7770 S84h Stevens The Qxford Caxton Memorial Bible THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES 7770 ■ :^^;:-.-3., ,„..,■,. 64 K T,he Oxford OftKtonMei9ieri«' V* THE LIBRARY eT* OF rrL AC THE UNIVERSITY >i OF CALIFORNIA 5 » LOS ANGELES The Oxford Caxton Memorial BIBLE. ' We must roote ovt Pryntinge Or Pryntinge will roote out vs.' The Vicar of Croydon in a Sermon at Paul's Cross. CO sccut e hour WyS-ti ^t»oSl_ hfnry SitxhN'- n P\Iii jr <> <> 9©p ^otf)er (BooD Sen Better t^ere Cut s^e is (n $er grat)c, anO. C|e Cifcrencc to me ! ' ik WLhdU^ printcD anii bounS in foitlat l^oiirs, ©n t|)i3 jotlj Sag ot Jluiu, 1877, iFor t})t Cajton dtltbration. 100 tsifits bnt ptinttli, of toljiri) tijts is 49trsenteD to Reduced raosimile [In iWtinon'am ffiul. OTaxton.J containing tfjr flDlD ann JSeto Cegtamentg: Ctanslaf tD out of tlie ©tiginat Cmpts : ana toitfj tljc former translations tiiligtntig tomparcti anC rcbisrt, bg ISis iBajcstp's siitrial CommanU.. Qppointci) to hi xt&n in ©buttbes. '^rtnteO at tbe Unibtxilts lifxai. ILonBon . Scnrj JFrotoHf. ©iCorfi Snibrrsitg I3rtss JSarrtjousr, 7, ipattrnoster iiofa iltfa gorfe: 42, JSIttchn 5trt£t. lainion t6mo. June 30, 1S77. Cum J^riSiUaW, Reduced facsimile. ' Printers have persecuted me without a cause. David, Psalm cxix, i6i. Specimen of Bible Pritiling before 1702, according to Cotton Mather. r THE Oxford Caxton Memorial IBLE IBLE PRINTING was the glory of the Press in Gutenberg's day. It is the glory of the Oxford University Press of to-day. The Catalogue of Bibles in the Caxton Exhibition opened with the Jirst Bible printed with moveable metal types, 1450-1455, and closed with the /as^ Bible printed with moveable metal types on the 30th of June, 10 The Oxford Caxton 1877, the day of the opening of the Caxton Celebration Exhibition. As the circumstances and facts connected with this Memorial Bible have been somewhat misunderstood and not a little misrepresented, I may perhaps as well tell the true story here. Taking my hint from Caxton himself, who, in 'The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye,' 1471, in Epilogue to Book III, wrote: "Be- cause I haue promisid to dyuerce gentilmen & to my frendes to addresse to hem as hastely as I myght this sayd book/ Therefore I haue practysed and lemed at my grete charge and dispense to ordeyne this said book in prynte after the maner & forme as ye may here see/ and is not wreton with penne and ynke as other bokes ben/ to thende that euery man may haue them attones/ ffor all the bookes thus em- pr^'ntid as ye here see were begonne in oon day/ & also fynyshid in oon day/ which boke I haue presentid to" &c. Whatever idea Caxton by these quaint words may have meant to con- vey, I resolved, if possible, to have a Bible printed in Oxford and bound in London on Memorial Bible 1 1 the 30th of June, 1877, in time for Mr Glad- stone's after-dejeuner speech. Accordingly, some four or five days before, I made application to the Rev, Professor Bartho- lomew Price and Mr Henry Frowde, represent- ing the University Press, Oxford, and through them the hint was suggested. They both ap- parently favoured the idea, though at first some doubt was expressed as to the possibility of per- forming the feat. Professor Price asked if I could give a few hours for consideration. The answer was, " yes, till twelve to-morrow ; but you must keep the secret, so that in the event of your de- clining to undertake the enterprise, it may be offered to the University Press, Cambridge, or to the Queen's Printers, London, or, as a last resort, by cable to the American Bible Society, New York," for, as I told them, I was resolved, if pos- sible, to have a Bible honestly and fairly printed and bound on the morning of the 30th of June. So we separated, Mr Frowde urging the Professor to bring about the accomplishment of the feat if possible. The next morning Professor Price telegraphed from Oxford, "it shall be done." 12 The Oxford Caxton It was subsequently arranged between Mr Frowde and myself that there should be one hundred copies printed, and no more ; that they should all be numbered in print from I to loo, and all be exactly alike in binding and ornament ; that all the copies should be pre- sented in the name of the University Press to Libraries, Societies, distinguished individuals and others, in all parts of the