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TYPOGRAPHIC TECHNICAL SERIES FOR APPRENTICES — PART VIII, NO. 53 
 
 A BRIEF HISTORY 
 of ' 
 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 A SHORT HISTORY OF PRINTING 
 
 IN ENGLAND FROM CAXTON 
 
 TO THE PRESENT TIME 
 
 BY 
 FREDERICK W. HAMILTON, LL.D. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL DIRECTOR 
 UNITED TYPOTHETyE OF AMERICA 
 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION 
 UNITED TYPOTHETAE OF AMERICA 
 
 1918 
 

 Copyright, 1918 
 
 United Typothetae of America 
 
 Chicago. III. 
 
 Composition and electrotypes contributed by 
 
 J P.. LirriNcoTT Company 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE treatment of the material used in this volume 
 will be found somewhat different from that 
 adopted in the two preceding. The narrower field 
 of inquiry makes possible a closer following of the 
 ordinary chronological method *of arrangement rather 
 than the topical method of the other volumes. An 
 attempt is made to trace the history of printing in Eng- 
 land through the centuries from Caxton to Morris and 
 to include some insight into legal regulations, trade 
 conditions, and industrial development generally. As 
 before, it is to be remembered that this is a primer, a 
 book of introductions. No attempt, therefore, is made 
 to go far into details or to discuss disputed points or to 
 include any considerable amount of technical detail. It 
 is hoped that the reader will get a comprehensive view 
 of the subject, will feel its human interest, and will 
 catch some glimpse of its larger relation to the general 
 history of the time. 
 
 The writer has consulted a considerable range of 
 authorities, a few of the more accessible of which are 
 cited in the short list of books for supplementary read- 
 ing. Mention should be made of the very excellent 
 study of John Baskerville, privately printed by Col. 
 Josiah H. Benton, of Boston. This book may perhaps 
 be found in the larger public libraries. Here, as always, 
 it is to be regretted that although much has been writ- 
 ten on the subject of printing and of the history of 
 printing a good general history of the subject is still 
 greatly to be desired. 
 
 3 
 
 JO 
 

CONTENTS 
 
 Chapter I page 
 
 The English Pioneers ... 7 
 
 Chapter II 
 
 The Regulation of the Industry and the Company of 
 
 Stationers 18 
 
 Chapter III 
 John Day and the Dark Ages of English Printing ... 34 
 
 Chapter IV 
 The Eighteenth Century: the Period of Transition . . 49 
 
 Chapter V 
 The Whittinghams and the Modern Book ... . . 68 
 
 Supplementary Reading 76 
 
 Review Questions „ 77 
 
PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 The English Pioneers 
 
 "GANGLAND was slow to take up printing and slow 
 -■— > and backward in the development of it. It was 
 25 years after the invention of printing before any 
 printing was done in England. It was many years 
 after that before the work of the English printers could 
 compare with that done on the continent. The reason 
 for this is to be found in the conditions of the country 
 itself. Although the two great universities had long 
 been in existence, Oxford dating back to 1 167 and Cam- 
 bridge to 1209, England as a whole was a backward 
 country. In culture and the refinements of civilization, 
 as well as in many more practical things, England was 
 not so far advanced as the rest of Europe ncr was it to 
 be so for many years to come. 
 
 England at this time was an agricultural and grazing 
 country. A colony of Flemings had been brought over 
 to start the cloth industry. There was still, neverthe- 
 less, a large export of wool to Flanders, which was there 
 woven and sent back as cloth. The English nobles 
 lived largely on their estates, looking after their ten- 
 ants, hunting for diversion, and doing a little fighting 
 occasionally when life became otherwise unbearably 
 uninteresting. They were not an educated class and 
 the peasantry were profoundly ignorant. The cities 
 which, as always, depended upon manufacture and com- 
 merce were just beginning to grow, with the exception 
 
 7 
 
PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 of some of the seaport towns which were already pros- 
 perous and wealthy. 
 
 Not only was this general condition true, but there 
 were special conditions which rendered the middle of 
 the fifteenth century unfavorable to culture and to the 
 introduction of a new invention auxiliary to culture. 
 In 1450 England was shaken and horrified by the bloody 
 insurrection of peasants, with its attendant outrages, 
 known as Jack Cade's Revolt. Scarcely had order been 
 restored when a disputed succession to the crown 
 plunged the country into the bloody civil war between 
 the adherents of the Houses of York and Lancaster, 
 known as the Wars of the Roses. This period of civil 
 strife lasted for thirty years and affected the general 
 welfare of England very seriously. It was especially 
 marked by mortality among the noblest families in the 
 realm, many of which were actually exterminated. 
 
 Some time within this bloody half-century the art of 
 printing was introduced into England. There is in 
 existence a book printed in Oxford and dated on the 
 title page 1468. Upon the existence of this book, and 
 upon a somewhat doubtful legend, has been built a 
 claim that English printing originated in Oxford. This 
 claim, however, has practically ceased to be main- 
 tained. The legend appears to be baseless, and it has 
 been generally concluded that the date is a misprint 
 and that it should be 1478, an X having been dropped 
 in writing the Roman date, a not uncommon error in 
 publications of this period. Historians have now gener- 
 ally agreed that the introduction of printing in England 
 is due to William Caxton, one of the most interesting 
 figures in the whole annals of printing. 
 
 Caxton was born in the Weald, or wooded land, of 
 
THE ENGLISH PIONEERS 
 
 Kent, a place of simple people and uncouth speech, 
 about 142 1. As a boy he was apprenticed to Robert 
 Large, a prominent mercer or silk merchant of London. 
 On the death of Large, not many years later, Caxton 
 went to Bruges, in Belgium, then part of the territory 
 of the Dukes of Burgundy, and became connected with 
 the so-called English "Nation" or "House." This was 
 a chartered company of merchant adventurers similar 
 to the companies which later settled certain portions of 
 North America and to the famous East India Company. 
 Caxton appears to have been successful in business and 
 became Governor of the English "Nation" in 1462. 
 
 Bruges was at this time a city of wealth and culture, 
 the Flemings being far in advance of the English in 
 this respect. Life in these surroundings caused Caxton 
 to become interested in reading and good literature, 
 and in 1467 he undertook a translation into English 
 of a collection of stories of Troy, or as he called it 
 "Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye." Shortly after 
 this, Margaret, sister of Edward IV of England, mar- 
 ried the Duke of Burgundy and came to Bruges to live. 
 Caxton immediately came into friendly relations with 
 the Duchess, who shortly after gave him a position in 
 her personal service. It is not quite clear what this 
 position was. It has been supposed by some that the 
 purpose of the Duchess was to enable Caxton to pursue 
 his literary labors with the special end of making con- 
 tinental literature known to the English through trans- 
 lation. A more probable supposition, however, is that 
 he was the confidential business adviser to the Duchess. 
 It is a well-known fact that royal personages at this 
 period engaged freely in trade and that sometimes they 
 engaged in extensive commercial transactions with other 
 
io PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 royal personages although trade between their two coun- 
 tries might be strictly prohibited by law, as was the 
 case with England and Flanders during part of the reign 
 of Edward IV. At an early period of their friendship 
 Caxton showed the Duchess Margaret his unfinished 
 translation of the Troy stories. Fortunately for the 
 wcrld, the Duchess was a friendly but candid critic. 
 She saw both the strength and the weakness of Cax- 
 ton's work, and while she took him to task roundly 
 for his rough and poor English she encouraged and 
 commanded him to complete his translation and at the 
 same time improve himself in English. Caxton there- 
 upon renewed his work and completed the translation 
 of the Troy stories at Cologne in 147 1. 
 
 Caxton was immediately besieged with demands for 
 copies of his translations, which, of course, he was un- 
 able to furnish, although he appears to have worked at 
 it until time, strength, and eyesight failed. He there- 
 upon determined to learn the new art of printing so that 
 he might by that means multiply copies of this and other 
 works which he might execute. Unquestionably he saw 
 printing presses in operation in Cologne. It has been 
 claimed that he learned to print there, and this claim 
 receives some support from an ambiguous statement 
 attributed to him many years later by Wynkyn de 
 Worde. It is possible that Caxton may have worked 
 a little in one of the Cologne printing offices, but it seems 
 clear on internal evidence that Air. Blades is right in his 
 conclusion that Caxton did not learn the art there. The 
 early printed work of Caxton is by no means equal to that 
 of the Cologne printers, and represents an earlier stage 
 of development than that which had been reached by 
 Cologne at this period. Many of the compositor's 
 
THE ENGLISH PIONEERS n 
 
 methods which were familiar to the Cologne printers of 
 1470 did not appear in Caxton's books until years later. 
 
 On Caxton's return from- Cologne he associated him- 
 self with one Colard Mansion, who for a few years un- 
 successfully attempted to carry en a printing business 
 at Bruges. The probability is that Caxton learned the 
 art during this association with Mansion. The asso- 
 ciation was terminated in 1476 by the bankruptcy of 
 Mansion. During this period, however, Caxton and 
 Mansion published five books, two in English and three 
 in French. The first to be published, and the first book 
 to be printed in English anywhere, was the translation 
 of the Troy stories. One of the other books was the first 
 book that was ever printed in French. It is interesting 
 to note that the first book to be printed in French was 
 done by an Englishman in Flanders. 
 
 In 1476- Caxton withdrew entirely from his business 
 connections in Bruges, went to England, taking with 
 him his presses, type, and workmen, and opened a 
 printing office within the precincts of Westminster 
 Abbey. It has often been stated that Caxton's print- 
 ing office was in the abbey building itself, but this is 
 undoubtedly an error. English abbeys and cathedrals 
 are commonly surrounded by a considerable extent of 
 ground called a "close." Within this "close" are 
 dwelling houses and not infrequently shops. The en- 
 tire property belongs to and is controlled by the abbey 
 or cathedral authorities. Caxton's shop appears to 
 have been in a building known as the "Red Pale" 
 within the abbey "close." Caxton continued to print 
 here until his death in 1491. 
 
 Within this period he printed ninety-three books 
 and perhaps eight or ten more whose attribution is 
 
12 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 uncertain. Of these ninety-three, fifteen ran to two 
 editions and three of the fifteen ran to three edi- 
 tions. Caxton was a good business man and was 
 probably possessed of considerable capital when he 
 began. He not only made the business pay, but took 
 advantage of his somewhat independent position finan- 
 cially to lead and create the popular taste instead of 
 following it. Caxton was thoroughly English. He 
 knew his people and knew what they would take and 
 he printed accordingly. He did a good business in 
 service books, school books, and statutes or public 
 printing. These were what we should call to-day "pot 
 boilers" and kept his office going on a sound business 
 basis. Beyond that he printed a large number of works of 
 good literature, but he took no unnecessary chances even 
 in this field. He always endeavored either to get the finan- 
 cial backing of some wealthy noble or to assure himself of 
 a reasonable sale before he undertook a new publication. 
 In the field of literature his work was different from 
 that of almost any other printer of his time. He printed 
 no Bibles. Latin Bibles could easily be imported from 
 the continent, probably cheaper than he could print 
 them. English Bibles were not permitted to be printed 
 unless the English translation had been made before 
 the appearance of Wickliffe's Bible in 1380. There were 
 translations into English before Wickliffe, as well as a 
 considerable number of later date, but with the loose 
 and uncertain dating of manuscripts the printing of an 
 English Bible was altogether a more risky proposition 
 than Caxton cared to undertake. He printed no works 
 on theology. There was no demand for theology in 
 English, and theology in Latin and Greek could be 
 cheaply imported. Moreover, although Caxton was a 
 
THE ENGLISH PIONEERS 13 
 
 profoundly religious man and- a perfectly loyal son of 
 the Church, he appears to have had no personal interest 
 in theology whatever. For similar reasons he printed no 
 edition of the Fathers and only two volumes of the 
 classics. He left all of these matters to the importers. 
 
 His field of publication was the putting before the 
 public of good, recent literature in the English lan- 
 guage. He did this partly through printing the works 
 of Chaucer, Langland, and other good English authors 
 and partly through translation of works in French and 
 Latin. He was very much interested in English history 
 and works relating to England, publishing several of 
 the old chronicles and other matters of this sort. He 
 believed that there was great help to be found in read- 
 ing stories of good women and brave men and he at- 
 tempted to lay a store of such stories before his readers. 
 His own translations cover over five thousand closely 
 printed folio pages, but he had many other translations 
 made for him. He was a good linguist in French, Flem- 
 ish, and Latin and a tireless worker at his literary and 
 business labors. He meant that everything which he 
 printed should be helpful to his readers and should 
 make for the betterment of the life of his time, although 
 he would have been the first to disclaim the title of 
 reformer or missionary. 
 
 Two Rotable instances of his literary honesty appear. 
 After the publication of his first edition cf Chaucer, an 
 acquaintance came to him and called his attention to 
 the fact that he had followed a very imperfect manu- 
 script. His friend said that his father had a very fine 
 manuscript and Caxton at once arranged for a loan of 
 it. Finding that through following an imperfect text 
 he had omitted many things from Chaucer's text and 
 
14 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 inserted many others which did not belong there, he 
 at once printed a correct edition, probably at very 
 serious loss to himself. The unsold copies of the first 
 edition became useless and the cost of a second edition 
 was equal to the first, as the work had to be entirely 
 done over again from the beginning. The other in- 
 stance must be judged by the standards of his time 
 rather than ours, but showed his desire to present only 
 correct texts to his readers. Caxton published in 1483 
 a translation of John Mink's "Liber Festivalis." An 
 independent translation was published at Oxford in 
 1487. A few years later Caxton published a second 
 edition, but followed the Oxford text rather than his 
 own earlier translation. 
 
