Stationars and printers, a privilegial, not municipal companie or corporation, however their properties to bee individually conserved, humbly presented to the Honorable Committee for Examination, &c. / William Ball. Ball, William This text is an enriched version of the TCP digital transcription B01857 of text R172568 in the English Short Title Catalog (Wing B595A). Textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. The text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with MorphAdorner. The annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). Textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. This text has not been fully proofread Approx. 6 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 1 1-bit group-IV TIFF page image. EarlyPrint Project Evanston,IL, Notre Dame, IN, St. Louis, MO 2017 B01857 Wing B595A ESTC R172568 51784363 ocm 51784363 174789 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. B01857) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 174789) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English Books, 1641-1700 ; 2698:3) Stationars and printers, a privilegial, not municipal companie or corporation, however their properties to bee individually conserved, humbly presented to the Honorable Committee for Examination, &c. / William Ball. Ball, William 1 sheet ([1] p.) s.n., [London : 1642] Place and date of publication taken from Wing (2nd ed.) Reproduction of original in: Universität Göttingen Bibliothek. eng Printing industry -- England -- 17th century -- Sources. Broadsides -- England -- London -- 17th century. B01857 R172568 (Wing B595A). civilwar no Stationars and printers, a privilegial, not municipal companie or corporation, however their proprieties to bee individually conserved, humb Ball, William 1652 955 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 A This text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2008-07 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2008-09 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2008-11 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2008-11 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2009-02 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion Stationars and Printers , a Privilegial , not Municipal Companie or Corporation , however their Proprieties to bee individually conserved , Humbly presented to the Honorable Committee for Examinations , &c. HAving lately ( as far as I might ) discerned the subtle , yet ambiguous desires of som , ( not the soundest nor most able Printers ) I finde their pretences to bee Regulation , as in order to themselvs , but no way in relation to the Common-wealth : And their chief ends to apply to themselvs Communicatively the chiefest Copies , being the proprieties of other men . Wherefore that these innovating men should , if they would , better understand themselvs , I have directed these sequels . 1. A Companie Municipal is such an one which subordinately utitur regulis suis in ordine ad se ; useth their own Rules and Constitutions in relation to themselvs , as do Mercers , Drapers , Fish-mongers , &c. Also Gold-smiths , Brasiers , Shoo-makers , &c. All of whom can buy , barter , sell , contract , work , &c. without any special privilege , order , or licence from any Superior , Superiors , Supervisor or Supervisors . But Printers , Book-binders , and Book-sellers cannot by Decrees and Ordinances ( hitherto thought fit to continue ) print , binde , or sell a Book ( imprinted within this Nation ) but by special licence and allowance ; nor import from other Nations , but with like regard . And in France , Germanie , Spain , and other Countries , they cannot print , but for a certain determined time , such or such a Book ; nor sell , but for such a price ( a convenience , which , I suppose , would bee useful in this Common-wealth , ) especially for som Books . So that albeit the Printers , Book-binders , and Book-sellers , are a Companie which subordinately utitur suis regulis , in som things ; yet they use such Rules and Constitutions in ordine ad alios , viz. Their Superiors ( or rather the Common-wealth ) not ad se ; as the forementioned Companies do ; And are therefore to bee accounted a Privilegial , not a Municipal Companie . 2. And whereas the Printers would not only invade other mens Proprieties ( thereby endeavouring to null , as much as in them lie's , Meum & Tuum , and inducing , as far as may bee , an example of ill consequence to this Common-wealth ) but they would also destroy ( as I am credibly informed ) Patrimonial Right ; that is , that the Father of a free Stationar shall not make his Son free ; and consequently that his Son shall not bee capable of having or enjoying the benefit of Printing his Father's Copies ; This their endeavour I conceiv to bee most injurious ; For many a Stationar ( including the Printers ) have many times little or nothing to leav their Wives and Children , but their Copies : Which if they should , by the indirect device of these innovating Printers , be deprived of ; then they cannot other way subsist . Moreover , why should any free Stationar bee debarred from such Right , which by the Rules and Constitutions general of the honorable Citie of London every Free-man enjoyeth ; to wit , to make his Son a Free-man ? This I take to bee a device of the Printers against Matthew Barker , and others , whose Rights they would invade . So that ( in my opinion ) it would bee requisite , that neither the Book-sellers , nor the Printers , being ( as I have alreadie instanced , but privilegial , and not properly municipal ) debate nor draw any Act or Acts , on their own behalf , for regulating of Printers & Printing : But that such Act or Acts bee from henceforth debated by the Honorable Council of State , or by such as they shall appoint , and by them drawn up and recommended to the Parlament , for the regulating of Printing it self in a true Decorum , as also of all Proprieties individually . And if this of Proprieties were but exactly considered and reported , these new ( and for the most part mean ) Innovators , would ( in all probabilitie ) desist from further troublesom solliciting the Honorable Council of State , and apply themselvs to bee ruled and governed , as their Honors , and high Court of Parlament should in their Wisdoms think fit . If it should bee said , That none ought to exercise the Art or Mysterie of Printing , but such as have served seven years to a Printer , in regard that Printing may be said to bee a manual occupation , and consequently to bee comprehended within the Act of Elis. 5. c. 4. I answer , That albeit Printing may in regard of its labor , bee said to bee a manual occupation ; yet in regard of its END , it is a Privilegial , and not a Popular manual occupation , no otherwise then Coyning . And that Act of Elis. &c . intend's onely manual occupations popular , not privilegial ; as the clauses thereof manifest . So that the privilege of Printing , or right of Copies , may reside in one or more , who are no Artists ; and the performance of Printing in such onely who are Artists in Printing . Januarie 2. 1651. William Ball .