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 are to be indicted at yenext session.Mr. Winter,Mr. Rawlyns,At Mr. Crouch's,1 Press.0 Apprentices.1 Workman.
H
aving to some extent shaken itself free from the cramping influences of monopolies and State interference, the output of the English printing press at the commencement of the eighteenth century had almost doubled that of thirty or forty years before, and presses were now at work in various parts of the kingdom. But the long period of thraldom had resulted in completely destroying all originality amongst the printers, and almost in the destruction of the art of letter-founding. In fact, so far as printing with English types was concerned, the first twenty years of the eighteenth century was the worst period in the history of printing in this country. With the exception of the University of Oxford, which, owing to the generous bequests of Bishop Fell and others, was well supplied with good founts, the printers of this country were compelled to obtain their typefrom Holland, and all the best and most important books published in Queen Anne's days were printed with Dutch letter, as it was called. Jacob Tonson is said to have spent some £300 in obtaining this foreign letter, and one important English foundry, that of Thomas James, was almost wholly stocked with these foreign founts. Yet this Dutch letter was by no means easy to get, and the experience of James, who in 1710 went to Holland for the purpose, bore out what Moxon had said in hisMechanick Exercises, that the art of letter-cutting was jealously guarded by those who practised it. Some of the Dutch typefounders refused to sell him types on any terms, and it was only by getting hold of a man who was more fond of his liquor than his trade, that James was able to get matrices, for even this individual refused to sell his punches. Nor was the vendor in any hurry to part with the matrices, and it cost James much money, time, and patience before he was able to secure them. Writing from Rotterdam on the 27th July 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.'
'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 matricesof various founts of Roman and Italics, as well as sets of Greek and some black letter. He set up his foundry in a part of the buildings belonging to the Priory of St. Bartholomew, in Smithfield, and it continued to be the most important in London until the days of Caslon. The proportion of Dutch to English types in the printing offices at that time is well illustrated by the valuable list of the types possessed by John Baskett, the Royal printer at Oxford, in the year 1718. The Royal printing-house was perhaps the largest and most lucrative office in the kingdom. For upwards of a century it had been owned by the descendants of Christopher Barker, the last of whom, Robert Barker, had died in 1645, after assigning his business to Messrs. Newcomb, Hill, Mearne, and others. From these the patent was bought in 1709 by John Baskett, of whose antecedents nothing whatever is known. In addition to the business at Blackfriars, Baskett, in conjunction with John Williams and Samuel Ashurst, obtained a lease from the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of Oxford University of their privilege of printing for twenty-one years. From an indenture in the possession of Mr. J. H. Round, the substance of which he communicated to theAthenæumof September 5th, 1885, it appears that on the 24th December 1718 Baskett gave a bond to James Brooks, stationer of London, for a loan of £4000, and for security mortgagedhis stock, which was set 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 MrAndrews.2. A large ffount of NonplLetter new cast by ditto.3. Another ffount of NonplLetter, old, the which standing and sett up in a Com'on prayer in 24mocompleat.4. A large ffount of MinnLetter new cast by MrAndrews.5. Another large ffount of MinnLetter, new cast in Holland.6. The whole Testament standing in Brevrand MinnLetter, old.7. A large ffount of BrevrLetter, new cast in Holland.8. A very large ffount of Lo: Primer Letter, new cast by MrAndrew.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 MrAndrews.12. A small quantity of Great Primrnew 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.
'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 MrAndrews.
2. A large ffount of NonplLetter new cast by ditto.
3. Another ffount of NonplLetter, old, the which standing and sett up in a Com'on prayer in 24mocompleat.
4. A large ffount of MinnLetter new cast by MrAndrews.
5. Another large ffount of MinnLetter, new cast in Holland.
6. The whole Testament standing in Brevrand MinnLetter, old.
7. A large ffount of BrevrLetter, new cast in Holland.
8. A very large ffount of Lo: Primer Letter, new cast by MrAndrew.
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 MrAndrews.