 Personally Caxton is a most interesting figure, a 
 sturdy, honest, high-minded, common-sensible Eng- 
 lish gentleman, a man who loved and served God, 
 honored the King, and helped his neighbor to the best 
 of his ability, and who did his country an inestimable 
 service not only by the introduction of a new art but 
 by the opening of a new field of literature. 
 
 Caxton's printing was not remarkable for typograph- 
 ical excellence. He used soft. type and thin ink, very 
 much to the detriment of the beauty of his impressions. 
 The first' type which he used was a font of black let- 
 ter made in imitation of the handwriting of the Bur- 
 gundian clerks of the time. This font had belonged 
 to Mansion and was probably obtained by Caxton 
 from Mansion's creditors. Later he cut for himself 
 several other fonts, some authorities say five, some 
 seven. All of his fonts were black-letter Gothic and 
 all more or less related to the Burgundian script 
 with which he began. He used / instead of commas 
 
THE ENGLISH PIONEERS 15 
 
 and periods. He had a habit of correcting typograph- 
 ical errors by hand after the books were finished. He 
 went over the first copy, making the corrections him- 
 self, and afterward the other copies were made to con- 
 form by clerks or apprentices. 
 
 While Caxton was at work a few other printers made 
 their appearance in England. Some time before 1478 
 Theodoric Rood, of Cologne, opened a printing office at 
 Oxford. The office was open for about eight years, but 
 seems to have done only a small business. We have fifteen 
 books which are known to have come from this press. 
 They were printed from three different fonts of type. 
 Two of them were good letters imported from Cologne. 
 About 1487 Rood disappeared and is supposed to have 
 gone back to Cologne. In 1479 a press was started at 
 the abbey of St. Albans. This press published eight 
 books that we know of, all for church use or the direct 
 use of the abbey. These books were printed from four 
 fonts of type, two of which are identical with two of Cax- 
 ton's. It is possible that this was a side enterprise of 
 Caxton's, although it is equally possible that the abbey 
 may have bought the type of Caxton or obtained the 
 use of his matrices or even hired some type of him. 
 The conclusions based on apparent identity of type- 
 faces are always doubtful, as this identity may be ac- 
 counted for in a considerable number of ways. 
 
 In 14S0 a printer appeared in London named John 
 Lettou. Lettou was evidently not an Englishman, but 
 his origin is unknown. The word Lettou is an old form 
 of Lithuania. Attempts have been made to identify 
 him with certain continental printers, but as these 
 attempts rest on similarities of type-face they are un- 
 certain. Soon after his appearance Lettou was asso- 
 
1 6 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 ciated with William Machlinia or de Machlinia (William 
 of Mechlin or Malines in Belgium). Machlinia made a 
 specialty of law books. The business was later taken 
 over by Richard Pynson. None of these made any 
 particular contribution to typography. Their interest 
 lies chiefly in the fact that they were the beginners of 
 English printing. 
 
 There was no successor to carry on Caxton's tradi- 
 tions of scholarship, of literary taste, or even of crafts- 
 manship. Caxton, as we have said, was a successful 
 business man before he became a printer and was 
 doubtless financially independent during the whole of his 
 later life. His successors were men who were dependent 
 entirely upon their craft for their livelihood. Caxton's 
 immediate successors were two, Wynkyn de Worde, a 
 native of Lorraine, and Richard Pynson, a native of 
 Normandy. Both of these men appear to have learned 
 their trade with Caxton. Wynkyn de Worde carried 
 on the business after Caxton's death. De Worde 
 appears to have been a man of very little education. 
 Pynson was a graduate of the University of Paris, but 
 he never became at home in the English language. 
 
 De Worde carried on the Caxton business from 1491 
 to 1534, at first in Caxton's own shop, afterward in 
 London (Westminster and London have now grown 
 together, but at that time they were a considerable dis- 
 tance apart). During this time De Worde published over 
 six hundred books. His books were cheap and poor in 
 every way. De Worde was slow to start publishing. 
 He published almost nothing for a couple of years after 
 Caxton's death. He appears to have lacked initiative 
 and probably lacked capita!. He seems to have dis- 
 covered that there was money in cheap publications of 
 
THE ENGLISH PIONEERS 17 
 
 a sort that catered to the popular taste, and he dili- 
 gently worked that line of business. He appears to 
 have made money, but cannot be credited with any 
 higher type of success. He hired translators and edi- 
 tors and he evidently hired cheap ones, as the editorial 
 work on his books is not good. 
 
 Pynson printed from 1492 to 1529. He did a much 
 higher class of work than De Worde, although he is by 
 no means eminent for his typography. He made less 
 money than De Worde, but appears to have kept out 
 of financial difficulties. His publications were mostly 
 law books. He took over the business of Lettou and 
 Machlinia, but had specialized in law books on becom- 
 ing printer to the king in 15 10. Pynson introduced 
 the use of roman type in 1509, although it was some 
 time before it displaced the gothic in common use. 
 In 1523 to 1525 he printed Lord Berners's translation 
 of the "Chronicle" of Froissart. In literature this is 
 a notable event. Froissart was really the first modern 
 historian. The book marks the transition from the 
 dry chronicles of the Middle Ages to history proper. 
 
 Robert Copeland, who began to print about 15 14, is 
 notable as being probably the first English printer, that 
 is to say, the first native-born Englishman to go into 
 the business. 
 
 One of the few good printers of this early period was 
 Thomas Berthelet or Bartlett. Berthelet was a Welsh- 
 man and was an excellent bookbinder as well as a good 
 printer. He was the first man in England tousegold tool- 
 ing on his binding. Berthelet enjoyed the position of 
 royal printer. Richard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch 
 were the first printers of English Bibles, which began 
 to appear about the middle of the sixteenth century. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 The Regulation of the Industry and the 
 Company of Stationers 
 
 THE middle of the sixteenth century marks a dis- 
 tinct change in English printing. Up to this time 
 the industry in England had been neither organ- 
 ized, regulated, nor censored. It had been conducted 
 under conditions of freedom almost identical with those 
 which exist to-day, a state of things entirely anomalous 
 in that period. The quality of English printing in this 
 period was generally very poor. In spite, however, of 
 the poor workmanship, there lingers something of the 
 old craftsman spirit. Although the books show glar- 
 ing imperfections, they also show a certain dignity and 
 harmony which is reminiscent of the spirit of the old 
 craftsmen. In detail, however, the work was poor both 
 in composition and presswork. It showed an almost 
 entire lack of originality. Types, wood-cuts, initials, 
 ornaments, and even the printer's devices were not 
 only bought from the continent of Europe but bought 
 second-hand and used long after signs of wear had 
 become painfully evident. Wood-cuts especially were 
 not only over-used but misused. They were not infre- 
 quently inserted with absolute disregard of the text. 
 The printers not only stuck in pictures which had no 
 bearing whatever upon the subject matter, but they 
 used the same picture more than once in the same book. 
 The reason for this is to be found in the fact that 
 the proprietors of the large shops were intent on profit 
 
 18 
 
REGULATION OF THE INDUSTRY 19 
 
 and the proprietors of the small shops had no capital. 
 The experience of Wynkyn de Worde had shown that 
 the way to make money was by printing popular books 
 which could be sold cheap, and his successors learned 
 the lesson only too rapidly. There was no effective 
 demand for good printing. The smaller printers had 
 to buy such materials as they could afford and com- 
 pete as best they could. 
 
 From about 1525, which will be recalled as the date 
 of the publication of Froissart's "Chronicle," there 
 was a change in the demand for books. The revival 
 of learning w r as beginning to make itself felt in Eng- 
 land. The influence of Erasmus on the intellectual 
 life of the age was very great. This influence was 
 especially felt in England because Erasmus had him- 
 self spent considerable time there and was a friend of 
 John Colet, Dean of St. Paul's, who was not only an 
 influential clergyman but a very great scholar. Eng- 
 land was also beginning to feel the stirrings of philo- 
 sophical and religious discussion. There was a great 
 demand for educational books to meet the needs of 
 the scholars and there began to be a great output of 
 controversial literature. Wynkyn de Worde sometimes 
 printed three or four editions of the same Latin gram- 
 mar in one year, so great was the demand for educa- 
 tional books. 
 
 Up to the middle of the century, however, very 
 little original work was printed in England, or at any 
 rate is now extant. The popular demand was for re- 
 prints of old books and for translations of French poems 
 and romances. The classics and other works of more 
 serious literature were commonly imported. There was 
 also a considerable amount of printing for the English 
 
20 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 trade done on the continent. Not content with fur- 
 nishing the English with books in Greek and Latin and 
 the modern languages, some of the continental printers 
 did a flourishing trade in the printing of books in Eng- 
 lish. Their work was generally better and cheaper than 
 that of the English printers. 
 
 As has already been said, English printing was left 
 very much alone up to 1557 excepting that privileges 
 were granted by the crown rather freely. Beginning 
 with the privileges to print statutes and law books, the 
 practice spread until by the middle of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury practically all profitable printing was covered by 
 privilege. 
 
 During this period, and indeed for several centuries 
 later, the industry was free from labor troubles. The 
 reason, however, is to be found in the peculiar situa- 
 tion which existed under English law. Under English 
 common law all combinations of workmen were con- 
 sidered as contrary to public policy, regarded as com- 
 binations in restraint of trade, and dealt with very 
 harshly. A single workman might work or refuse to 
 work for whatever pay or under whatever conditions 
 he pleased, but an agreement of two or more on this 
 basis, that is to combine for pay, hours, and the like, 
 was a criminal conspiracy. Not only were any agree- 
 ments such a group of men might make absolutely 
 void, but the very fact of entering such a combination 
 was itself a criminal offence. From the reign of Edward 
 I (1272-1307) to George IV (1820— 1830) thirty or 
 forty acts of Parliament, commonly called "Statutes 
 of Laborers," were passed on this basis. The reenact- 
 ment of legislation on this subject from time to time 
 was not caused, as is usual in such cases, by the inef- 
 
REGULATION OF THE INDUSTRY 21 
 
 fectiveness of the legislation but by the necessity of 
 meeting special conditions which were created by visi- 
 tations of the plague, wars, and other events having 
 far-reaching industrial effects. 
 
 The development of the factory system of produc- 
 tion, beginning about the middle of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, with the consequent gathering of great groups of 
 workmen in certain localities and the rapid increase in 
 the town population, rendered a continuance of the old 
 regulations more and more difficult. The laws against 
 combinations of workmen were evaded by the organ- 
 ization of secret societies, while the displacement of 
 large numbers of hand workers by the introduction of 
 machinery caused serious labor troubles and rioting. 
 Other conditions too familiar to need description arose 
 which caused friction between the workmen and their 
 employers. Attempts were made at first to put a stop 
 to the combinations of the workmen by more and more 
 stringent legislation. This proving unsuccessful, the 
 legislation was modified in the direction of leniency. 
 Gradually the unions won their way to recognition, 
 although this recognition was developed in the slow 
 and inconsistent way which is common with English 
 legislation. 
 
 In 1875 the whole matter was put on a new basis by 
 the legal acceptance of the principle that it is lawful 
 for any combination of men to do any act which it 
 would be lawful for either of them to do singly. This, 
 of course, was a reversal of the fundamental principle 
 of more than six hundred years of labor legislation, that 
 it was not lawful for a combination of men to do things 
 which any one of them might lawfully do. Since that 
 time the unions have rapidly won their way to full 
 
22 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 recognition and to great importance in the industry. In 
 England to-day practically all trades are very thoroughly 
 unionized. The printing industry is no exception. 
 Union membership is much more universal among the 
 workmen in the industry than it is in the United States. 
 This development of organization among the work- 
 men has been accompanied by a development of strong 
 organizations of employers in all industries. To-day 
 practically all industrial bargaining in England is col- 
 lective bargaining carried on between associated em- 
 ployers and associated employees. 
 
 The same difficulties arising out of lack of regula- 
 tion which had vexed the industry on the continent 
 had made themselves felt in England, but with their 
 usual good sense the English attacked the problem at 
 a very early period. Nearly sixty years before the 
 organization of the Community of Printers in France, 
 in 1618, the English had put printing in line with the 
 other industries by the organization of the Stationers' 
 Company in 1557, the last year of Queen Alary I. 
 
 The organization of the Stationers was by no means 
 an innovation. It was rather the legalizing and regu- 
 larizing of a condition which had risen under the famil- 
 iar conditions of English industry. As early as 1403 
 we find the guild or fraternity of scriveners. This 
 guild or fraternity developed into the "Craft" of sta- 
 tioners, influential in fixing and controlling trade cus- 
 toms. The growth of the craft or trade guilds in Eng- 
 land was not unlike that of similar organizations in 
 Europe. Their control of the situation, however, seems 
 to have been even more close than elsewhere. An ordi- 
 nance of Edward II (1307-1327) compelled every citizen 
 of a town to be a member of some craft or mystery. 
 
REGULATION OF THE INDUSTRY 23 
 
 In 1375 the election of the city officials of London 
 was turned over to the craft guilds or, as they were 
 termed, liveried companies. The liveried companies 
 were so called because each had a distinctive dress 
 which was worn on formal occasions. From this time 
 on the liveried companies controlled the political and 
 municipal power of London for several centuries, elect- 
 ing the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, controlling the 
 train-bands, or city militia, and to a great extent hold- 
 ing the defence of the kingdom in their hands. About 
 seventy-six of these companies still continue to exist. 
 They survive mainly for charitable and philanthropic 
 purposes, conserving and administering the large funds 
 which were accumulated in early centuries. 
 
