing in the city of London. There is nothingin the work of these men, judged as specimens of the printer's art, tointerest us, but there were some whose work was of very much bettercharacter than others. Richard Field, the successor of Thomas Vautrollier, and afellow-townsman of Shakespeare, has already been spoken of in an earlierchapter. He printed many important books between 1601-1624, had twopresses at work in 1615, and was Master of the Company in 1620. Hemaintained the high character that Vautrollier had given to theproductions of his press. Felix Kingston was the son of John Kingston of Paternoster Row, and wasadmitted a freeman of the Stationers' Company on the 25th of June 1597, being translated from the Company of Grocers. Throughout the first halfof the seventeenth century his press was never idle. He was Master ofthe Company in 1637. Edward Aide was the son of John Aide of the Long Shop in the Poultry. Hehad two presses, and printed very largely for other men, but his typeand workmanship were poor. William and Isaac Jaggard are best known as the printers of the works ofShakespeare. They were associated in the production of the first folioin 1623, which came from the press of Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, at the charges of William Jaggard, Edward Blount, J. Smethwicke, andWilliam Aspley; the editors being the poet's friends, J. Heminge and H. Condell. In addition to being the first collected edition of Shakespeare's works, this was in many respects a remarkable volume. The best copies measure13-1/2 x 8-1/2''. The title-page bears the portrait of the poet byDroeshout. The dedicatory epistle is in large italic type, and isfollowed by a second epistle, 'To the Readers, ' in Roman. The verses inpraise of the author, by Ben Jonson and others, are printed in a secondfount of italic, and the Contents in a still smaller fount of the sameletter. The text, printed in double columns, is in Roman and Italic, each page being enclosed within printer's rules. Of these varioustypes, the best is the large italic, which somewhat resembles Day'sfount of the same letter. That of the text is exceedingly poor, whilethe setting of the type and rules leaves much to be desired. Thearrangement and pagination are erratic. The book, like many otherfolios, was made up in sixes, and the first alphabet of signatures iscorrect and complete, while the second runs on regularly to thecompletion of the Comedies on cc. 2. The Histories follow with a freshalphabet, which the printer began as 'aa, ' and continued as 'a' until hegot to 'g, ' when he inserted a 'gg' of eight leaves, and then continuedfrom 'i' to 'x' in sixes to the end of the Histories. The Tragediesbegin with _Troilus and Cresside_, the insertion of which was evidentlyan afterthought, as there is no mention of it in the 'Contents' of thevolume, and the signatures of the sheets are ¶ followed by ¶¶ six leaveseach. Then they start afresh with 'aa' and proceed regularly to 'hh, 'the end of the _Macbeth_, the following signature being 'kk, ' thusomitting the remainder of signature 'hh' and the whole of 'ii. ' In aseries of interesting letters communicated to _Notes and Queries_ (8 S. Vol. Viii. Pp. 306, 353, 429), the make up of this volume is explainedvery plausibly. The copyright of _Troilus and Cresside_ belonged to R. Bonian and H. Walley, who apparently refused at first to give theirsanction to its publication. But by that time it had been printed, andthe sheets signed for it to follow _Macbeth_, so that it had to be takenout. Arrangements having at last been made for its insertion in thework, it was reprinted and inserted where it is now found. It is alsosurmised that the original intention was to publish the work in threeparts, and to this theory the repetition of the signatures lends colour. One of the most interesting presses of the early Stuart period, both forthe excellence of its work and the nature of the books that came fromit, was that of William Stansby. This printer took up his freedom on the7th January 1597, after serving a seven years' apprenticeship with JohnWindet. The following April he registered a book entitled _The Polycieof the Turkishe Empire_. This little quarto was, however, printed forhim by his old master, John Windet, and there is no further entry in theregisters until 1611, or fourteen years after the date at which he tookup his freedom. It would appear that Stansby began to print in 1609 with an edition ofGreene's _Pandosto_, which was not registered. In 1611 he purchased thecopyright in the books of John Windet for 13s. 40d. , but three of themthe Company added to its stock, with the undertaking that Stansby shouldalways have the printing of them. One of these books was _The Assize ofBread_. On the 23rd February 1625 the whole of William East's copies, including music, was assigned over to him. This list of books is thelongest to be found in the registers, and covers every branch ofliterature. About this time Stansby got into trouble with the Company for printing aseditious book, and his premises were nailed up, but eventually theywere restored to him, and he continued in business until 1639, when hisstock was transferred to Richard Bishop, and eventually came into thehands of John Haviland and partners. Among his more important works may be mentioned the second andsubsequent editions of Hooker's _Ecclesiastical Politie_, in folio; the_Works_ of Ben Jonson, 1616, folio; Eadmer's _Historia Novorum_, 1623, folio; Selden's _Mare Clausum_, 1635, folio; Blundeville's _Exercises_, 1622, quarto; Coryate's _Crudities_, 1611, quarto. He possessed a considerable stock of type, most of it good. Some of theornamental headbands and initial letters that he used were of anartistic character, and were used with good effect. An instance of thismay be seen in his edition of Hooker, 1611, which has an engravedtitle-page by William Hole, showing a view of St. Paul's. The page ofContents is surrounded on three sides by a border made up of odds andends of printers' ornaments, yet, in spite of its miscellaneouscharacter, the effect is by no means bad. The border to the title-pageof the fifth book was one of a series that formed part of the stock ofthe Company, and were lent out to any who required them. Stansby'spresswork was uniformly good, and in this respect alone he may be rankedamong the best printers of his time. Another of the printers referred to in the list was somewhat of arefractory character, a printer of popular books at the risk ofimprisonment, a class of men who were to figure largely in the events ofthe next few years. Nicholas Okes is known best, perhaps, as the printerof some of the writings of Dekker, Greene, and Heywood; but in 1621 heprinted, without license, _Wither's Motto_, a tract from the pen ofGeorge Wither, which had been published by John Marriot a short timebefore. This satire aroused the ire of the Government, and all connectedwith it at once made the acquaintance of the nearest jail. In the StatePapers for that year are preserved the examination of the author, thebooksellers, and the printer, Nicholas Okes. One of the witnessesdeclared that Okes told him that he had printed the book with theconsent of the Company, and that the Master (Humphrey Lownes) haddeclared that if he was committed they would get him discharged. Anotherdeclared that Okes had printed two impressions of 3000 each, using thesame title-page as that to the first edition, and that one of thewardens of the Company (Matthew Lownes) continued to sell the book, andcalled for more copies. The only defence Okes made was that he believedthe book to be duly licensed, and when challenged as to why he printedMarriot's name on the title-page, declared he simply printed the book ashe found it. (S. P. Dom. James I. , vol. Cxxii. Nos. 12 _et seq. _) On the 10th December 1623 an end was put for the time to the disputesthat had for so long a period been raised by the Stationers' Company tothe rights of the printers of the University of Cambridge. The Company's last attempt to suppress Cantrell Legg, and prevent himfrom printing grammars and prayer-books, led to an appeal to the King, who made short work of the matter by ordering the two parties to come toan agreement. The terms of the settlement were:-- 1. That all books should be sold at reasonable prices. 2. That the University should be allowed to print, conjointly with theLondon stationers, all books except the Bible, Book of Common Prayer, grammar, psalms, psalters, primers, etc. , but they were only to employone press upon privileged books. 3. That the University should print no almanacs then belonging to theStationers, but they might print prognostications brought to themfirst. 4. That the Stationers should not hinder the sale of University books. 5. That the University printer should be at liberty to sell all grammarsand psalms that he had already printed, and such as had been seized bythe Company were to be restored. To the last clause a note was added to the effect that Bonham Norton wasprepared to buy them at reasonable prices. On the accession of Charles I. Plague paralysed trade and made gaps inthe ranks of the Stationers' Company. During the autumn of 1624 and thefollowing year several noted printers died, probably from this cause. Chief among these were George Eld, Edward Aide, and Thomas Snodham. Eldwas succeeded by his partner, Miles Flessher or Fletcher, and Aide byhis widow, Elizabeth. Thomas Snodham had inherited the business ofThomas East. The copyright in these passed to William Stansby, one ofhis executors; but the materials of the office, that is the types, woodcut letters, and ornaments, and the presses, were sold to WilliamLee for £165, and shortly afterwards passed into the possession ofThomas Harper. They included a fount of black letter, and several fountsof Roman and Italic of all sizes, and one of Greek letter, all of whichhad belonged to Thomas East, and were by this time the worse for wear. But the plague was at the worst only a temporary hindrance; thecensorship of the press the printers had always with them, and this, which had been comparatively mildly used during the late reign, was nowin the hands of men who wielded it with severity. During the nextfifteen years the printers, publishers, and booksellers of London weresubjected to a persecution hitherto unknown. During that time there werefew printers who did not know the inside of the Gatehouse or theCompter, or who were not subjected to heavy fines. For the literature ofthat age was chiefly of a religious character, and its tone mainlyantagonistic to Laud and his party. All other subjects, whetherphilosophical, scientific, or dramatic, were sorely neglected. The laterworks of Bacon, the plays of Shirley and Shakerley Marmion, and a fewclassics, most of which came from the University presses, are sparselyscattered amongst the flood of theological discussion. The history ofthe best work in the trade in London is practically the history of threemen--John Haviland, Miles Fletcher, and Robert Young, who joinedpartnership and, in addition to a share in the Royal printing-house, obtained by purchase the right of printing the _Abridgements to theStatutes_, and bought up several large and old-establishedprinting-houses, such as those of George Purslowe, Edward Griffin, andWilliam Stansby. Bernard Alsop and Thomas Fawcett were also among thelarge capitalists of this time, while Nathaniel Butter, NicholasBourne, and Thomas Archer were also interested in several businessesbeside their own. From the press of Haviland came editions of Bacon's_Essays_, in quarto, in 1625, 1629, 1632; of his _Apophthegmes_, inoctavo, in 1625; of his _Miscellanies_, an edition in quarto, in 1629, and his _Opera Moralia_ in 1638. From the press of Fletcher came the_Divine Poems_ of Francis Quarles, in 1633, 1634, and 1638, and the_Hieroglyphikes of the life of Man_, by the same author, in 1638; whileamongst Young's publications, editions of _Hamlet_ and _Romeo andJuliet_ appeared in 1637. Bernard Alsop and his partner printed theplays of Beaumont and Fletcher, Decker, Greene, Lodge, and Shirley, thepoems of Brathwait, Breton, and Crashaw, and the writings of Fuller andMore. But the most notable books of this period were not those enumeratedabove, but rather those which brought their authors, printers, andpublishers within the clutches of the law, and the story of the strugglefor freedom of speech is one of the most interesting in the history ofEnglish printing. Three men--Henry Burton, rector of St. Matthews, Friday Street; William Prynne, barrister of Lincoln's Inn; and JohnBastwick, surgeon, are generally looked upon as the chief of theopposition to Laud and his party; but there were a number of otherwriters on the same subject, whose works brought them into the Court ofHigh Commission. Thus, on the 15th February 1626, Benjamin Fisher, bookseller, John Okes, Bernard Alsop, and Thomas Fawcett, printers, wereexamined concerning a book which they had caused to be printed and sold, called _A Short View of the Long Life and reign of Henry the Third_, ofwhich Sir Robert Cotton was the author. Fisher stated in his evidencethat five sheets of this book were printed by John Okes, and one otherby Alsop and Fawcett, which in itself is an indication of the immensedifficulty that must have attended the discovery of the printers offorbidden books. The manuscript Fisher declared he had bought fromAlsop, who, in his turn, said that he bought it of one Ferdinando Ely, 'a broker in books, ' for the sum of twelvepence, and printed what wasequivalent to a thousand copies of the one sheet delivered to him, 'besides waste. ' Nicholas Okes declared that his son John had printedthe book without his knowledge and while he (Nicholas) was a prisoner inthe Compter. Ferdinando Ely was a second-hand bookseller in LittleBritain. No very serious consequences seem to have followed in this instance; butin the following year (1628), Henry Burton was charged by the sameauthorities with being the author of certain unlicensed books, _TheBaiting of the Pope's Bull_, _Israel's Fast_, _Trial of PrivateDevotions_, _Conflicts and Comforts of Conscience_, _A Plea to anAppeal_, and _Seven Vials_. The first of these was licensed, but theremainder were not. They were said to have been printed by MichaelSparke and William Jones; Sparke was a bookseller, carrying on businessat the sign of the Blue Bible, in Green Arbour, in little Old Bayley, and he employed William Jones to print for him. The parties were thenwarned to be careful, but on 2nd April 1629 Sparke was arrested andthrown into the Fleet, and with him, at the same time, were chargedWilliam Jones, Augustine Mathewes, printers, and Nathaniel Butter, printer and publisher. Butter's offence was the issuing of a newspaperor pamphlet called _The Reconciler_; Sparke was charged with causing tobe printed another of Burton's works, entitled _Babel no Bethel_, andSpencer's _Musquil Unmasked_; while Augustine Mathewes was accused ofprinting, for Sparke, William Prynne's _Antithesis of the Church ofEngland_. Each party put in an answer, and of these, Michael Sparke's isthe most interesting. He declared that the decree of 1586 was contraryto Magna Charta, and an infringement of the liberties of the subject, and he refused to say who, beside Mathewes, had printed Prynne's book;it afterwards turned out to be William Turner of Oxford, who confessedto printing several other unlicensed books. A short term of imprisonmentappears to have been the punishment inflicted on the parties in thisinstance. Both in 1630 and 1631 several other printers suffered imprisonment fromthe same cause, and Michael Sparke, who appears to have given out thework in most cases, was declared to be more refractory and offensivethan ever. In 1632 appeared William Prynne's noted book, _The Histrio-Mastix_, _ThePlayer's Scourge or Actor's Tragedie_, a thick quarto of over onethousand closely printed pages, which bore on the title-page theimprint, '_printed by E. A. And W. J. For Michael Sparke_. ' This book, as its title implies, was an attack on stage-plays and acting. There wasnothing in it to alarm the most sensitive Government, and even thelicenser, though he afterwards declared that the book was altered afterit left his hands, could find nothing in it to condemn. But, as ithappened, there was a passage concerning the presence of ladies atstage-plays, and as the Queen had shortly before attended a masque, thepassage in question was held to allude to her, and accordingly Prynne, Sparke, and the printers--one of whom was William Jones--were throwninto prison, and in 1633 were brought to trial before the Star Chamber. The printers appear to have escaped punishment; but Prynne was condemnedto pay a fine of £1000, to be degraded from his degree, to have both hisears cropped in the pillory, and to spend the rest of his days inprison; while Sparke was fined £500, and condemned to stand in thepillory, but without other degradation. During this year John Bastwick also issued two books directed againstEpiscopacy, both of which are now scarce. One was entitled _ElenchusReligionis Papisticæ_, and the other _Flagellum Pontificis_. They wereprinted abroad, and as a punishment their author was condemned toundergo a sentence little less severe than that passed upon Prynne, who, in spite of his captivity, continued to write and publish a great numberof pamphlets. Amongst these was one entitled _Instructions to ChurchWardens_, printed in 1635. In the course of the evidence concerning thisbook, mention was made of a special initial letter C, which was said torepresent a pope's head when turned one way, and an army of soldierswhen turned the other, and to be unlike any other letter in use byLondon printers at that time. For printing this and other books, Thomas Purslowe, Gregory Dexter, andWilliam Taylor of Christchurch were struck from the list of masterprinters. [11] In 1637 appeared Prynne's other notorious tract, _Newes from Ipswich_, aquarto of six leaves, for which he was fined by the Star Chamber afurther sum of £5000, and condemned to lose the rest of his ears, and tobe branded on the cheek with the letters S. L. (_i. E. _ scurrilouslibeller), a sentence that was carried out on the 30th June of this yearwith great barbarity. The imprint to this tract ran 'Printed atIpswich, ' but its real place of printing was London, and perhaps thename of Robert Raworth, which occurs in the indictment, may stand forRichard Raworth, the printer whom Sir John Lambe declared to be 'anarrant knave. ' Or the printer may have been William Jones, [12] who aboutthis time was fined £1000 for printing seditious books. In 1634 the King wrote to Archbishop Laud to the effect that DoctorPatrick Young, keeper of the King's library, who had lately publishedthe _Clementis ad Corinthios Epistola prior_ in Greek and Latin, and inconjunction with Bishop Lindsell of Peterborough, now proposed to makeready for the press one or more Greek copies every year, if Greek types, matrices, and money were forthcoming. The King expressed his desire toencourage the work, and therefore commanded the Archbishop that the fineof £300, which had been inflicted upon Robert Barker and Martin Lucas inthe preceding year, for what was described as a base and corruptprinting of the Bible in 1631 (the omission of the word 'not' from theseventh commandment, which has earned for the edition the name of the_Wicked_ Bible), should be converted to the buying of Greek letters. TheKing further ordered that Barker and Lucas should print one work everyyear at their own cost of ink, paper, and workmanship, and as manycopies as the Archbishop should think fit to authorise. The Archbishopthereupon wrote to the printers, who expressed their willingness to fallin with the scheme, and a press, furnished with a very good fount ofGreek letter, was established at Blackfriars. But the result was notwhat might have been expected. Partly owing to the political troublesthat followed its foundation, and partly perhaps to delay on the part ofthe printers, the only important works that came from this press wereDr. Patrick Young's translation of the book of Job, from the CodexAlexandrinus, a folio printed in 1637, and an edition in Greek of theEpistles of St. Paul, with a commentary by the Bishop of Peterborough, also a folio, which came from the same press in 1636. The Greek letterused in this office cannot be compared for beauty or delicacy of outlinewith that which Norton had used in the _Chrysostom_ of 1610. On the 11th July 1637 was published another Star Chamber Decreeconcerning printers. Professor Arber, in his fourth volume (p. 528), states that the appearance of a tract entitled _The Holy Table, Name andThing_ must ever be associated with this decree; but it may be doubtedwhether it was not rather to general causes, such as the growing powerof the press, the long-continued attack upon the Prelacy bypamphleteers, which no fear of mutilation or imprisonment could stop, than any one particular tract, which led to that severe and crushingedict. This act, which was published on the 11th July 1637, consisted ofthirty-three clauses, and after reciting former ordinances, and thenumber of 'libellous, seditious, and mutinous' books that were thendaily published, decreed that all books were to be licensed: law booksby the Lord Chief Justices and the Lord Chief Baron; books dealing withhistory, by the principal Secretaries of State; books on heraldry, bythe Earl Marshal; and on all other subjects, by the Archbishop ofCanterbury, the Bishop of London, or the Chancellors or Vice-Chancellorsof the two Universities. Two copies of every book submitted forpublication were to be handed to the licensee, one of which he was tokeep for future reference. Catalogues of books imported into the countrywere to be sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury or Bishop of London, andno consignments were to be opened until the representatives of one ofthese dignitaries and of the Stationers' Company were present. The nameof the printer, the author, and the publisher was to be placed in everybook, and, with a view to encouraging English printing, it was decreedfurther that no merchant or bookseller should import any English bookprinted abroad. No person was to erect a printing-press, or to let anypremises for the purpose of carrying on printing, without first givingnotice to the Company, and no joiner or carpenter was to make a presswithout similar notice. The number of master printers was limited by this decree to twenty, andthose chosen were:-- Felix Kingston. Adam Islip. Thomas Purfoote. Miles Fletcher. Thomas Harper. John Beale. John Raworth. John Legate. Robert Young. John Haviland. George Miller. Richard Badger. Thomas Cotes. Marmaduke Parsons. Bernard Alsop. Richard Bishop. Edward Griffin. Thomas Purslowe. Rich. Hodgkinsonne. John Dawson. Each of these was to be bound in sureties of £300 to good behaviour. Noprinter was allowed to have more than two presses unless he were aMaster or Warden of the Company, when he might have three. A Master orWarden might keep three apprentices but no more, a master printer on thelivery might have two, and the rest one only; but every printer wasexpected to give work to journeyman printers when required to do so, because it was stated that it was they who were mainly responsible forthe publication of the libellous, seditious, and mutinous books referredto. All reprints of books were to be licensed in the same way as firsteditions. The Company were to have the right of search, and fourtypefounders, John Grismand, Thomas Wright, Arthur Nichols, andAlexander Fifield were considered sufficient for the whole trade. Finally, a copy of every book printed was to be sent to the BodleianLibrary at Oxford. The penalties for breaking this decree includedimprisonment, destruction of stock, and a whipping at the cart's tail. The twenty printers appointed by this decree were the subject of muchinvestigation by Sir John Lamb, whose numerous notes and listsconcerning them, as reprinted in the third volume of Professor Arber'stranscripts from documents at the Record Office, are an invaluableacquisition to the history of the English press. It will be seen thatfour of the chief offenders of the previous ten or eleven years, namelyWilliam Jones, Nicholas Okes, Augustine Mathewes, and Robert or RichardRaworth, were absolutely excluded, their places being taken by MarmadukeParsons, Thomas Paine, and a new man, Thomas Purslowe, probably the sonof Widow Purslowe. Conscious perhaps that their positions were injeopardy, all four petitioned the Archbishop to be placed among thenumber, but in vain, and another man who was excluded at the same timewas John Norton, a descendant of a long family of printers of that name, and who had served his apprenticeship in the King's printing-house. Onlyone of those who had at times come before the High Commission Court waspardoned, and allowed to retain his place. This was Bernard Alsop. The clause requiring all reprints to be licensed caused a good deal ofmurmuring, as did also that which forbade haberdashers, and others whowere not legitimate booksellers, to sell books. The small number of type-founders allowed to the trade has also been asubject of much comment by writers on this subject; but judging from theevidence of Arthur Nicholls, one of the four appointed, the number wasquite sufficient. Nicholls was the founder of the Greek type used in thenew office of Blackfriars, and his experience was certainly not likelyto encourage other men to set up in the same trade. At the time when hewas appointed one of the four founders under the decree, he could notmake a living by his trade, and though he does not expressly state thefact, his evidence seems to imply that English printers at that timeobtained most of their type from abroad, and it is beyond question thatthey had long since ceased to cast their own letter. Drastic as this decree was, it practically remained a dead letter, forthe reason that in the troublous times that followed within the nextfive years, the Government had their hands full in other directions, andwere obliged to let the printers alone. Between this date and the year 1640, there was very little either ofinterest or value that came from the English press. The memory of rareBen Jonson induced Henry Seile, of the Tiger's Head in Fleet Street, topublish in 1638 a quarto with the title _Jonsonus Virbius: or the Memoryof Ben Jonson. Revived by the friends of the Muses_, and among thecontributors were Lord Falkland, Sir John Beaumont the younger, SirThomas Hawkins, Henry King, Edmund Waller, Shackerley Marmion, andseveral others. The printer's initials are given as E. P. , but these donot suit any of those who were authorised under the decree of the yearbefore, and they may refer to Elizabeth Purslowe. That there was aconsiderable number of persons who, in spite of the Puritan tendenciesof the age, loved a good play, is clearly seen from the number turnedout during the years 1638, 1639, and 1640 by Thomas Nabbes, HenryGlapthorne, James Shirley, and Richard Brome. These of course weremostly quartos, very poorly printed, and chiefly from the presses ofRichard Oulton, John Okes, and Thomas Cotes. Of collected works, therecame out in small octavo form the _Poems_ of Thomas Carew from the pressof John Dawson in 1640, and a collection of Shakespeare's Poems from thepress of Thomas Cotes in the same year. There were also published in1640 from the press of Richard Bishop, who had succeeded to the businessof William Stansby, Selden's _De Jure Naturali et Gentium juxtadisciplinam Ebræorum_, in folio, and William Somner's _Antiquities ofCanterbury_, one of the earliest and best of the contributions to countybibliography. Having now brought the record of the London press down to the time whenit became engulphed in the chaos of civil war, it is time to turn to theUniversity presses of Oxford and Cambridge. Since the year 1585, these were the only provincial presses allowed bylaw, and removed as they were from the turmoil of conflicting parties, and the severity of trade competition, in which the London printerslived, their work showed more uniformity of excellence, and on the wholesurpassed that of the London printers. Down to the year 1617 Oxford appears to have had but one printer, JohnBarnes; but in that year we find two at work, John Lichfield and WilliamWrench, the latter giving place the following year to James Short. In1624 the two Oxford printers were John Lichfield and William Turner--thesecond, as we have seen, being notorious as the printer of unlicensedpamphlets for Michael Sparke the London publisher; but in spite of thiswe find him holding his position until 1640, though in the meantime JohnLichfield had been succeeded in business by his son, Leonard. In theintroduction to his bibliography of the Oxford Press, Mr. Falconer Madanhas given a list of the most important books printed at Oxford between1585 and 1640, which we venture to reprint here with a few additions:-- 1599. Richard de Bury's _Philobiblon_. 