12. A small quantity of Great Primrnew 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 the Bible which he printed in 1716-1717, in two volumes imperial folio, and which 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 the Vinegar,' has ever since been known as the'Vinegar Bible.' This slip was only one of many faults in the edition, which earned for it the title of 'A Baskett-full of printer's errors.' But apart from these errors, the book was a very splendid specimen of the printer's art, and has been described as the most magnificent of the Oxford Bibles. The type, double pica Roman and Italic, was beautifully cut, and was that which is described in the above list as the 'largest in England.' It was clearly not one of the founts belonging to the University, for, had it been, Baskett would have had no power to mortgage it. It is also noticeable that it was not described as 'cast in Holland,' as many of the others were, so we may infer that it was cast in England, and an interesting 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 over his monopoly of Bible printing, and in spite of the large profits attached to it, he became bankrupt in 1732. Further trouble fell upon him in 1738 by the destruction of his office by fire. He died on June 22nd, 1742. At one period he had been in danger of losing his patent altogether, for Queen Anne was induced by Lord Bolingbroke and others to constitute Benjamin Tooke and John Barber to be Royal printers in reversion, in anticipation of the ending of Baskett's lease in 1739; but Baskettpurchased this reversion from Barber, and afterwards obtained a renewal of his patent for sixty years, the last thirty of which were subsequently acquired by Charles Eyre for £10,000.
John Barber, who for a time held the reversion of Baskett's patent, was the only printer who has ever held the high office of Lord Mayor of London, and for this reason among others he deserves a brief notice. He was born of poor parents in 1675, and according to one account was greatly helped in early life by Nathaniel Settle, the city poet.
He was apprenticed to Mrs. Clark, a printer in Thames Street, and proving himself a steady and good workman, was able to set up for himself 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 hisImpartial History of the Life, Character, etc., of Mr. John Barber(London, 1741), says that the alderman himself admitted that the first fifty pounds he could call his own were earned by printing a pamphlet written by Charles D'Avenant; while in theLife and Character, another pamphlet printed in the same year for T. Cooper, it is said that it was Defoe'sDiet of Polandwhich brought him the first money he laid up. It is also said that he was greatly indebted to Dean Swift for his rapid advancement.
By whatever means it was accomplished, Barber was introduced to Henry St. John, afterwards Lord Bolingbroke, and was engaged as printer to the Ministry, his printing-house becoming the meeting-place of the statesmen, poets, and wits of the day. Barber was himself a genial companion and hard drinker, who spent his money freely, and in this way made 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 the versatile and unhappy Mrs. Manley. The story of her connection with Barber is sufficiently well known.
At the time of the South Sea scheme Barber took large shares, and, it is said, amassed a considerable fortune before the bubble burst. But he was indebted mainly to the patronage of Lord Bolingbroke for his success as a printer. Through that statesman he obtained the contract for printing the votes of the House of Commons, and by the same influence he became printer of theLondon Gazette,The Examiner, andMercator, printer to the City of London, and finally received from the Queen the reversion of the office of Royal Printer, which he soon after relinquished to Baskett for £1500.
Elected as alderman of Baynard Castle ward, Barber filled the office of Sheriff, and in 1733 became Lord Mayor of the City of London. As Lord Mayor, he gained great popularity from hisopposition to the Excise Bill, and by permitting persons tried and acquitted at the Old Bailey to be discharged without any fees. He died on the 22nd January 1740.
Much amusement, not altogether unmixed with uneasiness, was caused in the printing trade between 1727 and 1740 by a futile attempt to introduce stereotyping. A Scotch printer having complained to a goldsmith in Edinburgh of the vexatious delays and inconvenience of having to send to London or Holland for type, it occurred to William Ged, the goldsmith in question, that, to use the words of Timperley (p. 584), the transition from founding single letters to founding whole pages, 'should be no difficult matter.' He made several experiments, and at length satisfied himself that his scheme was practicable. Accordingly, in 1727, he entered into a contract with an Edinburgh printer to carry out the invention, but after two years his partner withdrew, being alarmed at the probable cost. Ged then entered into partnership with William Fenner, a stationer in London, by whom he was introduced to Thomas James, the founder, and a company was formed to work the scheme. But James, perhaps influenced by the representations of his 'compositors,' whom the new invention threatened with the loss of work, instead of helping, did his utmost to ruin the undertaking and its inventor. Instead of supplying the best andnewest type from which the matrices might be made, he furnished the worst, whilst his workmen damaged the formes. Much the same happened at Cambridge, where Ged was for a time installed as printer to the University. He struggled against the opposition so far as to produce two Prayer Books, but such was the animosity shown to the new invention, that the books were suppressed by authority, and the plates broken up. To add further to his troubles, dissension broke out between James and Fenner, neither of whom had any cause to be proud of their action towards Ged, who, disheartened and ruined, returned to Edinburgh. There another attempt was made by the friends of the inventor to produce a book, but no compositor could be found to set up the type, and it was only by Ged's son working at night that the edition ofSallust, and a few theological books, were finished and printed at Newcastle. Ged died in 1749, and his sons subsequently emigrated to the West Indies.