 The Stationers' Company was organized in 1557 
 partly because the printers saw the necessity for organ- 
 ization and regulation of the industry, and partly be- 
 cause the crown desired a better means for controlling 
 printing than had theretofore existed. It will be re- 
 membered that this was in the midst of the age of 
 religious controversy. King Henry VIII had attempted 
 to set himself up as the head of a national church which 
 was not Protestant and at the same time did not 
 acknowledge allegiance to the Pope. King Henry exe- 
 cuted with great impartiality both those who defended 
 the ecclesiastical supremacy of the Pope and those 
 who professed Protestant opinions. His successor, 
 King Edward VI, was a Protestant and attempted to 
 make England Protestant. His short reign was fol- 
 lowed by that of Mary I, who was a Catholic and at- 
 tempted to make England Catholic. Her comparatively 
 short reign was followed by the long reign of Elizabeth, 
 in whose time Protestantism became the established 
 
24 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 state church of England. It will be remembered that 
 it was near the close of Mary's reign that the Sta- 
 tioners' Company was chartered, and the interest of 
 the crown in securing a better control of the printing 
 press and its output is obvious. In 1560, the second 
 year of Elizabeth, the incorporation of the Stationers' 
 Company was rendered complete by the enrolment 
 of the new company in the list of the liveried companies 
 of London, and we shall presently see that the royal 
 hand was laid heavily upon the printers and their work. 
 
 The Stationers' Company was organized in the usual 
 form, with its administration in the hands of a Master 
 and two Wardens. The terms of the charter gave the 
 company authority to govern the trade and to enforce 
 its regulations by the exercise of the right of visitation 
 and disciplinary control over its members. This 
 extended not only to the enforcement of the regula- 
 tions of the Company but also to the enforcement of 
 royal proclamations and injunctions, and decrees of 
 the Star Chamber. 
 
 The Star Chamber, frequently mentioned in English 
 history in general, as well as in the history of English 
 printing, was a special court of high officials. The 
 powers and jurisdiction of this court were somewhat 
 vague and undefined. Theoretically it was intended 
 to deal with matters which could not be adequately 
 dealt with by the regular courts because of the neces- 
 sity of immediate action, the important nature of the 
 case, or other conditions which made the action of the 
 ordinary courts too slow or not sufficiently effective. 
 Naturally the existence of such a court opened the 
 way to serious abuses, and alleged abuses of its author- 
 ity played a very large part in the Revolution by which 
 
REGULATION OF THE INDUSTRY 25 
 
 King Charles I lost his head. As a result of these revo- 
 lutionary movements, the court was discontinued in 
 1641, after an existence of at least three hundred years. 
 It is supposed to have derived its name from the fact 
 that the ceiling of the room it sat in in early times was 
 decorated with stars. 
 
 After the organization of the Stationers' Company 
 the exercise of the trade was limited to its members. 
 The Company was required to keep registers giving 
 the names of the Masters and Wardens, of all the mem- 
 bers of the Company and their apprentices, and of all 
 who "took up freedom," that is to say, became mem- 
 bers of the Company from time to time. All books 
 printed were required to be registered with the Com- 
 pany and a copy deposited in the archives accompanied 
 by a fee. This was the beginning of copyright. It was 
 understood that the members of the Company should 
 respect each others' rights to publications thus regis- 
 tered, although it appears to have been a "gentleman's 
 agreement" rather than a regulation. This require- 
 ment did not apply to books which were published 
 under royal privilege, but the members of the Com- 
 pany were bound to respect these privileges and not 
 in any way infringe upon the rights which they con- 
 ferred. The requirement of registration did not apply 
 to the king's printers in so far as their patent for the 
 royal printing extended; that is to say, the royal printer 
 was not required to register statutes, law books, or other 
 government printing, but he was required to register 
 all general publications. This legislation requiring 
 registration was not always strictly enforced. 
 
 The powers of the Company were used much more 
 for the regulation and control of printing than for the 
 
26 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 improvement of the art. It was to the Company that 
 the government looked particularly for the enforce- 
 ment of the statutes regarding printing. For that 
 reason, if a book were of doubtful character and liable 
 to be prohibited the publisher preferred to run the 
 chance of attempting to evade the regulation regard- 
 ing registration. Fortunately the registers of the Com- 
 pany containing the records of all their transactions 
 are for the most part still in existence. They furnish 
 an immense fund of valuable information extending 
 over a very long period. 
 
 The Stationers' Company included the printers, book- 
 binders, type-founders, and booksellers. It had ninety- 
 seven charter members. A few of the London printers 
 are known not to have joined the Company when it was 
 organized. Why they stood out we do not know. Very 
 likely it was simply the usual assertion of British inde- 
 pendence and impatience of control. The requirement 
 of membership in the Company as a requisite to carry- 
 ing on the business was not enforced with regard to 
 those printers who were in business when the Company 
 was chartered, its application being restricted to those 
 who might thereafter desire to enter the business. Some 
 of the independents afterwards joined the Company. 
 The remainder stayed out permanently. 
 
 The organization of the Company was not in itself 
 sufficient to secure the desired control of the industry. 
 As has already been pointed out, an immense flood of 
 printed matter was being brought out on account of 
 the bitter religious and political controversies of the 
 time. Most of it was very poor printing. The end 
 desired was to get it out as quickly as possible and as 
 cheaply as possible. Much of it was objectionable to 
 
REGULATION OF THE INDUSTRY 27 
 
 the government and the organization of the Company 
 was immediately followed up by repressive legislation. 
 
 In 1558 Queen Elizabeth laid the foundation of leg- 
 islation for the control of the press by issuing "injunc- 
 tions" which required that every book should be li- 
 censed either by the Queen or by the members of the 
 Privy Council, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, by 
 the Chancellor of one of the two universities, or by 
 other authorities specified in the act. Frequent proc- 
 lamations and orders show that the injunctions were 
 not obeyed. It may be laid down as a fundamental 
 principle in the study of history that the frequent repe- 
 tition of legislation on any one subject shows that the 
 subject is considered very important by the govern- 
 ment and that the legislation is not effective. So seri- 
 ously was this matter regarded by the government 
 that very extreme measures were adopted in dealing 
 with offending printers. One William Carter, for 
 instance, who had been several times punished for 
 breach of the printing regulations, finally printed a 
 seditious book, "a treatise of schisme," for which he 
 was tried for high treason, condemned to death and 
 hanged, disembowelled, and quartered according to the 
 ghastly custom of that time. 
 
 By way of further tightening of the regulations a 
 Star Chamber decree was issued in 1586 much more 
 strict than any preceding order. By the provisions of 
 this decree all presses then working had to be reported 
 in the same way as already provided. No presses 
 whatever were allowed outside of London, excepting 
 one each at Oxford and Cambridge. Previous to the 
 charter of the Company provincial presses had been 
 started at Oxford, York, Cambridge, Abingdon, Tav- 
 
28 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 istock, St. Albans, Bristol, Ipswich, Canterbury, and 
 Norwich, in the order named. These, of course, were 
 all swept away by this act excepting those of Oxford 
 and Cambridge. No more presses were to be permitted 
 until the number in use had been reduced to a number 
 which should be pronounced sufficient for the needs of 
 the kingdom by the Archbishop of Canterbury and 
 the Bishop of London. Vacancies in the number of 
 licensed printers were to be filled by three stationers 
 (members of the Company) who would be nominated 
 by the Company and licensed by an ecclesiastical com- 
 mission. The censorship, both ecclesiastical and lay, 
 was developed and enforced by further provisions of 
 the act. 
 
 These are the conditions under which that great 
 literature which is known as Elizabethan literature 
 was created and published. It seems incredible that 
 such literature could have been produced under such 
 conditions. The fact that it was so produced seems 
 to show that the censors made a conscientious attempt 
 to enforce the legislation in such a way as to prevent 
 the actual abuse of the printing press and to protect 
 the government from danger arising from these sources, 
 while leaving pure literature as free as the conditions 
 permitted. Of course, we of to-day regard any system 
 of press censorship as wrong and cannot approve 
 any such legislation. It is worth while, however, to 
 remember that these men made an earnest effort to 
 live up to the moral and political standards of their 
 own time. 
 
 In the execution of this edict the Stationers' Com- 
 pany made weekly official visits to every shop. These 
 visitations were intended to ascertain: 
 
REGULATION OF THE INDUSTRY 29 
 
 1. How many presses each printer possessed. 
 
 2. What he printed. 
 
 3. How many impressions were taken of each piece 
 of work. 
 
 4. How many workmen and apprentices there were 
 in each plant. 
 
 5. Whether unauthorized persons «were employed or 
 allowed to remain about the plant. 
 
 The regulations of the edict and also the private 
 regulations of the Company seem to have been en- 
 forced at this time with all the thoroughness in the 
 power of the Company. The registers show that its 
 officers frequently seized and destroyed editions of 
 unlicensed books and in other ways enforced the edicts 
 against all persons. Its own members were frequently 
 disciplined. The registers show discipline for printing 
 an unlicensed book, for selling a prayer book of Edward 
 VI in place of one of Elizabeth, for infringing a copy- 
 right, for printing indecent or offensive matters, for 
 selling books to other than book shops, for selling books 
 "disorderly printed," for keeping open on Sundays 
 and festival days, and for keeping unregistered ap- 
 prentices. The phrase "disorderly printed" appears to 
 refer to the careless and inaccurate printing of the books 
 rather than to the nature of their contents. The print- 
 ing standards of the time were not high, but this would 
 appear to indicate a disposition to maintain them, 
 such as they were. The punishment for selling to other 
 than book shops is interesting as showing that at that 
 early period the book trade suffered from one of the 
 things which to-day causes much complaint among 
 booksellers. Sales by department stores, drug stores, 
 and other parties disposed to cut rates are regarded as 
 
3 o PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 serious difficulties in the book trade of to-day and it is 
 evident that the same difficulty occurred three hundred 
 and fifty years ago. 
 
 The difficulties of the printers were by no means 
 limited to those created by the edicts or regulations. 
 One of the great sources of difficulty lay in the privi- 
 leges and monopolies which had been recklessly granted 
 for a considerable period. These privileges had a most 
 unfortunate effect upon the industry both on the side 
 of business and on that of craftsmanship. On the side 
 of business they gave to certain printers a monopoly 
 of practically all of the work which was certain to pro- 
 duce good financial returns, leaving to the unprivileged 
 printers the doubtful enterprise of producing current 
 literature. On the side of craftsmanship they took 
 away the spur of competition. The greater part of 
 the literature of this period was produced by unprivi- 
 leged printers, most of it with very little profit to them. 
 On the other hand, the privileged printer, being secured 
 in his monopoly of a certain kind of production, was 
 not held to any artistic standards. Competition being 
 impossible, he could print as cheaply and as badly as 
 he chose and generally did so. In both directions the 
 effect was paralyzing. 
 
 Naturally the unprivileged printers were constantly 
 tempted to infringe upon the monopoly rights of the 
 others, with the result that there was constant friction 
 and appeals to authority were taken on both sides. 
 The matter finally came to a head in a serious revolt 
 of the unprivileged printers under the leadership of 
 one John Wolfe. Wolfe was a member of the Fish- 
 mongers' Company, but had undertaken to do printing 
 and declared boldly that he proposed to lead a move- 
 
REGULATION OF THE INDUSTRY 31 
 
 ment which would revolutionize the entire situation. 
 The revolt was sufficiently serious to bring about a 
 compromise by which a considerable number of priv- 
 ileges were given up entirely or turned over to the 
 Company to be re-distributed by them among the 
 printers. The extent to which these privileges were 
 granted may be seen by the fact that John Day, of 
 whom we shall hear more presently, alone gave up fifty- 
 three privileges, although he kept several of the most 
 important and profitable ones. Wolfe transferred his 
 membership from the Fishmongers' to the Stationers' 
 Company. As a member of the Stationers' Company 
 he obtained certain privileges for himself and it is inter- 
 esting to note that not long afterward the registers of 
 the Company show Wolfe appealing because somebody 
 had infringed upon a privilege of his. Wolfe rose to 
 become an officer of the Company and distinguished 
 himself as a prosecutor of offending printers and a 
 staunch upholder c t law and order. 
 
 The natural result of the reduction of the number 
 of offices under the edict of 1586 was that the trade 
 was seriously overmanned and there were too many 
 apprentices, as the reduction in the number of offices 
 did not affect the number of either journeymen or 
 apprentices. The Company dealt with the matter in 
 a rather successful fashion by an order issued in 1587. 
 This order limited the number of apprentices and 
 attempted to make as much work as possible for the 
 journeymen. It provided that no apprentice should 
 be allowed to work in either the composing room or 
 the press room if there were any competent journey- 
 men in need of work. When we remember the small 
 number of offices in London and the fact that there 
 
32 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 were only two in England outside of London, we can 
 readily see that this order was not so difficult of en- 
 forcement as might appear. No form was to be kept 
 standing to the injury of workmen. The meaning of 
 this is clearer when we remember that all composition 
 at this time was hand composition and that stereotyping 
 and other methods of preserving forms were not known 
 and consequently a reprint or re-issue was, excepting 
 for absence of editorial work, a new job. If there was 
 expectation that a new reprint might soon be required 
 and the printer had the type to spare he might leave 
 a form standing and so avoid the labor of recomposi- 
 tion. This regulation meant that as soon as the first 
 impression was taken the type must be distributed so 
 that in case of reprinting the compositor would have 
 a new job. For like reasons the number of copies to 
 be printed was limited in ordinary cases to 1250 or 
 1500, so that if the book proved to be popular work 
 might be provided in setting up repeated editions. 
 These regulations seem to have been reasonably suc- 
 cessful so far as the journeymen were concerned, but, 
 of course, they materially increased the price of books. 
 The period of apprenticeship was from seven to 
 eleven years. It was intended that apprenticeship 
 should end at 24, and the length of the apprenticeship 
 depended upon the age at which it was begun. At the 
 end of the apprenticeship the indenture required that 
 the master should m ke the apprentice free of the Com- 
 pany "if he have well and truely served." As the limit 
 of membership of the Company was only about 25, 
 for a long period only about one-half of the apprentices 
 ever became masters; the rest of them remained per- 
 manently in the position of journeymen. As elsewhere 
 
REGULATION OF THE INDUSTRY 33 
 
 in Europe, the apprentice might become heir to the 
 business and the place in the Company by marrying 
 either the daughter or the widow of a master printer. 
 Apparently the business went to the widow rather 
 than to the daughter if the widow survived. Widows 
 even seem to have taken the business in preference to 
 sons. Consequently the widow of a master printer was 
 a very desirable match for an ambitious apprentice in 
 spite of any difference in age, and several instances 
 are recorded where a business changed hands twice by 
 successive re-marriages of the widow. 
 