1608. Wycliff's _Treatises_. 1612. Captain John Smith's _Map of Virginia_. 1621. Burton's _Anatomy of Melancholy_. 1628. Field _On the Church_. 1633. Sandys' _Ovid_. 1634. _The University Statutes_. 1635. Chaucer's _Troilus and Cressida_ in English and Latin. 1638. Chillingworth's _Religion of Protestants_. 1640. Bacon's _Advancement and Proficience of Learning_. As we have noted, the University of Cambridge had after a long struggleestablished its claim to print editions of the Scriptures and otherworks, and like its sister University turned out some of the best workof that period. A notable book from this press was Phineas Fletcher's _Purple Island_, aquarto published in 1633. The title-page was printed in red and black, in well-cut Roman of four founts, with the lozenge-shaped device of theUniversity in the centre, the whole being surrounded by a neat borderof printers' ornaments. Each page of the book was enclosed within rules, which seems to have been the universal fashion of the trade at thisperiod, and at the end of each canto the device seen on the title-pagewas repeated. The Eclogues and Poems had each a separate title-page, andtwo well-executed copper-plate engravings occur in the volumes. We must not close this chapter without noting that in 1639 printingbegan in the New England across the sea. The records of Harvard Collegetell us that the Rev. Joseph Glover 'gave to the College a font ofprinting letters, and some gentlemen of Amsterdam gave towardsfurnishing of a printing-press with letters forty-nine pounds, andsomething more. ' Glover himself died on the voyage out from England, butStephen Day, the printer whom he was bringing with him, arrived insafety and was installed at Harvard College. The first production of hispress was the _Freeman's Oath_, the second an Almanac, the third, published in 1640, _The Psalms in Metre, Faithfully translated for theUse, Edification, and Comfort of the Saints in Publick and Private, especially in New England_. This, the first book printed in NorthAmerica, was an octavo of three hundred pages, of passably goodworkmanship, and is commonly known as the Bay Psalter--Cambridge, thehome of Harvard College, lying near Massachusetts Bay. Stephen Daycontinued to print at Cambridge till 1648 or 1649, when he was succeededin the charge of the press by Samuel Green, whose work will be mentionedat the end of our next chapter. [Footnote 11: _Domestic State Papers_, vol. 357, No. 172, 173; vol. 371, No. 102. ] [Footnote 12: _Domestic State Papers_, vol. 354, No. 180. ] CHAPTER VIII FROM 1640 TO 1700 Having at length reached what is without doubt the darkest and the mostwretched period in the history of English printing, it may be wellbefore passing a severe condemnation on those who represented the tradeat that time, to remind ourselves of the difficulties against which theyhad to contend. The art of printing in England had never at any time reached such apoint of excellence as in Paris under the Estiennes, in Antwerp underPlantin, or in Venice under the Aldi. So great was the competitionbetween the printers, and so heavy the restrictions placed upon them, that profit rather than beauty or workmanship was their firstconsideration; and when to these drawbacks was added the generaldisorganisation of trade consequent upon the outbreak of civil war, itis not surprising that English work failed to maintain its already lowstandard of excellence. Literature, other than that which chronicledthe fortunes of the opposing factions, was almost totally neglected. Writers, even had they found printers willing to support them, wouldhave found no readers. On the other hand, such was the feverish anxietymanifested in the struggle, that it was scarcely possible to publish theDiurnals and Mercuries which contained the latest news fast enough, andthe press was unequal to the strain, although the number of printers inLondon during this period was three times larger than that allowed bythe decree of 1637. Professor Arber, in his _Transcript_, says that thisincrease in the number of printers was due to the removal of the gag bythe Long Parliament. There is no proof that the Long Parliament everintended to remove the gag; but having its hands full with other andweightier matters it could find no time to deal with the printers, anddoubtless, in the heat of the fight, it was only too thankful to availitself of the pens of those who replied to the attacks of the Royalistpress. The best evidence of this is, that as soon as opportunityoffered, and in spite of the warning of the greatest literary man ofthat day, who was on their own side, the Long Parliament reimposed thegag with as much severity as the hierarchy which it had deposed. For the publication of the news of the day, each party had its ownorgans. On the side of the Parliament the principal journals were _TheKingdoms Weekly Intelligencer_, printed and published by NathanielButter, and _Mercurius Britannicus_, edited by Marchmont Nedham; while_Mercurius Aulicus_, edited by clever John Birkenhead, represented theRoyalists, and was ably seconded by the _Perfect Occurrences_, printedby John Clowes and Robert Ibbitson. These sheets, which usually consisted of from four to eight quartopages, contained news of the movements and actions of the opposingarmies, and the proceedings of the Parliament at Westminster, or of theKing's Council at Oxford or wherever he happened to be. They werepublished sometimes twice and even three times a week. The politicalpamphlets were bitter and scurrilous attacks by each party against theother, or the hare-brained prophecies of so-called astrologers, such asWilliam Lilly, George Wharton, and John Gadbury. These two classesformed more than half the printed literature of those unhappy times, andthe remainder of the output of the press was pretty well filled up withsermons, exhortations, and other religious writings. The rapidity withwhich the literature was turned out accounts for the wretched andslipshod appearance it presents. Any old types or blocks were broughtinto use, and there is evidence of blocks and initial letters which hadformed part of the stock of the printers of a century earlier beingbrought to light again at this time. Unfortunately the evil did notstop here, for careless workmanship, indifference, and want ofenterprise, are the leading characteristics of the printing trade duringthe latter half of the seventeenth century. But as, even in this darkesthour of the nation's fortunes, the soul of literature was not crushed, and the voice of the poet could still make itself heard, so it is agreat mistake to suppose that there were no good printers during theperiod covered by the Civil Wars and the Commonwealth. Take as an example the little duodecimo entitled _Instructions forForreine Travell_, which came from the pen of James Howell, and wasprinted by T. B. , no doubt Thomas Brudnell, for Humphrey Moseley. Someof the founts, especially the larger Roman, are very unevenly and badlycast, but on the whole the presswork was carefully done. The same mayalso be said of the folio edition of Sir R. Baker's _Chronicle_, published in 1643. In this case we do not know who was the printer; butthe ornaments and initials lead us to suppose that it was the work ofWilliam Stansby's successor. The prose tracts again that Milton wrotebetween 1641-45 are certainly far better printed than many of theircontemporaries, and prove that Matthew Simmons, who printed most ofthem, and who was one of the Commonwealth men, deserved the position heafterwards obtained. The first collected edition of Milton's poems waspublished by Humphrey Moseley in 1645. This was a small octavo, in twoparts, with separate title-pages, and a portrait of the author byWilliam Marshall, and came from the press of Ruth Raworth. In 1646 thereappeared _A Collection of all the Incomparable Peeces written by SirJohn Suckling and published by a freend to perpetuate his memory_. Thiscame from the press of Thomas Walkley, who had issued the first editionof _Aglaura_ and the later plays of the same writer. Walkley alsoprinted in small octavo, for Moseley, the _Poems_ of Edmond Waller, buthis work was none of the best. A printer of considerable note at this time was William Dugard, who in1644 was chosen headmaster of Merchant Taylors' School, and set up aprinting-press there. In January 1649 he printed the first edition ofthe famous book _Eikon Basilike_, and followed it up by a translation ofSalmasius' _Defensio Regia_, for which the Council of State immediatelyordered his arrest, seized his presses, and wrote to the Governors ofthe school, ordering them to elect a new schoolmaster, 'Mr. Dugardhaving shewn himself an enemy to the state by printing seditious andscandalous pamphlets, and therefore unfit to have charge of theeducation of youths' (_Dom. S. P. Interregnum_, pp. 578-583). Sir JamesHarrington, member of the Council of State, and author of _Oceana_, whoseems to have known something about Dugard, interceded with the Councilon his behalf, and at the same time persuaded him to give up theRoyalist cause. So his presses were restored to him, and henceforward heappears to have devoted himself with equal zeal to his new masters. He was the printer of Milton's answer to Salmasius, published by theCouncil's command, of a book entitled _Mare Clausum_, also published byauthority, of the _Catechesis Ecclesiarum_, a book which the Councilfound to contain dangerous opinions and ordered to be burnt, and of atract written by Milton's nephew, John Phillips, entitled _Responsio adapologiam_. His initials are also met with in many other books of thattime. His press was furnished with a good assortment of type, and hispress-work was much above the average of that period. Among other books that came from the London press during this troubledtime, we may single out three which have found a lasting place inEnglish literature. The first is Robert Herrick's _Hesperides_, printedin the years 1647-48; the second a volume of verse, by Richard Lovelace, entitled _Lucasta, Epodes, Odes, Sonnets, Songs_, etc. , printed in 1649by Thomas Harper; the last Izaak Walton's _Complete Angler_, which camefrom the press of John Maxey in 1653. All were small octavos, indifferently printed with poor type, and no pretensions to artisticworkmanship. In 1649, the year of Charles I. 's execution, the Council of State, inconsequence of the number of 'scandalous and seditious pamphlets' whichwere constantly appearing, in spite of all decrees and acts to thecontrary, ordered certain printers to enter into recognizances in twosureties of £300, and their own bond for a similar amount, not to printany such books, or allow their presses to be used for that purpose. Accordingly, in the _Calendar of State Papers_ for the year 1649-50 (pp. 522, 523), we find a list of no less than sixty printers in London andthe two Universities who entered into such sureties. In almost everycase the address is given in full, in itself a gain, at a time when theprinter's name rarely appeared in the imprint of a book. This list hasalready been printed in _Bibliographica_ (vol. Ii. Pp. 225-26), but asit is of the greatest interest for the history of printing during theremainder of the century, it is inserted here (see Appendix No. 1. ). While it does not include all the printers having presses at that time, yet, if we remember that under the Star Chamber decree of 1637 thenumber in London was strictly limited to twenty, it shows how rapid thegrowth of the trade was in those twelve years. Of the original twenty, only three seem to have survived the troubles and dangers of the CivilWars--Bernard Alsop, Richard Bishop, and Thomas Harper, though theplaces of three more were filled by their survivors--Elizabeth Purslowestanding in the place of her husband, Thomas Purslowe; Gertrude Dawsonsucceeding her husband, John Dawson; and James Flesher or Fletcher inthe room of his father, Miles Flesher. John Gresmond and James Moxonwere type-founders, Henry Hills and John Field were appointed printersto the State under Cromwell, and Thomas Newcomb was also largelyemployed, and shared with the other two the privilege of Bible printing. Roger Norton was the direct descendant of old John Norton, who died in1590. Of Roycroft and Simmons we shall hear a good deal later on, asindeed we shall of many others in this list. The only names that hardlyseem to warrant insertion in the list as printers are those of John andRichard Royston. Although they were for many years stationers to KingCharles II. , we cannot hear of any printing-presses in their possession. With the quieter time of the Commonwealth, several notable works wereproduced, though the annual output of books was much below the averageof the seven years preceding. Foremost among the publications of thattime must be placed Sir William Dugdale's _Monasticon Anglicanum_, thefirst volume of which appeared in 1655. As a monument of study and research this book will always remain astandard work of English topography; and it was not unworthily printed. The preparation of the numerous plates for the illustrations, and thesetting up of so much intricate letterpress, must have been a veryonerous work. This first volume, a large and handsome folio, came fromthe press of Richard Hodgkinson, and was printed in pica Roman in doublecolumns, with a great deal of italic and black letter intermixed. Thetypes were as good as any to be found in England at that time, and thepress-work was carefully done. The engravings were chiefly the work ofHollar, aided by Edward Mascall and Daniel King, and are excellentlyreproduced. The whole work occupied eighteen years in publication, thesecond volume being printed by Alice Warren, the widow of Thomas Warren, in 1661, and the third and last by Thomas Newcomb in 1673; but theselater volumes differed very little in appearance from the first, thesame method of setting and the same mixture of founts being adhered to. Sir William Dugdale followed this up in 1656 by publishing, through thepress of Thomas Warren, his _Antiquities of Warwickshire_, a folio of826 pages. On the title-page is seen the device of old John Wolfe, theCity printer. The dedication of this book was printed in great primer;but the look of the text was marred by a bad fount of black letter whichdid not print well. Like the _Monasticon_, this work was illustratedwith maps and portraits by Hollar and Vaughan. Another considerable undertaking was the _Historical Collections_ ofJohn Rushworth, in eight folio volumes, of which the first was printedby Newcomb in 1659, the others between 1680 and 1701. But the great typographical achievement of the century was the PolyglottBible, edited by Brian Walton. It was the fourth great Bible of the kindwhich had been published. The earliest was the Complutensian, printed atAlcala in 1517, with Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and Chaldean texts. Next camethe Antwerp Polyglott, printed at the Plantin Press in 1572, which, inaddition to the texts above mentioned, gave the Syriac version. This wasfollowed in 1645 by the Paris Polyglott, which added Arabic andSamaritan, was in ten folio volumes, and took seventeen years tocomplete. The London Polyglott of 1657, which exceeded all these in the number oftexts, was mainly due to the enterprise and industry of Brian Walton, Bishop of Chester. This famous scholar and divine was born at Cleveland, in Yorkshire, in 1600. He was educated at Cambridge, and after servingas curate in All Hallows, in Bread Street, became rector of St. Martin'sOrgar and of St. Giles in the Fields. He was sequestered from hisliving at St. Martin's during the troubles of the Revolution, and fledto Oxford, and it was while there that he is said to have formed theidea of the Polyglott Bible. The first announcement of the great undertaking was made in 1652, when atype specimen sheet, believed to be still in existence, was printed byJames Flesher or Fletcher of Little Britain, and issued with theprospectus, which was printed by Roger Norton of Blackfriars for TimothyGarthwaite. Walton's Polyglott was the second book printed bysubscription in England, Minsheu's _Dictionary in Eleven Languages_having been published in this manner in 1617. The terms were £10 percopy, or £50 for six copies. The estimated cost of the first volume was£1500, and of succeeding volumes £1200, and such was the spirit withwhich the work was taken up that £9000 was subscribed before the firstvolume was put to press. To the texts which had appeared in previous Polyglotts, Persian andEthiopic were added, so that in all nine languages were included in thework--that is, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Chaldean, Syriac, Arabic, Samaritan, Persian, and Ethiopic--besides much additional matter in theform of tables, lexicons, and grammars. No single book was printed inall of these, only the Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Arabic runningthroughout the work, while the Hebrew appears in the Old Testament, thePsalms in Ethiopic, and the New Testament has, in addition to the fourprincipal texts, the Ethiopic and Persian. The whole work occupied six folio volumes, measuring 16 x 10-3/4, andwas printed by Thomas Roycroft from types supplied by the fourrecognised typefounders. At the commencement of the first volume is aportrait of Walton by Bombert, followed by an elaborately engravedtitle-page, the work of Wenceslaus Hollar, an architectural designadorned with scenes from Scripture history. The second title-page wasprinted in red ink, and the text was so arranged that each double page, when open, showed all the versions of the same passage. The types usedin this work have been described in detail by Rowe Mores in his_Dissertations upon English Founders_, and by Talbot Baines Reed in hiswork upon the _Old English Letter Foundries_ (Chap. Vii. Pp. 164, _etseqq. _). Speaking of the English founts, the last-named writer pointsout that the double pica, Roman and italic, seen in the Dedication, isthe same fount that was cut by the sixteenth-century printer, John Day, and used by him to print the _Life of Alfred the Great_. Mr. Reed addsthat, in spite of a certain want of uniformity in the bodies, theEthiopic and Samaritan were especially good, and the Syriac and Arabicboldly cut. But it was not only for its typographic excellence that the book wasremarkable. The rapidity with which this great undertaking passedthrough the press is no less astonishing. All six volumes were printedwithin four years, the first appearing in September 1654, the second in1655, the third in 1656, and the last three in 1657. Looking at thelabour involved by such an undertaking, it has been rightly described byMr. T. B. Reed as a lasting glory to the typography of the seventeenthcentury. Oliver Cromwell, under whose government this noble work wasaccomplished, had assisted, as far as lay in his power, by permittingthe importation of the paper free of duty; and in the first editionsthis assistance was gracefully acknowledged by the editor, but on theRestoration those passages were altered or omitted to make room forcompliments to Charles II. Amongst those who ably assisted Walton in his labours was Dr. EdmundCastell, who prepared a _Heptaglott Lexicon_ for the better study of thevarious languages used in the Polyglott. This work received the supportof all the learned men of the time, but the undertaking was the ruin ofits author, and a great part of the impression perished in thedestruction of Roycroft's premises in the Great Fire of 1666. The Restoration brought with it little change in the conditions underwhich printing was carried on in England, or in the lot of the printersthemselves. There is still preserved in the Public Record Office adocument which throws considerable light on this matter, and is believedto have been drawn up either in 1660 or in 1661. This is a petitionsigned by eleven of the leading London printers, for the incorporationof the printers into a body distinct from the Company of Stationers, andappended to it are the 'reasons' for the proposed change, which occupyfour or five closely written folio sheets. The men who put forward thispetition were:-- RICHARD HODGKINSON, JOHN GRISMOND, ROBERT IBBOTSON, THOMAS MABB, DA[NIEL?] MAXWELL, THOMAS ROYCROFT, WILLIAM GODBID, JO[HN] STREATOR, JAMES COTTREL, JOHN HAYES, andJOHN BRUDENELL; and it was undoubtedly this band of men, some of them the biggest men inthe trade, who formed the 'Companie of Printers, ' for whom in 1663 apamphlet was issued, entitled _A Brief Discourse concerning Printers andPrinting_. For the printed pamphlet embodies the same views put forwardin the petition, only backed up with fresh evidence and terse arguments. The claim of the printers amounted to this, that the Company ofStationers had become mainly a Company of Booksellers, that in order tocheapen printing they had admitted a great many more printers than werenecessary, and from this cause arose the great quantity of 'scandalousand seditious' books that were constantly being published. They go on tosay that the condition of the great body of printers was deplorable, 'they can hardly subsist in credit to maintain their families . .. Whenan ancient printer died, and his copies were exposed to sale, few ornone of the young ones were of ability to deal for them, nor indeed forany other, so that the Booksellers have engross'd almost all. ' Thepetitioners show also that the Company of Stationers was grown so largethat none could be Master or Warden until he was well advanced in life, and therefore unable to keep a vigilant eye on the trade, while aprinter did not become Master once in ten or twenty years. They arguethat the best expedient for checking these disorders and ensuring lawfulprinting, would be to incorporate the printers into a distinct body, andthey advocate the registration of presses, the right of search, and theenforcement of sureties. Finally, they claim that this plan would alsodo much to improve printing as an art, as under the existing conditionsthere was no encouragement to the printers to produce good work. This petition, though it does not seem to have received any officialreply, was noticed by Sir Roger L'Estrange in the Proposals which helaid before the House of Parliament, and which undoubtedly formed thebasis of the Act of 1662. Sir Roger L'Estrange had been an activeadherent of the Royal cause, and soon after the Restoration, on the 22ndFebruary 1661-2, he was granted a warrant to search for and seizeunlicensed presses and seditious books (_State Papers_, Charles II. Vol. Li. No. 6). A list is still extant of books which he had seized at theoffice of John Hayes, one of the signatories of the above petition. Sothat although the office of Surveyor of the Press was not officiallycreated until 1663, it is clear from the issue of the warrant, and alsofrom the fact of L'Estrange having been directed to draw up proposalsfor the regulation of the Press, that he was acting in that capacitymore than a twelvemonth earlier. His proposals were, in 1663, printed inpamphlet form with the title, _Considerations and Proposals in order tothe Regulation of the Press_, and were dedicated to the King, and alsoto the House of Lords; and they contain much that is interesting. Hestates that hundreds of thousands of seditious papers had been allowedto go abroad since the King's return, and that there had been printedten or twelve impressions of _Farewell Sermons_, to the number of thirtythousand, since the Act of Uniformity, adding that the very personswho had the care of the Press (_i. E. _ the Company of Stationers) hadconnived at its abuse. In support of this statement he pointed out thatPresbyterian pamphlets were rarely suppressed, that rich offenders werepassed over, and scarcely any of those who were caught were ever broughtto justice. He gives the number of printers then at work in London assixty, the number of apprentices about a hundred and sixty, besides alarge number of journeymen; and he proposed at once to reduce the numberof printers to twenty, with a corresponding reduction of apprentices andjourneymen. As this would throw a large number of men out of work, hefurther proposed a scheme for the relief of necessitous andsupernumerary printers. He calculated that the twelve impressions of the_Farewell Sermons_, allowing a thousand copies to each impression, hadyielded a profit, 'beside the charge of paper and printing, ' of £3300, and he advised that this sum should be levied as a fine upon thosebooksellers who had sold the book, and be placed to a fund for thebenefit of the suppressed printers, the balance of the sum required tobe levied on other seditious publications! [Illustration: SIR ROGER L'ESTRANGE. ] In this pamphlet L'Estrange gave the titles of most of the pamphlets towhich he objected, with brief extracts from them, and the names of theprinters and publishers, amongst whom were Thomas Brewster, GilesCalvert, Simon Dover, and one other, whose name is not mentioned, butwho is referred to as holding a highly profitable office. The referencemay be to Thomas Newcomb. At pages 26 and 27 L'Estrange notices the petition of certain of theprinters to be incorporated as a separate body. He says 'that it were ahard matter to pick out twenty master printers, who are both free of thetrade, of ability to manage it, and of integrity to be entrusted withit, most of the honester sort being impoverished by the late times, andthe great business of the press being engross'd by Oliver's creatures. 