Next to the King's printing-house, the press of which we have the most accurate knowledge at this time was that of William Bowyer, the elder and the younger. The seven volumes of Nichols'sLiterary Anecdotesgive a complete record of the work of this printing-house, and from them the following brief account has been taken. William Bowyer, the elder, had beenapprentice to Miles Flesher, and was admitted to the freedom of the Company of Stationers on October 4th, 1686. He started business on his own account in Little Britain in 1699, with a pamphlet of ninety-six pages on theEikon Basilikecontroversy. He afterwards moved into White Friars, where, on the night of January 29th, 1712, his printing office was burnt to the ground; among the works that perished in the flames being almost the whole impression of Atkyn'sHistory of Gloucestershire, Sir Roger L'Estrange'sJosephus, 'printed with a fine Elzevir letter never used before'; the fifteenth volume of Rymer'sFœdera; Thoresby'sDucatus Leodiensis, and an old book,of Monarchy, by Sir John Fortescue, in 'Saxon,' with notes upon it, printed on an 'extraordinary paper' (Nichols'sLiterary Anecdotes, vol. i. p. 56). This short list of notable works proves that Bowyer had a flourishing business at the time of the catastrophe. A subscription was at once raised for his relief, and £1162 subscribed by the booksellers and printers in a very short time. A royal brief was also granted to him for the same purposes, and by this he received £1377, making a grand total of £2539, with which he began business anew. In remembrance of his misfortune, Bowyer had several tail-pieces and devices engraved, representing a phoenix rising from the flames.
In 1715 Bowyer the elder printed MissElstob'sAnglo-Saxon Grammar. The types for this were cut by Robert Andrews from drawings made by Humphrey Wanley, and were given to the printer by Lord Chief-Justice Parker. But these types were very indifferently cut. Wanley himself said 'when the alphabet came into the hands of the workman (who was but a blunderer) 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, William Bowyer the younger, joined him in the business.
The younger Bowyer had received an University education, though he never succeeded in taking a degree. He was, however, a highly cultivated man, and employed his pen in many of the controversies of the time, writingRemarks on Mr. Bowman's Visitation Sermonin 1731, and on Stephen'sThesaurusin 1733, and in 1744 a pamphlet on thePresent State of Europe. But at the beginning of his connection with the printing-house, he was mainly concerned in reading the proofs of the learned works entrusted to his father for printing, and though towards the latter end of the elder Bowyer's days the son may have taken a more active part in the practical work, as we read of his appointment as printer of the votes in the House of Commons in 1729, andas printer to the Society of Antiquaries in 1736, it was not until his father's death, in 1737, that the sole management of the business devolved upon him.
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 Bowyer the elder in six folio volumes in 1722. The publication of this book marks an era in the history of English printing, for the types with which it was printed were cut by William Caslon.
This famous type-founder, who by his skill raised the art of printing to a higher level than it had reached since the days of John Day, was born at Cradley, near Hales Owen in Shropshire. We are indebted for his biography partly to Bowyer and partly to Nichols, but it must be confessed that the earlier part of it is vague and unconvincing. According to this oft-quoted story, Caslon began life as an engraver of gun-locks, and made blocking tools for binders. This was somewhere about 1716, in which year it is said John Watts, the printer, became his patron, and employed him to cut type punches. Bowyer became acquainted with him from seeing some specimen of his lettering on a book, and took him to the foundry of James, in Bartholomew Close. Bowyer next advanced him some money, as also did Watts, and with these loans he set up for himself, hisfirst essay in type-founding being a fount of Arabic for the Psalter published by the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. When he had finished the Arabic,i.e.somewhere about 1724 or 1725, he cut his own name in Roman type and placed it at the foot of the specimen. This attracted the notice of Samuel Palmer, the author of a very unreliableHistory of Printing, and with Palmer, Caslon worked for 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 and inconclusive a biography as this. There was a belief in the Caslon family that he began letter-cutting before 1720, and the equally vague traditions which point to a later date need not make us treat this as impossible.