 There was a strong tendency, which we shall discuss 
 more at length later, for the bookseller to get control 
 of the situation. Copyrights generally belonged to 
 the booksellers. They purchased them from the authors 
 and held them as against the printers. It must be 
 remembered that an author could not obtain a copy- 
 right, as copyright was secured by registration in the 
 Stationers' Company and this registration could be 
 made only by a bookseller or a printer. Consequently 
 the author was obliged to content himself with what 
 the purchaser of his work was willing to give him. The 
 bookseller naturally got his printing done as cheaplv 
 as he could and printers cut prices then just as thev 
 do now, and got poor as a result just as they do now. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 John Day and the Dark Ages of English 
 Printing 
 
 ONE name stands out among English printers of 
 this period, that of John Day. who has been de- 
 scribed as "one of the best and most enterprising of 
 printers." Day was born in 1522 and began to print in 
 1546. His business career lasted for thirty-eight years. 
 He died in 1584, at the age of 62. Day began his business 
 life at a period when English printing was very poor. His 
 first books were as bad as those of his contemporaries. 
 They were printed from worn type, the press work was 
 bad, they were without pagination, and he did not even 
 use a device such as was customary among printers 
 at that time. His first important work was a Bible, 
 printed in 1549. This Bible was illustrated by wood- 
 cuts which were very evidently second-hand, as they 
 extended beyond the letter-press on the page. On the 
 accession of Queen Alary I, in 1553, he went abroad, 
 possibly for religious reasons, but probably not, as Day, 
 like most printers of this particular time, found no 
 difficulty in conforming himself to the religious views 
 of the government. As a rule they accepted the pecu- 
 liar position of Henry VIII which has already been 
 described, printed Protestant books under Edward VI, 
 Catholic books under Mary, and Protestant books 
 under Elizabeth. They seem to have been quite con- 
 tent, in other words, to take what was brought them 
 and to accept whatever government regulations might 
 be in existence. 
 
 34 
 
THE DARK AGES OF PRINTING 35 
 
 This attitude on the part of the printers reflects the 
 general attitude of the English people at this time. 
 There is very little doubt that the mass of the people 
 were neither staunchly Catholic nor aggressively Prot- 
 estant. While there were earnest and aggressive 
 spirits in both parties, it seems quite clear that the 
 vast majority of the people were ready to accept either 
 Catholicism or Protestantism as a state church. Eng- 
 land did not become aggressively Protestant until well 
 into the reign of Elizabeth. Unfortunately for the 
 interests of religion and of religious toleration, the 
 church question became a political question, and when 
 Spain and the other Catholic powers attempted to 
 overthrow the government of England and make Eng- 
 land dependent upon Spain, patriotism and Protest- 
 antism came to be regarded by the English as synony- 
 mous terms. Here, as elsewhere, the Reformation was 
 a political more than a religious question. 
 
 Just when Day returned to England is not clear, 
 but it was before the death of Queen Mary, as he was 
 a charter member of the Stationers' Company, which 
 was chartered in the last year of her reign, and pub- 
 lished a book dated the same year. Evidently Day 
 studied abroad. Very probably that was his 'purpose 
 in travel, for we find that in 1559 his books began to 
 show excellence and they improved in quality until we 
 find him soon producing the best printing which had 
 yet been done in England. From this time on his 
 work was marked by accuracy, taste, and a high grade 
 of excellence in both typography and presswork. 
 
 He was greatly encouraged and at times assisted by 
 Matthew Parker, who was Archbishop of Cantcrbury 
 from 1559 to 1575. Parker was by no means a great 
 
36 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 man, but he was just the sort of man whom the auto- 
 cratic Elizabeth wished to have for Archbishop of 
 Canterbury. He was moderate in his views and easy- 
 going in temperament, a scholar and collector of beau- 
 tiful things and a patron of the arts and sciences. 
 Parker not only encouraged and patronized Day but 
 employed him to print on the private press which the 
 Archbishop had set up at Lambeth. Day's best piece 
 of work was an edition cf Asser's "Life of Alfred the 
 Great" which he printed for Parker in 1574. 
 
 Day published and printed the first edition of Foxe's 
 "Book of Martyrs," a huge folio volume of 2008 pages. 
 In 1578 Day published a book in Latin and Greek. 
 The Greek was the best face yet seen in England and 
 was equal to the work of Estienne. Other notable 
 achievements of Day were the printing of the Psal- 
 ter with musical notes, the cutting of Hebrew words 
 in wood to be used in printing the life of Bishop Jewel, 
 published in 1573, and the cutting of a font of Saxon 
 type which appears to have been the first used in Eng- 
 land. This font contained twenty-six capitals and 
 twenty-seven lowercase letters. The capitals consisted 
 of eighteen old roman letters and eight Saxon characters, 
 two of which were diphthongs. The lowercase contained 
 fifteen roman and twelve Saxon characters. Day also 
 cut italic types to match roman, the first time this had 
 been done. Day's work was mainly religious, although 
 he published some of the first English plays and some 
 other works of general literature. 
 
 As usual with men of great excellence, Day suffered 
 much from the antagonism of jealous rivals, but this 
 antagonism was not sufficient to deprive him of suc- 
 cess. The excellence of his work was rewarded not 
 
THE DARK AGES OF PRINTING 37 
 
 only by success in business but by the award of a large 
 number of privileges which were sources of great profit. 
 We have seen, however, that he relinquished a large 
 number of these at the time of Wolfe's revolt. Those 
 that he saved seem to have been by far the most 
 profitable. 
 
 A few other printers of this period need mention 
 for various reasons. The best work after that of Day 
 was done by Vautrollier. Tottell, whose name is vari- 
 ously spelled in the records of the time, printed many 
 things of great value to English literature. He was 
 an enterprising printer of contemporary publications. 
 Robert Darker, king's printer to James I, printed the 
 statutes, proclamations, and editions of the Book of 
 Common Prayer of that period and deserves to be 
 remembered as the original printer of the so-called 
 Authorized Version of the Bible, published in 161 1. 
 This English text, sometimes called the Authorized 
 and sometimes called the King James Version, was the 
 only text of the English Bible received among English- 
 speaking people until the revision made in the latter part 
 of the eighteenth century. It may be worth while to 
 note that this version is not uncommonly erroneously 
 referred to as the St. James Version. There is abso- 
 lutely no justification for this common error. The 
 book was authorized by King James and for that rea- 
 son is known as the Authorized or King James Ver- 
 sion. King James, however, was no saint. The au- 
 thorization was simply a license or permission. Darker 
 published the book as a commercial venture at his 
 own expense. He used the same type and the same 
 ornaments as those used in the Bishop's Bible, an 
 English translation published in 1568. 
 
38 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 John Norton, another one of the group of printers 
 favored by James I, cut some of the best Greek types 
 which have ever appeared in England. He was a 
 worthy successor in this field of John Day. William 
 and Isaac Jaggard printed the famous folio edition 
 of Shakespeare's plays in 1623. Typographically it 
 was a poor piece of work, but as a literary landmark 
 it is of the utmost importance. 
 
 The standards of Day were not long maintained. 
 There were a few good printers in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, but for the most part they were poor and the ten- 
 dency was decidedly toward deterioration. Political and 
 religious controversies broke out afresh in the reign cf 
 James I (1613-1625) and were continued with increas- 
 ing bitterness until they finally broke into the storm 
 of civil war which swept over England in the reign of 
 Charles I. A natural result of these conditions was a 
 tightening of the restrictions upon the press, which 
 became more and more burdensome. The contro- 
 versies called forth floods of literature, much of which 
 had to be clandestinely printed. The restrictions, as 
 we shall presently see, were almost unbearable and 
 the market was greatly disturbed. The consequence 
 was that English printing reached its low-water mark 
 in the last half of the seventeenth century. The period 
 which we are considering, however, shows one impor- 
 tant invention which in its field was a distinct im- 
 provement. Copperplate engraving was introduced into 
 England in 1540, but it was a long time before it came 
 into general use. Later we find it used first for por- 
 traits, then for engraved title pages, some of which 
 were cf great beauty, and then for general purposes of 
 illustration. 
 
THE DARK AGES OF PRINTING 39 
 
 James I strengthened the Company of Stationers 
 by withdrawing several valuable privileges from pri- 
 vate persons and giving them to the Company. This 
 action was probably taken with a view to making the 
 Company more reliable as the agent for the enforce- 
 ment of the press laws, which were not materially 
 changed during James's reign. With the political and 
 religious dissensions which followed the accession of 
 Charles I in 1^25 came renewed efforts to meet the 
 rising tides of discussion and to dam up the flood of 
 pamphlets, mostly badly printed, first by the more 
 stringent enforcement of the old laws and then by the 
 enactment of new ones. The Company's registers at 
 this time show a long list of penalties, including fines, 
 cropping of ears, imprisonment, and expulsion from 
 the Company. It is only just to King Charles, how- 
 ever, to say that he did attempt to foster learning 
 and encourage good printing, provided the learning 
 were politically and religiously orthodox according to 
 King Charles's standards and the printers were ame- 
 nable to authority. 
 
 In this connection there is a rather interesting inci- 
 dent of an attempt by King Charles to set up a Greek 
 press. In 163 1 Barker and Lucas printed the so- 
 called "Wicked Bible," which derived its name from 
 an unfortunate typographical error, the omission of 
 the word "not" in the seventh commandment. Barker 
 and Lucas were fined for their carelessness €300, a 
 very heavy fine, equal, if we make allowance for the 
 difference in the purchasing power of money, to about 
 #12,000 to-day. In settlement of this fine they were 
 commanded instead of paying the money into the 
 treasury to purchase £300 worth of Greek type and 
 
4 o PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 to print one Greek book a year at their own cost and 
 risk, the Archbishop of Canterbury to fix the size of 
 the edition. They gladly agreed to this, but owing 
 to the political conditions which immediately followed 
 very little came of it. 
 
 In 1637 a Star Chamber decree was issued which 
 marks the high-water mark of governmental regula- 
 tions in England. By this decree all books of every 
 sort were to be licensed. Law books were to be licensed 
 by the Lord Chief Justice and the Lord Chief Baron; 
 books dealing with history by the Secretaries of State; 
 books on heraldry by the Earl Marshal; books on any 
 other subjects by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the 
 Bishop of London, or the Chancellors or Vice-Chan- 
 cellors of the two universities. Two copies of every 
 book submitted for publication were to be handed to 
 the licenser, one of which he was to keep for future 
 reference. Catalogues of books imported into the coun- 
 try were to be sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury 
 or to the Bishop of London, and no consignments of 
 foreign books were to be opened until the representa- 
 tives of one of these dignitaries and of the Stationers' 
 Company were present. 
 
 It was further decreed that no merchant or book- 
 seller should import from abroad any book printed 
 in the English language. The main purpose of this 
 enactment was probably to prevent evasion of the 
 English press laws by the importation from abroad 
 of books objectionable to the government. It was 
 also, although this purpose was probably secondary, 
 intended to protect England from foreign competition. 
 The name of the printer, the author, and the publisher, 
 and the place of publication and sale were to be placed 
 
THE DARK AGES OF PRINTING 41 
 
 in every book. No person was permitted to erect a 
 printing press or to let any premises for the purpose 
 of carrying on printing without first giving notice to 
 the Company, and no carpenter was permitted to make 
 a press without similar notice. 
 
 The number of master printers was limited to twenty. 
 Every master printer had to give a bond of £300 for 
 good behavior. The Master and the Wardens of 
 the Stationers' Company might have three presses each 
 and three apprentices. No other printer could have 
 more than two presses. A master printer on the livery 
 (a member of the Company) might have two appren- 
 tices, others only one. The master printers were t© 
 give work to journeymen when requested to do so. 
 This enactment was not made out of any tenderness 
 for unemployed journeymen but for the reason that 
 the unemployed journeyman was always tempted to 
 pick up an occasional shilling by printing unlicensed 
 or objectionable books. It was considered desirable 
 to keep him employed where his work could be super- 
 vised. All reprints had to be licensed exactly the same 
 as new publications. The Company was confirmed 
 in its right of search. This meant not simply a right 
 of supervision of printing offices, but the right to search 
 any place where it might be suspected that printing 
 was being carried on. One copy of every book had to 
 be filed in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. Only four 
 type-founders were permitted to carry on busin< 
 Books could be sold only by booksellers. The pun- 
 ishments imposed for infractions of these laws included 
 destruction of stock, fines, imprisonment, and whipping 
 at the cart's tail. The allowance of type-founders, 
 small as it was, seemed to be ample, in spite of the 
 
42 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 fact that English type-founders had now ceased to cut 
 type. English type-founding had generally been poor 
 up to this time and was to continue so for some time 
 to come. What new type came into use in the Eng- 
 lish printing offices was mainly bought on the conti- 
 nent. 
 