'He admits that the Company of Stationers and Booksellers are largelyresponsible for the great increase of presses, being anxious to havetheir books printed as cheaply as possible, but thinks that there wouldbe as much abuse of power among incorporated printers as among theCompany of Stationers. The Act of 1662, which was mainly based on L'Estrange's report, was in alarge measure a re-enactment of the Star Chamber decree of 1637. Thenumber of printers in London was limited to twenty, the type-founders tofour, and the other clauses of the earlier decree were reinforced, butwith one notable concession. Hitherto printing outside London had beenrestricted to the two Universities, but in the new Act the city of Yorkwas expressly mentioned as a place where printing might be carried on. This new Act was enforced for a time with greater severity than the oldone, and under it, for the first time in English history, a printersuffered the penalty of death for the liberty of the press. The story of the trial and condemnation of John Twyn is told in vol. 6of Cobbett's _State Trials_, and was also published in pamphlet formwith the title, _An exact narrative of the Tryal and condemnation ofJohn Twyn, for Printing and Dispersing of a Treasonable Book, With theTryals of Thomas Brewster, bookseller, Simon Dover, printer, NathanBrooks, bookseller . .. In the Old Bayly, London, the 20th and 22ndFebruary 166-3/4_. John Twyn was a small printer in Cloth Fair, and his crime was that ofprinting a pamphlet entitled _A Treatise of the Execution of Justice_, in which, as it was alleged, there were several passages aimed at theKing's life and the overthrow of the Government. It was further statedby the prosecution that the pamphlet was part of a plot for a generalrebellion that was to have taken effect on the 12th October 1662. Thechief witnesses against Twyn were Joseph Walker, his apprentice, SirRoger L'Estrange, and Thomas Mabb, a printer. Their evidence went toshow that Twyn had two presses; that he composed part of the book, printed some of the sheets, and corrected the proofs, the work beingdone secretly at night-time. On entering the premises it was found thatthe forme of type had been broken up, only one corner of it remainingstanding, and that the printed sheets had been hurriedly thrown downsome stairs. In defence Twyn declared that he had received the copy fromWidow Calvert's maid, and had received 40s. On account, with more tofollow on completion, and he stoutly asserted that he did not know thenature of the work. The jury, amongst whom were Richard Royston andSimon Waterson, booksellers, and James Fletcher and Thomas Roycroft, printers, returned a verdict of Guilty, and Twyn was condemned to deathand executed at Tyburn. The charge against Simon Dover was of printing the pamphlet entitled_The Speeches of some of the late King's Justices_, which we havealready seen that Roger L'Estrange had seized in John Hayes' premises, while Thomas Brewster was accused of causing this and another pamphlet, entitled _The Phœnix of the Solemn League and Covenant_, to beprinted. In defence, Thomas Brewster declared that booksellers did notread the books they sold; so long as they could earn a penny they weresatisfied--an argument that had been used more than a century before byold Robert Copland as an excuse for indifferent printing. Both Doverand Brewster were condemned to pay a fine of 100 marks, to stand in thepillory, and to remain prisoners during the King's pleasure. Sir RogerL'Estrange, as a reward for his services, was appointed Surveyor of thePress, with permission to publish a news-sheet of his own, and libertyto harass the printers as much as possible. But far greater calamities than the malice of Sir Roger L'Estrange coulddevise fell upon the printing trade by the outbreak of the Plague in1665, and the subsequent Fire of London. In a letter written byL'Estrange to Lord Arlington, and dated 16th October 1665, he statedthat eighty of the printers had died of the Plague (_Cal. Of S. P. _1665-6, p. 20), in which total he evidently included workmen as well asmasters. The loss occasioned by the stoppage of trade and flight of thecitizens must have been enormous, and yet it may have been slight incomparison to that occasioned by the Great Fire. Curiously enough, however, there are very few records showing the effect of this seconddisaster upon the printing trade. We find a petition by ChristopherBarker, the King's printer, to be allowed to import paper free of chargein consequence of his loss by the Fire, and the same indulgence isgranted to the Stationers' Company as a body and the Universities; butthere are no notes of individual losses, and only one or two referencesto MSS. That were destroyed in it. There is, however, one very eloquenttestimony to the ruin it caused in this, as in other trades. Thecoercive Act of 1662, which had been renewed with unfailing regularityfrom session to session down to the year 1665, was not renewed duringthe remainder of the reign of Charles II. On the 24th of July 1668 areturn was made of all the printing-houses in London, which shows at aglance who had survived and who had suffered by that terrible calamity(see Appendix II. ). Comparing this list with that of 1649, we find that no inconsiderablenumber of the printers there mentioned had survived the thinning-outprocess, as well as imprisonment, death, and fire. In fact, only eightLondon printers were actually ruined by the Fire, and among them we findboth John Hayes and John Brudenell, and also Alice Warren. But another paper, written in the same year, and preserved in the samevolume of State Papers, [13] is even more interesting, for it shows theposition of every man in the trade. This is headed-- _A Survey of the Printing Presses with the names and numbers ofApprentices, Officers, and Workemen belonging to every particular press. Taken 29 July 1668_. (See Appendix III. ). From this we learn that the largest employer in the trade at that timewas James Fletcher, who kept five presses, and employed thirteen workmenand two apprentices. Next to him came Thomas Newcomb, with three pressesand a proof press, twelve workmen and one apprentice; John Maycocke, with three presses, ten workmen and three apprentices; and thenRoycroft, with four presses, ten workmen and two apprentices; while atthe other end of the scale was Thomas Leach, with one press, not hisown, and one workman. Whether L'Estrange carried out his threat of prosecuting the three menwho had set up since the Act, we do not know, but this is certain, thatone of their number, John Darby, continued to work for many years afterthis, and was the printer of Andrew Marvell's _Rehearsal Transposed_, and a good deal else that galled the Government very much. In fact, theAct of 1662 was openly ignored, and new men set up presses every year. But of all this work it is almost impossible to trace what was done byindividual printers. The bulk of the publications of the time bore thebookseller's name only, and it is very rarely indeed that the printer isrevealed. Newcomb had the printing of the _Gazette_, and also printedmost of Dryden's works that were published by Herringman; whileRoycroft, we know, was employed by all those who wanted the bestpossible work, such men as John Ogilby, for instance, for whom heprinted several works. Milton's _Paradise Lost_ came from the press ofPeter Parker; but the printer of Bunyan's _Pilgrim's Progress_ isunknown to us. As it happens, there is not much lost by remaining in ignorance on thispoint. For no change whatever took place in the character of printing asa trade during the second half of the seventeenth century. There wereonly three foundries of note in London during that time, and none ofthem is considered to have produced anything particularly good. Indeed, one has only to glance at even the best work of that time to see howwretchedly the majority of the type was cast. The first of the three wasthe celebrated Joseph Moxon, who, in 1659, added type-founding to hisother callings of mathematician and hydrographer. Having spent someyears in Holland, he was very much enamoured of the Dutch types, and in1676 he wrote a book entitled _Regulæ Trium Ordinum LiterarumTypographicarum_, in which he endeavoured to prove that each lettershould be cast in exact mathematical proportion, and illustrated histheory by several letters cast in that manner. Similar theories had beenpropounded in earlier days by Albert Durer and the French printer, Geoffrey Tory, but no improvement in printing ever resulted from them. Moxon's foundry was fitted with a large assortment of letter, but hiswork, judging from the examples left to us, was certainly not up to thetheory which he put forward, and he is best remembered for his usefulwork on printing, which formed the second part of his _MechanickExercises_, and was published in 1683. In this he showed an intimateknowledge of every branch of printing and type-founding, and his book isstill a standard work on both these subjects. Moxon retired frombusiness some years before his death, and was succeeded in 1683 byJoseph and Robert Andrews, who, in addition to Moxon's founts, had alarge assortment of others. Their foundry was particularly rich in Romanand Italic, and the learned founts, and they also had matrices ofAnglo-Saxon and Irish. But their work was not by any means good. The third of these letter foundries was that of James and Thomas Groverin Angel Alley, Aldersgate Street, who after Moxon's retirement sharedwith Andrews the whole of the English trade. The most notable founts intheir possession were, a pica and longprimer Roman, from the Royal Pressat Blackfriars, Day's double pica Roman and Italic, and two good fountsof black letter, reputed to have formed part of the stock of Wynkyn deWorde. They also had the English Samaritan matrices from which the typefor Walton's Polyglott in 1657 had been cast. Among the types belonging to this foundry was one which, in theinventory, was returned as New Coptic, but which was in reality a Greekuncial fount, cut for the specimen of the _Codex Alexandrinus_ whichPatrick Young proposed to print, but did not live to accomplish. Thespecimen was printed in 1643 and consisted of the first chapter ofGenesis. It is supposed that this fount remained unknown, under thetitle of New Coptic, until 1758, when the Grover foundry passed into thehands of John James. On the death of Thomas Grover, the foundry remainedin possession of his daughters, who endeavoured to sell it, but withoutsuccess, and it remained locked up for many years in the premises ofRichard Nutt, a printer, until 1758 (Reed, _Old English LetterFoundries_, p. 205). After a lapse of twenty years, the Act of 1662 was renewed by the firstparliament of James II. (1685) for a period of seven years, and at theexpiration of that time, _i. E. _ in 1692, it was renewed for anothertwelvemonth, after which we hear no more of it. There is no evidencethat it had been very strictly enforced during its short revival; infact it is clear, from the number of presses found in various parts ofthe country during the last five and twenty years of the century, thatit had remained practically a dead letter from the time of the GreatFire. [Illustration: FIG. 32. --'Fell' Types. ] The troubles of the Civil War had suspended for a time all progress inprinting at Oxford. But on the Restoration it made even greater advancesthan it had done at an earlier period of its history. Archbishop Laudhad a worthy successor in Dr. John Fell, who in 1667 enriched theUniversity by a gift of a complete type-foundry, consisting of punches, matrices, and founts of Roman, Italic, Orientals, 'Saxons, ' and blackletter, besides moulds and other necessary appliances for the productionof type. Dr. Fell also introduced a skilled letter-founder from Holland. For a couple of years the foundry and printing office were carried on inprivate premises hired by Fell, but upon the completion of theSheldonian Theatre the printing office was removed to the basement ofthat building, the first book bearing the Theatre imprint being _An Odein praise of the Theatre and its Founder_, printed in 1669. Another scholarly benefactor, Francis Junius, presented the Universityin 1677 with a splendid collection of type, consisting of Runic, Gothic, 'Saxon, ' 'Islandic, ' Danish, and 'Swedish, ' as well as founts of Roman, Italic, and other sorts. By the kindness of Mr. Horace Hart, theController of the Clarendon Press, we are able to give here examples ofseveral of the founts, both of Fell and Junius, in most cases fromsurviving specimens of the types themselves. [Illustration: FIG. 33. --'Fell' Types. ] Very little use seems to have been made of these gifts before thecommencement of the succeeding century. The first Bible printed atOxford was that of 1674, and no important editions of the classicsissued from the University press of this period. It was left to Cambridge to issue the best works of this class, forwhich that University borrowed the Oxford types, having no type-foundryof its own. These editions, chiefly in quarto, came from the press ofThomas Buck, who had succeeded Roger Daniel as printer to theUniversity. Buck was in turn succeeded by John Field, who turned outsome very creditable work, notably the folio Bible of 1660. John Hayes, the next of the Cambridge printers, issued some notable books, such asRobertson's _Thesaurus_, 1676, 4to, and Barnes's _History of EdwardIII. _, 1688, 4to, but the bulk of the work that came from the Cambridgepress at this date was of a theological character, and was none too wellprinted. The history of other provincial presses of this period is very meagre. Mr. Allnutt, to whose valuable papers in the second volume of_Bibliographica_ I am indebted for the following notes, expresses thebelief that in several cases local knowledge would show that presseswere at work some years earlier than the dates he has given. [Illustration: FIG. 34. --'Junius' Types. ] At the time of the Civil War, Robert Barker, the King's printer, had in1639 been commanded to attend His Majesty in his march against theScots, and printed several proclamations, news-sheets, etc. , atNewcastle-on-Tyne in that year. He is next found at York, where somethirty-nine different sheets, etc. , have been traced from his press, andin 1642 a second press was at work in the same city, that of StephenBulkeley. When York fell into the hands of the Parliament, Bulkeley'spress was silent for a while, and his place was taken by Thomas Broad, who printed there from 1644 to 1660, and was succeeded by his widow, Alice, who disappears in 1667. After the Restoration, Bulkeley again setup his press at York, where he continued down to 1680. Barker in 1642had been summoned to attend the King at Nottingham, but no specimen ofhis work bearing that imprint is known, and the next heard of him is atBristol, some time in 1643, Mr. Allnutt mentioning ten pieces from hispress at this place. In 1645 Thomas Fuller issued in small duodecimo, a collection of piousthoughts, which he aptly termed _Good Thoughts in Bad Times_, and in theDedication to it expressly stated that it was 'the first fruits of theExeter presse. ' There was no printer's name in the volume, and no otherwork printed in Exeter at that time is known. In 1688, however, anotherpress was started there, and printed several political broadsidesrelative to the Prince of Orange. A new start was made in 1698, when asmall pamphlet was printed in this city. Stephen Bulkeley, the York printer, appears to have gone from that cityto Newcastle in 1646, and continued printing there until 1652. He thenremoved to Gateshead, where he remained until after the Restoration, subsequently returning to Newcastle, and so back to York. No more isheard of printing in Newcastle until the opening of the eighteenthcentury. A press was established in Bristol in the year 1695 and in Plymouth andShrewsbury in the year 1696. In America the progress of printing was very slow throughout theseventeenth century. Until 1660, Samuel Green, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, remained the only printer in the colony. But in that yearthe Corporation for the propagation of the Gospel in New England amongthe Indians sent over from London another press, a large supply of goodletter, and a printer named Marmaduke Johnson, for the purpose ofprinting an edition of the Bible in the Indian tongue. This press wasset up in the same building as that in which Green was already at work, and the two printers seem to have worked together at the production ofthe Bible, which appeared in quarto form in 1663, the New Testamenthaving been published two years earlier. Johnson died in the year 1675, but Samuel Green continued to print until 1702. After his death thepress at Cambridge was silent for some years. In 1675 a press was established at Boston by John Foster, a graduate ofHarvard College, under a licence from the College. Besides the officialwork of the colony and theological literature, he printed severalpamphlets on the war between the English and the Indians. He died in1681, when he was succeeded by Samuel Green, junior, who continuedprinting there until 1690. In the following year three printers' namesare found in the imprints of books: R. Pierce, Benjamin Harris, and JohnAllen. Benjamin Harris is afterwards called 'Printer to his Excellency, the Governor and Council, ' but in 1693 Harris removed from 'over againstthe Old Meeting House, ' to 'the Bible over against the Blew Anchor, ' andanother printer, Bartholomew Green, seems to have shared with him theofficial work. Pennsylvania was the next of the colonies to establish a press; itsfirst printer, William Bradford, setting up there in 1685, in which yearhe printed _Kalendarium Pennsilvaniense, or, America's Messinger, Beingan Almanack for the Year of Grace 1686_. In 1688 Bradford issued proposals for printing a large Bible (Hildeburn, _Issues of the Pennsylvania Press_, vol. I. P. 9), but they came tonothing. In 1692 he printed several pamphlets for George Keith, theleader of the schism among the Quakers, and for this he was imprisoned. On his release he removed to New York. A press was also set up inVirginia in 1682, but was suppressed, and no printing allowed thereuntil 1729. The name of the printer is not known, but is believed tohave been William Nuthead, who set up a press in Maryland in 1689 with asimilar result. The first printer in New York was William Bradford, who began work thereon the 10th April 1693. Among his most famous publications before theclose of the seventeenth century was Keith's _Truth Advanced_, a quartoof 224 pages, printed on paper manufactured at his own mill and issuedin 1694; in the same year he also printed _The Laws and Acts of theGeneral Assembly_. [Footnote 13: _Dom. S. P. , Chas. II. _, vol. 243, p. 181. ] APPENDIX No. I LIST OF ENGLISH PRINTERS 1649-50 NAME OF PRINTER ADDRESS Alsop, Bernard, Grub Street. Austin, Robert, Addlehill. Bell, Jane, Christchurch. Bentley, William, Finsbury. Bishop, Richard, St. Peter Paul's Wharf. Broad, Thomas, City of York. Brudenell, Thomas, Newgate Market. Buck, John, Cambridge. Buck, or Bucks, Thomas, Cambridge. Clowes, John, Grub Street. Coe, Andrew, . .. Cole, Peter, . .. Coles, Amos, Ivy Lane. Constable, Richard, Smithfield. Cotes, or Coates, Richard, Aldersgate Street. Cottrell, James, . .. Crouch, Edward, . .. Crouch, John, . .. Dawson, Gertrude, Aldersgate Street. Dugard, William, Merchant Taylors' School. Ellis, William, Thames Street. Field, John, . .. Fletcher, or Flesher, James, Little Britain. Griffith, or Griffin, Edward, Old Bailey. Grismond, John, Ivy Lane. Hall, Henry, Oxford. Hare, Adam, Red Cross Street. Harper, Thomas, Little Britain. Harrison, Martha, . .. Heldersham, Francis, . .. Hills, Henry, Southwark. Hunscott, Joseph, Stationers' Hall. Hunt, William, Pie Corner. Husbands, Edward, Golden Dragon, Fleet Street. Ibbitson, Robert, Smithfield. Lee, William, Fleet Street. Leyborne, Robert, Mugwell Street. Litchfield, Leonard, Oxford. Mabb, Thomas, Ivy Lane. Maxey, Thomas, Bennett Paul's Wharf. Maycock, John, Addlehill. Meredith, Christopher, St. Paul's Churchyard. Miller, Abraham, Blackfriars. Mottershead, Edward, Doctors' Commons. Moxon, James, Houndsditch. Neale, Francis, Aldersgate Street. Newcombe, Thomas, Bennett Paul's Wharf, near Baynards Castle. Norton, Roger, Blackfriars. Partridge, John, Blackfriars. Payne, or Paine, Thomas, . .. Playford, John, . .. Purslowe, Elizabeth, Little Old Bailey. Ratcliffe, Thomas, Doctors' Commons. Raworth, Ruth, . .. Ross, Thomas, . .. Rothwell, John, . .. Royston, John, } . .. Royston, Richard, }Roycroft, Thomas, . .. Simmons, Matthew, . .. Thompson, George, . .. Tyton, Francis, . .. Walkeley, Thomas . .. Warren, Thomas, . .. Wilson, William, . .. Wright, John, . .. Wright, William, . .. APPENDIX No. II List of severall printing houses taken ye 24th July 1668:-- The Kings printing office in English. The Kings printing office in Hebrew, Greek, and Latine. Roger Norton. The Kings printer in ye Oriental tongues. Thomas Roycroft. Collonell John Streater by an especial provisoe in ye Act. [The samewho in 1653 had been committed to the Gatehouse for printing seditiouspamphlets. ] The other Masters are Mr. Evan Tyler. " Robert White. " James Flesher. " Richard Hodgkinson. " Thomas Ratliffe. " John Maycocke. " John Field. " Thomas Newcomb. " William Godbid. " John Redman. " Thomas Johnson. " Nath Crouch. " Thomas Purslowe. " Peter Lillicrapp. " Thomas Leach. " Henry Lloyd. " Thomas Milbourne. " James Cottrell. " Andrew Coe. " Henry Bridges. Widdowes of printers:-- Mrs. Sarah Gryffyth. " Cotes. " Simmons. " Anne Maxwell. Custome house printer. Printers yt were Masters at ye passeing of ye Act wch aredisabled by ye fire:-- Mr. John Brudenall. " Hayes. " Child. " Warren. " Leybourne. " Wood. " Vaughan. " Ouseley. Printers set up since ye Act and contrary to it:-- Mr. William Rawlins. " John Winter " John Darby. " Edward Oakes. (_Dom. S. P. Chas. II_. , vol. 243, No. 126. ) APPENDIX No. III NUMBER OF PRESSES AND WORKMEN EMPLOYED IN THE PRINTING-HOUSES OF LONDONIN 1668 At the King's House, 6 Presses. 8 Compositors. 10 Pressmen. At Mr. Tyler's, 3 Presses and a Proofe Press. 1 Apprentice. 6 Workmen. At Mr. White's, 3 Presses. 3 Apprentices. 7 Workmen. At Mr. Flesher's, 5 Presses. 2 Apprentices. 13 Workmen. At Mr. Norton's, 3 Presses. 1 Apprentice. 7 Workmen. At Mr. Rycroft's [Roycroft's] 4 Presses. 2 Apprentices. 10 Workmen [three of whom were not free of the Company. ]At Mr. Ratcliffe's, 2 Presses. 2 Apprentices. 7 Workmen. At Mr. Maycock's, 3 Presses. 3 Apprentices. 10 Workmen. At Mr. Newcombe's, 3 Presses and a Proof Press. 1 Apprentice. 7 Compositors. 5 Pressmen. At Mr. Godbidd's, 3 Presses. 2 Apprentices. 5 Workmen. At Mr. Streater's, 5 Presses. 6 Compositors. 2 Pressmen. At Mr. Milbourne's, 2 Presses, 0 Apprentices. 2 Workmen. At Mr. Catterell's [Cottrell?], 2 Presses. 0 Apprentices. 2 Compositors. 1 Pressman. At Mrs. Symond's, 2 Presses. 1 Apprentice. 5 Workmen. At Mrs. Cotes, 3 Presses. 2 Apprentices. 9 Pressmen. At Mrs. Griffin's, 2 Presses. 1 Apprentice. 6 Workmen. At Mr. Leach's, 1 Press and no more provided by Mr. Graydon. 1 Workman. At Mr. Maxwell's, 2 Presses, 0 Apprentice. 3 Compositors. 3 Pressmen. At Mr. Lillicropp's, 1 Press. 1 Apprentice, 1 Compositor. 1 Pressman. At Mr. Redman's, 2 Presses. 1 Apprentice. 4 Compositors. 2 Pressmen. At Mr. Cowes [Coe's?], 1 Press. At Mr. Lloyd's, 1 Press. At Mr. Oake's, 2 Presses. 0 Apprentices. 2 Workmen. At Mr. Purslowe's, 1 Press. 0 Apprentices. 1 Workman. At Mr. Johnson's, 2 Presses. 0 Apprentices. 3 Workmen. Mr. Darby, } These three printers areMr. Winter, } to be indicted at ye nextMr. Rawlyns, } session. At Mr. Crouch's, 1 Press. 0 Apprentices. 