Was his the unknown hand that cut the double pica type which Baskett used in printing the 'Vinegar' Bible? A close examination of the types used in that Bible, those used in printing the folio edition of Pope'sIliad, and those of the 'Selden,' reveals a striking resemblance, especially in the form of the italic letter, and at least makes it clear that if the two first-mentioned works were printed with Dutch letter, then it was on the best form of that letter that Caslon modelled his types.
The charm of Caslon's Roman letter lay inits wonderful regularity as well as in the shape and proportion of the letters. In this respect it was a worthy successor to the best Aldine founts of the sixteenth century. 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 of the century all the best and most important books were printed with Caslon's letter; the old letter-founders, such as James and Grover, being entirely neglected, and even such a powerful rival as John Baskerville being unable to compete with him.
In addition to the printers in London already noticed, there were two others who must not be forgotten. Samuel Richardson, author ofPamela,Clarissa Harlowe, andSir Charles Grandison, was by trade a printer. Born in Derbyshire, of humble parents, in 1689, he was apprenticed to Mr. John Wilde, a printer in London, whom he served for seven years. He took up his freedom in 1706, and started business for himself in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street. Among his earliest patrons were the Duke of Wharton, for whom he printed some six numbers of a paper called theTrue Briton, and the Right Hon. Arthur Onslow, by whose interest he obtained the printing of the Journals of the House of Commons. But he did some better work than this, as in 1732 he printedfor Andrew Millar a good edition in folio ofChurchill's Voyages, and in 1733 the second volume of De Thou'sHistory, a work in seven folio volumes, edited by Samuel Buckley, his share in which reflects credit on Richardson as a printer. Between 1736-37 he printedThe Daily Journal, and in 1738 theDaily Gazeteer, and in 1740 the newly-formed Society for the Encouragement of Learning entrusted to him the printing of the first volume ofThe Negociations of Sir Thomas Roe, in folio. In this the text was printed in the same type as the De Thou, but the dedication was in a fount of double pica Roman. This work, which was intended to have been in six volumes, was never completed.
Richardson's work as an author began in 1741 with the publication ofPamela, in four volumes, duodecimo, printed at his own press.Clarissa Harloweappeared in 1747-48, and in 1753 his final novel,Sir Charles Grandison. Through the treachery of one of his workmen in the printing office, the Dublin booksellers were enabled to issue an edition ofSir Charles Grandisonbefore the work had left Richardson's press. He vented his aggrieved feelings by printing a pamphlet,The Case of Samuel Richardson of London, Printer.
In 1755 Richardson rebuilt his premises, and in 1760 he bought half the patent of law printing, which he shared with Catherine Lintot. Hisdeath took place on the 4th July 1761, his business being afterwards carried on by his nephew, William Richardson.
The other press to which reference has been made was that of Henry Woodfall. In the first series ofNotes and Queries(vol. xi. pp. 377, 418) an anonymous contributor supplied some very interesting and valuable notes drawn from the ledgers of that printer between the years 1734 and 1747. Such a record is the most valuable material for a history of printing, but unfortunately this is the only known instance in which it is available. It supplies us with the most useful information, the numbers of copies that went to make up an edition, the quality and cost of the paper and the number of sheets contained in each volume, with many other interesting particulars, which it is impossible to get from any other source. While recognising the value of these extracts from Woodfall's ledger, the writer hardly seems to have made the most of his opportunity. In many instances he gives only the title of the work and the number of copies printed, omitting all particulars as regards the cost of printing. But even as it stands this series of papers throws much interesting light upon the publication of some of the notable works of that period.