 Up to this time a great deal of printing had been 
 done on the continent for the English market. The 
 works of the Fathers, the classics, and the greater 
 part of the serious publications of the time, being 
 printed mostly in Latin, were in the hands of the 
 continental printers. With their facilities for the 
 production and distribution of books they held the 
 market so securely that English printers did not even 
 attempt competition. In addition to that a great 
 deal of printing in the English language for the Eng- 
 lish market continued to be done on the continent. 
 As has already been indicated, a good deal of this was 
 political and religious and could not safely be pub- 
 lished in England. A considerable quantity of it, how- 
 ever, was work in general literature, which was done 
 better than most English work and cheaper than Eng- 
 lish work of a corresponding quality. The act of 1637 
 shut off a great deal of this foreign printing, especially 
 so much of it as was controversial. 
 
 Further legislation was enacted in order to develop 
 English printing. For a long time printing was not 
 an English industry. It will be remembered that 
 although Caxton was English born most of the early 
 printing was done by foreigners who came to England 
 for that purpose, and for a long time there was a very 
 large foreign element in the industry. In 1523 a law 
 was passed that no alien engaged in the printing busi- 
 
THE DARK AGES OF PRINTIXC 43 
 
 ness in England could take any but English-born ap- 
 prentices. In 1529 an act was passed that no alien 
 not already naturalized could set up' any house or 
 shop for the exercise of any handicraft in England. 
 In 1534 it was further enacted that no books should 
 be imported bound and ready for sale and that no 
 unnaturalized alien could sell foreign printed books 
 except at wholesale. 
 
 The decree of 1637 was fortunately not long-lived. 
 The political ascendency of Parliament soon began to 
 be felt and in 1641 the Star Chamber was abolished. 
 While the abolition of this court did not directly affect 
 the decree of 1637, indirectly it made it practically 
 void. For a short while Parliament permitted the 
 decree to lapse and left the printers very much to them- 
 selves. This was not because Parliament was any 
 more liberal than King Charles in its views on the 
 subject of printing. It was only that while Parliament 
 was strong enough to suffer the law to be evaded and 
 so to give free rein to the scribbling propensities of 
 its supporters, it was not yet strong enough to muzzle 
 the writers on the other side. Parliament was also very 
 busy with other concerns and for the time being was 
 content to let the printers alone. 
 
 The result was an enormous flood of printing, most 
 of it worse than ever. An examination of the publica- 
 tions of the time shows that everything that would 
 go on a press was dug up and utilized. \\ e find in use 
 old type and blocks which had formed part of the 
 stock of Wynkyn de Worde and Pynson. As soon, 
 however, as Parliament got well seated in power it 
 proceeded to deal with printers along the old lines. 
 In 1643 it recnacted the decree of 1637 with the impor- 
 
44 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 tant modification that the number of printers was not 
 limited. In 1649 sixty printers in London and the two 
 university towns gave the bonds for good conduct 
 required by law as a requisite to carrying on the busi- 
 ness. It will be remembered that the decree of 1637 
 limited the number in London to twenty, with one in 
 each of the universities. This act called forth one of 
 the noblest pieces of literature in the English language, 
 Milton's "Areopagitica," or plea for unlicensed print- 
 ing, in which Milton brings all the resources of his great 
 learning and matchless literary skill to the defence 
 of the freedom of the press. The plea, of course, fell 
 on deaf ears for the time, but it remains one of the 
 jewels of English literature. The Parliamentary gov- 
 ernment held the act as a weapon which could be used 
 in case of need. It was strictly enforced with regard 
 to political and religious books and newspapers. It 
 seems to have been very little enforced outside these 
 limits. 
 
 When Cromwell took the reins of power as Lord 
 Protector of England he enforced the press laws very 
 strictly. Cromwell was a masterful man and was not 
 disposed to permit criticism of his person and govern- 
 ment or discussion of matters of public policy upon 
 which the government had decided. On the death 
 of Cromwell there followed a period cf political uncer- 
 tainty during which the enforcement of the act was 
 relaxed, only to be renewed at the accession of King 
 Charles II in 1660. 
 
 Shortly after the accession of King Charles a group 
 of the best printers unsuccessfully petitioned for the 
 incorporation of a Company of Printers as distinguished 
 from the Stationers. They alleged that the Company 
 
THE DARK AGES OF PRINTING 45 
 
 of Stationers was controlled by the booksellers and 
 that they cheapened printing and impoverished the 
 printers, that the Company of Stationers was so large 
 that only old men could attain to the dignity of masters 
 or wardens, and that only once in ten or twelve years 
 was it possible for a journeyman printer to become a 
 master printer. They claimed that a new Company 
 would free the printing industry from these shackles, 
 that it w r ould improve the quality of printing, and 
 that it would secure for the government better supervi- 
 sion of the output of the press. This last was probably 
 a bait to the hook. The petition was not granted, 
 however, and things went on in the old fashion. 
 
 In 1662 a new act similar to the preceding ones was 
 passed, containing only one important variation by 
 which the privilege of having a printing press was 
 extended to the city of York. This act was for a time 
 very strictly enforced. The police power necessary 
 to the enforcement of the act was taken away from 
 the Stationers' Company and entrusted to Sir Roger 
 Lestrange, who was appointed censor of the press. 
 He was given control of the printing office and power 
 of search. With a few reserved exceptions the entire 
 licensing of books w r as placed in his hands and he was 
 given a monopoly of the publication of news. Sir 
 Roger seems to have taken himself quite seriously 
 and to have discharged his functions for some years 
 with a considerable degree of efficiency. Many books, 
 however, were published without licenses. Some were 
 published clandestinely, while it is probable that Sir 
 Roger was more concerned to exercise the powers of 
 office for the suppression of political and religious 
 controversy and for the protection of his monopoly 
 
4 6 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 than for the control of pure literature. The act was 
 reenacted in 1685 for a period of seven years. It was 
 then reenacted for a period of one year and finally 
 disappeared in 1694. 
 
 In spite of the wretched condition of printing at 
 this period a few lights appear in the gloom. Thomas 
 Roycroft did some very excellent printing. He achieved 
 one of the most remarkable tasks which had yet 
 been accomplished by an English printer in the pub- 
 lication of his famous Polyglot Bible. This Bible gave 
 the text in Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Chaldean, Syriac, 
 Arabic, Samaritan, Persian, and Ethiopic. Of course, 
 these languages did not all appear in all parts of the 
 Bible. The Greek, Latin, and Arabic texts appear 
 throughout. The Hebrew and Chaldean appear in the 
 Old Testament, the Ethiopic in the Psalms and New 
 Testament only, and the Persian only in the New 
 Testament. The types used came from four foundries, 
 one of them being a face cut by John Day. The work 
 was published in six great volumes, pages 16 x 10 inches. 
 The text was so arranged that when the Bible was 
 opened at any point each double page showed all the 
 languages used for that particular passage. The first 
 volume was published in September of 1654. The 
 second appeared in 1655, the third in 1656, and the 
 other three in 1657. Cromwell encouraged the work 
 by ordering the admission of the paper duty free. 
 
 In 1688 the largest office in London was that of 
 James Fletcher, who had five presses and employed 
 thirteen journeymen and two apprentices. One of the 
 printers of this period, John Barber, arrived at the dis- 
 tinction of Lord Mayor of London. He was a very 
 popular Lord Mayor and he must have been very pros- 
 
THE DARK AGES OF PRINTING 47 
 
 perous in business or he would not have acquired the 
 means necessary to holding the position. He was in no 
 way remarkable as a printer, however. 
 
 During this period there were four type-founders of 
 importance — Joseph Moxon, the Andrew,; broth < 
 the Glover brothers, and Thomas James. The most 
 famous of these was James Moxon. Primarily a man of 
 science, he was distinguished as a mathematician and 
 hydrographer. To these interests he added type- 
 founding. Like Durer in Germany and Geoffry Tory 
 in France, he worked out a theory of type design in 
 exact mathematical proportions, but like these and 
 other attempts of the same sort it was not successful. 
 While it is true that there must be proportion in type- 
 faces, it is also true that a beautiful and legible type- 
 face must have qualities ether than a mere mathe- 
 matical exactness. Moxon is known chiefly by his 
 important work, "Mechanick Exercises." Part II of 
 this book is an exhaustive study of printing and type- 
 founding. So thorough was Moxon's study of these sub- 
 jects and so accurate his presentation that the work is 
 yet a standard authority on many fundamental points. 
 
 Joseph and Robert Andrews, although not very good 
 workmen, made an extensive variety cf type and found 
 a good sale for it. They used the Moxon fonts, but 
 added to them new roman and italic fonts, learned 
 fonts, so called, Anglo-Saxon, and Irish. James and 
 Thomas Glover cast two fonts of black letter from the 
 matrices cut by Wynkyn de Worde and some foreign 
 letters. They do not appear to have undertaken com- 
 petition with Andrews and James in the ordinary forms 
 of letter. Thomas James, who shared with the An- 
 drews brothers a large portion of the business, used 
 
4 8 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 two sets of matrices cut in Holland. Of course, these 
 few type-founders hardly made a beginning of supply- 
 ing the English printers with type. The greater part 
 of the printing of this period was done from type im- 
 ported from Holland. It was in order to compete with 
 this imported type that James obtained possession 
 of the two fonts of Dutch matrices which were the 
 backbone of his type-foundry. 
 
 After the Restoration of 1660, we find the Oxford 
 Press rapidly advancing to the commanding position 
 in English printing which it came to occupy in later 
 years and still holds. Oxford had been a centre of 
 royal influence in the civil wars. King Charles I held 
 court there for some time and the university was 
 always staunchly loyal to the Stuarts. Naturally it 
 enjoyed the sunshine cf royal favor when the Stuarts 
 came back in the person of Charles II. 
 
 In 1667 Dr. John Fell, Vice-Chancellor of the Uni- 
 versity and afterward Bishop of Oxford, gave the 
 University a complete type-foundry with matrices of 
 roman, italic, black-letter Saxon, and several Ori- 
 ental tongues. Ten years later Francis Junius added 
 to the equipment of the foundry a splendid collection 
 of out-of-the-way types, including Runic, Gothic, Saxon, 
 Icelandic, Danish, and Swedish, together with a con- 
 siderable number of types of the more common sorts. 
 This equipment of type for learned work and foreign 
 language printing enabled the Oxford Press to take a 
 position without a rival as a producer of learned lit- 
 erature. The presswork and composition done at 
 Oxford were well maintained on the level of their type 
 equipment, so that the Oxford University Press soon 
 came to hold a unique position- 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 The Eighteenth Century: the Period of 
 Transition 
 
 'T^HE eighteenth century was a very important time 
 ■*■ in the history of English printing. It was the 
 period of the -changes and inventions which led over 
 from the medievalism of the seventeenth century 
 to the modernism of the nineteenth. Three special 
 changes took place: first, the invention of stereotyping; 
 second, the rise of the modern publisher; and, third, the 
 dawn of modern ideas in types and typography. 
 
 The story of the invention of stereotyping is the 
 tale only too common in industry of the inventor* who 
 is ahead of his time, the selfish and thoughtless crowd 
 who opposed him, the apparent failure of the enter- 
 prise, and final success for the idea when the inventor 
 is no longer alive to enjoy his triumph. About 1720 
 it occurred to a Scotchman named Ged that it ought 
 not to be difficult to cast type by the page. He hit 
 upon the idea of making a plaster-of-paris mould of the 
 type-set page and from it casting the plates. As usual 
 in such cases, he needed a partner with capital and 
 some technical knowledge. In 1727 he associated 
 himself with an Edinburgh printer, who soon became 
 alarmed at the apparent prospective cost and with- 
 drew from the enterprise. Soon after this Ged got 
 acquainted with a London stationer named William 
 Fenner. Fenner in turn introduced him to Thomas 
 James, the type-founder, and the three associated 
 
 49 
 
5 o PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 themselves in partnership for the development of the 
 new process. For some reason James proved treacher- 
 ous. Apparently the investment which he was making 
 should have served to keep him faithful. Whether 
 he became alarmed by a fancied danger to his business 
 or was frightened or bought off by the printers is not 
 clear. At any rate, his cooperation was only half- 
 hearted. Instead of furnishing Ged with the best of 
 type from which to make his moulds he furnished him 
 with very poor type and his workmen wilfully damaged 
 the forms. 
 
 While this was going on Ged was appointed printer 
 to the University of Cambridge, where he met with 
 the same experiences at the hands of the printers. 
 Under great difficulties and discouragements he suc- 
 ceeded in producing two prayer books which were 
 printed from his plates, but the animosity of the printers 
 was so violent that the authorities suppressed the 
 books and destroyed the plates. The reason for this 
 animosity is not far to seek. The journeymen had 
 not yet recovered from the fear and danger caused by 
 the old statutes which had limited the number of shops 
 without limiting the number of journeymen, thus caus- 
 ing extensive lack of employment. It must be remem- 
 bered also that the old customs were still in force which 
 limited editions and prohibited keeping type standing. 
 It looked to the printers as if the invention of a proc- 
 ess which would fix type by pages and make possible 
 indefinite reprints from one setting of type was a most 
 serious threat to the industry. From the point of 
 view of the knowledge and the conditions in the second 
 quarter of the eighteenth century we shall have to admit 
 that their fears were well founded. They could not 
 
THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 51 
 
 possibly foresee the enormous increase of printing 
 which was to make the stereotype indispensable. 
 
 To complete the tale of his misfortune, Ged's part- 
 ners, James and Fenner, now fell out between them- 
 selves. The partnership was broken up and Ged, dis- 
 couraged and bankrupt, went back to Edinburgh. 
 His discouragement was not permanent, however, and 
 he made another attempt, but not a printer could be 
 found in Edinburgh who would set type for him. 
 Ged's son learned composition and set up a few books, 
 working by night, which were printed at Newcastle. 
 Ged died in 1749, apparently defeated. Later in the 
 century, however, his work was taken up and made 
 practical by Didot in France and his invention developed 
 to great proportions. 
 