world, and that no copies on any account should be sold ; that the first, or N° i, should be reserved for Her Majesty the Queen, and the last, or N° loo, should be for Mrs Henry Stevens. A list of one hundred numbers was next made, and it was agreed that the nominations of the pre- sentees should be divided into three parts, that is, Bible N° i and every third number there- after should be allotted by the University Press ; N'^ 2 and every third number thereafter should be in the nomination of Mr Henry Stevens ; and N° 3 and every third number thereafter to be at the disposal of the Delegates of the Uni- versity Press and the Dons of Oxford. And finally, that, before the end of the year, when Memorial Bible 1 3 the majority of the presentations would most likely be made, a list be printed with the num- bers and names of presentees as far as then settled. All these plans having been made and defi- nitely settled, early on Saturday morning, June 30th, the chief particulars were briefly written out by myself, and submitted personally to Mr Gladstone at his house about nine o'clock, with the offer that Mr Gladstone was at liberty to make a point of them in his forthcoming speech in the afternoon if he liked, with a copy of the projected Bible in hand. Mr Gladstone at first expressed great doubts about the possibility of carrying out the project in time ; said that he had once dined with a gentleman in the North of England, who presided at the dinner table in the evening in a dress-coat that had been made from cloth made from the wool of a sheep sheared that morning on the lawn before the house in the presence of some of the guests ; but, added he, ' ' if our Oxford friends accom- plish this feat to-day with their Bible, they will outdo the enterprise of my northern friend." 14 The Oxford Caxton Mr Gladstone entered fully into the spirit of the enterprise, and, well knowing Professor Price, expressed his entire confidence in the honour and squareness of the transaction. He was distinctly told by me that the book was to be printed in Oxford from standing moveable type, and the whole of the one hundred copies to be bound in London, all on that Saturday. The overcoming of the distance of the sixty- three miles between Oxford and London was to be considered as an essential part of the feat. Mr Gladstone was then, I submit, "properly instructed," and I should perhaps here add that he did not in his speech say that this Bible was 'set up' or ' composed' that day, as one of the five or six morning papers which reported him erroneously declared that he did. A parcel containing ten copies of the Caxton Memorial Bible reached Mr Stevens at the Western Gallery, South Kensington, precisely at 2 o'clock that day, so that when Mr Glad- stone, accompanied by Mrs Gladstone and the Emperor of Brazil, came to the table at about half-past two, a paper was placed before him Memorial Bible 15 with the words in pencil, "the parcel has arrived all right and just as planned," and then, by way of confirmation, three copies of the Memorial Bible were placed in his hands, inscribed N° i, to Her Majesty the Queen, N° 2, to Mrs Gladstone, and N^ 10, to His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil. So far there had not been a hitch, and the point that Mr Gladstone made of the " Caxton Memorial Bible " in his speech about four o'clock is known to everybody, while he held it up in the presence of the " Six Hundred " as "the climax and consummation of the art of print- ing." During the short time that Bible N° i was on the table before Mr Gladstone, a small drop of wine accidentally fell upon the gilt top edge of the book, and, before I had time to wipe it away, had made a slight but beautifully coloured purple star on the gilding. Not deeming this ' suspicion of Gladstone claret' by any means a blemish, the stain was allowed to remain as an additional and unique souvenir of the day. The Book so marked was therefore, after being 1 6 The Oxford Caxton displayed under glass during the Caxton Exhi- bition, sent, enclosed in a morocco case, to Her Majesty. The volume was printed at Oxford, bound in London, and delivered at the South Ken- sington Exhibition Buildings literally within twelve consecutive hours. The book was printed, not from stereotype plates, as has been erroneously stated by some of the morning papers, but