Woodfall's printing was broadly divided into two classes, 'gentlemen's work' and 'booksellers'work,' and the second is naturally the more interesting.
Among those for whom he printed were Bernard and Henry Lintot, Robert Dodsley, Andrew Millar, and Lawton Gilliver. Against Bernard Lintot is the 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,30.09.0Title in red and black,1.1Paid for 2 reams and 1/4 of writing demy,2.16.3
On May 15, 1736, Woodfall enters to Henry Lintot—
TheIliad of Homerby 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 thefirst Epistle of the Second Bookof Horace Imitated, folio, double size, Poetry,No. 2000, and 150 fine, [seven] shts., at27s. per sht.,9.09.0May 18, 1737. 150 fol. titles,Second Book ofEpistles,4.0
A few weeks later Woodfall received an order from Lawton Gilliver for 1500 crown octavo copies ofEpistles of Horace, and 100 fine or large paper copies. The second edition of Pope's Works was also printed by Woodfall for Henry Lintot, the order being for 2000.
For Andrew Millar Woodfall printed the following works of Thomson the poet—
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 Seasonswere printed on June 19th, 1744, in octavo. There were 1500 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 the elder Woodfall's press was the Rev. John Peters, against whom he entered an account, dated July 17th, 1735, for printingThoughts concerning Religion, 4to, 16 sheets. This gentleman was a literary shark, ready to devour any unprotected morsel that came in his way. The work above mentioned, and another printed by Woodfall in 1732, calledA Letter to a Bishop, were afterwards discovered to be from the pen of Duncan Forbes, and were published in an edition of his works printed in Edinburgh and London in 1751. A lawsuit wasat once commenced by George Woodfall and John Peters against the publishers of Forbes' works, the name of Messrs. Rivington being prominently mentioned, and the defendants, in their answer, stated that the two works in question were well known to have been written by Duncan Forbes, and that theMS. was in the possession of his family.[14]
This little incident, taken in conjunction with Henry Woodfall's connection with E. Curll and the letters of Pope, and the story told by Thomas Gent of the printing ofThe Bishop of Rochester's Effigy, shows that he was a worthy disciple of Iago in the matter of money-getting.[15]
Mention of Thomas Gent leads naturally to a study of the provincial press of this period. This is a much more difficult matter than it has been hitherto, as presses were established not in three or four places only, but in almost every town of any size. The history of provincial printing has never yet been written, and the task of tracing out the various printers and their work would be long and arduous. All that is attempted here is to give a sketch of the earlier and more important presses, adding in an appendix a chronological list of the places in which printing was carried on before 1750.
In the previous chapter it has been shownhow the munificence of Bishop Fell and Francis Junius furnished the University of Oxford with an unusually large stock of excellent letter of all descriptions, so that it was in a position to do better work than any other house in the kingdom. Its productions, during the first twenty years of the eighteenth century, were in every way worthy of its reputation, and some of them deserve special mention.
In 1705 Hickes'sLinguarum Vett. Septentrionalium Thesauruswas issued in three large folio volumes of great beauty. The work required many unusual founts, and these were mainly furnished from the bequest of Junius.
In 1707 the University published Mill'sGreek Testament, which Wood in hisAthenæ Oxonienses(vol. ii. p. 604) says had been begun in 1681 at Bishop Fell's printing-house near the theatre. The double pica italic used in this was a grand letter. Both the foregoing works were ornamented with handsome initial letters, and head and tail pieces engraved by M. Burghers, probably the first engraver of the day in this country. Many classical works were also produced in the same sumptuous manner, notably Hudson's edition of theWorks of Dionysius,1704, which it is difficult to praise too highly. The copies measured nearly eighteen inches in height, the paper was thick and good; the Greek and Latin texts were printed side by side, with notes at the foot, yet amplemargins were left. In fact it is one of the finest examples of English printing of this period to be met with.