 The early printers were their own publishers and 
 booksellers. Previous to the invention of typography 
 the maker and seller of the book were not ordinarily 
 the same person. It was only natural that in a short 
 time the stationers, that is to say, the sellers of manu- 
 script books and of writing materials, should sell printed 
 books' also. Both the printer and bookseller were inter- 
 ested in an attempt to cut out one profit. If the printer 
 sold to the bookseller and the bookseller sold to the 
 public, both must profit by the transaction. If the 
 printer could sell directly to the public or the book- 
 seller could print his own books, obviously the whole 
 or the greater part of both of these profits might go to 
 one man. In this competition, however, the book- 
 seller had three advantages. One came from the fact 
 that the carrying on of a printing plant was a busi- 
 ness enterprise and the additional care of maintaining 
 a selling organization for marketing books with the 
 
52 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 public was more than most printers were equal to. 
 The second was that the bookseller could buy a whole 
 edition or contract for its publication. In this way 
 while he reduced the printer's profits he also greatly 
 reduced his risks. The third was that privilege and 
 copyright attached themselves to manuscripts. If the 
 bookseller bought the manuscript it could not be printed 
 except by arrangement with him. When the book- 
 seller became the owner of manuscripts, or became 
 sufficiently confident of his power to market books to 
 employ the printer to produce such books as he could 
 use, he became a publisher in the modern sense of the 
 word. He might either set up a printing establish- 
 ment of his own or he might have his work done by 
 contract by one or more outside printers. 
 
 The business methods of the old printers were very 
 simple. We have seen how SchoefTer did the first 
 piece of commercial printing when he struck off for 
 distribution a list of the books which he had on sale. 
 We have seen how Jenson and Aldus and the other 
 early printers sold their books at their printing offices, 
 advertised them by correspondence, and sent them to 
 the Frankfort Fair and other similar places. The 
 Plantin workshop, which is still maintained as the 
 Plantin Museum in Antwerp, still shows the little 
 salesroom which was part of the original business. 
 Caxton, with his sound business sense and trained 
 business habits, had a way of assuring or forecasting be- 
 forehand the sales of his books, thus anticipating to a con- 
 siderable extent the methods of the modern publishers. 
 
 It soon became the habit of the printers to open 
 shops apart. from their printing offices for the sale of 
 their productions. These salesrooms developed into 
 
 
THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 53 
 
 book-shops through carrying in stock the books of 
 other printers. In the old-world cities trades had a 
 habit of congregating in one place. If a man wanted 
 to open a book-shop, instead of trying to find a good 
 location where there were no other book-shops very 
 near at hand, he tried to get a location as near as he 
 could to all the other book-shops. In this way certain 
 streets or quarters of the cities, and particularly of 
 London, were given up to certain industries. The 
 centre of the English book trade of the seventeenth 
 century was the churchyard of the old St. Paul's Church. 
 This was the smaller church which occupied the site 
 where now stands the magnificent St. Paul's Cathedral 
 built by the great architect Sir Christopher Wren after 
 the fire of 1660. 
 
 A glimpse of the way in which the business was 
 done may be obtained from the following description 
 of John Day's book-shop: "He got framed a neat 
 handsome shop. It was but little and low, a flat roof, 
 and leaded [covered with sheets of lead] like a ter- 
 race, railed and posted, fit for men to stand upon in 
 any triumph cr show." Evidently thrifty John Day 
 was not above turning an honest penny by renting the 
 roof of his shop to those who desired to see the Lord 
 Mayor's show or some other glittering procession. All 
 processions of any importance passed St. Paul's. We 
 are told that this shop cost £40 or £50, which would 
 be equivalent, making allowance for the difference in 
 the purchasing power of money, to from #1200 to #1600 
 to-day. We are told that £150,000 worth of books 
 were burned at St. Paul's churchyard and in the crypt 
 of the church in the fire of 1666. This represents no 
 less than #4,000,000 in our present money. 
 
x \ . [\ T G IN ENG1 \\P 
 
 . i - e - . . .• ■ Leans oi th< s - 
 
 pos s . , bulletin board. 
 
 ere put up the titles oi new 
 
 s '- >S 9 brief bit of description. 
 
 . . e . . bound, st tched, or in sin . 
 
 \ ered boards, 
 
 - interact the tendency 
 
 ... and other textiles, often 
 
 : embroidery. The books 
 
 ever, were ordinarily in 
 
 r binding The more wealthy and 
 
 : -- - . : buyers red to buy their books 
 
 . I tem placed in bindings which 
 
 nth their coats of arms or with 
 
 - It 7 tr^:nal nature. The stitched books 
 
 t first ting pierced through the sheets 
 
 with a string. In 1586 a limit 
 
 nd thickness of books which might 
 
 be sold in tl form. Those beyond the limit must be 
 
 ar binder's machine and made ready 
 
 put on. Sewed books were often 
 
 01 pasteboard to preserve them 
 
 . .1. This was substantially what 
 
 ... . . . . . . ■ ■ ■ 
 
 ' een printers, book- 
 
 •: and irregular. Up 
 
 ' ' ntury there was 
 
 right em epl registration 
 
 but 1 hat regisi ration 
 
 owner oi the manus< ript, who 
 
 '•' arily the author, Originally ihcse 
 
 v erally the printers because the printeri 
 
 hat just been pointed out, were 
 
THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION' 55 
 
 the same. Later, as the ascendency of the booksellers 
 increased, it was they who held the manuscripts. Some- 
 times due regard was paid to the rights of the author 
 and sometimes not. This appears to have depended 
 entirely upon the arrangements which author and pub- 
 lisher were able to make. In many cases the author 
 got decidedly the worst of the bargain. The protec- 
 tion which the Company undertook to extend was 
 limited to the holder of the copyright. The situation 
 was further complicated by the survival of privileges 
 or monopolies of various sorts. 
 
 Toward the end of the seventeenth century, with the 
 passing away of the mediaeval conditions which had 
 previously prevailed, the Company's control of the 
 situation broke down. When the printing acts finally 
 went into disuse in 1594, as has already been described, 
 nobody had any protection. Everything in the way of 
 copyright was entirely abolished. This condition was 
 soon felt to be intolerable and in 1709 an Act of Parlia- 
 ment provided a system of copyright and recognized the 
 author's right to his work. By this act the owners 
 of old books and unpublished manuscripts, whether 
 they were the authors or not, had proprietary right 
 in them for twenty-one years, beginning April 10, 
 1 7 10. This part of the act, of course, was a temporary 
 provision for existing conditions. New books were to 
 be controlled by the author for fourteen years. If at 
 the end of that time the author was still living his copy- 
 right might be renewed for fourteen years more. Within 
 the limits during which the copyright was valid it could 
 be transferred. Such transference did not act as an 
 extension. The copyright was secured by registration 
 with the Stationers' Company as before. 
 
56 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 This was really a booksellers' act, as at that time 
 they held nearly all of the copyrights and doubtless 
 expected to be able to secure all the new ones of any 
 value. That was what happened at first. The pro- 
 tection given to the authors by the new act greatly 
 altered the terms upon which the booksellers or pub- 
 lishers could obtain the manuscripts. It was some 
 years before the authors came to a full realization of 
 their rights under the new law. When they did arrive 
 at this knowledge authorship as a profession became 
 possible. For a long time authors sold their manu- 
 scripts outright to the publishers. The royalty system, 
 under which the author shares the profits of the work, 
 was a later development. 
 
 From this time on new work was controlled by the 
 authors and the use of their manuscripts could be 
 obtained only by some sort of bargain. All old work 
 not covered by copyrights existing in 1709, and after 
 173 1 all work upon which copyrights had expired, 
 might be freely printed by any one. From that time 
 on the publication of such works became, as it is now, 
 purely a manufacturing proposition. Whether or not 
 such books shall be published and whether or not the 
 publication is a commercial success depend entirely 
 upon the soundness of the publisher's judgment and 
 the accuracy with which he gauges the popular demand 
 for standard literature at a given price. 
 
 The publication of new work depends upon a variety 
 of circumstances. The publisher pays either in cash 
 or in royalty, or both, according to the prospects of 
 sale. In case of authors of reputation this prospect 
 can be reasonably well gauged. In case of unknown 
 authors the publisher must take a risk if he buys a 
 
THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 57 
 
 manuscript. In many cases the publisher will require 
 a guarantee against loss on an edition of a certain size. 
 He may require this guarantee because he has doubts 
 about the success of the work or because it is a book 
 of such limited circulation, although it may be of the 
 most important character, that the publication will 
 not be commercially profitable. Of course, if an author 
 is determined to see himself in print and no publisher 
 will take his work on any terms, he can hire a printer 
 to make up an edition, can get it copyrighted, and can 
 dispose of it in such way as he may find possible or 
 desirable. 
 
 From this legislation really dates the differentiation 
 of the trade. This was a matter of economic growth 
 rather than of legislation. The author might print 
 and publish and sell his work, the printer might pub- 
 lish and sell, the bookseller might print and publish, 
 but in either case there was an added risk combined 
 with a possibility of greater profit. Most persons are 
 content with smaller profits, providing they can be 
 released from risk. Under the system which now de- 
 veloped the publisher assumed the risk. In that way 
 he became the patron of both author and printer. 
 
 The first of the modern type of publishers was Jacob 
 Tonson, the elder, who began business in 1678. A 
 consideration of the development of the publishing 
 industry would take us too far afield and it will be 
 touched upon only as it directly concerns the devel- 
 opment of printing. 
 
 About 1720 a forward step was taken in the devel- 
 opment of English printing by the entrance of William 
 Caslon into the field of type-founding. Born in 1692, 
 we know little of his early life. In 1706 we hnd him, 
 
58 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 then twenty-four years old, carrying on a little business 
 in London as an engraver of gun locks and a maker of 
 binders' tools. Through this last he came in contact with 
 printers, particularly John Walter and William Bowyer, 
 the younger, two of the well-known London printers 
 of that day. His connection with the printing trade, 
 his artistic skill, and his training as an engraver led 
 him to undertake the designing and cutting of type, 
 in which he was encouraged by his printer friends. 
 His type was immediately successful not only in Eng- 
 land but on the continent, which had hitherto never 
 looked to England for type. His type was very legible 
 and had a certain air of distinction which made it 
 much superior to any English type made at that time. 
 His roman was regular, graceful, and well proportioned, 
 a worthy successor of the types of Jenson and Aldus. 
 His italic was almost as good as his roman. The influ- 
 ence of Caslon upon English and afterwauds upon 
 American type-cutting has been very great. Many 
 of the types in most common use are either Caslon's 
 letter or some modification of it. This book is printed 
 in one of the Caslon types. For many years no Eng- 
 lish type-founder could compete with him successfully. 
 The principal types of distinction which were then 
 in the field were three, that of Giambattista Bodoni, 
 that produced by the Didot family, and that made in 
 Holland. Bodoni type was characterized by long 
 ascenders and descenders, over-long serifs, and pro- 
 tracted hair lines. This general style of letter was 
 very common in Italy for a long time both in typog- 
 raphy and in manuscript. In the last century the 
 so-called Italian hand, a handwriting showing these 
 characteristics, was for a long time very fashionable, 
 
THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 59 
 
 especially among ladies. The Didot type was char- 
 acterized by sharp contrasts, the thick lines being very 
 thick and the thin lines being razor-edged in their thin- 
 ness. The Dutch type was rounded and regular with 
 very little contrast between the thick and the thin 
 lines. Caslon's type was a rather successful effort to 
 retain the good qualities and avoid the defects of all 
 three. Avoiding the exaggeration of Bodoni, it retained, 
 though in modified form, the contrasts of Didot and 
 preserved the regularity of the Dutch without its 
 monotony and lack of contrast. Toward the end of 
 the century poor paper, poor presswork, and poor 
 ink led to an attempt to get clearness and legibility 
 by thickening the type lines. The result was the intro- 
 duction, about 1800, of a very ugly, fat-faced type 
 w r hich had wide use. Mrs. Caslon, a widow, who was 
 then in charge of the Caslon foundry, attempted to 
 meet these demands by thickening the lines of the 
 Caslon type, producing a modified form which had 
 considerable success for some time. The old Caslon 
 was revived by Whittingham about 1845. The better 
 paper, ink, and presswork of those days revealed anew 
 the excellence of the Caslon type and since that time it 
 has never lost favor. 
 
 An interesting figure of this period is Samuel Rich- 
 ardson (1689-1761). Richardson was a very good 
 printer and did a considerable business, but was tempted 
 into authorship and became one of the first of the 
 modern English novelists. He wrote, printed, and 
 published three novels which yet survive, "Pamela," 
 "Clarissa Harlowe," and "Sir Charles Grandison." 
 The new vein which these novels struck in English 
 literature was immediately successful. The novels, 
 
6o PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 though very long and written in a style which to mod- 
 ern readers seems anything but lively, were not only 
 widely successful themselves, but were immediately 
 imitated, and the good old printer's modest efforts 
 were the beginning of the flood of novels which is now 
 poured out from the press. Because Richardson was 
 a pioneer his novels are remembered and students of 
 literature are set to read them, at least in part. It is 
 doubtful, however, if anybody reads them to-day unless 
 he has to. It is said that through the treachery of 
 one of Richardson's journeymen a Dublin printer got 
 out a pirated edition of "Sir Charles Grandison" and 
 sold it in Dublin before Richardson got it bound and 
 published in London. This was possible because the 
 English copyright law did not then apply to Ireland. 
 
 An interesting glimpse of the trade at this period 
 may be obtained through the pages of Wood fall's led- 
 ger from 1734 to 1747, which has been published. The 
 student of these matters can find therein very inter- 
 esting material for a study of comparative prices and 
 the like. One entry shows that he charged for the 
 printing of Pope's translation of the Iliad, demy paper, 
 long primer and brevier, 2000 copies, 6 volumes, 6814 
 sheets, £143 and 17 shillings, equal to about $1700 in 
 American money. 
 