from moveable type set up a long time ago, and not used for years. To guard against any fraud hereafter, it was thought best to take the forms of an edition that was entirely out of print. The printers commenced to make their preparations soon after mid- night, and the printing actually commenced at two A.M. ; the sheets were artificially dried, forwarded to London by the nine o'clock ex- press train to the Oxford University Press Binding Establishment, Barbican, where they were folded, rolled, collated, sewn, subjected to hydraulic pressure, gilded, bound, and taken to South Kensington before two p.m. The book consists of 1,052 pages, i6mo, Memorial Bible 1 7 minion type, and is bound in turkey morocco, bevelled boards, flexible back, gilt-lettered on back and inside cover, with the arms of the Oxford University in gold on its obverse side ; and is free from the " set-off" or blemish vv^hich its hasty production might well have excused. One hundred and one persons, I have been told, were engaged in the Oxford University Press Binding Establishment, Barbican, Lon- don, that day on this Memorial Bible, all of whom received extra wages, besides a holiday the following Monday. The volume contains an explanatory inscription and an extra title : "In memoriam Gul. Caxton," with the occa- sion and date of the edition printed at the bottom of each of its thirty-three sheets, thus : " The Oxford Caxton Celebration Edition, 1877." Mr Gladstone concluded his interesting speech with the following words, which are given as reported in "The Times" of July 2nd, with a few slight corrections : — "If you look at the list of works produced by Caxton and compare them at the same time with the c 1 8 The Oxfo7'd Caxton works produced in the Continental Press, you will be struck by their great difference of cha- racter. The works produced by Caxton appear mainly to belong to a low stage of civilization. He did not print the Bible, because the trans- lated Bible, then popular among the people, was the translation of Wyclifte, and the trans- lation of Wycliffe had been proscribed by the Church ; but he never attempted to print any one of the great standard classical works of antiquity. Are we to condemn him on that account? Not at all. His proceeding was an eminently English proceeding. Caxton con- ceived in his own mind that idea which we consider to be an eminently English idea — that he would make his great enterprise independent and self-supporting. "Caxton seems to have determined to throw himself as far as he could upon the sympathies and intelligence of his countr)'men — to do all he could by translations to bring learning near to their comprehension, and having brought them as near as he could, to trust them to do the rest. And the industry of this man was Memorial Bible 1 9 marvellous. We are told that by the time he died he had translated nearly 5,000 folio pages for the benefit and instruction of his country- men. Printing, too, was not looked upon by him so much as a mere manual art or accom- plishment as that it was his business to develope the art as a link between the literary works on the one side which he had printed and the minds of his countrymen on the other side, and thus of bringing them into contact. This is a very remarkable and interesting history, and I venture to say that those who have not had the opportunity of closely examining it will find that the career of Caxton, considered as a bio- graphy, had a deep interest for any reader in- terested in the history of literature, and for most civilized of English readers it is a subject that will well repay any amount of diligence and care bestowed on it. " Well, ladies and gentlemen, I will not detain you much longer. My wish is gained if those who have not made his character and career a special subject for examination shall happily be induced to look a little into the 20 The Oxford Caxton matter. The relatively backward condition of England at Caxton's time was evinced by the fact that after his death he had no English followers. " Here I must say one word to point to the good sense and sagacity of Caxton. As I have said, he determined to make his press self- supporting, and he did so ; and I dare say when he died, if he was not a wealthy man, he was a man of substance. And he was not a "high flying" printer. He took a hint from