Cambridge was sadly behind her sister University. Neither Reed in hisOld English Letter Foundries, nor Mr. Allnutt in his valuable articles on Provincial Presses, has anything to say of it. Cornelius Crowndale was the University printer at this time, but beyond an edition ofEusebiusin three folio volumes, issued in 1720, no notable book came from his press, little in fact beyond reprints in octavo and duodecimo of classical works for the use of the scholars, and repeated editions of the Bible and Book of Common Prayer, full of errors, and so badly printed that the less said about them the better. We may notice, however, an edition of Butler'sHudibras, edited by Zachary Grey, in two octavo volumes, with Hogarth's plates, and two books by Conyers Middleton,Bibliothecæ Cantabrigiensis ordinandæ methodus, 1723, andA Dissertation concerning the Origin of Printing in England,1735, both in quarto.
Among the earliest provincial presses at work in the beginning of the eighteenth century was that at Norwich, where Francis Burges was established in the year 1701. Thomas Tanner, afterwards Bishop of St. Asaph, sent John Bagford a broadside, printed by that printer, a list of the clergy that were to preach in the cathedral at Norfolkfrom November 1st, 1701, until Trinity Sunday following. In aMS. note at the foot 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]
'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 this broadside to have been printed nearly five weeks in advance, as there had appeared, on September 27th, 1701,Some Observations on the Use and Original of the Noble Art and Mystery of Printing, by Francis Burges, which is also claimed as the first book printed at Norwich since the sixteenth century. There is also evidence that Burges began to issue a newspaper calledThe Norwich Postearly in September. Among his other work of that year were sermons by John Jeffery and John Graile, and Humphrey Prideaux'sDirections to Churchwardens for the Faithfull Discharge of their Offices. For the Use of the Archdeaconry of Suffolk. (Norwich 1701, quarto.) Francis Burges died in January 1706, leaving the business to his widow, who in the following year printed and published a little tract of eight quarto pages, with the title,A true description of the City of Norwich both in its ancient and modern state.
Meanwhile, in November of the precedingyear, a second press was started in the town by Henry Crossgrove, who began to issue a paper called theNorwich Gazette.
Burges's business seems to have been taken by Freeman Collins, who printed from the same address, in 1713, Robert Pate'sComplete Syntax. He in his turn was succeeded by Benjamin Lyon, who in 1718 reprinted theTrue Description, asThe History of the City of Norwich ... To which is added Norfolk's Furies: or a view of Kett's Camp. (Norwich. Printed by 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, to date,' 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.'
'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 by William Chase, who had been printing since 1711, and who established theNorwich Mercuryin 1727.
At Bristol the press that William Bonny had established in 1695 continued to flourish until 1713. About November 1702 he began to issue a weekly paper called theBristol Post-Boy, whichran until 1712, when it was either replaced or supplanted by Samuel Farley'sBristol Postman.[17]
The Parleys were noted printers in the West of England at this time, and the above-named Samuel must not be confounded with Samuel Farley the Exeter printer.
In Cirencester printing began in 1718, in which year Thomas Hinton brought out the first number of theCirencester Post, and theGloucester Journalwas printed in that city by R. Raikes and W. Dicey on 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, finally established after many vicissitudes in 1698 by Samuel Darker, is found busily at work in 1701, Darker having been joined by Samuel Farley, whose relation to the Samuel Farley of Bristol offers an opportunity to some cunning genealogist to reap distinction. In 1701 Farley issued by himself John Prince'sDanmonii Orientales Illustres; or The Worthies of Devon, a work of 600 folio pages, with coats of arms. It was certainly one of the largest works printed at that time by any provincial press outside the Universities. In point of workmanship all that can be said for it is that it was no worse than thebulk of the work turned out by provincial presses; and it furnishes its own criticism in a list of errata on the last page, which closes with the words, 'with many others too 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 copy of an Exeter paper of so early a date is known.
In 1705 Farley was joined by Joseph Bliss, and jointly they issued several books; but the partnership lasted a very short time, as by 1708 Joseph Bliss had set up for himself in the Exchange.