1 Workman. CHAPTER IX 1700-1750 Having to some extent shaken itself free from the cramping influences ofmonopolies and State interference, the output of the English printingpress at the commencement of the eighteenth century had almost doubledthat of thirty or forty years before, and presses were now at work invarious parts of the kingdom. But the long period of thraldom hadresulted in completely destroying all originality amongst the printers, and almost in the destruction of the art of letter-founding. In fact, sofar as printing with English types was concerned, the first twenty yearsof the eighteenth century was the worst period in the history ofprinting in this country. With the exception of the University ofOxford, which, owing to the generous bequests of Bishop Fell and others, was well supplied with good founts, the printers of this country werecompelled to obtain their type from Holland, and all the best and mostimportant books published in Queen Anne's days were printed with Dutchletter, as it was called. Jacob Tonson is said to have spent some £300in obtaining this foreign letter, and one important English foundry, that of Thomas James, was almost wholly stocked with these foreignfounts. Yet this Dutch letter was by no means easy to get, and theexperience of James, who in 1710 went to Holland for the purpose, boreout what Moxon had said in his _Mechanick Exercises_, that the art ofletter-cutting was jealously guarded by those who practised it. Some ofthe Dutch typefounders refused to sell him types on any terms, and itwas only by getting hold of a man who was more fond of his liquor thanhis trade, that James was able to get matrices, for even this individualrefused to sell his punches. Nor was the vendor in any hurry to partwith the matrices, and it cost James much money, time, and patiencebefore he was able to secure them. Writing from Rotterdam on the 27thJuly in that year, he says:-- 'The beauty of letters, like that of faces, is as people opine, . .. All the Romans excel what we have in England, in my opinion, and I hope, being well wrought, I mean cast, will gain the approbation of very handsome letters. The Italic I do not look upon to be unhandsome, though the Dutch are never very extraordinary in them. ' James returned to England with 3500 matrices of various founts of Romanand Italics, as well as sets of Greek and some black letter. He set uphis foundry in a part of the buildings belonging to the Priory of St. Bartholomew, in Smithfield, and it continued to be the most important inLondon until the days of Caslon. The proportion of Dutch to Englishtypes in the printing offices at that time is well illustrated by thevaluable list of the types possessed by John Baskett, the Royal printerat Oxford, in the year 1718. The Royal printing-house was perhaps thelargest and most lucrative office in the kingdom. For upwards of acentury it had been owned by the descendants of Christopher Barker, thelast of whom, Robert Barker, had died in 1645, after assigning hisbusiness to Messrs. Newcomb, Hill, Mearne, and others. From these thepatent was bought in 1709 by John Baskett, of whose antecedents nothingwhatever is known. In addition to the business at Blackfriars, Baskett, in conjunction with John Williams and Samuel Ashurst, obtained a leasefrom the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of Oxford University of theirprivilege of printing for twenty-one years. From an indenture in thepossession of Mr. J. H. Round, the substance of which he communicated tothe _Athenæum_ of September 5th, 1885, it appears that on the 24thDecember 1718 Baskett gave a bond to James Brooks, stationer of London, for a loan of £4000, and for security mortgaged his stock, which wasset out in a schedule as follows:-- 'An Account of the Letter, Presses, and other Stock and Implements of and in the Printing house at Oxford, belonging to John Baskett, citizen and stationer of London. ' 1. A large ffount of Perle letter cast by Mr Andrews. 2. A large ffount of Nonpl Letter new cast by ditto. 3. Another ffount of Nonpl Letter, old, the which standing and sett up in a Com'on prayer in 24mo compleat. 4. A large ffount of Minn Letter new cast by Mr Andrews. 5. Another large ffount of Minn Letter, new cast in Holland. 6. The whole Testament standing in Brevr and Minn Letter, old. 7. A large ffount of Brevr Letter, new cast in Holland. 8. A very large ffount of Lo: Primer Letter, new cast by Mr Andrew. 9. A large ffount of pica Letter very good, cast by ditto. 10. Another large ffount of ditto, never used, cast in Holland. 11. A small quantity of English, new cast by Mr Andrews. 12. A small quantity of Great Primr new cast by ditto. 13. A very large ffount of Double Pica, new, the largest in England. 14. A quantity of two-line English letters. 15. A quantity of French Cannon, two-line letters of all sorts, and a set of silver initial letters. Cases, stands, etc. Five printing presses very good. John Baskett is chiefly remembered for the magnificent edition of theBible which he printed in 1716-1717, in two volumes imperial folio, andwhich from an error in the headline of the 20th chapter of St. Luke, where the parable of the Vineyard was rendered as the 'parable of theVinegar, ' has ever since been known as the 'Vinegar Bible. ' This slipwas only one of many faults in the edition, which earned for it thetitle of 'A Baskett-full of printer's errors. ' But apart from theseerrors, the book was a very splendid specimen of the printer's art, andhas been described as the most magnificent of the Oxford Bibles. Thetype, double pica Roman and Italic, was beautifully cut, and was thatwhich is described in the above list as the 'largest in England. ' It wasclearly not one of the founts belonging to the University, for, had itbeen, Baskett would have had no power to mortgage it. It is alsonoticeable that it was not described as 'cast in Holland, ' as many ofthe others were, so we may infer that it was cast in England, and aninteresting question arises, by whom? Clearly it was not cast by Mr. Andrews, or Baskett would have said so. During a great part of his life, Baskett was engaged in litigation overhis monopoly of Bible printing, and in spite of the large profitsattached to it, he became bankrupt in 1732. Further trouble fell uponhim in 1738 by the destruction of his office by fire. He died on June22nd, 1742. At one period he had been in danger of losing his patentaltogether, for Queen Anne was induced by Lord Bolingbroke and others toconstitute Benjamin Tooke and John Barber to be Royal printers inreversion, in anticipation of the ending of Baskett's lease in 1739; butBaskett purchased this reversion from Barber, and afterwards obtained arenewal of his patent for sixty years, the last thirty of which weresubsequently acquired by Charles Eyre for £10, 000. John Barber, who for a time held the reversion of Baskett's patent, wasthe only printer who has ever held the high office of Lord Mayor ofLondon, and for this reason among others he deserves a brief notice. Hewas born of poor parents in 1675, and according to one account wasgreatly helped in early life by Nathaniel Settle, the city poet. He was apprenticed to Mrs. Clark, a printer in Thames Street, andproving himself a steady and good workman, was able to set up forhimself in 1700. His first printing-house was in Queen's Head Alley, whence he soon afterwards moved to Lambeth Hill, near Old Fish Street. Accounts differ as to his first work. Curll, in his _Impartial Historyof the Life, Character, etc. , of Mr. John Barber_ (London, 1741), saysthat the alderman himself admitted that the first fifty pounds he couldcall his own were earned by printing a pamphlet written by CharlesD'Avenant; while in the _Life and Character_, another pamphlet printedin the same year for T. Cooper, it is said that it was Defoe's _Diet ofPoland_ which brought him the first money he laid up. It is also saidthat he was greatly indebted to Dean Swift for his rapid advancement. By whatever means it was accomplished, Barber was introduced to HenrySt. John, afterwards Lord Bolingbroke, and was engaged as printer to theMinistry, his printing-house becoming the meeting-place of thestatesmen, poets, and wits of the day. Barber was himself a genialcompanion and hard drinker, who spent his money freely, and in this waymade many friends. He printed for Dean Swift, for Pope, Matthew Prior, and Dr. King, and was also the printer of nearly all the writings of theversatile and unhappy Mrs. Manley. The story of her connection withBarber is sufficiently well known. At the time of the South Sea scheme Barber took large shares, and, it issaid, amassed a considerable fortune before the bubble burst. But he wasindebted mainly to the patronage of Lord Bolingbroke for his success asa printer. Through that statesman he obtained the contract for printingthe votes of the House of Commons, and by the same influence he becameprinter of the _London Gazette_, _The Examiner_, and _Mercator_, printerto the City of London, and finally received from the Queen the reversionof the office of Royal Printer, which he soon after relinquished toBaskett for £1500. Elected as alderman of Baynard Castle ward, Barber filled the office ofSheriff, and in 1733 became Lord Mayor of the City of London. As LordMayor, he gained great popularity from his opposition to the ExciseBill, and by permitting persons tried and acquitted at the Old Bailey tobe discharged without any fees. He died on the 22nd January 1740. Much amusement, not altogether unmixed with uneasiness, was caused inthe printing trade between 1727 and 1740 by a futile attempt tointroduce stereotyping. A Scotch printer having complained to agoldsmith in Edinburgh of the vexatious delays and inconvenience ofhaving to send to London or Holland for type, it occurred to WilliamGed, the goldsmith in question, that, to use the words of Timperley (p. 584), the transition from founding single letters to founding wholepages, 'should be no difficult matter. ' He made several experiments, andat length satisfied himself that his scheme was practicable. Accordingly, in 1727, he entered into a contract with an Edinburghprinter to carry out the invention, but after two years his partnerwithdrew, being alarmed at the probable cost. Ged then entered intopartnership with William Fenner, a stationer in London, by whom he wasintroduced to Thomas James, the founder, and a company was formed towork the scheme. But James, perhaps influenced by the representations ofhis 'compositors, ' whom the new invention threatened with the loss ofwork, instead of helping, did his utmost to ruin the undertaking and itsinventor. Instead of supplying the best and newest type from which thematrices might be made, he furnished the worst, whilst his workmendamaged the formes. Much the same happened at Cambridge, where Ged wasfor a time installed as printer to the University. He struggled againstthe opposition so far as to produce two Prayer Books, but such was theanimosity shown to the new invention, that the books were suppressed byauthority, and the plates broken up. To add further to his troubles, dissension broke out between James and Fenner, neither of whom had anycause to be proud of their action towards Ged, who, disheartened andruined, returned to Edinburgh. There another attempt was made by thefriends of the inventor to produce a book, but no compositor could befound to set up the type, and it was only by Ged's son working at nightthat the edition of _Sallust_, and a few theological books, werefinished and printed at Newcastle. Ged died in 1749, and his sonssubsequently emigrated to the West Indies. Next to the King's printing-house, the press of which we have the mostaccurate knowledge at this time was that of William Bowyer, the elderand the younger. The seven volumes of Nichols's _Literary Anecdotes_give a complete record of the work of this printing-house, and from themthe following brief account has been taken. William Bowyer, the elder, had been apprentice to Miles Flesher, and was admitted to the freedomof the Company of Stationers on October 4th, 1686. He started businesson his own account in Little Britain in 1699, with a pamphlet ofninety-six pages on the _Eikon Basilike_ controversy. He afterwardsmoved into White Friars, where, on the night of January 29th, 1712, hisprinting office was burnt to the ground; among the works that perishedin the flames being almost the whole impression of Atkyn's _History ofGloucestershire_, Sir Roger L'Estrange's _Josephus_, 'printed with afine Elzevir letter never used before'; the fifteenth volume of Rymer's_Fœdera_; Thoresby's _Ducatus Leodiensis_, and an old book, _ofMonarchy_, by Sir John Fortescue, in 'Saxon, ' with notes upon it, printed on an 'extraordinary paper' (Nichols's _Literary Anecdotes_, vol. I. P. 56). This short list of notable works proves that Bowyer hada flourishing business at the time of the catastrophe. A subscriptionwas at once raised for his relief, and £1162 subscribed by thebooksellers and printers in a very short time. A royal brief was alsogranted to him for the same purposes, and by this he received £1377, making a grand total of £2539, with which he began business anew. Inremembrance of his misfortune, Bowyer had several tail-pieces anddevices engraved, representing a phoenix rising from the flames. In 1715 Bowyer the elder printed Miss Elstob's _Anglo-Saxon Grammar_. The types for this were cut by Robert Andrews from drawings made byHumphrey Wanley, and were given to the printer by Lord Chief-JusticeParker. But these types were very indifferently cut. Wanley himself said'when the alphabet came into the hands of the workman (who was but ablunderer) he could not imitate the fine and regular stroke of the pen;so that the letters are not only clumsy, but unlike those that I drew. ' In 1721 Bowyer printed an edition of Bishop Bull's Latin works in folio, but lost £200 by the impression. The following year his son, WilliamBowyer the younger, joined him in the business. The younger Bowyer had received an University education, though he neversucceeded in taking a degree. He was, however, a highly cultivated man, and employed his pen in many of the controversies of the time, writing_Remarks on Mr. Bowman's Visitation Sermon_ in 1731, and on Stephen's_Thesaurus_ in 1733, and in 1744 a pamphlet on the _Present State ofEurope_. But at the beginning of his connection with the printing-house, he was mainly concerned in reading the proofs of the learned worksentrusted to his father for printing, and though towards the latter endof the elder Bowyer's days the son may have taken a more active part inthe practical work, as we read of his appointment as printer of thevotes in the House of Commons in 1729, and as printer to the Societyof Antiquaries in 1736, it was not until his father's death, in 1737, that the sole management of the business devolved upon him. [Illustration: WILLIAM CASLON] One of the earliest works upon which the younger Bowyer was employed as'reader' was Dr. Wilkins's edition of Selden's Works, printed by Bowyerthe elder in six folio volumes in 1722. The publication of this bookmarks an era in the history of English printing, for the types withwhich it was printed were cut by William Caslon. This famous type-founder, who by his skill raised the art of printing toa higher level than it had reached since the days of John Day, was bornat Cradley, near Hales Owen in Shropshire. We are indebted for hisbiography partly to Bowyer and partly to Nichols, but it must beconfessed that the earlier part of it is vague and unconvincing. According to this oft-quoted story, Caslon began life as an engraver ofgun-locks, and made blocking tools for binders. This was somewhere about1716, in which year it is said John Watts, the printer, became hispatron, and employed him to cut type punches. Bowyer became acquaintedwith him from seeing some specimen of his lettering on a book, and tookhim to the foundry of James, in Bartholomew Close. Bowyer next advancedhim some money, as also did Watts, and with these loans he set up forhimself, his first essay in type-founding being a fount of Arabic forthe Psalter published by the Society for the Promotion of ChristianKnowledge. When he had finished the Arabic, _i. E. _ somewhere about 1724or 1725, he cut his own name in Roman type and placed it at the foot ofthe specimen. This attracted the notice of Samuel Palmer, the author ofa very unreliable _History of Printing_, and with Palmer, Caslon workedfor some time, but at length transferred his services to William Bowyer, for whom he cut the types of the 'Selden. ' It is almost impossible to place any reliance upon so vague andinconclusive a biography as this. There was a belief in the Caslonfamily that he began letter-cutting before 1720, and the equally vaguetraditions which point to a later date need not make us treat this asimpossible. Was his the unknown hand that cut the double pica type which Baskettused in printing the 'Vinegar' Bible? A close examination of the typesused in that Bible, those used in printing the folio edition of Pope's_Iliad_, and those of the 'Selden, ' reveals a striking resemblance, especially in the form of the italic letter, and at least makes it clearthat if the two first-mentioned works were printed with Dutch letter, then it was on the best form of that letter that Caslon modelled histypes. The charm of Caslon's Roman letter lay in its wonderful regularity aswell as in the shape and proportion of the letters. In this respect itwas a worthy successor to the best Aldine founts of the sixteenthcentury. The italic was also noticeable for its beauty and regularity. Caslon's superiority over all other letter-cutters, English or Dutch, was quickly recognised, and from this time forward until the close ofthe century all the best and most important books were printed withCaslon's letter; the old letter-founders, such as James and Grover, being entirely neglected, and even such a powerful rival as JohnBaskerville being unable to compete with him. In addition to the printers in London already noticed, there were twoothers who must not be forgotten. Samuel Richardson, author of _Pamela_, _Clarissa Harlowe_, and _Sir Charles Grandison_, was by trade a printer. Born in Derbyshire, of humble parents, in 1689, he was apprenticed toMr. John Wilde, a printer in London, whom he served for seven years. Hetook up his freedom in 1706, and started business for himself inSalisbury Court, Fleet Street. Among his earliest patrons were the Dukeof Wharton, for whom he printed some six numbers of a paper called the_True Briton_, and the Right Hon. Arthur Onslow, by whose interest heobtained the printing of the Journals of the House of Commons. But hedid some better work than this, as in 1732 he printed for Andrew Millara good edition in folio of _Churchill's Voyages_, and in 1733 the secondvolume of De Thou's _History_, a work in seven folio volumes, edited bySamuel Buckley, his share in which reflects credit on Richardson as aprinter. Between 1736-37 he printed _The Daily Journal_, and in 1738 the_Daily Gazeteer_, and in 1740 the newly-formed Society for theEncouragement of Learning entrusted to him the printing of the firstvolume of _The Negociations of Sir Thomas Roe_, in folio. In this thetext was printed in the same type as the De Thou, but the dedication wasin a fount of double pica Roman. This work, which was intended to havebeen in six volumes, was never completed. Richardson's work as an author began in 1741 with the publication of_Pamela_, in four volumes, duodecimo, printed at his own press. _Clarissa Harlowe_ appeared in 1747-48, and in 1753 his final novel, _Sir Charles Grandison_. Through the treachery of one of his workmen inthe printing office, the Dublin booksellers were enabled to issue anedition of _Sir Charles Grandison_ before the work had left Richardson'spress. He vented his aggrieved feelings by printing a pamphlet, _TheCase of Samuel Richardson of London, Printer_. In 1755 Richardson rebuilt his premises, and in 1760 he bought half thepatent of law printing, which he shared with Catherine Lintot. Hisdeath took place on the 4th July 1761, his business being afterwardscarried on by his nephew, William Richardson. The other press to which reference has been made was that of HenryWoodfall. In the first series of _Notes and Queries_ (vol. Xi. Pp. 377, 418) an anonymous contributor supplied some very interesting andvaluable notes drawn from the ledgers of that printer between the years1734 and 1747. Such a record is the most valuable material for a historyof printing, but unfortunately this is the only known instance in whichit is available. It supplies us with the most useful information, thenumbers of copies that went to make up an edition, the quality and costof the paper and the number of sheets contained in each volume, withmany other interesting particulars, which it is impossible to get fromany other source. While recognising the value of these extracts fromWoodfall's ledger, the writer hardly seems to have made the most of hisopportunity. In many instances he gives only the title of the work andthe number of copies printed, omitting all particulars as regards thecost of printing. But even as it stands this series of papers throwsmuch interesting light upon the publication of some of the notable worksof that period. Woodfall's printing was broadly divided into two classes, 'gentlemen'swork' and 'booksellers' work, ' and the second is naturally the moreinteresting. Among those for whom he printed were Bernard and Henry Lintot, RobertDodsley, Andrew Millar, and Lawton Gilliver. Against Bernard Lintot isthe following entry:-- Decr. 15th, 1735-- Printing the first volume of Mr. Pope's Works, Cr. , Long Primer, 8vo, 3000 (and 75 fine), @£2, 2s. Per sheet, 14 sheets and a half, 30. 09. 0 Title in red and black, 1. 1 Paid for 2 reams and 1/4 of writing demy, 2. 16. 3 On May 15, 1736, Woodfall enters to Henry Lintot-- The _Iliad of Homer_ by Mr. Pope, demy, Long Primer and Brevier. No. 2000 in6 vols, 68 sheets and 1/2 @ £2, 2s. Per sheet, £143. 17 Under Dodsley's account is entered on 12th May 1737-- Printing the _first Epistle of the Second Bookof Horace Imitated_, folio, double size, Poetry, No. 2000, and 150 fine, [seven] shts. , at27s. Per sht. , 9. 09. 0 May 18, 1737. 150 fol. Titles, _Second Book ofEpistles_, 4. 0 A few weeks later Woodfall received an order from Lawton Gilliver for1500 crown octavo copies of _Epistles of Horace_, and 100 fine or largepaper copies. The second edition of Pope's Works was also printed byWoodfall for Henry Lintot, the order being for 2000. For Andrew Millar Woodfall printed the following works of Thomson thepoet-- Oct. 14th 1734. Spring, a poem, 8vo, 250copies. Jan. 8th 173-4/5. Liberty, a poem, 1st partcr. 8vo, No. 3000, and 250 fine copies. Of the 4th and 6th parts only 1250 copies were printed. June 6th, 1738, Mr. Thomson's Works. Vol. I. No. 1000, 8vo. With the issue of the second volume the number was increased to 1500. _The Seasons_ were printed on June 19th, 1744, in octavo. There were1500 errata in the work, and a special charge of £2, 4s. Was made for'divers and repeated alterations. ' Among the miscellaneous writers whose works were passed through theelder Woodfall's press was the Rev. John Peters, against whom he enteredan account, dated July 17th, 1735, for printing _Thoughts concerningReligion_, 4to, 16 sheets. This gentleman was a literary shark, ready todevour any unprotected morsel that came in his way. The work abovementioned, and another printed by Woodfall in 1732, called _A Letter toa Bishop_, were afterwards discovered to be from the pen of DuncanForbes, and were published in an edition of his works printed inEdinburgh and London in 1751. A lawsuit was at once commenced by GeorgeWoodfall and John Peters against the publishers of Forbes' works, thename of Messrs. Rivington being prominently mentioned, and thedefendants, in their answer, stated that the two works in question werewell known to have been written by Duncan Forbes, and that the MS. Wasin the possession of his family. [14] This little incident, taken in conjunction with Henry Woodfall'sconnection with E. Curll and the letters of Pope, and the story told byThomas Gent of the printing of _The Bishop of Rochester's Effigy_, showsthat he was a worthy disciple of Iago in the matter ofmoney-getting. [15] Mention of Thomas Gent leads naturally to a study of the provincialpress of this period. This is a much more difficult matter than it hasbeen hitherto, as presses were established not in three or four placesonly, but in almost every town of any size. The history of provincialprinting has never yet been written, and the task of tracing out thevarious printers and their work would be long and arduous. All that isattempted here is to give a sketch of the earlier and more importantpresses, adding in an appendix a chronological list of the places inwhich printing was carried on before 1750. In the previous chapter it has been shown how the munificence of BishopFell and Francis Junius furnished the University of Oxford with anunusually large stock of excellent letter of all descriptions, so thatit was in a position to do better work than any other house in thekingdom. Its productions, during the first twenty years of theeighteenth century, were in every way worthy of its reputation, and someof them deserve special mention. In 1705 Hickes's _Linguarum Vett. Septentrionalium Thesaurus_ was issuedin three large folio volumes of great beauty. The work required manyunusual founts, and these were mainly furnished from the bequest ofJunius. In 1707 the University published Mill's _Greek Testament_, which Wood inhis _Athenæ Oxonienses_ (vol. Ii. P. 604) says had been begun in 1681 atBishop Fell's printing-house near the theatre. The double pica italicused in this was a grand letter. Both the foregoing works wereornamented with handsome initial letters, and head and tail piecesengraved by M. Burghers, probably the first engraver of the day in thiscountry. Many classical works were also produced in the same sumptuousmanner, notably Hudson's edition of the _Works of Dionysius_, 1704, whichit is difficult to praise too highly. The copies measured nearlyeighteen inches in height, the paper was thick and good; the Greek andLatin texts were printed side by side, with notes at the foot, yetample margins were left. In fact it is one of the finest examples ofEnglish printing of this period to be met with. Cambridge was sadly behind her sister University. Neither Reed in his_Old English Letter Foundries_, nor Mr. Allnutt in his valuable articleson Provincial Presses, has anything to say of it. Cornelius Crowndalewas the University printer at this time, but beyond an edition of_Eusebius_ in three folio volumes, issued in 1720, no notable book camefrom his press, little in fact beyond reprints in octavo and duodecimoof classical works for the use of the scholars, and repeated editions ofthe Bible and Book of Common Prayer, full of errors, and so badlyprinted that the less said about them the better. We may notice, however, an edition of Butler's _Hudibras_, edited by Zachary Grey, intwo octavo volumes, with Hogarth's plates, and two books by ConyersMiddleton, _Bibliothecæ Cantabrigiensis ordinandæ methodus_, 1723, and_A Dissertation concerning the Origin of Printing in England, _ 1735, both in quarto. Among the earliest provincial presses at work in the beginning of theeighteenth century was that at Norwich, where Francis Burges wasestablished in the year 1701. Thomas Tanner, afterwards Bishop of St. Asaph, sent John Bagford a broadside, printed by that printer, a list ofthe clergy that were to preach in the cathedral at Norfolk fromNovember 1st, 1701, until Trinity Sunday following. In a MS. Note at thefoot Tanner says:-- 'DR. BAGFORD, --When you were at Cambridge, I thought you would have come to Norwich. I send this to put among your other collections of printers. It is the first thing that was ever printed here. '[16] In this statement, however, Tanner was wrong, unless we suppose thisbroadside to have been printed nearly five weeks in advance, as therehad appeared, on September 27th, 1701, _Some Observations on the Use andOriginal of the Noble Art and Mystery of Printing_, by Francis Burges, which is also claimed as the first book printed at Norwich since thesixteenth century. There is also evidence that Burges began to issue anewspaper called _The Norwich Post_ early in September. Among his otherwork of that year were sermons by John Jeffery and John Graile, andHumphrey Prideaux's _Directions to Churchwardens for the FaithfullDischarge of their Offices. For the Use of the Archdeaconry of Suffolk_. (Norwich 1701, quarto. ) Francis Burges died in January 1706, leaving thebusiness to his widow, who in the following year printed and published alittle tract of eight quarto pages, with the title, _A true descriptionof the City of Norwich both in its ancient and modern state_. Meanwhile, in November of the preceding year, a second press wasstarted in the town by Henry Crossgrove, who began to issue a papercalled the _Norwich Gazette_. Burges's business seems to have been taken by Freeman Collins, whoprinted from the same address, in 1713, Robert Pate's _Complete Syntax_. He in his turn was succeeded by Benjamin Lyon, who in 1718 reprinted the_True Description_, as _The History of the City of Norwich . .. To whichis added Norfolk's Furies: or a view of Kett's Camp_. (Norwich. Printedby Benj. Lyon near the Red-well, for Robert Allen and Nich. Lemon. 