those who preceded him. Those Germans, Sweyn- heym and Pannartz, who were first established [at Subiaco] in the neighbourhood of Rome printed a great number of magnificent editions of the Greek and Latin Classics, and what was the consequence? They became bankrupts. That was a very melancholy end of a noble enterprise, but it enables us to understand the modesty, good sense, and sagacity of Caxton when we see how he steered clear of those rocks. He saw there would not be demand enough in England for what may be called an ideal press. He limited himself to practical Memorial Bible 2 1 objects, and thus laid a sound foundation of what was a progressive work." Mr Gladstone here took up a bound volume, and continued, — " I now call attention in a few words to the progress of this art, and I hold up a volume in my hand to which I beg every one to direct his eye, because I think it may be called the climax and consummation of the art of printing. This volume is bound, as you see, and stamped with the arms of the University of Oxford. It is a Bible bound in a manner that commends itself to the reader ; I believe in eveiy respect an excellent piece of workmanship, containing more than one thou- sand pages. Well, you will say, ' That is very commonplace, why bring it before us?' I do so in order to tell you that the materials of this book sixteen hours ago did not exist. The book was not bound, it was not folded, it was not printed. Since the clock struck twelve last night at the University Press in Oxford the people there have printed and sent us this book to be distributed here in the midst of your festival. They have sent several copies, one of 22 The Oxford Caxton which will be presented to the Emperor of Brazil, who has but just left our table. This shows what can be done, and is what has been done, and it shows the state to which this great art is now happily arrived. " If I began with a humiliating confession on the part of my countrymen as to the small share we could claim in contributing to the early history of printing, we may leave off, ladies and gentlemen, in a better spirit, because I think that such a performance as this is one that will be admitted to be a credit in any portion of the world. (Applause.) "Now I will trouble you no longer, but will ask you to drink with me to the memory of that valued and honoured name, William Caxton — the first English printer, and for a while the solitary printer in this our beloved country." The paper was made at the Oxford University Press Paper Mills at Wolvercote, near Oxford, specially for this edition, only a day or two be- fore it was printed. It might have been made (and is perhaps a matter of regret that it was Memorial Bible 23 not) on the morning of the 30th of June in time for the printing of this Memorial Bible. It has been said that scores of houses might have done the same thing. But they didn't, and the possibility of any other house in England doing it depends upon the single fact whether any other printing-house out of Oxford keeps the Bible standing in moveable type. It could not probably have been printed from stereo- plates in the time, and it has been estimated by the compositors of one of the largest printing establishments in London, that it would have taken 2,000 compositors and 200 readers to have ' set up ' and properly read the Bible in these same twelve hours, to say nothing of the press- work and binding. Unquestionably the Bible, with all its points, capitals, italics, and small capitals, is the most difficult of all books to print with perfect accuracy. Again no inconsiderable part of the enterprise was in overcoming the sixty-three miles between Oxford and London. r 24 The Oxford Caxton A List of the Oxford Caxtofi Memorial Bibles allotted up to Easter, MDCCCLXXVIII. N'.B. — The 33 Numbers printed in Roman numerals were assigned to Mr Stevens for Allotment. I Her Majesty the Queen, ii Mrs William E. Gladstone. 3 The Marquis of Salisbury', D.C.L. Chan- cellor of the University of Oxford. James Lenox, Esq. for the Lenox Librar}', New York. The Archbishop of Canterbury, for Lam- beth Palace Library'. His Majesty the Emperor of Germany. Mr John Henry Stacey, Oxford Univer- sity Press. His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil. The Hon. Stephen Salisbur>', for the American Antiquarian Society, Wor- cester, Massachusetts. Mrs Combe. Memorial Bible 25 13 Ex-President General and Mrs Ulysses S. Grant, xiv Mrs Edwards Pierrepont, Wife of the United States Minister at London. 