On September 24, 1714, Samuel Farley issued the first number ofThe Exeter Mercury; or Weekly Intelligence of News, which in the next year he transferred to Philip Bishop. In 1715 also Joseph Bliss started a rival sheet called theProtestant Mercury, or The Exeter Post-Boy, from his new printing-house near the London Inn. Meanwhile Farley appears to have left Exeter, for on September 27, 1715, he published the first number of theSalisbury Post-Man. In 1717 Andrew Brice, the most important of Exeter printers, began to print, his address then being 'At the Head of the Serge Market in Southgate Street,' from which he issued, some time in 1718, a paper called thePost-Master, or the Loyal Mercury. The history of this printer is too lengthy to be told here, and has already beenably written by Dr. T. N. Brushfield (The Life and Bibliography of Andrew Brice). Farley's name occurs again in 1723, when he returned to Exeter and startedFarley's Exeter Journal. In November 1727 the burial of Samuel Farley is recorded in the registers at St. Paul's, Exeter. He was succeeded in business by an Edward Farley.
Another provincial press that revived very early in the eighteenth century was that of Worcester. It had been silent for upwards of a century and a half; but in June 1709 a printer from London, named Stephen Bryan, set up a press, and started a newspaper called theWorcester Postman. In 1722 the title was altered to theWorcester Post, or Western Journal. Bryan died in 1748, but just previous to his death he assigned his paper to Mr. H. Berrow, who then gave it the name it has ever since borne, that ofBerrow's Worcester Journal.
Hazlitt, in hisCollections and Notes(3rd Series, p. 282), mentions a book entitledTunbridgialia, or ye pleasures of Tunbridge, a poem, as printed 'at Mount Sion at ye end of ye Upper Walk at Tunbridge Wells,' 1705.
At Canterbury printing was revived in 1717, and a very interesting record of it is in the British Museum in the form of a broadside with the following title:—
'A List of the names of the Mayor, Recorder, Aldermen & Common Council of the City ofCanterbury Who (In the year of our Lord 1717) promoted and encouraged the noble Art and Mystery of Printing in this City and County.' 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 and Newcastle.
At York John White, who had settled in the city in 1680, was actively engaged in business in 1701, and he remained the sole printer there until his death in the year 1715. By his will, dated 31st July 1714, he gave his wife Grace White the use of one full half of his printing tools and presses, etc., for her life; and after her death he gave the same to his grandson, Charles Bourne, to whom he bequeathed the remaining half of 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 York newspaper,The York Mercury. Upon her death in 1721 the printing-house was carried on by Charles Bourne until 1724, when he was in turn succeeded by Thomas Gent, who had served under John White in 1714-15, and married the widow of Charles Bourne. Davies in hisMemoirs of the York Press(pp. 144et seq.) gives a detailed and interesting biography of this printer, who, he says, has obtained a wider celebrity than any other York typographer. Gent was an engraver as well as printer, and was the author of aHistory of York, and other works. As a printer his work was wretched; there is little to be said for him as an engraver; while as an author he was below mediocrity. Nevertheless, he deserves credit for the interest he took in the history of York. His history of that city was published in small octavo in 1730, and he followed it up in 1735 withAnnales Regioduni Hullini, or The History of the Royal and Beautiful town of Kingston upon Hull, also an octavo.
These works were quickly overshadowed by Drake'sHistory, and from this time forward Gent's fortunes began to decline. He made an enemy of John White, the son of his old employer, with the result that White set up a press at York in 1725, and issued the first number ofThe York Courant, a weekly paper, but sold it and the business to Alexander Staples ten years later. Staples in turn was succeeded by Cæsar Ward and Richard Chandler—the first a bookseller in York, the second in London; but Chandler committed suicide in 1744, and left Ward to carry on the business alone. John Gilfillan was another printer at work in the city during this period. Thomas Gent lived to the age of eighty-seven, his death 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 theNewcastle Courant, the first number of which appeared in 1711. In 1761 the firm became John White and Co., and in 1763 John White and T. Saint. White died in 1769, when he is said 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, but little is known about them.
Among other towns possessing presses early in this century were—Nottingham, 1711; Chester, 1711; Liverpool, 1712; and Birmingham, 1716.
In America the number of printing presses increased but slowly during the first half of the eighteenth century. William Bradford in New York continued the only printer in that province for thirty years. He died on the 23rd May 1752, at the age of ninety-two. For fifty years he had been printer to the Government, and among the numerous books that came through his press were the Book of Common Prayer in quarto, in 1709, the only issue in America before the Revolution, a venture by which he is said to have lost heavily. He also printed a Mohawk Prayer-book in quarto; this was issued in 1715. On the 16th October 1725 he began to publish a weekly paper calledThe New York Gazette,and continued it until his retirement from business.