1718. 8vo. Pp. 40. ) He added to this some useful lists of bishops, etc. , and a'Chronological Account of Remarkable Accidents and Occurrences, todate, ' in which the following entries occur:-- '1701. The first printing office was set up in Norwich, near the Red-well, by Francis Surges. '1706. Sam. Hashart a distiller, set up a Printing Office, in Magdalen St. , and sent for Henry Cross-grove from London to be his journeyman. ' Crossgrove appears to have continued work till 1739, being succeeded byWilliam Chase, who had been printing since 1711, and who established the_Norwich Mercury_ in 1727. At Bristol the press that William Bonny had established in 1695continued to flourish until 1713. About November 1702 he began to issuea weekly paper called the _Bristol Post-Boy_, which ran until 1712, when it was either replaced or supplanted by Samuel Farley's _BristolPostman_. [17] The Parleys were noted printers in the West of England at this time, andthe above-named Samuel must not be confounded with Samuel Farley theExeter printer. In Cirencester printing began in 1718, in which year Thomas Hintonbrought out the first number of the _Cirencester Post_, and the_Gloucester Journal_ was printed in that city by R. Raikes and W. Diceyon April 9, 172-1/2. Robert Raikes continued printing there till 1750, and was succeeded by his son Robert, the founder of Sunday Schools. [18] In the neighbouring county of Devon the Exeter press, finallyestablished after many vicissitudes in 1698 by Samuel Darker, is foundbusily at work in 1701, Darker having been joined by Samuel Farley, whose relation to the Samuel Farley of Bristol offers an opportunity tosome cunning genealogist to reap distinction. In 1701 Farley issued byhimself John Prince's _Danmonii Orientales Illustres; or The Worthies ofDevon_, a work of 600 folio pages, with coats of arms. It was certainlyone of the largest works printed at that time by any provincial pressoutside the Universities. In point of workmanship all that can be saidfor it is that it was no worse than the bulk of the work turned out byprovincial presses; and it furnishes its own criticism in a list oferrata on the last page, which closes with the words, 'with many otherstoo tedious to insert. ' Thomas Tanner, writing to Browne Willis in 1706, says that he has heard of a bi-weekly paper printing at Exeter. No copyof an Exeter paper of so early a date is known. In 1705 Farley was joined by Joseph Bliss, and jointly they issuedseveral books; but the partnership lasted a very short time, as by 1708Joseph Bliss had set up for himself in the Exchange. On September 24, 1714, Samuel Farley issued the first number of _TheExeter Mercury; or Weekly Intelligence of News_, which in the next yearhe transferred to Philip Bishop. In 1715 also Joseph Bliss started arival sheet called the _Protestant Mercury, or The Exeter Post-Boy_, from his new printing-house near the London Inn. Meanwhile Farleyappears to have left Exeter, for on September 27, 1715, he published thefirst number of the _Salisbury Post-Man_. In 1717 Andrew Brice, the mostimportant of Exeter printers, began to print, his address then being 'Atthe Head of the Serge Market in Southgate Street, ' from which he issued, some time in 1718, a paper called the _Post-Master, or the LoyalMercury_. The history of this printer is too lengthy to be told here, and has already been ably written by Dr. T. N. Brushfield (_The Lifeand Bibliography of Andrew Brice_). Farley's name occurs again in 1723, when he returned to Exeter and started _Farley's Exeter Journal_. InNovember 1727 the burial of Samuel Farley is recorded in the registersat St. Paul's, Exeter. He was succeeded in business by an Edward Farley. Another provincial press that revived very early in the eighteenthcentury was that of Worcester. It had been silent for upwards of acentury and a half; but in June 1709 a printer from London, namedStephen Bryan, set up a press, and started a newspaper called the_Worcester Postman_. In 1722 the title was altered to the _WorcesterPost, or Western Journal_. Bryan died in 1748, but just previous to hisdeath he assigned his paper to Mr. H. Berrow, who then gave it the nameit has ever since borne, that of _Berrow's Worcester Journal_. Hazlitt, in his _Collections and Notes_ (3rd Series, p. 282), mentions abook entitled _Tunbridgialia, or ye pleasures of Tunbridge, a poem_, asprinted 'at Mount Sion at ye end of ye Upper Walk at Tunbridge Wells, '1705. At Canterbury printing was revived in 1717, and a very interestingrecord of it is in the British Museum in the form of a broadside withthe following title:-- 'A List of the names of the Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen & Common Councilof the City of Canterbury Who (In the year of our Lord 1717) promotedand encouraged the noble Art and Mystery of Printing in this City andCounty. ' Canterbury, Printed by J. Abree for T. James, S. Palmer, and W. Hunter, 1718. ' This John Abree died in 1765 at the age of seventy-seven. Turning northward, the most important presses were those of York andNewcastle. At York John White, who had settled in the city in 1680, was activelyengaged in business in 1701, and he remained the sole printer thereuntil his death in the year 1715. By his will, dated 31st July 1714, hegave his wife Grace White the use of one full half of his printing toolsand presses, etc. , for her life; and after her death he gave the same tohis grandson, Charles Bourne, to whom he bequeathed the remaining halfof his printing implements immediately upon his death. To John White, his son, he devised his real estate. On the 23rd February 1718-19 Grace White issued the first Yorknewspaper, _The York Mercury_. Upon her death in 1721 the printing-housewas carried on by Charles Bourne until 1724, when he was in turnsucceeded by Thomas Gent, who had served under John White in 1714-15, and married the widow of Charles Bourne. Davies in his _Memoirs of theYork Press_ (pp. 144 _et seq. _) gives a detailed and interestingbiography of this printer, who, he says, has obtained a wider celebritythan any other York typographer. Gent was an engraver as well asprinter, and was the author of a _History of York_, and other works. Asa printer his work was wretched; there is little to be said for him asan engraver; while as an author he was below mediocrity. Nevertheless, he deserves credit for the interest he took in the history of York. Hishistory of that city was published in small octavo in 1730, and hefollowed it up in 1735 with _Annales Regioduni Hullini, or The Historyof the Royal and Beautiful town of Kingston upon Hull_, also an octavo. These works were quickly overshadowed by Drake's _History_, and fromthis time forward Gent's fortunes began to decline. He made an enemy ofJohn White, the son of his old employer, with the result that White setup a press at York in 1725, and issued the first number of _The YorkCourant_, a weekly paper, but sold it and the business to AlexanderStaples ten years later. Staples in turn was succeeded by Cæsar Ward andRichard Chandler--the first a bookseller in York, the second in London;but Chandler committed suicide in 1744, and left Ward to carry on thebusiness alone. John Gilfillan was another printer at work in the cityduring this period. Thomas Gent lived to the age of eighty-seven, hisdeath taking place on the 19th May 1778. In Newcastle, John White, the son of the York printer of that name, began printing in 1708. He started the _Newcastle Courant_, the firstnumber of which appeared in 1711. In 1761 the firm became John White andCo. , and in 1763 John White and T. Saint. White died in 1769, when he issaid to have been the oldest printer in the kingdom. As has been noted, from 1725 to 1735 he had carried on a press at York in opposition to T. Gent. One or two other printers are found here for short periods, butlittle is known about them. Among other towns possessing presses early in this centurywere--Nottingham, 1711; Chester, 1711; Liverpool, 1712; and Birmingham, 1716. In America the number of printing presses increased but slowly duringthe first half of the eighteenth century. William Bradford in New Yorkcontinued the only printer in that province for thirty years. He died onthe 23rd May 1752, at the age of ninety-two. For fifty years he had beenprinter to the Government, and among the numerous books that camethrough his press were the Book of Common Prayer in quarto, in 1709, theonly issue in America before the Revolution, a venture by which he issaid to have lost heavily. He also printed a Mohawk Prayer-book inquarto; this was issued in 1715. On the 16th October 1725 he began topublish a weekly paper called _The New York Gazette_, and continued ituntil his retirement from business. In 1726 a German named John Peter Zenger set up as a printer in NewYork. He is chiefly remembered as the printer of the second New Yorknewspaper, the _New York Weekly Journal_, the first number of which waswrongly dated October 5th, 1733, instead of November 5th. The paperinvolved the printer in several actions for libel, and led to somelively passages with William Bradford. He is believed to have died about1746. Bradford was succeeded as printer to the Government by JamesParker, one of his apprentices, who is described as a neat workman. Hecontinued the _New York Gazette_, with the alternative title, _or WeeklyPost Boy_. He also issued in 1767 an edition of the Psalms in metre, oneof the earliest books printed from type cast in America. In 1753 Parker took into partnership William Weyman, but the connectionlasted but a short time, Weyman setting up for himself in 1759. Parkeralso established presses at New Haven and Woodbridge in New Jersey. Among the later printers in New York were Hugh Guine (1750-1800); JohnHolt (1750-1784), printer to the State during the war; Robert Hodge(1770-1813); and Frederick Shober (1772-1806). Philadelphia possessed only one printer until 1723--Andrew Bradford, sonof William Bradford, of New York. In 1723 Samuel Keimer set up near theMarket House. It was this printer whom Benjamin Franklin worked for inhis early days. Bradford started the _American Weekly Mercury_ onTuesday, November 22nd, 1719; and the _Pennsylvania Gazette_, afterwardscarried on by Franklin and Meredith, was first printed by Keimer. AndrewBradford died in 1742. Perhaps the most notable of Keimer's books wasthe folio edition of Sewell's _History of the Quakers_, which he beganin 1725. It was a work of upwards of seven hundred pages and Keimer soonfound that he had taken the contract at a ruinous rate. It was only bythe help of Franklin and Meredith that he was enabled to finish it in1728. Benjamin Franklin's history hardly needs retelling. His career as aprinter began in the shop of his brother James at Boston in 1717. Differences arose between them which ended in Franklin's setting out forNew York. Work was not to be had there, and by the advice of WilliamBradford he moved on to Philadelphia. There for some months he workedfor Samuel Keimer until, deluded by the promises of Governor Keith, hetook ship for England with a view of obtaining materials for a printingoffice. While in England he worked for James Watts in Bartholomew Close, and James Palmer. On his return to America he once more entered Keimer'soffice as a journeyman. But after a short time, in company with HughMeredith, he set up in business for himself. He was the proprietor andprinter of _Poor Richard's Almanack_, which became celebrated, and alsoof the _Pennsylvania Gazette_. After a long and prosperous careerFranklin died, on April 19th, 1790, at the age of eighty-five. Boston was the home of more printers than any other place in Americaduring the eighteenth century. To give anything like a history of even afew of them would be beyond the limits of this work. Only one or two ofthe more important can be even noticed. Thomas Fleet arrived in Boston in 1712, set up as a printer, and fornearly fifty years carried on business there. His issues wereprincipally pamphlets for booksellers, small books for children, andballads. He was also the proprietor of a newspaper called the _WeeklyRehearsal_, first begun in September 1731. At his death in July 1758, heleft three sons, two of whom succeeded him in business. In 1718 Samuel Kneeland set up in Prison Lane, and his printing housecontinued for eighty years. He was one of the printers of the _BostonGazette_, and he started besides several other journals. Thomas in hishistory (vol. I. P. 207) says that Kneeland, in company with BartholomewGreen, printed a small quarto edition of the English Bible with MarkBaskett's imprint, but this is not confirmed. Kneeland died on December14th, 1769. Another celebrated printer in the city of Boston wasGamaliel Rogers, who began business about 1729. In 1742 he entered intopartnership with Daniel Fowle. In the following year they issued thefirst numbers of the _American Magazine_, and in 1748 started the_Independent Advertiser_. The partnership with Fowle was dissolved in1750. Rogers subsequently moved to the western part of the town, butsuffered from a fire, which destroyed his plant. He died in 1775. Daniel Fowle, on the dissolution of his partnership with Rogers, set upfor himself. He was arrested in 1754 for printing a pamphlet reflectingon some members of the House of Representatives, and was thrown intoprison for several days. Upon his release, he at once left the town andset up in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he started the _New HampshireGazette_. He was succeeded in his Boston business by his brotherZachariah Fowle, who continued printing there until the Revolution, whenhe also retired to New Hampshire, where he died in 1776. [Footnote 14: Chancery Proceedings, 1753 (Record Office). ] [Footnote 15: _Notes and Queries_, First Series, vol. Xii. P. 197. ] [Footnote 16: Harl. MS. 5906. ] [Footnote 17: Hyett and Bazeley, _Bibliog. Man. Of Glouc. Literature_, vol. Iii. P. 339. ] [Footnote 18: Allnutt, _Bibliographica_, vol. Ii. P. 302. ] CHAPTER X 1750-1800 The improvement in printing which Caslon had begun quickly spread toother parts of the kingdom, even as far north as Scotland, where, beforethe middle of the century, there was established at Glasgow a press thatbecame notable for the beauty of its productions. Robert and Andrew Foulis, the founders of this press, were the sons ofAndrew Faulls and Marion Paterson, Robert being born at Glasgow on April20th, 1707, and his brother on November 23rd, 1712. Robert Foulis was apprenticed to a barber, but his love for literatureled him to study at the University, where he attended the moralphilosophy lectures of Francis Hutcheson, who advised him to become abookseller and printer. His brother, Andrew, entered the University at alater date, destined for the ministry, and during their vacations theytravelled throughout England and on the Continent. In the course ofthese travels they sought for and brought back with them many rare andbeautiful books, and gained a wide knowledge of the book trade. At length, in 1741, Robert Foulis set up as a bookseller in Glasgow. Insome of his earlier publications will be found lists of books printedand sold by him, which are very interesting. One of these, whichenumerates fifteen books, includes a Greek Testament, Buchanan's editionof the Psalms, Burnet's _Life of the Earl of Rochester_, seven or eightclassics, among which were a Cicero, Juvenal, Cornelius Nepos, Phædrus, and Terence, and two of Tasso's works. The Terence was printed for himby Robert Urie, and shows some excellent founts of small italic andRoman. Robert Foulis seems to have begun printing on his own account in1742, and among his earliest patrons was Professor Hutcheson, for whomhe printed a treatise entitled _Metaphysicæ Synopsis_, a duodecimo ofninety pages, and a work on Moral Philosophy of three hundred and thirtypages. He also printed in the same year the second and third editions ofa sermon preached by William Leechman before the Synod of Glasgow andAyr, _The Meditations of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus_, andeditions of Cicero and Phædrus. All these were in duodecimo or smalloctavo, printed in a clear readable type, that probably came fromUrie's foundry. On the 31st March 1743, Robert Foulis was appointedprinter to the University of Glasgow, and published _Demetrius Phalerusde Elocutione_ in two sizes, quarto and octavo. This was the first bookprinted at Glasgow in Greek type, the Greek and Latin renderings beingprinted on opposite pages--the Latin in a fount of English Roman thatcannot be distinguished from Caslon's letter, while the italic also hasa strong resemblance to that of the English founder. Among otherproductions of the year 1743 was a specimen of another Glasgow man'swork, Bishop Burnet's translation of Sir Thomas More's _Utopia_, towhich was prefixed Holbein's portrait of the great Chancellor. In 1744 Dr. Andrew Wilson, who for some years had been furnishing Scotchand Irish printers with types from his foundry, moved to Camlachie, aspot within a mile of Glasgow, and at once began to furnish letter forRobert Foulis. In the same year Robert took his brother Andrew intopartnership, and the firm quickly became famous for the beauty andcorrectness of their classics, beginning with the edition of Horace, which, from the fact of its having only six errors in the text, waschristened the immaculate. Other attractive books were the Sophocles of1745, quarto; Cicero in twenty volumes, small octavo; the small folioedition of Callimachus, which took the silver medal offered inEdinburgh for the finest book of not fewer than ten sheets; themagnificent Homer, which Reed in his _Old English Letter Foundries_describes as 'for accuracy and splendour the finest monument of theFoulis press. ' But the Foulis press did not confine itself to classicsonly. It published several fine editions of English authors, among thema folio edition of Milton's _Paradise Lost_, and editions of the poemsof Gray and Pope. In 1775 Andrew Foulis died suddenly. The blow was veryseverely felt by his brother, and coming as it did upon the failure ofhis Academy of Arts, completely crushed him. He removed his artcollection to London for sale; but here another disappointment awaitedhim--the sum realised after paying expenses being fifteen shillings. Hereturned to Edinburgh, and was on the point of starting for Glasgow whenhe died on the 2nd June 1776. The Foulis press was carried on by theyounger Andrew Foulis until the end of the century. In England, the chief event of this period was the appearance of JohnBaskerville at Birmingham. No satisfactory biography of Baskerville has yet been written, but thebest sketches of his life are those by the late T. B. Reed in his_History of the Old English Letter Foundries_ (chap, xiii. ), whichcontains some highly interesting and valuable correspondence betweenBaskerville and his publisher, R. Dodsley, and the more recentarticle in the _Dictionary of National Biography_, from the pen of Mr. Tedder. [Illustration: JOHN THOMAS BASKERVILLE. ] John Baskerville was born in 1706 at Wolverley, a village inWorcestershire. No one has discovered where he was educated: yet this isone of the points upon which we should like to know something, becauseit is generally admitted that he was a very beautiful writer; indeed, itwas to his love of calligraphy that we owe the regular andwell-proportioned letters associated with his name. For some time heearned his living as a writing-master; after which he appears to havegone into the japanning trade, and in 1750 embarked some capital in aletter foundry. Another point upon which his biographers are silent isthe place where he learnt the art of printing. For we know that thepunches of his foundry were not cut by himself, and that he was not inany sense a practical printer; yet he must have obtained some knowledgeof the rudiments of the art before taking over the responsibilities of afoundry of his own. Baskerville appears to have employed the mostskilled artists he could obtain, and it is said that he spent upwards of£600--some say £800--before he obtained a fount to suit him. His lettersto Dodsley show how anxious he was to attain perfection. The result ofall this care and labour was shown in the quarto edition of _Virgil_which appeared in 1757, and was followed by quarto editions of Milton's_Paradise Lost_ and _Paradise Regained_. The appearance of Baskerville's publications gave rise to no littlecontroversy. By some they were hailed with unstinted praise; whileothers, such as Mores and Dr. Bedford, looked upon them with somethinglittle short of contempt. Yet it is difficult to understand the groundsof these adverse criticisms. As regards type, there is very little tochoose between Caslon's Roman and that of Baskerville, while the italicof Baskerville was unquestionably the most beautiful type that had everbeen seen in England; and the ridiculous criticism passed on it that itsvery fineness was injurious to the eyesight, was shown to be utterlyworthless by Franklin's letter to the printer, which is printed inReed's _Old English Letter Foundries_. But there are also other featuresof excellence about these books of Baskerville's. They are simplicityitself. There is not a single ornament or tail-piece introduced intothem to divide the attention. The books were printed with deep and widemargins, and the lines were spaced out with the very best effect. The first public body to recognise Baskerville's ability was theUniversity of Oxford, which in July 1758 empowered him to cut a fount ofGreek types for 200 guineas. This order proved to be beyond his power. It is generally admitted that his Greek type was a failure, and hewisely made no further attempts at cutting learned characters. Some ofthe punches of Baskerville's Greek types are still preserved at Oxford, and are the only specimens of his foundry that we have. In his Preface to _Paradise Lost_, Baskerville stated that the extent ofhis ambition was to print an octavo Prayer Book and a folio Bible. Inconnection with this ambition, he applied to the University of Cambridgefor appointment as their printer, a privilege which was granted to him, but at the cost of such a heavy premium that he obtained no pecuniaryprofit from it. The Prayer Book printed in two forms appeared in 1760, and the same year saw the prospectus and specimen of the Bible issued, the Bible itself appearing in 1763 in imperial folio. Both are beautifulspecimens of the printer's art. But Baskerville soon became disgusted with the ill-natured criticism towhich he was subjected, coupled with the failure of booksellers tosupport him, and was anxious to have done with the business. The yearbefore the publication of the Bible, he wrote to Horace Walpole a lettergiven by Reed (p. 278) in which he says that he is sending specimens ofhis foundry to foreign courts in the hope of finding among them apurchaser for the whole concern, and during the next few years he was incorrespondence with Franklin with the same object. Fortunately for hiscountry, these attempts were unsuccessful during his life-time, andbetween the years 1760-1773 he produced not only several editions of theBible and Common Prayer, but the works of Addison, 4 vols. 1761, 4to;the works of Congreve, 3 vols. 1761, 8vo; _Æsop's Fables_; and in 1772 aseries of the classics in quarto, which, Reed says, 'suffice, had heprinted nothing else, to distinguish him as the first typographer of histime' (p. 281). Baskerville died on January 8th, 1775, and for a few years his widowcarried on the foundry; but at the same time endeavoured to dispose ofit. Both our Universities refused it, and no London foundry would touchit, because the booksellers would have nothing but the types of Caslonand Jackson. The type was eventually sold in 1779 to the SociétéLittéraire-typographique of France for £3700, and was used