 Perhaps the most interesting and important printer in 
 the eighteenth century in England was John Baskerville 
 (1706-1775). Baskerville was of unknown and humble 
 origin. At seventeen we find him a servant in the house 
 of a clergyman at Birmingham. He was a good penman, 
 however, and his employer soon set him to teach 
 penmanship to the poor boys of the parish and after- 
 wards got him a position as a teacher of penmanship 
 
THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 61 
 
 and bookkeeping in a school. Baskerville was not only 
 interested in penmanship but also in the cutting of 
 letters in stone. Unlike Caslon, this interest did not 
 lead him directly to take up type-founding or printing 
 as his life work. In 1736 a man by the name of John 
 Taylor set himself up in business at Birmingham as 
 a manufacturer of japanned ware. Baskerville became 
 interested in Taylor's work and learned Taylor's trade 
 secrets by following him about and whenever he went 
 into a shop and made a purchase going in himself and 
 buying the same things in the same quantities. In 
 this way he learned the composition of the japanning 
 mixture and shortly set up a business for himself. 
 This was his main business and source of revenue 
 throughout his life and was very prosperous. Basker- 
 ville did not imitate Taylor and was hardly his rival, 
 but won success in making other and better things 
 than those made by Taylor. Curiously enough, al- 
 though Baskerville remained in this business for many 
 years and was very successful, not a single piece of 
 work survives which is known to be his. Meanwhile 
 he did not lose his early interest in the correct forma- 
 tion of letters and he became actively interested in 
 type-founding about 1750. By this time, however, 
 his ideas had spread beyond the mere designing and 
 founding of type. 
 
 He conceived the idea of better books than had 
 yet been made in England. He considered the matter- 
 in its broadest possible aspects. He realized the fact 
 that a book is the result of many operations. He 
 believed that the making of the best books, such as 
 he had in mind, meant the best possible paper, type, 
 ink, machines, and workmanship. Beginning with the 
 
62 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 type, he employed a skilful type-cutter to work from 
 his designs and is said to have spent £600 or £800 
 ($3000 or $4000) before getting a font to suit him. 
 He never attempted to cut many types. His roman 
 differs from. Caslon's, but is equal to it in legibility. 
 It is beautifully clear, regular, and well proportioned. 
 Perhaps a certain lack of character and a too mechan- 
 ical perfection would be the general criticism which 
 could be brought against it. His italic was the best 
 which had as yet been seen in England. 
 
 Baskerville also cut a font of Greek type. This 
 experiment has been regarded as unsuccessful and his 
 Greek type has been somewhat criticised. It was un- 
 successful, but not through the fault of the type itself. 
 His type was excellent, but it differed considerably 
 from that to which the scholars were then accustomed 
 and the learned world did not care to adopt it. Minor 
 changes in the formation of English letters are not 
 important, providing the general form of the letter is 
 retained. In languages using a different character, 
 however, even slight modifications are liable to be 
 confusing and scholarly conservatism naturally shrinks 
 from changes of this sort. It is probable, moreover, 
 that the universities and the few persons doing print- 
 ing in Greek did not encourage the new character as 
 it would have involved a considerable expenditure for 
 new type. With the comparatively small use for Greek 
 type one font would last for a very long time. 
 
 Excellent as Baskerville's types were, they were not 
 generally adopted. The printers stuck to the work 
 of Caslon and Jackson, partly from the fact shortly 
 to be noted that Baskerville did not get on very well 
 with the printers and publishers and partly because 
 
THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 
 
 of the expense. They preferred sticking to the stand- 
 ard fonts and buying sorts which could be easily pro- 
 cured when necessary to undergoing the expense of 
 buying new fonts from the new founder. Although 
 the admirers of Baskerville consider his type better 
 than Caslon's, it was not enough better to drive it out 
 of the market. Baskerville's type, moreover, was 
 much criticised on its own account. It was claimed 
 that owing to its proportions and owing to its sharp 
 contrasts it was hard on the eyes. This criticism, 
 however, was probably very largely the result of prej- 
 udice and dislike. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin was a friend of Baskerville and 
 tells an amusing story about this kind of criticism. He 
 says that some printers were at his lodging in London and 
 complained vigorously of the objectionable character 
 of Baskerville's type and of the eye strain and head- 
 ache which it caused to its users. Franklin thereupon 
 stepped into another room and came back in a mo- 
 ment with a sheet of Caslon's specimens from which he 
 had removed the heading. He handed this sheet to 
 the critics who had been berating Baskerville and 
 praising Caslon and said that he could not help 
 thinking that they were influenced somewhat by their 
 prejudice and he wished that they would examine this 
 sheet and see if they actually did experience the un- 
 pleasant results of which they had complained. Sup- 
 posing the sheet to be Baskerville's type, they studied 
 it with some care and unanimously declared that they 
 found the same difficulties and experienced the same 
 discomforts which they had always met with in read- 
 ing Baskerville's type. Franklin refrained from point- 
 ing out' the -trap into which he had betrayed them, 
 
64 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 but satisfied himself that their criticisms really were 
 the result of prejudice. 
 
 Type-founding, however, was only a part of Basker- 
 ville's scheme. As has been said, he had conceived 
 the idea of the perfect book, or at least a book nearer 
 perfection than England had yet seen. It is one of 
 the most interesting things about Baskerville that he 
 did not arrive at his conceptions by a process of experi- 
 mentation and production of mediocre work. He con- 
 ceived his idea and elaborated it in his mind first and 
 then undertook to realize it in a product. He was 
 the artist who conceives rather than the craftsman 
 who slowly elaborates. The designing and cutting of 
 new fonts of type was only one step in that direction. 
 He determined that he would attempt to produce the 
 whole book himself and he therefore set up a printing 
 office of his own. He selected the paper for his edi- 
 tions with the greatest care. It is not certain that he 
 did not even go so far as to make the paper for some 
 of them, but whether or not this is true he gave it 
 great attention. He took equal care with his ink, 
 using every precaution to secure the production of a 
 bright, clear ink which should work well and be per- 
 manent. He also had a special press built. This did 
 not involve any innovations in design, but was built 
 with the greatest care so as to secure the best possible 
 impression. In order to give smoothness and shine 
 to his pages and prevent the type from pressing into the 
 damp paper and making an impression on the reverse 
 side of the sheet he devised what is known as the hot 
 press method of finishing. As soon as the damp sheets 
 came from the press they were placed between plates 
 of hot metal and subjected to pressure. This gave the 
 
THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 65 
 
 paper a perfectly smooth, shiny surface. This was 
 another of the points of criticism of Baskerville's work. 
 Those who were familiar with the coarse paper and 
 rough impressions in common use declared that the 
 shine of the smooth paper hurt their eyes. Baskerville 
 also gave great attention to the typographical design 
 of his books. He used ample margins and developed 
 a style of dignified simplicity, free from extraneous orna- 
 mentation and extremely reserved in the use of all 
 forms of ornament. 
 
 As a result of this care Baskerville produced the best 
 books which had yet been made in England. They were 
 very expensive. No cost was spared in their production 
 and there was no catering to the popular taste which 
 would enable him to reduce unit costs by publishing large 
 editions. Baskerville frankly printed for the few. He 
 believed that there were lovers of good books and good 
 literature who were ready to pay what might be nec- 
 essary to obtain their favorite authors in a fitting dress. 
 In this he was somewhat disappointed. The number 
 of such persons was less numerous than he had sup- 
 posed and it is probable that on the whole Baskerville 
 lost rather than made money by his printing and type- 
 founding enterprises. He printed about sixty-seven books, 
 all of which were reprints of the classics or standard 
 authors. Not a single new book came from his press, 
 although these were the flourishing days of Samuel 
 Johnson, Goldsmith, Pope, Gray, Burke, Chesterfield, 
 Young, Akenside, and other famous writers. The 
 booksellers would not support him. He was not will- 
 ing to cheapen his work or to lower his prices to meet 
 their wishes, nor would he consent to being, like so 
 many printers, a mere servant of the publisher. He 
 
66 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 felt that he had his artistic message to give to the world 
 and he insisted upon giving it in his own way, making 
 himself his own publisher as well as printer. Very 
 likely his editions would have made a larger sale if he 
 had had the support of the booksellers in putting them 
 on the market, but this was denied him. 
 
 Disheartened and disgusted by the lack of appre- 
 ciation and support, Baskerville tried to sell out his 
 type-foundry, but was unsuccessful. He negotiated 
 with several of the leading printers of the continent 
 and with Franklin, but was not able to effect a sale. 
 Twenty years after his death, however, his type was 
 used in the famous Boydell Shakspeare. His type 
 obtained partial recognition. His work has been called 
 too artistic for his time. It is said that Baskerville was 
 an artist, but the England of the eighteenth century 
 was not artistic. Perhaps it might better be said that 
 Baskerville's standard of perfection was higher than 
 his time could appreciate and that he failed because 
 there was not yet a sufficiently large public ready to 
 spend considerable money for de luxe book making. 
 Baskerville unquestionably possessed great taste and 
 a very high degree of mechanical skill. One does not 
 find in his work, however, the artist's spirit which 
 manifests itself in the work of the old masters or their 
 late nineteenth century followers. Baskerville's work, 
 nevertheless, was not in vain. No man can ever do 
 anything better than it has yet been done without con- 
 tributing to the progress of true art, even though his 
 productions are appreciated by but few people. Unques- 
 tionably Baskerville's work influenced the Whitting- 
 hams, who are the great figures in the world of printing 
 in the early nineteenth century. 
 
THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 67 
 
 It is interesting to note, before passing to the con- 
 sideration of the work of the Whittinghams, that sev- 
 eral, of the great English printing houses whose names 
 are familiar to all readers of books run back far into the 
 eighteenth century. The Rivington house was estab- 
 lished in 171 1, Eyre and Spottiswoode not much later, 
 Longmans in 1724, John Murray in 1768, William 
 Blackwood & Son in 1804, A. C. Black in 18 15, to men- 
 tion only a few of the more familiar. In many cases 
 these firm names have been several times changed, 
 but the firms have maintained continuous existence. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 The Whittinghams and the Modern Book 
 
 CHARLES WHITTINGHAM, the elder, founder 
 of the business which is now known as the Chis- 
 wick Press, was born in 1767. He began work as 
 a printer in 1789 on a very small scale. His first 
 work was small job work such as cards, letterheads, 
 billheads, and the like. It was not until 1792 that he 
 did any book work at all. His first job was part of an 
 edition of Young's "Night Thoughts." It was not 
 uncommon at this time for publishers to parcel out a 
 book among a number of small printers, giving to each 
 a certain number of signatures. Like his great prede- 
 cessor Day, Whittingham started out doing printing as 
 badly as anybody else. The work which he did on his 
 first book order shows all the vices of the time. 
 
 Fortunately for the art, Whittingham was not con- 
 tent to remain a poor printer, although he must have 
 been perfectly aware that he was such. He early made 
 the acquaintance of William Caslon, from whom he 
 bought type and from whom he not improbably re- 
 ceived typographical suggestions. In 1798 he pub- 
 lished a book of a sort much in vogue at that period, 
 called "Pity's Gift." In choice of type, design of 
 title page, and other regards this book shows a great 
 improvement over the work of previous years. It 
 was illustrated and was the beginning of the long series 
 of illustrated books for which the house afterwards 
 became famous. The illustrations, however, were poor 
 in themselves and poorly printed. Here again Whit- 
 
 68 
 
THE MODERN BOOK 69 
 
 tingham began on a level with his contemporaries, 
 but by study and labor raised himself far above that 
 level. 
 
 In a few years Whittingham was recognized as the 
 best printer in England and had built up a good and 
 profitable business. He won this success in spite of 
 the fact that he, even more than Baskerville, failed 
 to get on with the publishers. The publishers wanted 
 cheap printing and large profits. Whittingham refused 
 to lower his standards to meet their desires and in- 
 sisted on printing to suit himself and, as he believed, 
 the public. Less ambitious than Baskerville, but 
 equally conscientious, Whittingham published small 
 books, well printed, which could be sold at a reason- 
 able price, although not at the price of trash. He was 
 right in his estimate of the public demand and, secure 
 in public support, was able to defy the publishers. 
 W 7 hen they refused to give him their work he told them 
 to keep it, and entirely disregarded their hostility. He 
 carried the war into the enemies' country by refusing 
 to be bound by certain trade customs. These customs 
 were survivals of the old privileges and monopolies 
 which kept certain books in certain hands. There was 
 no foundation for these customs except their antiquity, 
 and Whittingham proposed to publish certain books 
 which from time immemorial had been held to be the 
 property of others. Of course, the publishers called him 
 a pirate, but he never infringed upon a real copyright 
 and his conduct in the matter is entirely free from 
 moral reproach. 
 
 Whittingham was an enterprising business man as 
 well as desirous of artistic improvement. He bought 
 the first Stanhope press which was sold to a printing 
 
70 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 house, in 1800, and his house was among the first to 
 adopt improved machinery and methods of all sorts. 
 There is, however, one notable exception. Whitting- 
 ham and his nephew and successor believed that it 
 was not possible to do the best work on anything but 
 a hand press, and no power presses were used in the 
 Chiswick Press until i860. 
 
 About the opening of the century a man by the 
 name of Potts invented a process for making paper 
 stock from old rope by removing the tar and dirt. 
 Whittingham got possession of this process and opened 
 a paper-stock factory. He did not, however, open a 
 paper mill, but sold the stock to Fourdrinier, the great 
 French paper maker. The paper-stock mill was at 
 Chiswick, and Whittingham opened in 181 1 a second 
 printing office in the neighborhood, which he called 
 the Chiswick Press. For a time he carried on the two 
 printing offices, the paper-stock mill, a book-shop, several 
 publishing ventures, and a business of some sort, it is 
 not now known what, in Jersey. It was not many 
 years, however, before he saw the danger of this exten- 
 sion and gradually disposed of the outside things, con- 
 centrating his interest in the Chiswick Press, which 
 he preferred to continue rather than the London office. 
 