In 1726 a German named John Peter Zenger set up as a printer in New York. He is chiefly remembered as the printer of the second New York newspaper, theNew York Weekly Journal, the first number of which was wrongly dated October 5th, 1733, instead of November 5th. The paper involved the printer in several actions for libel, and led to some lively passages with William Bradford. He is believed to have died about 1746. Bradford was succeeded as printer to the Government by James Parker, one of his apprentices, who is described as a neat workman. He continued theNew York Gazette, with the alternative title,or Weekly Post Boy. He also issued in 1767 an edition of the Psalms in metre, one of the earliest books printed from type cast in America.
In 1753 Parker took into partnership William Weyman, but the connection lasted but a short time, Weyman setting up for himself in 1759. Parker also established presses at New Haven and Woodbridge in New Jersey. Among the later printers in New York were Hugh Guine (1750-1800); John Holt (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, son of William Bradford,of New York. In 1723 Samuel Keimer set up near the Market House. It was this printer whom Benjamin Franklin worked for in his early days. Bradford started theAmerican Weekly Mercuryon Tuesday, November 22nd, 1719; and thePennsylvania Gazette, afterwards carried on by Franklin and Meredith, was first printed by Keimer. Andrew Bradford died in 1742. Perhaps the most notable of Keimer's books was the folio edition of Sewell'sHistory of the Quakers, which he began in 1725. It was a work of upwards of seven hundred pages and Keimer soon found that he had taken the contract at a ruinous rate. It was only by the help of Franklin and Meredith that he was enabled to finish it in 1728.
Benjamin Franklin's history hardly needs retelling. His career as a printer began in the shop of his brother James at Boston in 1717. Differences arose between them which ended in Franklin's setting out for New York. Work was not to be had there, and by the advice of William Bradford he moved on to Philadelphia. There for some months he worked for Samuel Keimer until, deluded by the promises of Governor Keith, he took ship for England with a view of obtaining materials for a printing office. While in England he worked for James Watts in Bartholomew Close, and James Palmer. On his return to America he once more entered Keimer's office as a journeyman. But after a short time,in company with Hugh Meredith, he set up in business for himself. He was the proprietor and printer ofPoor Richard's Almanack, which became celebrated, and also of thePennsylvania Gazette. After a long and prosperous career Franklin died, on April 19th, 1790, at the age of eighty-five.
Boston was the home of more printers than any other place in America during the eighteenth century. To give anything like a history of even a few of them would be beyond the limits of this work. Only one or two of the more important can be even noticed.
Thomas Fleet arrived in Boston in 1712, set up as a printer, and for nearly fifty years carried on business there. His issues were principally pamphlets for booksellers, small books for children, and ballads. He was also the proprietor of a newspaper called theWeekly Rehearsal, first begun in September 1731. At his death in July 1758, he left three sons, two of whom succeeded him in business.
In 1718 Samuel Kneeland set up in Prison Lane, and his printing house continued for eighty years. He was one of the printers of theBoston Gazette, and he started besides several other journals. Thomas in his history (vol. i. p. 207) says that Kneeland, in company with Bartholomew Green, printed a small quarto edition of the English Bible with Mark Baskett'simprint, but this is not confirmed. Kneeland died on December 14th, 1769. Another celebrated printer in the city of Boston was Gamaliel Rogers, who began business about 1729. In 1742 he entered into partnership with Daniel Fowle. In the following year they issued the first numbers of theAmerican Magazine, and in 1748 started theIndependent Advertiser. The partnership with Fowle was dissolved in 1750. Rogers subsequently moved to the western part of the town, but suffered from a fire, which destroyed his plant. He died in 1775.
Daniel Fowle, on the dissolution of his partnership with Rogers, set up for himself. He was arrested in 1754 for printing a pamphlet reflecting on some members of the House of Representatives, and was thrown into prison for several days. Upon his release, he at once left the town and set up in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he started theNew Hampshire Gazette. He was succeeded in his Boston business by his brother Zachariah Fowle, who continued printing there until the Revolution, when he also retired to New Hampshire, where he died in 1776.