in asumptuous edition of the works of Voltaire. Yet one firm was found bold enough to model its letter on that ofBaskerville. In 1764 Joseph Fry, a native of Bristol, beganletter-founding in that city. He took as a partner William Pine, proprietor of the _Bristol Gazette_, but the business was not carried onin their name but in that of Isaac Moore, their manager. In 1768 theyremoved the foundry to London, and issued a prospectus. But so strongwas the prejudice against Baskerville's letter--or, perhaps, it would bebetter to say, so strong was the hold which Caslon's foundry hadobtained--that they were compelled to recast the whole of their stock. This took them several years; meanwhile, they issued one or two editionsof the Bible in their first fount. In 1776 Isaac Moore severed hisconnection with the firm. In 1782 Mr. Pine also withdrew, and Joseph Fryadmitted his two sons, Edmund and Henry, into partnership. At length in1785 appeared the first specimen-book of Fry's foundry, and it wasfrankly admitted in the preface that the founts of Roman and italic weremodelled on those of Caslon. Joseph Fry retired from the business in 1787. Amongst the books printedwith his later type may be mentioned the quarto edition of the classicsedited by Dr. Homer. Caslon the First died at Bethnal Green on January 23rd, 1766. His son, Caslon the Second, died intestate on the 17th August 1778, when thebusiness came to his son, William Caslon the Third. In the same yearthat Joseph Fry published his Specimen of Types, Caslon the Third alsopublished a specimen-book of sixty-two sheets, in every way worthy ofthe reputation the firm had established. It included, besides Romans anditalics of great beauty and regularity, every variety of oriental andlearned founts, and several sheets of ornaments and flowers, arranged invarious designs. This book was dedicated to the king, and contained anaddress to the reader in which, after reviewing the establishment ofthe foundry, Caslon referred bitterly to the eager rivalry of otherprinters and their open avowal of imitation. In 1793 Caslon the Thirddisposed of his share in the Chiswell Street business to his mother andhis brother Henry's widow. Mrs. William Caslon, senior, died in October 1795, when the business wassold by auction and bought by Mrs. Henry Caslon for £520. Joseph Jackson, who shared with the Caslons the favour of the Londonbooksellers, was one of two apprentices formerly in the employ ofWilliam Caslon II. Some dispute arose in the foundry about the price ofcertain work, and Joseph Jackson and Thomas Cottrell, having acted asringleaders in the movement, were dismissed, and being thrown on theirown resources, set up a foundry of their own in Nevil's Court, FetterLane. Of the two Jackson proved far the more skilful, but seems to havebeen of a roving disposition. After working for a year or two withCottrell he went to sea, leaving Cottrell to carry on the businessalone. This he did with a fair measure of success, though his foundrywas never at any time a large one. After a few years' absence Jacksonreturned to England in 1763, and again turned his attention toletter-cutting, serving for a time under his old partner Cottrell; buthaving obtained the services and, what was of more value, the pecuniaryhelp of two of Cottrell's workmen, he set up for himself, and quicklytook a foremost place in the trade. Among his most successful work was afount of English 'Domesday, ' for the Domesday Book published by order ofParliament in 1783, which was preferred to that cut by Cottrell for thesame purpose. Jackson also cut a fount for Dr. Woide's facsimile of theAlexandrian Codex with great success. But perhaps his most successfuleffort was the two-line English which he cut for Macklin's edition ofthe Bible, begun in 1789. At the time of his death in 1792 he was atwork upon a fount of double pica for Bowyer's edition of Hume's _Historyof England_. After his death his foundry was purchased by William CaslonIII. Both Macklin's Bible and Hume's _History_ were printed at the press ofThomas Bensley in Bolt Court, Fleet Street. As a printer of sumptuousbooks Bensley had only one rival, William Bulmer, who is generallyaccorded the first place. But Bensley was certainly earlier in thefield. His work was quite equal to that of Bulmer, and, apart from this, the world owes more to his enterprise than it has ever yet acknowledged. Thomas Bensley was the son of a printer in the Strand, and in 1783 hesucceeded to the business of Edward Allen in Bolt Court, a houseadjoining that in which Johnson had lived. He at once turned hisattention to printing as a fine art. Dibdin, in his _BibliographicalDecameron_ (vol. Ii. P. 397, etc. ), gives a list of the works printed byBensley, and says that he began with a quarto edition of Lavater's_Physiognomy_ in 1789, following this up with an octavo edition of AllanRamsay's _Gentle Shepherd_ in 1790. In this list, however, Dibdin hasomitted the folio edition of Bürger's poem _Leonora_, printed by Bensleyin 1796, with designs by Lady Diana Beauclerc. In 1797 he printed a verybeautiful edition of Thomson's _Seasons_, in royal folio, withengravings by Bartolozzi and P. W. Tomkins from pictures by W. Hamilton. But the chief glories of his press are the Bible and Hume's _History_. The first was begun in 1789; but Jackson's death caused some delay whenthe Book of Numbers had been reached, owing to more type being required. For some reason, not clearly shown, Bensley would not employ Caslon, butapplied to Vincent Figgins, who for ten years had been in the service ofJackson, to complete the type. Figgins' foundry was in Swan Yard, Holborn, where he had established himself after Jackson's death in 1792. He succeeded with the task set him, and his type, which was an exactfacsimile of Jackson's, was brought into use in the Book of Deuteronomy. The whole work was completed in seven volumes, in the year 1800, andthis date appears on the title-page; but the dedication to the king wasdated 1791, and the plates, which were the work of Loutherbourg, West, Hamilton, and others, were variously dated between those years. The textwas printed in double columns, in a handsome two-line English, with theheadings to chapters in Roman capitals, no italic type being used, andno marginalia. Robert Bowyer's edition of _Hume_ was in the press at the time ofJackson's death, but was not completed until 1806. The type used in thisis a double pica, and the founder, it is said, declared that it should'be the most exquisite performance of the kind in this or any othercountry. ' He died before its completion, and the work was completed byFiggins; but the book is a lasting memorial to the skill both of thefounder and the printer. In January 1791 appeared the first number of Boydell's Shakespeare. Thehistory of this notorious undertaking was briefly this. Boydell was anart publisher in Pall Mall, where he had established a gallery andfilled it with the work of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin West, Opie, andNorthcote, chiefly in Shakesperian subjects. George Nicol the booksellerproposed to the Boydells that William Martin, brother of Robert Martinof Birmingham, should be employed to cut a set of types with which toprint an edition of Shakespeare's works, to be illustrated with thedrawings then in Boydell's gallery. This William Martin had learnt hisart in the foundry of Baskerville; and such is the irony of fate, thatless than twenty years after the death of that eminent founder, hiswork, scorned by the booksellers of London in his own day, was imitatedin what was certainly one of the most pretentious books that had evercome from the English press. The printer selected for the work wasWilliam Bulmer, a native of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where he wasapprenticed to Mr. Thomson, the printer, of Burnt House Entry, St. Nicholas Churchyard. At that time he formed a friendship with ThomasBewick, the engraver, who in his _Memoir_ tells us that Bulmer used to'prove' his cuts for him. After serving his time, Bulmer came to London and entered theprinting-office of John Bell, who was then issuing a miniature editionof the poets. A fortunate accident won him his acquaintance with Boydelland Nicol, and so led to his subsequent employment at the Shakespearepress. The Shakespeare was followed by the works of Milton in three volumesfolio in 1794-5-7, and again in 1795 by the Poems of Goldsmith andParnell in quarto. In the advertisement to this work, Bulmer pointed outhow much had been done by English printers within the last few years toraise the art of printing from the low depth to which it had fallen--awork in which the Shakespeare press had borne no little part. He went onto say that much pains had been taken with this edition of Goldsmith tomake it a complete specimen of the arts of type and block printing. Thetypes were Martin's, the woodcuts Bewick's, and the paper Whatman's. Onecopy of this book was printed on white satin, and three on Englishvellum. Among the books that appeared within the last five years of the centurywas an edition of _Lucretius_ in three volumes large quarto, whichcertainly ranks for beauty of type and regularity of printing with anybook of that period. Like most of the works of Baskerville, this bookwas quite free from ornament, and claims admiration only from theexcellence of the press-work. The notes were printed in double columnsin small pica, the text itself in double pica. In the whole threevolumes not a dozen printer's errors have been found. This work camefrom the press of Archibald Hamilton. Time has not dealt kindly with some of these specimens of what wascalled 'fine' printing. After the lapse of a century, we begin to seethat though the type and press-work were all that could be desired, andplaced the English printers on a level with the best of those on theContinent, there was something radically wrong with the production ofillustrated books. Whether it was due to the ink, or to the paper, or, as some suppose, to insufficient drying, in all these sumptuous volumesthe oil has worked out of the illustrations, leaving an ugly brownstain on the opposite pages, and totally destroying the appearance ofthe books. This applies not only to large and small illustrations, butin many cases to the ornamental wood blocks used for head and tailpieces. In Macklin's Bible, and in the 'Milton' printed at theShakespeare press, this discoloration has completely ruined what wereundoubtedly, when they came from the press, extremely beautiful works. Before leaving the work of the eighteenth century, a word or two must besaid about the private presses that were at work during that time. Thefirst place must, of course, be given to that at Strawberry Hill. Noneof the curious hobbies ridden by Horace Walpole became him better, orwas more useful, than his fancy for running a printing-press. He was notdevoid of taste, and though no doubt he might have done it better, hecarried this idea out very well. The productions of his press are verygood examples of printing, and are far above any of the other privatepress work of the eighteenth century. His type was a neat and clear one, though somewhat small, and the ornaments and initial letters introducedinto his books were simple and in keeping with the general character ofthe types, without being in any sense works of art. The following briefaccount of the Strawberry Hill press is compiled from Mr. H. B. Wheatley's article in _Bibliographica_, and from Austin Dobson'sdelightful _Horace Walpole, a Memoir_, 1893. The press was started in August 1757 with the publication, for R. Dodsley, of two 'Odes' by Gray. 'I am turned printer, and have converteda little cottage into a printing office, ' he tells one friend; and toanother he writes, 'Elzevir, Aldus, and Stephens are the freshestpersons in my memory'; and referring to the 'Odes, ' he writes to JohnChute in July 1757, 'I found him [Gray] in town last week; he hadbrought his two Odes to be printed. I snatched them out of Dodsley'shands. ' Walpole's first printer was William Robinson, an Irishman, who remainedwith him for two years. The Odes were followed by Paul Hentzner's _AJourney into England_, of which only 220 copies were printed. In April1758 came the two volumes of Walpole's _Catalogue of Royal and NobleAuthors_, of which 300 copies were printed and sold so rapidly, that asecond edition--_not_ printed at Strawberry Hill--was called for beforethe end of the year. In 1760 Walpole wrote to Zouch, in reference to an edition of Lucan, 'Lucan is in poor forwardness. I have been plagued with a succession ofbad printers, and am not got beyond the fourth book. ' It was publishedin January 1761, and in the following year appeared the first andsecond volumes of _Anecdotes of Painting in England_, with plates andportraits, and having the imprint, 'Printed by Thomas Farmer atStrawberry Hill, MD. CCLXII. ' Then another difficulty appears to havearisen with the printers, and the third volume, published in 1763, hadno printer's name in the imprint. The fourth volume, not issued till1780, bears the name of Thomas Kirgate, who seems to have been taken onin 1772, and held his post until Walpole's death. Between 1764 and 1768the Strawberry Hill press was idle, but in the latter year Walpoleprinted in octavo 200 copies of a French play entitled _CornélieVestale, Tragédie_, and from that time down to 1789 it continued at workat intervals, its chief productions being _Mémoires du Comte deGrammont_, 1772, 4to, of which only 100 copies were printed, twenty-fiveof which went to Paris; _The Sleep Walker_, a comedy in two acts, 1778, 8vo; _A description of the villa of Mr. Horace Walpole_, 1784, 4to, ofwhich 200 copies were printed; and _Hieroglyphic Tales_, 1785, 8vo. Next to the press of Horace Walpole, that of George Allan, M. P. ForDurham, at the Grange, Darlington, must be noticed. The owner was anenthusiastic antiquary, and he used his press chiefly for printingfugitive pieces relating to the history of the county of Durham. Thefirst piece with a date was _Collections relating to St. EdmundsHospital_, printed in 1769, and the last a tract which he printed forhis friend Thomas Pennant in 1788, entitled _Of the Patagonians_, ofwhich only 40 copies were worked off. The productions of his press were very numerous, but of no great merit. Allan was his own compositor, and gave much time to his hobby; but hisprinter appears to have been a dissolute and dirty workman, who causedhim much annoyance and trouble. Altogether it may safely be said thatAllan's press cost him a great deal more than it was worth. Another of those who tried their hand at amateur printing was FrancisBlomefield, the historian of Norfolk, who started a press at his rectoryat Fersfield. Here he printed the first volume of his _History_ in 1736, and also the _History of Thetford_, a thin quarto volume, in 1739. Butthe result was an utter failure. The type was bad to begin with, and theattempt to use red ink on the title-pages only made matters worse. Thepress-work was carelessly done; and it is not surprising to find thatthe second volume of the _History_, published in 1745, was entrusted toa Norwich printer. The celebrated John Wilkes also carried on a private printing-office athis house in Great George Street, Westminster. Three specimens of itswork have been identified: _An Essay on Woman_, 1763, 8vo, of which onlytwelve copies are said to have been printed[19]; a few copies of thethird volume of the _North Briton_; and _Recherches sur l'Origine duDespotisme Orientale_, Ouvrage posthume de M. Boulanger, 1763, 12mo. Anote in a copy of this volume states that it was printed by ThomasFarmer, who had also assisted Horace Walpole at the Strawberry Hillpress. During the last four years of the century the Rev. John Fawcett, aBaptist minister of some repute, established a press in his house atBrearley Hall, near Halifax, which he afterwards removed to Ewood Hall. He used it chiefly for printing his own sermons and writings, among themost important issue's being _The Life of Oliver Heywood_, 1796, pp. 216; _Miscellanea Sacra_, 1797; _A Summary of the Evidences ofChristianity_, 1797, pp. 100; _Constitution and Order of a GospelChurch_, 1797, pp. 58; _The History of John Wise_, 1798; Gouge's _SureWay of Thriving_; Watson's _Treatise on Christian Contentment_; and Dr. Williams's _Christian Preacher_. Most of these were in duodecimo. The type used in this press was a very good one, and the press-work wasdone with care. Owing to his growing infirmities Fawcett was obliged todispose of the press in 1800. There is reason to believe that the abovelist might be considerably increased. At Bishopstone, in Sussex, the Rev. James Hurdis printed several worksat his own press, the most important being a series of lectures onpoetry, printed in 1797, a quarto of three hundred and thirty pages, anda poem called _The Favorite Village_, in 1800, a quarto of two hundredand ten pages. To these must be added a press at Lustleigh, in Devon, made and workedby the Rev. William Davy, and at which was printed some thirty copies ofhis _System of Divinity_, 26 vols. 1795, 8vo, a copy of which remarkablework is now in the British Museum, and is considered one of itscuriosities; a press at Glynde, in Sussex, the seat of Lord Hampden, from which at least one work can be traced; and a press at Madeley, inShropshire, from which several religious tracts were printed in 1774 bythe Rev. John Fletcher, and in 1792 a work entitled _Alexander's Feast_, by Dr. Beddoes. [Footnote 19: Chalmers' _Life of Wilkes_. ] CHAPTER XI THE PRESENT CENTURY It has been said that printing sprang into the world fully armed. Atleast this is certain, that for nearly four centuries after its birththe printing-press in use in all printing-houses remained the same inform as that which Caxton's workmen had used in the Red Pale atWestminster. There had been some unimportant alterations made in it byan Amsterdam printer in the seventeenth century; but until the year 1800no important change in the form or mechanism of the printing-press hadever been introduced. Some such change was sorely needed. The productivepowers of the old press were quite unable to keep pace with theever-increasing demand for books and newspapers that a quickenedintelligence and national anxiety had awakened. Up to 1815 England wasconstantly at war, and men and women alike were eager for news fromabroad. In 1800 Charles Mahon, third Earl Stanhope, invented a newprinting-press. The Stanhope press substituted an iron framework for the wooden body ofthe old press, thus giving greater solidity. The platen was double thesize of that previously in use, thus allowing a larger sheet to beprinted, and a system of levers was adopted in place of the cumbersomehandlebar and screw used in the wooden press. The chief merits of thenew invention were increased speed, ease to the workman, evenness ofimpression, and durability. Further improvements in the mechanism ofhand machines were secured in the Columbian press, an Americaninvention, brought to this country in 1818, and later in the Albionpress, invented by R. W. Cope of London, and since that time by manyothers. Yet even with the best of these improved presses no more than250 or 300 impressions per hour could be worked off, and the dailyoutput of the most important paper only averaged three or four thousandcopies. But a great and wonderful change was at hand. In 1806 Frederick Kœnig, the son of a small farmer at Eisleben inSaxon Prussia, came to England with a project for a steam printingpress. The idea was not a new one, for sixteen years before anEnglishman, named William Nicholson, took out a patent for a machine forprinting, which foreshadowed nearly every fundamental improvement evenin the most advanced machines of the present day. But from want ofmeans, or some other cause, Nicholson never actually made a machine. Nor did Kœnig's project meet with much encouragement until he walkedinto the printing-house of Thomas Bensley of Bolt Court, who encouragedthe inventor to proceed, and supplied him with the necessary funds. There is reason to believe that Kœnig made himself acquainted with thedetails of Nicholson's patent during the time that his machine wasbuilding. He also obtained the assistance of Andrew F. Bauer, aningenious German mechanic. His first patent was taken out on the 29thMarch 1810, a second in 1812, a third in 1814, and a fourth in 1816. Thefirst machine is said to have taken three years to build, and upon itscompletion was erected in Bensley's office in Bolt Court. There seems tobe considerable uncertainty as to what was the first publication printedon it. Some say it was set to work on the _Annual Register_, onewriter[20] asserting that in April 1811, 3000 sheets of that publicationwere printed on it; but Mr. Southward, in his monograph _ModernPrinting_, confines himself to the statement that two sheets of a bookwere printed on the machine in 1812. Curiously enough neither Bensley'spublication, the _Annual Register_, nor the _Gentleman's Magazine_ takesany notice of the new invention, although in the _Gentleman's Magazine_for 1811 there is a notice of a printing machine invented atPhiladelphia, which apparently embodied all the same principles asKœnig's (_Gent. Mag. _, vol. Lxxxi. P. 576). In 1814 John Walter, the second proprietor of the _Times_, saw Kœnig'smachine, and ordered one to be supplied to the _Times_ office, the firstnumber printed by steam being that of the 28th November 1814. Thismachine was a double cylinder, which printed simultaneously two copiesof a forme of the newspaper on one side only. But it was a cumbersomeand complicated affair, and its greatest output 1800 impressions perhour. In 1818 Edward Cowper, a printer of Nelson Square, patented certainimprovements in printing, these improvements consisting of a betterdistribution of the ink and a better plan for conveying the sheets fromthe cylinders. Having joined his brother-in-law, Augustus Applegarth, they proceeded to make certain alterations in Kœnig's machine inBensley's office which at one stroke removed forty wheels, and greatlysimplified the inking arrangements. In 1827 they jointly invented afour-cylinder machine, which Applegarth erected for the _Times_. Thedistinctive features of this machine were its ability to print bothsides of a sheet at once, its admirable inking apparatus, and greatacceleration of speed, the new machine being capable of printing fivethousand copies per hour. These machines at once superseded the Kœnig, and were to be found inuse in all parts of the country for printing newspapers until quitelately. In 1848 the same firm constructed an eight-cylinder verticalmachine, which was one of the sights of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Shortly afterwards Messrs. Hoe, of New York, made further improvementsin the mechanism, raising the output to 20, 000 per hour. All thesemachines had to be fed with paper by hand, but in 1869 it occurred toMr. J. C. Macdonald, the manager of the _Times_, and Mr. J. C. Calverley, the chief engineer of the same office, that much saving oflabour would result if paper could be manufactured in continuous rolls;and the result of their experiments was the rotary press, which wasnamed after Mr. John Walter, the fourth of that name, then at the headof the _Times_ proprietorship. Since then the improvement in printingmachines has steadily continued, and may be said to have culminated inthe Hoe 'double supplement' press in use at the present day in manynewspaper offices, which is capable of printing, cutting, and folding24, 000 copies per hour of a full-sized newspaper. These great changes in presses and press-work have occasioned similarchanges in type-founding. At the beginning of the century, the firm of Caslon had been given a newlease of life by the energy of Mrs. Henry Caslon, who in 1799 hadpurchased the foundry, a third share in which a few years earlier hadbeen worth £3000, for the paltry sum of £520. She at once set to work tohave new founts of type cut, and was ably helped by Mr. John IsaacDrury. The pica then produced was an improvement in the style of Bodoni, and quickly raised the foundry to its old position. Mrs. Caslon tookinto partnership Nathaniel Catherwood, but both died in the course ofthe year 1809. The business then came into the hands of Henry CaslonII. , who was joined by John James Catherwood. Other notable firms werethose already noticed in the last chapter--Mrs. Fry, Figgins, Martin, and Jackson. One and all of these suffered severely from the change inthe fashion of types at the beginning of the century, the ugly form oftype, known as fat-faced letters, then introduced, remaining in vogueuntil the revival of Caslon's old-faced type by the younger Whittingham. Upon the advent of machinery and cylinder printing, the use of movabletype for printing from was supplemented by quicker and more durablemethods, and William Ged's long-despised discovery of stereotyping isnow an absolutely necessary adjunct of modern press-work. This, again, was in some measure due to Earl Stanhope, who in 1800 went to AndrewTilloch, and Foulis, the Glasgow printer, both of whom had taken out apatent for the invention, and learnt from them the process. Heafterwards associated himself with Andrew Wilson, a London printer, andin 1802 the plaster process, as it was called, was perfected. Thisremained in use until 1846, when a system of forming moulds in _papiermâché_ was introduced, and this was succeeded by the adaptation of thestereo-plates to the rotary machines. It would be foreign to the purpose of this work, which is concerned withprinting as applied to books, to attempt to describe the Linotype andits rival processes which have been recently introduced to furtherfacilitate newspaper printing. We must, therefore, return to ourbook-printers, and note first that the Shakespeare Press of WilliamBulmer, for which Martin the type-founder was almost exclusivelyemployed, continued to turn out beautiful examples of typographic workduring the early years of the nineteenth century. A list of the worksissued from this press up to 1817 is given by Dibdin in his notes to thesecond volume of his _Decameron_, pp. 384-395. Some of the chief itemswere _The Arabian Nights Entertainments_, 5 vols. 1802, 8vo; _The Bookof Common Prayer_, with an introduction