15 The Reverend J. E. Sewell, D.D. Warden of New College, and Vice- Chancellor of the University of Oxford. 16 19 XX The Library of the Massachusetts His- torical Society, Boston, New England. The Reverend Mark Pattison, B.D. Rec- tor of Lincoln College, Oxford. The Reverend John Griffiths, D.D. War- den of Wadham College, Oxford. The Right Hon. the Earl of Beaconsfield. The Library of the British Museum. Mr H. E. P. Piatt, M.A. Fellow of Lin- coln College and Junior Proctor, Oxford, Mr J. S. Hodson, Secretary of the Caxton Celebration, 1877. D 26 The Oxford Caxton 27 The Reverend Henry Octavus Coxe, M.A. Bodley's Librarian, Oxford. 28 xxix The Library of Parliament, Dominion of Canada. 30 31 Miss Louisa Court, xxxii His Majesty the Emperor of Russia. 33 The Reverend Bartholomew Price, M.A. Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy, Oxford. 34 XXXV 36 The Bodleian Library, Oxford. 37 The Library of the British and Foreign Bible Society, London. xxxviii The Library of the American Bible Society, New York. 39 The Reverend William Bright, D.D. Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Oxford. 40 James Franklin, Esq, xli Mrs John Carter Brown, Providence, Rhode Island, New England. Memorial Bible 27 42 Mr Francis Fry, F.S.A. Gotham, Bristol. 43 xliv J. Hammond Trumbull, LL.D. for the Watkinson Library, Hartford, Connec- ticut, New England. 45 The Reverend H. G. Woods, M. A. Fellow of Trinity Gollege, Senior Proctor, Oxford. 46 xlvii Mrs Harriet A. Tenney, for the Michigan State Library. 48 49 1 The Very Reverend H. G. Liddell, D.D. Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. 51 Mr H. J. S. Smith, M.A. Savilian Pro- fessor of Geometry, Oxford. 52 Mrs Taylor. liii Henry John Atkinson, Esq. Gunnersbury House, Acton, Middlesex. 54 The Reverend William Stubbs, M.A. Regius Professor of Modern History, Oxford. 55 The University Library, Cambridge. 28 The Oxfo7'd Caxton Ivi The Library of Congress, Washington, United States. 57 The Reverend Edwin Palmer, M.A. Corpus Professor of Latin, Oxford. 58 lix William Blades, Esq. Author of the Life of William Caxton. 60 The Archbishop of York. 61 Ixii His Majesty the King of Italy. 63 John Walter, Esq. M.P. 64 The Reverend Newman Hall. Ixv The Library Company, Philadelphia. 66 The Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone. 67 The Library of the Hibernian Bible Society, Dublin. Ixviii 69 Thomas Burt, Esq. 70 His Grace the Duke of Devonshire. Ixxi His Majesty the King of the Belgians. 72 The Library of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London. 73 The Reverend G. G. Bradley, M.A. Master of University College, Oxford. Memorial Bible 29 Ixxiv Samuel Christie-Miller, Esquire, Britwell House, Burnham. 75 Mr Edward Pickard Hall, M.A. Oxford University Press. 76 The Right Hon. the Earl Spencer, K.C.B. Ixxvii Mr Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press. 78 Rev. Henry Swabey, M.A. 79 The Library of the Academie Francaise, Paris. Ixxx Prof. Dr Reinhold Pauli, for the Library of the University of Gottingen. 81 F. Max Muller, M.A. Professor of Comparative Philology, Oxford. 82 His Royal Highness Prince Louis Lucien Bonaparte. Ixxxiii The Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, New England. 84 Mr William Nelson. 85 Ixxxvi M. de Lisle, for the Bibliotheque Na- tional, Paris. 87 30 The Oxford Memorial Bible 88 Ixxxix Mr Alexander Macmillan. 90 91 George Bullen, Esq. British Museum, Chairman of Caxton Committee N" i. xcii Chancellor J. V. L. Pruyn, for the New York State Libraiy, Albany. 93 94 xcv The Library of Yale College, New Haven, Connecticut, New England. 96 M. Alfred Chaix, Paris. 97 xcviii The Newberr}' Library, Chicago. 99 ICX5 Mrs Henrj' Stevens, Vermont House, 1 3, Upper Avenue Road, N. w . London. PRINTED BY JOHN C. WILKINS, g, CASTLE STREET, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON, 25 MARCH, 1878. «• ,< 3-^ . / « i 3— < >- « « )m »» «> >- <^. )>^ ( * H 1 >H > ■ i \ * M ■ r^ 1 1 •» )> « )^ -<» \ * \ ■ ~E^ «)M r^ « ^ ^ \ * M 1 ' ^ « >-?^ 1 « ^ "» )>- ^* (* M «• >-E^ «J>:^ date stamped below. L 009 603 466 5 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL L'.BRARV B 000 024 057 2 7