by John Reeves, 1802, 8vo; _TheItinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales_, translated by Sir R. C. Hoare, 2 vols. 1806, 4to; Richardson's _Dictionary of the Arabic andPersian Languages_, 2 vols. 1806-10, 4to; Hoare's _History ofWiltshire_, 1812, folio; Dibdin's _Typographical Antiquities_, 4 vols. 1812, 4to; and the same author's _Bibliotheca Spenceriana_, 4 vols. 1814-15, 8vo, and _Bibliographical Decameron_, 3 vols. 1817, 8vo. Thesethree last are considered to be some of the best work of this press, which also turned out many books for private circulation only. WilliamBulmer died on September 9th, 1830, after a long and active life, andwas succeeded by his partner Mr. William Nichol. Nor had Thomas Bensley slackened anything of his enthusiasm for fineprinting. Twice during the first twenty years of the century he sufferedseverely by fire: the first time in 1807, when a quarto edition ofThomson's _Seasons_, an edition of the _Works_ of Pope, and many otherbooks were destroyed; the second in 1819, on June 26th, when thepremises were totally burnt down. This was followed by the death of hisson, and shortly afterwards he retired from business, and died onSeptember 11th, 1835. Not only was he an excellent printer, but he didmore than any other man of his time to introduce the improved printingmachine into this country. John Nichols was another of the great printers of his day, and he toowas burnt out on the night of February 8th, 1808. No better account ofthe magnitude of his undertakings at that time could be found than hisown description of the disaster, which he contributed to the_Gentleman's Magazine_ in the following March:-- 'Amongst the books destroyed are many of very great value, and some thatcan never be replaced. Not to mention a large quantity of handsomequarto Bibles, the works of Swift, Pope, Young, Thomson, Johnson, etc. Etc. , the _Annals of Commerce_, and other works which may still beelsewhere purchased, there are several consumed which cannot now beobtained at any price. The unsold copies of the introduction to thesecond volume of the _Sepulchral Monuments_; Hutchins' _Dorsetshire_;Bigland's _Gloucestershire_; Hutchinson's _Durham_; Thorpe's _Registrum_and _Custumale Roffense_; the few numbers that remained of the_Bibliotheca Topographica_; the third volume of _ElizabethanProgresses_; the _Illustrations of Ancient Manners_; Mr. Gough's_History of Pleshy_, and his valuable account of the _Coins of theSeleucidæ_, engraved by Bartolozzi; Colonel de la Motte's _AllusiveArms_; Bishop Atterbury's _Epistolary Correspondence_; and last, notleast, the whole of six portions of Mr. Nichols' _Leicestershire_, andthe entire stock of the _Gentleman's Magazine_ from 1782 to 1807, areirrecoverably lost. ' 'Of those in the press, the most important were the concluding portionof Hutchins' _Dorsetshire_ (nearly finished); a second volume of Manningand Bray's _Surrey_ (about half printed); Mr. Bawdwin's translation of_Domesday for Yorkshire_ (nearly finished); a new edition of Dr. Whitaker's _History of Craven_; Mr. Gough's _British Topography_ (nearlyone volume); the sixth volume of _Biographia Britannica_ (ready forpublishing); Dr. Kelly's _Dictionary of the Manx Language_; Mr. Neild's_History of Prisons_; a genuine unpublished comedy by Sir RichardSteele; Mr. Joseph Reid's unpublished tragedy of _Dido_; four volumes ofthe _British Essayists_; Mr. Taylor Combe's _Appendix to Dr. Hunter'sCoins_; part of Dr. Hawes' annual report for 1808; a part of the_Biographical Anecdotes of Hogarth_; two entire volumes, and the half oftwo other volumes of a new edition of the anecdotes of Mr. Bowyer, ' etc. Writing to Bishop Percy in July of that year, Nichols stated that he hadlost £10, 000 beyond his insurance in this outbreak. John Nichols died on the 26th November 1826, after a long and laboriouslife. He was a born antiquary, and a voluminous author, his chief worksbeing _The History and Antiquities of the Town and County of Leicester_, completed in 1815 in eight folio volumes, and _Literary Anecdotes of theEighteenth Century_, 1812-15, an expansion of the _Biographical andLiterary Anecdotes of William Bowyer_, which had been printed in 1782. This work was afterwards supplemented by _Illustrations of the LiteraryHistory of the Eighteenth Century_, 6 vols. 1817-31, to which his sonafterwards added two additional volumes. John Nichols was CommonCouncillor for the ward of Farringdon Without from 1784 to 1786, andagain from 1787 to 1811. In 1804 he was Master of the Stationers'Company. He was succeeded in business by his son John Bowyer Nichols, and the firm subsequently became J. Nichols, Son, and Bentley. Like hisfather, John Bowyer Nichols was editor and author of many books, and wasappointed Printer to the Society of Antiquaries in 1824. He died atHaling on October 16th, 1863, leaving seven children, of whom theeldest, John Gough Nichols, born on 22nd May 1806, became the head ofthe printing-house, and editor of the _Gentleman's Magazine_, as hisfather and grandfather had been before him. He was one of the foundersof the Camden Society (1838), and edited many of its publications. Hewas the promoter and editor of _The Herald and Genealogist_, and hisresearches in this direction were of great importance. The _Dictionaryof National Biography_ enumerates thirty-four works from his pen, mostof which it would be safe to say were also printed by him. He died on14th November 1873. Another press of importance in the first half of the nineteenth centurywas that of Thomas Davison. He was the printer of most of Byron's works, and many of those of Campbell, Moore and Wordsworth; but his chiefclaim to notice rests upon the magnificent edition of Whitaker's_History of Rickmondshire_ in two large folio volumes, printed in 1823, and upon that of Dugdale's _Monasticon_, in eight folio volumes, issuedbetween 1817 and 1830, an undertaking of great magnitude. In Timperley's_Encyclopædia_ it is stated that Davison made important improvements inthe manufacture of printing ink, and that few of his competitors couldapproach him in excellence of work. The story of the firm of Eyre and Spottiswoode would, if material wereavailable, form an interesting chapter in the history of Englishprinting. It is the direct descendant in the royal line of Pynson, Berthelet, the Barkers, and finally of John and Robert Baskett, the lastof whom assigned the patent to John Eyre of Landford House, Wilts, whoseson, Charles Eyre, the great-grandfather of the present George EdwardBriscoe Eyre, succeeded to the business in 1770. During the seventeenthcentury, the work of the Government and the sovereign had been dividedamong several firms, but in the eighteenth century it was again given toone man, John Baskett. In the printing of the Bible and Book of CommonPrayer the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge have also a share; butall the other Government work is done by Messrs. Eyre and Spottiswoode. Charles Eyre, not being a practical printer, obtained the co-operationof William Strahan. On the renewal of the patent in 1798, the name ofJohn Reeves was inserted, but Mr. Strahan purchased his interest. In1829, the patent was again renewed to George Eyre, the son of Charles, John Reeves, and Andrew Strahan. George Edward Eyre, son of GeorgeWilliam Strahan, was born at Edinburgh in April 1715, and, after servinghis apprenticeship in Edinburgh, took his way to London, where, it isbelieved, he found a post in the office of Andrew Miller. In 1770 theprinting-house was removed from Blackfriars to New Street, near GoughSquare, Fleet Street. William Strahan was intimately associated with thebest literature of his time, among those for whom he published being Dr. Johnson, Hume, Adam Smith, Robertson, and many other eminent writers. In1774 he was Master of the Stationers' Company, Member of Parliament forMalmesbury, and sat for Wootton Bassett in the next Parliament. Amonghis greatest friends was Benjamin Franklin, who kept up a correspondencewith him in spite of the strong political differences between them. Strahan died at New Street on July 9th 1785, leaving three sons and twodaughters. The youngest son, Andrew, succeeded his father in the RoyalPrinting House, and one of the daughters married John Spottiswoode ofSpottiswoode, whose son, Andrew, afterwards entered the firm. AndrewStrahan was noted for his benevolence, and on his death in 1831 he lefthandsome bequests to the Literary Fund and the Company of Stationers. Andrew Spottiswoode, who died in 1866 at the ripe age of seventy-nine, had a large printing business apart from the office of Queen's Printer, and his imprint will be found in much of the lighter literature of theperiod. His son, William Spottiswoode, after a distinguished career atOxford, ultimately attained high rank as a mathematician, and in 1865became President of the Mathematical Section of the British Association. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1853, and became itsPresident on 30th November 1878. He died on 27th June 1883. Equally renowned is the firm of Gilbert and Rivington. Early in thesecond half of the eighteenth century (the exact date is not known) JohnRivington, the fourth son of John Rivington the publisher, and directdescendant of Charles Rivington of the Bible and Crown in PaternosterRow, succeeded to the business of James Emonson, printer, of St. John'sSquare, Clerkenwell. John Rivington died in 1785, and was succeeded byhis widow, who in 1786 took as partner John Marshall. A series ofclassical works, of which they were the printers, was very favourablyreceived. These included the Greek Testament, Livy, and Sophocles, aswell as a series of Latin poets and authors, edited by MichaelMaittaire. The business next passed into the hands of Deodatus Bye. Hein turn admitted Henry Law as partner, and the firm became successivelyLaw and Gilbert and Robert and Richard Gilbert. The partnership beingdissolved early in the present century by the death of Robert Gilbert, Richard carried on the business alone until 1830, when he took intopartnership Mr. William Rivington, a great-grandson of the first CharlesRivington, and from that day the firm has gone by the name of Gilbertand Rivington. Richard Gilbert died in 1852, and for eleven years afterhis death the printing business was carried on by Mr. William Rivington, who issued many valuable and standard works on subjects of classical andecclesiological interest. William Rivington retired from business in 1868, being succeeded by hisson, William John Rivington, and his nephew, Alexander. The businessincreased largely in their hands; one of their first undertakings beingthe purchase in 1870 of the plant of the late Mr. William Mavor Watts, by which they secured a large addition to their collection of Orientaltypes. In 1875 Mr. E. Mosley entered the firm, and Mr. William JohnRivington left it to join the publishing house of Sampson Low, Marstonand Searle. Mr. Alexander Rivington retired from the firm in 1878, being thus the last Rivington connected with the house, which shortlyafterwards was turned into a limited liability company. Messrs. Gilbert and Rivington's collection of Oriental and other foreigntypes enables them to print in every known language, their specimenbooks embracing 267 distinct tongues. They are Oriental printers to theBritish Museum, India Office, British and Foreign Bible Society. Speaking of the Oriental work, the most striking feature in the firm'sbusiness, a correspondent to the _British Printer_ (March-April 1895), says: 'Most of the type faces noticed were on English bodies, and the composition is somewhat similar. Arabic is composed just as with English. Sanskrit possesses some little features of accents and kerned sections, which render justification quite a fine art, accents on varying bodies needing to be utilised. .. . The firm does much Hindustani work, and possesses seven sizes of type in this language. Amongst the curiosities are the cuneiform types, the wedge-like series of faces in which old Persian, Median, and Assyrian inscriptions are written; and last, but by no means least in interest, the odd-looking hieroglyphic type faces, which are on bodies ranging from half nonpareil to three nonpareils, and some idea of their extent may be derived by noting that this type occupies fourteen cases of one hundred boxes each. ' To the firm of Messrs. Clowes of Stamford Street belongs the credit ofbeing the first to print cheap periodical literature. William Clowes theelder, a native of Chichester, born in 1779, was apprenticed to aprinter of that town, and coming to London in 1802 commenced business onhis own account in the following year 1803. By marriage with thedaughter of Mr. Winchester of the Strand, he obtained a share of theGovernment printing work. On moving to Stamford Street, BlackfriarsRoad, he was chosen to print the _Penny Magazine_, edited by CharlesKnight, the first attempt to provide the public with good literature ina cheap periodical form. The work was illustrated with woodcuts, and sogreat was its success that from No. 1 to No. 106 there were sold twentymillion copies; but the undertaking was heavily handicapped by the papertax of threepence per pound (see _The Struggles of a Book_, C. Knight, 1850, 8vo). In 1840 an article appeared in the _Quarterly Review_, written, it is said, by Sir F. B. Head, but which is more in the styleof T. F. Dibdin, on the Clowes printing-office. Even at that time therewere no less than nineteen of Applegarth and Cowper's machines at workthere, with a daily average of one thousand per hour each. Besides thesethere were twenty-three hand presses and five hydraulic presses. Thefoundry employed thirty hands, and the compositors numbered one hundredand sixty. In 1851 Messrs. Clowes printed the official catalogues of the GreatExhibition, for which they specially cast 58, 520 lbs. Of type. Theysubsequently printed the catalogues of the Exhibitions of 1883-1886, andthe Royal Academy catalogues, and have been connected from theirinception with two works of a very different character, _Hymns Ancientand Modern_--the circulation of which has to be reckoned inmillions--and the great _General Catalogue_ of the Library of theBritish Museum, for their excellent printing of which all 'readers' areindebted to them. William Clowes the elder died in 1847. He wassucceeded by his son, William, who died in 1883; and a third William, agrandson, is one of the managing directors of the firm which in 1881 wasturned into a limited liability company. But the chief honours of book production in London during the presentcentury have been rightly awarded to the Chiswick Press. Charles Whittingham the elder was born at Calledon, near Coventry, in1767, and was apprenticed to a printer of that city. As soon as his timewas out he came to London, and set up a press in Fetter Lane, his chiefcustomers being Willis, a bookseller of Stationers' Court, Jordan ofFleet Street, and Symonds of Paternoster Row. His beginning was humbleenough, his chief work lying in the direction of stationery, cards, andsmall bills. His first important publisher was a certain Heptinstall, who set him to print new editions of Boswell's _Johnson_, Robertson's_America_, and other important works. This was enough to set him going, and in 1797 he moved to larger premises in Dean Street, Fetter Lane, and then began to issue illustrated books. In 1803 he took a secondworkshop at 10 Union Buildings, Leather Lane, and again in 1807 he movedto Goswell Street. In 1811 he took his foreman Robert Rowland intopartnership, and shortly afterwards left him to manage the citybusiness, while he himself set up a press at Chiswick and took up hisabode at College House. Here he continued to work until his death in1840. For a short time, from 1824 to 1828, he was joined with his nephewCharles, to whom at his death he left the Chiswick business. There is not much to be said of the work of the elder Whittingham. Heconfined his attention to the issue of small books, such as the _BritishClassics_, which he began to print in 1803. His books are chieflynotable for the printing of the woodcuts, which by the process known asoverlaying, he brought to great perfection. His relations with thepublishers were, however, none of the best. They accused him of piracy, and considered it to be against the best interests of the trade to issuesmall and cheap books. The productions of the elder Whittingham's presshave, moreover, been largely overshadowed by those of his nephew. Charles Whittingham the younger was a genuine artist in printing. Heloved books to begin with, and thought no pains too great to bestow upontheir production. Born at Mitcham, on October 30th, 1795, he wasapprenticed to his uncle in 1810. In 1824 he was taken into partnership, but this lasted only four years, and he then set up for himself at 21Took's Court, Chancery Lane. A near neighbour of his at that time wasthe publisher William Pickering, who since 1820 had been putting in thehands of the public some excellently printed and dainty volumes. It isstated in the _Dictionary of National Biography_ that the series knownas the _Diamond Classics_ was printed for Pickering at the ChiswickPress. But this was not the case. He had no dealings whatever with theWhittinghams or the Chiswick Press before his introduction to CharlesWhittingham the younger in 1829. The _Diamond Classics_, which he beganto issue while he was living in Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1822, wereprinted by C. Corrall of Charing Cross, and the _Oxford EnglishClassics_, in large octavo, chiefly by Talboys and Wheeler of Oxford, while most of his other work, amongst it the first eleven volumes of theworks of Bacon, was done by Thomas White, who is first found at BearAlley, and subsequently at Johnson Court and Crane Court in FleetStreet. [Illustration: FIG. 35. --Old-faced Type. ] Few of these early books of Pickering's had any kind of decorationbeyond a device on the title-page. Simplicity, combined with what wasbest in type and paper, seem to have been the publisher's chief aim atthat time; but in some of the _Diamond Classics_ will be found thesmall and artistic border-pieces which he afterwards used frequently. The first of Pickering's books in which anything of a very ornamentalcharacter occurs is _The Bijou, or Annual of Literature_, a publicationwhich fixes very clearly his association with Whittingham. _The Bijou_first appeared in 1828, printed by Thomas White, with one or twocharming head-pieces designed by Stothard. The volume for 1829 was alsoprinted by White, and is noticeable as having the publisher's Aldinedevice, showing that this came into use during the year 1828. The volumefor 1830 was printed by C. Whittingham of Took's Court. The meetingbetween the two men had been brought about by Basil Montagu in thesummer of 1829. They found themselves kindred spirits on the subject ofthe artistic treatment of books, and a friendship sprang up betweenthem, that ceased only with Pickering's death in 1854, and wasproductive of some of the most beautiful books that had ever come froman English press. Mr. Arthur Warren in his book, _The CharlesWhittinghams, Printers_ (p. 203), tells us: 'The two men met frequentlyfor consultation, and whenever the bookseller visited the press, whichhe often did, there were brave experiments toward. The printer wouldproduce something new in title-pages, or in colour work, or ornament, and the bookseller would propound some new venture in the reproductionof an ancient volume. .. . They made it a point, moreover, to pass theirSundays together, either at the printer's house or at Pickering's. ' [Illustration: FIG. 36. --Early Chiswick Press Initials. ] In the artistic production of books they were ably assisted byWhittingham's eldest daughter Charlotte, and Mary Byfield. The formerdesigned the blocks, many of which were copied from the best French andItalian work of the sixteenth century, and the latter engraved them. Among the notable books produced by these means were the _Aldine Poets_, editions of Milton, Bacon, Isaak Walton's _Complete Angler_, the worksof George Peele, reprints of Caxton's books, and many Prayer-books. In1844 Pickering and Whittingham were in consultation as to the productionof an edition of _Juvenal_ to be printed in old-face great primer, andthe foundry of the latest descendant of the Caslons was ransacked tosupply the fount. The edition was to be rubricated and otherwisedecorated, and this, or the printer's stock trouble, 'lack of paper, 'occasioning some delay, the revived type first appeared in a fictionentitled _Lady Willoughby's Diary_, to which it gave a pleasantlyold-world look in keeping with the period of which the story treats. Bythe kindness of Mr. Jacobi, the present manager of the Chiswick Press, an exact copy of the title-page of this book is here given, and withit, examples of the decorative initials and devices, in the revival ofwhich also the Chiswick Press led the way. [Illustration: FIG. 37. --Early Chiswick Press Devices. ] Pickering died in 1854, and though Charles Whittingham the younger livedto the age of eighty-one, his death not taking place till 1876, he hadretired from business in 1860. The business was afterwards acquired byMr. George Bell. In the English provinces Messrs. Clay, of Bungay, in Suffolk, have madefor themselves a reputation both as general printers and moreparticularly for the careful production of old English texts; andMessrs. Austin, of Hertford, are well known for their Oriental work. Butthe pre-eminence certainly rests with the Clarendon Press at Oxford, whose work, whether in its innumerable editions of the Bible andPrayer-book, its classical books, or its great dictionaries, isprobably, alike in accuracy of composition, in excellence of spacing andpress-work, and in clearness of type, the most flawless that has everbeen produced. Book-lovers have been known to complain of it as so goodas to be uninteresting, but it certainly possesses all the distinctivevirtues of a University Press. If England has no lack of good printers at the present day, in Scotlandthey are, at least, equally plentiful. The Ballantyne Press was founded by James Ballantyne, a solicitor inKelso, with the aid of Sir Walter Scott. Ballantyne and Scott had beenschool-fellows and chums, and an incident in their school life recordedby Ballantyne aptly illustrates the characters of the two men. Ballantyne was studious but not quick, and often when he was botheredwith his lessons, Scott would whisper to him, 'Come, slink over besideme, Jamie, and I'll tell you a story. ' Although their roads lay apartfor some years, while Scott was studying in Edinburgh and Ballantyne wascarrying on the Kelso _Mail_, they met and renewed their friendship inthe stage coach that ran between Kelso and Glasgow. Shortly afterwards, Ballantyne called on Scott, and begged him to supply a few paragraphs onlegal questions of the day to the Kelso _Mail_. This Scott readilyundertook to do, and when the manuscript was ready he took it himself tothe printing-office, and with it some of the ballads destined forLewis's collection then publishing in Edinburgh. Before he left hesuggested that Ballantyne should print a few copies of the ballads, sothat he might show his friends in Edinburgh what Ballantyne could do. Twelve copies were accordingly printed, with the title of _Apologies forTales of Terror_. These were published in 1799, and Scott was so pleasedwith their appearance that he promised Ballantyne that he should be theprinter of a selection of Border ballads that he was then making. Thisselection was given the title of _Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_, and formed two small octavo volumes, with the imprint, 'Kelso, 1802. ' Ballantyne's work, as shown in these volumes, was equal in every way tothe best work done by Bensley and Bulmer at this time. Good type andgood paper, combined with accuracy and clearness, at once raisedBallantyne's reputation. Longman and Rees, the publishers, declaredthemselves delighted with the printing, and Scott urged his friend toremove his press to Edinburgh, where he assured him he would find enoughwork to repay him for the removal. After some hesitation Ballantyneacquiesced in the proposal, and having found suitable premises in theneighbourhood of Holyrood House, set up 'two presses and a proof one, 'and shortly afterwards, in April 1803, printed there the third volume ofthe _Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. _ From this time forward Scottmade it a point that whatever he wrote or edited should be printed atthe Ballantyne Press. The first quarto, the _Lay of the Last Minstrel_, was published in January 1805. The poem was printed in a somewhatheavy-faced type; but in other respects the typography left nothing tobe desired. In the same year Ballantyne and Scott entered intopartnership, Scott taking a third of the profits of the printing-office. So rapidly did James Ballantyne extend his business that in 1819 Scott, in a letter to Constable, says that the Ballantyne Press 'has sixteenpresses, of which only twelve are at present employed. ' In 1826 the firmbecame involved in the bankruptcy of the publishers Messrs. Constable. After this Ballantyne was employed as editor of the _Weekly Journal_, and the literary management of the printing-house. He died on the 17thJanuary 1833. The firm is now known as Ballantyne, Hanson and Co. , andadmirably sustains its old traditions. Another great Scottish printing-house, that of T. And A. Constable, wasfounded by Thomas Constable, the fourth son of Archibald Constable thepublisher. He learned his art in London under Mr. Charles Richards, andon returning to Edinburgh, in 1833, he founded the presentprinting-house in Thistle Street. Shortly afterwards he was appointedQueen's Printer for Scotland, and the patent was afterwards extended tohis son Archibald, the present titular head of the house. Some yearslater he received the appointment of Printer to the University ofEdinburgh. Thomas Constable inherited and incorporated with his own firmthe printing business of his maternal grandfather, David Willison, abusiness founded in the eighteenth century. The firm has always beennoted for its scholarly reading and the beauty of its workmanship; andonly the fact that this volume is being printed by it prevents a longereulogy. Among other Scottish firms who are doing excellent work mention may bemade also of Messrs. R. And R. Clark of Edinburgh, who tread veryclosely on the heels of the Clarendon Press, and Messrs. Maclehose, theprinters to the University of Glasgow. In America also there is muchgood work being done, that of Mr. De Vinne and of the Riverside Press, Cambridge, being of the very highest excellence. In the history of English printing, the close of the nineteenth centurywill always be memorable for the brilliant but short-lived career of theKelmscott Press. In May 1891 Mr. William Morris, whose poems and romances had delightedmany readers, issued a small quarto book entitled _The Story of theGlittering Plain_, which had been printed at a press that he had set upin the Upper Mall, Hammersmith. Lovers of old books could recognise at once that in its arrangement, and, to some extent, in its types, this first-fruit of the KelmscottPress went straight back to the fifteenth century, resembling mostnearly the quartos printed at Venice about 1490. Until within a fewyears of that date printed books, like the old manuscripts, haddispensed altogether with a title-page. Their first few pages might beoccupied with a prologue or a table of contents, and though, when thetext was reached, it was usual to herald it with an _Incipit_ or_Incomincia_, followed by the title of the work, the information as todate of issue, printer or publisher, and place of imprint or sale, which we look to find in the title-page, was only given in a crowningparagraph or colophon at the end of the book, save for one or twoaccidental instances. The full title-page, as we know it, is not foundbefore about 1520, and did not come into general use, so as to supersedethe colophon, until many years after that date. But about 1480 theadvantage of getting the short title of the book clearly stated at itsoutset was becoming pretty generally recognised, and from this dateonwards what may be called the label title-page--that is, a first pagecontaining the title and nothing else--is very frequently found. Tenyears later a practice occasionally adopted elsewhere became common atVenice, and the first page of the text of a book was decorated with anornamental border, and occasionally with a little picture as well. Itwas this temporary fashion which commended itself to Mr. Morris, and_The Story of the Glittering Plain_ was issued with one of these labeltitle-pages and with the first page of the story surrounded by a verybeautiful border cut on wood from a design by Mr. Morris himself, herereproduced by the kind permission of his executors. It contained also anumber of decorative initial letters, to use the clumsy phrase which themisappropriation of the word capitals to stand for ordinary majuscules, or 'upper case' letters, makes inevitable. Mr. Morris's initials were, of course, true capitals--_i. E. _ they were used to mark the beginningsof chapters, and the only fault that could be found with them was thatthey were a little too large for the quarto page. These also were fromMr. Morris's own designs, ideas in one or two cases having been borrowedfrom a set used by Sweynheym and Pannartz, the Germans who introducedprinting into Italy; but the borrowing, as always with Mr. Morris, beingabsolutely free. As for the type, it was clear that it bore someresemblance to that used by Nicolas Jenson, the Frenchman who beganprinting in Venice in 1470, and whose finer books, especially those onvellum, are generally recognised as the supreme examples of thatperfection to which the art of printing attained in its earliestinfancy. Mr. Morris's type was as rich as Jenson's at its best, andshowed its authorship by not being quite rigidly Roman, some of theletters betraying a leaning to the 'Gothic' or 'black-letter' forms, which had found favour with the majority of the mediæval scribes. At theend of the book came the colophon in due fifteenth-century style, withinformation as to when and where it was printed. The ornamental designbearing the word 'Kelmscott, ' by way of the device or trade-mark withoutwhich no fifteenth-century printer thought his office properly equipped, was not used in this book, but speedily made its appearance. [Illustration: FIG. 38. --The first page of _The Story of the GlitteringPlain_. ] Pretty as was this edition of the _The Story of the Glittering Plain_, it yet raised a doubt--the doubt as to whether there was any real lifein this effort to start afresh from old models, or whether it was a mereantiquarian revival and nothing more. The history of printing--or ratherof the handwriting which the first printers took as theirmodels--recorded, at least, one instance in which an antiquarian revivalhad been of permanent service; for the _Roman letter_, which theprinters have used now for four centuries, was itself a happy reversionon the part of the fifteenth-century scribes to the Caroline minusculesof 600 years earlier, which had gradually been debased past recognition. There was no room for a second such sweeping reform as this, but thosewho compared the best modern printing with the masterpieces of the craftin its early days knew that the modern books by the side of the old oneslooked flat and grey; and the new _Glittering Plain_, though notentirely satisfactory, was certainly free from these faults. A fewmonths later the appearance of the three-volume reprint of Caxton'sversion of the _Golden Legend_ of Jacobus de Voragine, sufficed to showthat the Kelmscott Press was capable of turning out a book large enoughto tax the resources of a printing-office, and the new book was not onlylarger but better than its predecessor. It became known that this, butfor an accident, should have been the first book issued from the newpress; and it was evident that the initial letters were exactly rightfor this larger page, while the splendid woodcuts from the designs ofSir Edward Burne-Jones revived the old glories of book-illustration. Inthe _Golden Legend_ also appeared the first of those woodcutfrontispiece titles which formed, as far as we know, an entirely newdeparture, and confer on the Kelmscott books one of their chiefdistinctions. Printed sometimes in white letters on a background of darkscrollery, sometimes in black letters on a lighter ground, these titlesare always surrounded by a border harmonising with that on the firstpage of text, which they face. They thus carry out Mr. Morris's cardinalprinciple, that the unit, both for arrangement of type and fordecoration, is always the double page. How persistently even the bestprinters in the trade ignore this principle is known to any one who hasasked for a specimen of how a book is to be printed, it being almostimpossible to get more than a single page set up. If a double page isinsisted on, the craftsman, ingenious in avoiding trouble, will printthe same page twice over, thus confusing the eye by the exactparallelism of line with line and paragraph with paragraph. But Mr. Morris, who had all the capacity of genius for taking pains, understoodthat, when a book lies open before us, though we only read one page at atime, we see two, and in the selection of the type, the adjustment ofletterpress and margins, and finally in the pursuit of a decorativebeginning, either to the book itself, or to its sections, he neverarranged a single page except in relation to the one which it was toface. As far as permanent influence is concerned Mr. Morris's Roman letter, the 'Golden type, ' as it was dubbed, from its use in the _GoldenLegend_, is the most important of the three founts which he employed. His own sympathies, however, were too pronouncedly mediæval for him tobe satisfied with it, and for the next large book which he took in hand, a reprint of Caxton's _Recuyell of the Histories of Troy_, the firstwork printed in the English tongue, he designed a much larger and boldertype, an improvement on one of the 'Gothic' founts used by AntonKoberger at Nuremberg in the fifteenth century. This 'Troy' type wassubsequently recut in a smaller size for the double-columned Chaucer, and in both its forms is a very handsome fount, while the characters areso clearly and legibly shaped that, despite its antique origin, anychild who knows his letters can learn to read it in a few minutes. Withthese three founts the Kelmscott Press was thoroughly equipped withtype; but until his final illness took firm hold on him Mr. Morris wasnever tired of designing new initials, border-pieces, and decorativetitles with a profusion which the old printers, who were parsimonious inthese matters, would have thought extravagantly lavish. Includingthose completed by his executors after his death, he printed in allfifty-three books in sixty-five volumes, and this annual output of nineor ten volumes of all sizes, save the duodecimo, which he refused torecognise, gave his work a cumulative force which greatly increased itsinfluence. Had he printed only a few books his press might have beenregarded as a rich man's toy, an outbreak of æstheticism in a new place, of no more permanent interest than the cult of the sunflower and thelily in the 'eighties. Even the great Chaucer by itself might not havesufficed to take his press out of the category of experiments. But whenfolio, quarto, octavo, and sexto-decimo appeared in quick succession, each with its appropriate decorations, and challenging and defyingcomparison with the best work of the best printers of the past, theexperimental stage was left far behind, and publishers and printersawoke to the fact that a model had been set them which they would dowell to imitate. [Illustration: FIG. 39. --The Kelmscott 'Troy' Type. ] As to what will be the permanent result of Mr. Morris's efforts toreform modern printing it is too soon as yet to speak, but signs oftheir influence are already abundantly visible. The books issued fromthe 'Vale Press' of Messrs. Ricketts and Shannon have their admirers;but they have that rather irritating degree of likeness which makesevery difference--and the differences are numerous--appear a wilfuland regrettable divergence. [Illustration: FIG. 40. --The Macmillan Greek Type. ] The 'Macmillan Greek type, ' designed by Mr. Selwyn Image, which has nowbeen in use for some time, may be regarded as another offshoot of Mr. Morris's theories, and deserves all the praise due to a braveexperiment. By permission of the Messrs. Macmillan a page of it, takenfrom their 'Parnassus' _Homer_, is here shown, and few modern types willbear comparison with it. That it is not wholly and entirely successfulis due to the fact that for so many centuries Greek types have beendominated by the models set by Aldus and the other printers of the earlysixteenth century, who tried to imitate the rapid cursive hand of theGreek scholars of their day. Had the introduction of printing beenpreceded by a revival of the beautiful Greek book-hand of the eleventhcentury, similar to the revival of the Caroline minuscules, all wouldhave been well. But in going back himself to the eleventh century Mr. Image was obliged perpetually to conciliate eyes used to the latercursive forms, and the result is too obviously eclectic. The mere fact, however, that such an effort has been made is full of promise for thefuture, for it is only by new effort, joined with constant reference toold models, that types can be improved. [Footnote 20: _The History of Printing_. London: Printed for the Societyfor Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1855, 8vo. ] INDEX OF PRINTERS, TYPEFOUNDERS, ETC. Abree, J. , 253. Alday. _See_ Alde. Alde, Edward, 163, 169. Alde, Elizabeth, 169. Alde, John, 101, 163. Allen, Edward, 271. Allen, John, 220. Alsop, Bernard, 171, 172, 179, 181, 194, 221. Andrewe, Laurence, 53, 57, 58. Andrews, J. And R. , 210. Arbuthnot, A. , 146 _sq. _ Archer, T. , 171. Aspley, W. , 163. Asplyn, ----, 137. Austin, Messrs. , 307. Austin, R. , 221. B. T. , _i. E. _ Brudnell, T. , 190. Badger, R. , 179. Baker, J. , 102. Baldwyn, Richard, 101. Baldwyn, W. , 101. Ballantyne, Hanson and Co. , 309. Ballantyne, James, 307 _sq. _ Bankes, Richard, 55, 59, 60, 133. Barber, John, 233, _sq. _ Barbier, Jean, 30. Barker, Christopher, 97, 118 _sq. _, 154, 208, 230. Barker, Robert, 154 _sq. _, 176, 216, 218, 230. Barnes, Joseph, 124, 183. Baskerville, John, xiii, 265 _sq. _, 274. Baskett, John, 230, 231, 232. Bassandyne, T. , 146 _sq. _ Beale, John, 179. Bell, Jane, 221. Bensley, Thomas, 271 _sq. _, 284, 289. Bentley, W. , 221. Berthelet, Thomas, 61 _sq. _, 69, 82. Bignon, J. , 41. Bill, John, 155, 160. Bishop, George, 112, 120, 155. Bishop, Richard, 166, 179, 183, 194, 221. Bliss, Joseph, 251, 252. Blomefield, F. (private press), 279. Blount, Edward, 163. Blythe, Robert, 101. 'Bonere. ' _See_ Bonham, W. Bonham, John, 101. Bonham, William, 52, 53, 74, 75, 76, 101, 129. Bonny, W. , 250. Bourgeois, Jean le, 44. Bourman, N. , 101, 129. Bourne, C. , 254. Bourne, N. , 171. Bowyer, William, the elder, 236 _sq. _ Bowyer, William, the younger, 238 _sq. _ Boyden, Thomas, 101. Bradford, Andrew, 257, 258. Bradford, W. , 220, 221, 256. Bremer, _alias_ Bulle. _See_ Bulle J. Brice, Andrew, 252, 253. Bridges, H. , 224. Broad, Alice, 218. Broad, T. , 218, 221. Brodehead, G. , 101. Broke, R. , 101. Browne, E. , 101. Brudenell, J. , 201, 208, 225. Brudenell, T. , 190, 222. Bryan, S. , 253. Buck, J. , 222. Buck, T. , 216, 222. Bucks. _See_ Buck, T. Bulkeley, S. , 218, 219. Bulle, _alias_ Bremer, J. , 26. Bullock, R. , 112. Bulmer, William, 271, 274, 288, 289. Burges, F. , 248, 249; his widow, 249. Burtoft, J. , 101. Butter, N. , 171, 173, 189. Byddell, John, 37, 66, 68 _sq. _, 76. Bye, Deodatus, 296. Bylton, T. , 101. Bynneman, H. , 137. Caley, R. , 102. Case, J. , 101. Caslon I. , letterfounder, xiii, 239 _sq. _, 269; his widow, 270. Caslon II. , letterfounder, 269, 287; his widow, 270, 287. Caslon III. , letterfounder, 269. Cater, E. , 101. Catherwood, N. , typefounder, 287. Cawood, Gabriel, 112. Cawood, John, 83, 101, 109 _sq. _ Caxton, William, ix, 1 _sq. _, 33, 57. Chandeler, G. , 102. Chandler, R. , 255. Charlewood, J. , 102. Charteris, H. , 144, 149 _sq. _ Charteris, Robert, 151. Chase, W. , 250. Chepman, Walter, 139 _sq. _ Child, Mr. , 225. Chiswick Press, xii, xiii, 300. Clarendon Press, xiii, 214, 307. Clark, Messrs. R. And R. , 311. Clarke, J. , 101. Clarke, Mrs. , 233. Clay, Messrs. , 307. Cleston, N. , 101. Clowes, John, 189, 222. Clowes, William, 297 _sq. _ Coates. _See_ Cotes, R. Coe, A. , 222, 224, 227. Cole, P. , 222. Coles, A. , 222. Collins, Freeman, 250. Constable, R. , 222. Constable, T. , 310. Cooke, Henry, 83, 101. Cooke, W. , 101. Copland, Robert, 37, 47 _sq. _, 61 Copland, William, 76, 101. Corrall, C. , 301. Coston, S. , 101. Cotes, R. , 222. Cotes, T. , 179, 182. Cotes, Mrs. , 224, 226. Cottesford, H. , 101. Cottrel, J. , 200, 222, 224, 225. Cottrell, Thomas, typefounder, 270. Cowper, E. , 285. Crespin, J. , 147. Croke, A. , 101. Crosse, R. , 101. Crossgrove, H. , 250. Crost, A. , 101. Crouch, E. , 222. Crouch, J. , 222. Crouch, N. , 224, 227. Crowndale, C. , 248. Dabbe, H. _See_ Tab, H. Daniel, R. , 216. Darby, J. , 209, 225, 227. Darker, S. , 251. Davidson, T. , 142. Davison, T. , 292, 293. Davy, Rev. William (private press), 281. Dawson, Gertrude, 194, 222. Dawson, J. , 179, 194. Day, John, 29, 79 _sq. _, 101, 106, 137, 154, 158, 198, 211. Day, Stephen, 185. Devell, T. , 101. De Vinne, F. , 311. Dexter, Gregory, 175. Dicey, W. , 251. Dockwray, T. , 101. Doesborch, J. Van, 57. Dover, Simon, 206. Drury, J. , typefounder, 287. Dugard, William, 191, 222. Duxwell, T. , 101. East, T. , 165, 169. Eld, George, 169. Ellis, W. , 222. Eyre, Charles, 294. Eyre and Spottiswoode, 293. Faques, R. _See_ Fawkes, R. Faques, W. , 40, 44. Farley, Edward, 253. Farley, Samuel, of Bristol, 251; of Exeter, 251 _sq. _ Farmer, Thomas, 278, 280. Fawcett, Rev. John (private press), 280. Fawcett, T. , 172. Fawkes, R. , 45, 58. Fayreberne, J. , 101. Field, John, 194, 222, 224. Field, Richard, 117 _sq. _, 162. Fifield, Alexander, typefounder, 180. Figgins, V. , typefounder, 272. Fleet, Thomas, 259. Flessher. _See_ Fletcher. Fletcher, James, 194, 197, 206, 209, 222, 224, 225. Fletcher, Rev. John (private press), 281. Fletcher, Miles, 169, 170, 179, 194, 237. Foster, John, 220. Foulis, A. And R. , 261 _sq. _ Fowle, D. , 260. Fox, John, 101. Franklin, B. , 258. Franckton, J. , 152. Freez, F. , 122. Frenche, P. , 101. Fry, Edmund, Henry, and Joseph, typefounders, 268 _sq. _ Gamlyn or Gammon, A. , 101. Gammon. _See_ Gamlyn. Ged, William, stereotype founder, 235. Gee, Thomas, 101. Gent, Thomas, 246, 254 _sq. _ Gibson, Thomas, 65, 79. Gilbert, Richard and Robert, 296. Gilbert and Rivington, 295. Gilfillan, J. , 255. Glover, Joseph, 185. Godbid, William, 200, 224, 225. Goez, H. , 122. Goez, M. Van der, 122. Gonneld, James, 101. Gough, John, 37, 53, 54 _sq. _, 60, 101. Grafton, Richard, 66, 70 _sq. _, 73, 76, 113. Green, S. , 219. Green, S. , the younger, 220. Grene, R. , 101. Griffin. _See_ Griffith, E. Griffith, E. , 170, 179, 222. Griffith, W. , 90, 101, 138. Grismand, J. , typefounder, 180, 194, 200, 222. Grismond. _See_ Grismand. Grover, James, 211. Grover, T. , 211, 212. Gryffyth, Sarah, 224, 227. Guine, H. , 257. Hacket, Thomas, 102. Hall, H. , 222. Hamilton, A. , 275. Hare, A. , 222. Harper, Thomas, 169, 179, 192, 194, 222. Harris, B. , 220. Harrison, John, 108. Harrison, Luke, 108. Harrison, Martha, 222. Harrison, R. , 101. Harvey, R. , 101. Haviland, John, 166, 170, 179. Hayes, J. , 200, 202, 208. Hayes, Mr. , 225. Heldersham, F. , 222. Herford, John, 127 _sq. _ Heron, John, 53. Hester, Andrew, 101. Hills, Henry, 194, 222. Hinton, Thomas, 251. Hodge, Robert, 257. Hodgkinson, R. , 179, 195, 200, 224. Hodgkys. _See_ Hoskins. Holder, R. , 101. Holt, J. , 257. Holyland, J. , 101. Hopyl, W. , 43. Hoskins or Hodgkys, 139. Hostingue, L. , 140. Huke, G. , 101. Hunscott, J. , 222. Hunt, J. , 222. Hunt, T. , 24. Hurdis, Rev. J. (private press), 281. Husbands, E. , 222. Huvin, J. , 30. Hyll, J. , 101. Hyll, R. , 101. Hyll, W. , 101. Ibbitson, Robert, 189, 200, 222. Ireland, R. , 101. Islip, A. , 179. Jackson, Joseph, typefounder, 270 _sq. _ Jacobi, T. , 43. Jaggard, Isaac, 163. Jaggard, William, 163. James, J. , 212. James, T. , letterfounder, 229 _sq. _, 235, 239. Jaques, J. , 102. Johnson, M. , 219. Johnson, T. , 224, 227. Jones, William, 173 _sq. _, 180. Judson, J. , 102. Jugge, Richard, 97, 102, 111, 112 _sq. _, 147. Keball, J. , 102. Keimer, S. , 258. Kele, John, 102. Kele, Richard, 60, 75, 133. Kele, Thomas, 53, 76. Kelmscott Press, xiii, 311 _sq. _ Kerver, Theilman, 47. Kevall, R. , 102. Kevall, Stephen, 102. Kingston, Felix, 162, 179. Kirgate, Thomas, 278. Kneeland, S. , 259. Kyng, J. , 102. Kyrforth, C, 124. Lacy, ----, 137. Lant, R. , 76, 102. Law, Henry, 296. Leach, Thomas, 209, 224, 227. Lee, W. , 222. Legate, John, 135 _sq. _, 179. Legg. _See_ Legge, C. Legge, Cantrell, 136, 168. Lekpreuik, R. , 143 _sq. _ Lettou, John, 11, 26, 27. Leyborne, R. , 222, 225. Leybourne. _See_ Leyborne, R. Lichfield, John, 183. Lichfield, Leonard, 184, 223. Lillicrapp, P. , 224, 227. Lillicropp. _See_ Lillicrapp. Lloyd, H. , 224, 227. Lobel, M. , 102. Lownes, H. , 167. Lownes, M. , 167. Lucas, M. , 176. Lyon, B. , 250. Mabb, Thomas, 200, 205, 223. Maclehose, Messrs. , 311. Machlinia, W. De, 27, 29. Macmillan, Messrs. , xiii. Mansion, Colard, 4, 6, 10. Markall, T. , 102. Marsh, Thomas, 97, 102. Marshall, John, 295. Marten, W. , 102. Martin, William, typefounder, 273. Mathewes, Augustine, 173, 180. Maxey, John, 192. Maxey, T. , 223. Maxwell, Mr. , 227. Maxwell, Anne, 224. Maxwell, D. , 200. Maycock, J. , 209, 223, 224, 225. Mayhewes, W. , 53. Mayler, J. , 76. Maynyal, George, 16. Meredith, C. , 223. Meredith, H. , 258. Meteren, J. Van, 72. Middleton, ----, 76. Middleton, W. , 68. Milbourne, T. , 224, 225. Miller, A. , 223. Miller, G. , 179. Milner, Ursyn, 123. Moravus, Matthew, 26. Mosley, E. , 296. Mottershead, E. , 223. Moxon, James, typefounder, 194. Moxon, Joseph, typefounder, 210, 223. Mychell, John, 75, 132. Myllar, A. , 139 _sq. _ Neale, F. , 223. Newbery, R. , 120, 155. Newcomb, T. , 194 _sq. _, 209, 223, 224, 225. Nichols, Arthur, typefounder, 180. Nichols, John, 289 _sq. _ Nichols, J. Bowyer, 292. Nichols, J. Gough, 292. Norton, Bonham, 75, 155, 161 _sq. _, 169. Norton, H. , 102. Norton, John, 155, 158 _sq. _, 180, 194. Norton, Mark, 112. Norton, Roger, 194, 197, 224, 225. Norton, William, 75, 102. Notary, Julian, 30, 32, 37. Nuthead, W. , 221. Nutt, R. , 212. Oakes, E. , 225, 227. Okes, J. , 172, 182. Okes, Nicholas, 167, 172, 180 Oporinus, ----, 86. Os, Godfried van, 22. Oswen, John, 131 _sq. _ Oulton, Richard, 182. Ouseley, Mr. , 225. Overton, J. , 130. Paget, R. , 102. Paine. _See_ Payne, T. Palmer, Samuel, 240. Parker, J. , 257. Parker, P. , 210. Parker, Thomas, 102. Parsons, M. , 179, 180. Partridge, J. , 223. Pattenson, Thomas, 102. Payne, T. , 223. Pelgrim, J. , 43. Pepwell, Henry, 37, 43, 49, 75, 129. Petit, T. , 66, 76. Pickering, W. , 102. Pierce, R. , 220. Pigouchet, F. , 60, 140. Playford, J. , 223. Powell, H. , 102, 151 _sq. _ Powell, Thomas, 63, 102. Powell, W. , 68, 102. Purfoot, T. , 98, 102, 179. Purslowe, Elizabeth, 182, 194, 223, 227. Purslowe, G. , 170, 179. Purslowe, Thomas, 175, 179, 180, 194, 224. Pynson, Richard, xi, 28 _sq. _, 39 _sq. _, 57, 68. Radborne, R. , 102. Raikes, Robert, 251. Rastell, John, xi, 51 _sq. _, 74, 76. Rastell, W. , 110. Ratcliffe, T. , 223, 224, 225. Rawlins, William, 225, 227. Raworth, John, 179. Raworth, Richard, 176, 180. Raworth, Ruth, 176, 191, 223. Redman, Elizabeth, 68. Redman, John, 224, 227. Redman, Robert, 66, 67 _sq. _ Regnault, F. , 72. Reynes, John, 109. Reynes, Lucy, 109. Richardson, R. , 102. Richardson, Samuel, 241 _sq. _ Richel, Wendelin, 86. Riverside Press, 311. Rivington, Messrs. , 246, 295 _sq. _ Roberts, J. , 97, 154. Robinson, William, 277. Roger, G. , 260. Rogers, J. , 102. Rogers, O. , 102. Rood, Theodoric, 24. Ross, J. , 148. Ross, T. , 223. Rothwell, J. , 223. Roycroft, Thomas, 194, 198, 200, 206, 209, 223, 224, 225. Royston, J. , 223. Royston, R. , 223. Rycharde, Dan Thomas, 127. Ryddall, W. , 102. Sawyer, T. , 102. Scolar, J. , 123, 125. Scoloker, A. , 81, 129 _sq. _ Scot or Skot, John, 142 _sq. _ Seres, William, 76, 79 _sq. _, 102, 130, 154. Shereman, J. , 102. Sherewe, J. , 102. Shober, F. , 257. Short, J. , 183. Siberch, J. , 125 _sq. _ Simmes, V. , 139. Simmons, Mathew, 190, 194, 223, 224, 226. Singleton, H. , 102. Skot. _See_ Scot, J. Skot, John, 54, 62. Smethwicke, J. , 163. Smith, H. , 68. Smyth, A. , 102. Smyth, R. , 151. Snodham, T. , 169. Solemne or Solempne, A. De, 133 _sq. _ Solempne. _See_ Solemne, A. Sparke, Michael, 173, 174. Spottiswoode, A. , 295. Spylman, S. , 102. Stansby, W. , 165, 170. Staples, A. , 255. Steward, W. , 102. Strahan, W. , 294. Streator, J. , 200, 224, 225. Stroud, J. , 137. Sutton, E. , 102. Sutton, H. , 102. Symonds. _See_ Simmons. Tab, Henry, 59. Tab, J. , 129. Talboys and Wheeler, 301. Talleur, Le, 29, 41. Taverner, N. , 102. Taylor, William, 175. Thomas, T. , 135. Thomlyn, A. , 139. Thompson, G. , 223. Tottell, Richard, 97, 102, 110, 113 _sq. _ Tottell, W. , 116. Toye, Elizabeth, 111. Toye, Robert, 74 _sq. _, 83, 111. Treveris, Peter, 56. Turke, J. , 102. Turner, William, 173, 183. Twyn, John, 205. Tyer, R. , 102. Tyler, E. , 224, 225. Tysdale, J. , 102. Tyton, F. , 223. Urie, Robert, typefounder, 262. Vaughan, Mr. , 225. Vautrollier, Thomas, 97, 116 _sq. _, 150. Waldegrave, Robert, 138, 149, 150. Waley or Walley, C. , 102. Waley, J. , 102, 110. Walkley, T. , 191, 223. Wallys, R. , 102. Ward, Cæsar, 255. Ward, Roger, 98. Warren, Alice, 195, 200. Warren, Thomas, 195, 223. Warren, Mr. , 225. Watkins, Richard, 97, 154. Watts, J. , 239. Watts, W. M. , 296. Way, R. , 102. Wayland, John, 102. Weyman, William, 257. Whitchurch, Edward, 70, 73. White, Grace, 254. White, John, 254, 255. White, John, jun. , 254, 256. White, Robert, 224, 225. White, Thomas, 301, 303. Whitney, J. , 102. Whittingham, Charles, the elder, 299, 300. Whittingham, Charles, the younger, 300 _sq. _ Wilde, J. , 241. Wilkes, John (private press), 279. Willison, D. , 310. Wilson, Dr. A. , typefounder, 263. Wilson, W. , 223. Windet, J. , 165. Winter, John, 225, 227. Wolfe, John, 98, 195. Wolfe, Reginald or Reyner, 102, 103 _sq. _ Wolfgang, 43. Wood, Mr. , 225 Woodcock, T. , 112. Woodfall, Henry, 243 _sq. _ Worde, Wynkyn de. _See_ Wynkyn, Jan, de Worde. Wrench, W. , 183. Wright, J. , 223. Wright, Thomas, typefounder, 180. Wright, W. , 223. Wyer, Robert, xi, 47, 57 _sq. _, 76, 102. Wynkyn, Jan, de Worde, 4, 16, 17, 18, 20 _sq. _, 31 _sq. _, 47, 54, 68, 69, 140, 211. Young, R. , 170. Zenger, J. P. , 257. INDEX TO PLACES Abingdon, 125. America, 219 _sq. _, 256, 311. Antwerp, 16, 57, 72, 122. Basle, 86. Birmingham, 256. Bishopstone, Sussex, 281. Boston, Mass. , 220, 259. Brearley Hall, 280. Bristol, 129, 218, 219, 250, 268. Bruges, 4, 7. Bungay, co. Suffolk, 307. Cambridge, 10, 125 _sq. _, 135 _sq. _, 216, 222, 236, 248. Cambridge, Mass. , 219, 311. Canterbury, 75, 132, 253. Chester, 256. Cirencester, 251. Cologne, 4, 6, 24, 25. Coventry, 139. Darlington, 278 _sq. _ Dublin, 152. Edinburgh, 139 _sq. _, 309. Ewood Hall, 280. Exeter, 218, 251. Fawsley, near Daventry, 139. Fersfield, co. Norfolk, 279. Gateshead, 219. Geneva, 147. Glasgow, 261 _sq. _, 311. Glynde, Sussex, 281. Gouda, 22. Ham, East, 137. Haseley, near Warwick, 139. Hemel Hempstead, 137. Hempstead. _See_ Hemel Hempstead. Hertford, 307. Ipswich, 129 _sq. _ Ireland, 151 _sq. _ Kelso, 308, 309. Liverpool, 256. Lustleigh, co. Devon, 281. Madeley, Shropshire, 281. Molesey, East, 138. Naples, 26. Newcastle, 218, 219, 236, 256. New England, 185 _sq. _ New Haven, Conn. , 257. New York, 220, 221, 256, 257. Norwich, 133, 248 _sq. _ Nottingham, 256. Oxford, 23, 24, 123 _sq. _, 183 _sq. _, 214, 222, 223, 228, 247 _sq. _, 301, 307. Paris, 16, 30, 46, 47, 60, 72. Pennsylvania, 220. Philadelphia, 257. Plymouth, 219. Portsmouth (N. H. ), 260. Rome, 26. Rouen, 29, 44, 140. St. Albans, 25, 127. Scotland, 139 _sq. _ Shrewsbury, 219. Southwark, 56, 222. Stonor Park, 138. Strasburg, 86. Strawberry Hill, 276. Tavistock, 126. Tunbridge Wells, 253. Virginia, 221. Westminster, 7, 10, 14, 30. Wolston Priory, 139. Woodbridge (N. J. ), 257. Worcester, 131, 253. York, 122 _sq. _, 218, 219, 254. Edinburgh: T. And A. CONSTABLE, Printers to Her Majesty