 During this period his work steadily continued to 
 improve. He invented a secret process for giving per- 
 manent brilliancy to his ink. He gave the greatest 
 attention to the design and lay-out of his books, pro- 
 portion in the matter of margins and the like, and to 
 presswork. This last was doubly important because 
 of his determination to improve the process of illus- 
 tration. Of course, the modern processes were not 
 then in use. Black and white was done either from 
 
THE MODERN BOOK 71 
 
 wood blocks or steel and copper plates, and color work 
 was done by the use of solid color on blocks. In order 
 to secure better results in black and white, Whitting- 
 ham invented the over-lay process. Some of his work 
 in color was the best ever produced by the methods 
 which were then known. An indication of the resources 
 of the establishment may be gathered from the story 
 of the production of his British Poets, sets of which 
 may still be occasionally bought in old book-shops. 
 The design for the series was planned in 18 19. ' It was 
 shortly announced that they were to be published on 
 a given day in 1822. When the day came the whole 
 set was published as announced. It consisted of one 
 hundred royal l8mo volumes, illustrated. Five hundred 
 sets were printed, making a total of 50,000 volumes. 
 
 Shortly after this the younger Charles Whittingham, 
 nephew of the elder, appears upon the scene. He was 
 his uncle's apprentice and became his partner in 1824. 
 The partnership lasted for four years and was appar- 
 ently not a very harmonious arrangement. The elder 
 Whittingham, like many strong and successful men, 
 was masterful and was not disposed to share either 
 power or responsibility. The young man, although 
 having no occasion to complain of any unfairness, felt 
 that although nominally a partner he was really merely 
 an employee. In 1828 he left the Chiswick Press and 
 set up for himself in London. He continued in business 
 there for ten years and then his uncle, who was now 
 old and in failing health, called him back to take ch>. 
 of the Chiswick Press. In spite of the fact that their 
 partnership had not been satisfactory, the old man 
 doubtless realized that his nephew was the only man 
 in England who was competent to continue the business 
 
72 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 which he had built up with so much toil and in which 
 he took so much pride. From this time until the date 
 of the death of the elder man the younger Whitting- 
 ham was the moving spirit in the establishment. After 
 the death of the elder Whittingham the plant was 
 moved back to London without change of name. 
 
 Shortly after the younger Whittingham took over 
 the management he became acquainted with William 
 Pickering and formed an association with him which 
 had momentous effects on English printing and pub- 
 lishing. Pickering had started an old-book business 
 in 182 1 and had made money. Although not a prac- 
 tical printer he was interested in books and he had 
 very intelligent ideas as to what qualities made books 
 good, considered as pieces of work. Pickering desired 
 to publish fine editions of old writers and entered into 
 an alliance with Whittingham to produce them. For 
 twenty-five years these two men worked together doing 
 the best book-making which England had yet seen. Com- 
 paratively little of it was new work. It was mainly 
 the printing of fine editions of so-called standard litera- 
 ture. In 1844, dissatisfied with the types in current 
 use, they induced Henry Caslon, who was then the 
 head of the Caslon foundry, to revive the old W 7 illiam 
 Caslon type, known technically as old-face reman, and 
 this revival was the beginning of the permanent restora- 
 tion cf the Caslon types to favor. 
 
 Pickering and Whittingham together may be said 
 to be the fathers of the modern book. Together they 
 worked out many improvements. The excellent work 
 in illustration which had been developed by the elder 
 Whittingham was continued and improved. In 1840 
 they were doing color printing from wood blocks which 
 
THE MODERN BOOK 73 
 
 was the best ever done by that process in England, 
 and later they began to produce ornamental books 
 with initials, borders, head pieces, and the like, printed 
 from wood blocks, but superior to anything which had 
 been seen since the days of illuminated manuscripts. 
 Pickering and Whittingham were in constant consul- 
 tation. They spent their Sundays and much other 
 time together. The completeness of their cooperation is 
 shown by Whittingham's answer to the question which of 
 the two had the greater influence on the other. He replied, 
 "My dear sir, when you tell me which half of a pair of 
 scissors is the more useful, I will answer your question/' 
 Pickering died in 1854, bankrupt through indorsing 
 notes for a friend. The death of Pickering was a great 
 blow to Whittingham, but the bankruptcy did not in 
 any way involve the Chiswick Press. Whittingham 
 never took the same interest in the business afterward, 
 although the house had become sufficiently strong to 
 continue and maintain its standards. Whittingham 
 was always actuated by the true craftsman's spirit. 
 He was successful in his business, but he was more 
 anxious for artistic than for financial success. There 
 is not the slightest doubt that if he had been willing 
 to do so he might have amassed a large fortune. Upon 
 one occasion he was called in as an expert to figure 
 the price which the government should offer for a very 
 large contract. Instead of calling for bids the gov- 
 ernment had a price figured which it proposed to offer 
 for the work. Whittingham figured a price which 
 would be just to the government and at the same 
 time offer a good margin of profit to the contractor. 
 After he had completed his labors, he was offered 
 the contract himself, but refused, stating as he did so 
 
74 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 that he would rather print fine books than make money. 
 
 The history of English printing shows one more 
 epoch-making figure. It is that of William Morris, 
 poet, socialist, idealist, and craftsman. Morris is in 
 many ways one of the most picturesque figures of the 
 nineteenth century. Interested in many kinds of crafts- 
 manship, he was particularly interested in printing and 
 in 1 891 he set up the Kelmscott Press in order to ex- 
 press his idea of what a book should be. Morris was 
 above all things a man of the Middle Ages. Like the 
 even more famous Ruskin, his spirit revolted from 
 many of the characteristics of the nineteenth century. 
 Whatever he did, thought, or said is influenced by this 
 underlying spirit of medievalism. In his books and his 
 types we find exhibited the spirit and forms of the fif- 
 teenth century, but the vital thing is the spirit and not 
 the form. Although deeply influenced by fifteenth 
 century forms, Morris's work is not mere imitation. It 
 is rather a reproduction of the old-time spirit. Morris 
 said that in printing it was important to consider "the 
 paper, the form of the type, the relative spacing of the 
 letters, words, and lines, and lastly the position of the 
 printed matter on the page." The harmony and com- 
 j >teness of the whole, a harmony extending beyond 
 mechanism to the harmony of literary spirit and typo- 
 graphic form, was his fundamental idea. In working this 
 out he adopted as a unit not the single page of type, as 
 had been commonly the case, but the double page, on 
 the ground that when the book is opened we have before 
 our eyes not one page but two, and therefore the two 
 together form a unit of book composition. 
 
 Morris designed three types, named from the books 
 in which they were first employed. The first was the 
 
THE MODERN BOOK 75 
 
 Golden, from the Golden Legend, a heav) black roman 
 letter with distinct gothic influence. The second was 
 the Troy, from an edition of Caxton's Troy book, a 
 modification of a Koburger gothic of the fifteenth cen- 
 tury. The third was the Chaucer, so called from an 
 edition of some of Chaucer's work, which was the Troy 
 reduced in size and slightly modified in face. The initial 
 letters were designed by Morris in imitation of a 
 used by Sweynheim and Pannartz. 
 
 Unfortunately Morris lived only five years after he 
 began to print and his press did not survive him. Dur- 
 ing that period he published fifty-three books in sixty- 
 five volumes, none of them in large editions. The 
 influence of Morris, however, was very great. Although 
 he was not extensively copied directly, he led in a marked 
 revival of the spirit of the old craftsman and in a 
 renewal of the old conception of the unity and harmony 
 of the book as a whole. The Kelmscott Press was hardly 
 closed when Charles Ricketts opened the Yale Press, 
 which operated from 1896 to 1904. Ricketts had much 
 of the spirit and many of the methods of Morris, but 
 unlike Morris, who approached his type problem from 
 the side of manuscript, Ricketts conceived his forms 
 as cast in metal. Another continuer of Morris's wor] 
 was the Dove Press, which was started in 1900. 
 
 Morris's influence extended beyond the Atlantic and 
 shows itself in some of the best American printing, 
 particularly that of Mr. Daniel Berkeley Updike of the 
 Merrymount Press of Boston and Mr. Bruce Rogers of 
 the Riverside Press of Cambridge. 
 
 I The central feature in the history of printing of the 
 last century has been the development of periodical 
 
76 PRINTING IN ENGLAND 
 
 and commercial printing. Previous to the last hun- 
 dred years the particular thing was the book, but book 
 printing is now only a small part of the industry. A 
 study of periodical and commercial printing would be 
 extremely interesting, but it lies in the domain of typog- 
 raphy rather than in that of the history of printing. 
 With the brief consideration which we have made of 
 the so-called revival of printing under Morris and his 
 successors we may properly take leave of this branch 
 of our subject. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTARY READING 
 
 William Caxton. By Charles Knight. (Popular and in a few respects 
 inaccurate, but excellent for its sketch of the life and conditions 
 of Caxton's time.) 
 
 Life and Typography of William Caxton. By William Blades. (The 
 standard authority, but suited only for somewhat advanced 
 students.) 
 
 A Short History of English Printing. By Henry R. Plomer. (A fairly 
 good general view of the subject.) 
 
 The Cambridge History of English Literature. Vol. II, Chap. 
 xiii; Vol. IV, Chap, xviii; Vol. VII, Chap, xv; Vol. XI, Chap, 
 xiv. (This work is made up of monographs written by distin- 
 guished specialists. The chapters indicated contain a very good 
 general view of the development of British printing and pub- 
 lishing and of the beginnings of journalism in England.) 
 
 See files of the Inland Printer (Chicago) for excellent articles by Mr. 
 Henry L. Bullen. These articles are notable for their valuable 
 illustrations. 
 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 77 
 
 SUGGESTIONS TO STUDENTS AND INSTRUCTORS 
 
 The following questions, based on the contents of this pamphlet, 
 are intended to serve (i) as a guide to the study of the text, (z > as 
 an aid to the student in putting the information contained into 
 definite statements without actually memorizing the text, (3) as a 
 means of securing from the student a reproduction of the informa- 
 tion in his own words. 
 
 A careful following of the questions by the reader will insure full 
 acquaintance with every part of the text, avoiding the accidental 
 omission of what might be of value. These primers are so condensed 
 that nothing should be omitted. 
 
 In teaching from these books it is very important that these 
 questions and such others as may occur to the teacher should be 
 made the basis of frequent written work, and of final examinations. 
 
 The importance of written work cannot be overstated. It not 
 only assures knowledge of material but the power to express that 
 knowlege correctly and in good form. 
 
 If this written work can be submitted to the teacher in printed 
 form it will be doubly useful. 
 
 QUESTIONS 
 
 1. What general conditions made England slow to take 
 
 up printing? 
 
 2. What special conditions existed in England about 
 
 the time of the invention of printing? 
 
 3. What is the truth about the story that the first 
 
 English printed book was dated 1468? 
 
 4. Tell the story of Caxton's life up to his return to 
 
 England. 
 
 5. Tell the story of the rest of his life. 
 
 6. How many books did he print, and of what sort? 
 
 7. What remarkable omissions are there in his work, 
 
 and why? 
 
 8. What was his special field? 
 
 9. What sort of man was Caxton? 
 
 10. What can you say about Caxton's typography? 
 
78 REVIEW QUESTIONS 
 
 11. What other printers appeared in England during 
 
 Caxton's life? 
 
 12. W T hat was the great difference between Caxton and 
 
 his successors? 
 
 13. Who was Caxton's successor in business, and what 
 
 do you know about him? 
 
 14. Who was Pynson, and what did he do? 
 
 15. W T hat do you know about Copeland; Berthelet; 
 
 Grafton and Whitchurch? 
 
 16. Describe the condition of English printing up to 
 
 1550, and give the reason. 
 
 17. What change took place after 1525? 
 
 18. What books were imported, and why? 
 
 19. What was the situation in England all through the 
 
 Middle Ages with regard to labor troubles? 
 
 20. W T hat social change took place in the nineteenth 
 
 century, and what was the result? 
 
 21. How did the English deal with the problem of the 
 
 regulation of printing? 
 
 22. What can you say about English craft guilds? 
 
 23. What were the reasons for the organization of the 
 
 Company of Stationers? 
 
 24. What was the form of organization of the Company ? 
 
 25. W 7 hat was the Star Chamber? 
 
 26. What were the powers and the duties of • the 
 
 Company? 
 
 27. What followed the organization of the Company? 
 
 28. Give the substance of the edict of 1586. 
 
 29. What did the Company do in the execution of this 
 
 edict? 
 
 30. What difficulties, other than those caused by the 
 
 edicts, troubled the printers? 
 
 31. Tell the story of John Wolfe. 
 
REVIEW QUESTIONS 79 
 
 32. What was the result of the reduction in tin- number 
 of offices, and what was done about it? 
 
 33. Describe English printing apprenticeship at this 
 period. 
 
 34. What were the relations between author, printer, 
 and bookseller? 
 
 35. Tell the story of John Day. 
 
 36. Mention other printers of this time, and give some 
 distinguishing fact about each. 
 
 37. What tendency appears in English printing after 
 Day, and why? 
 
 38. How did printing fare under James I; under 
 Charles I ? 
 
 39. Give the substance of the edict of 1637. 
 
 40. What legislation was enacted to protect English 
 printing? 
 
 41. W T hat happened when Parliament got the upper 
 hand, and why? 
 
 42. How did printing fare under Cromwell? 
 
 43. Tell the story of the attempt to incorporate the 
 Company of Printers. 
 
 44. Sketch the course of government regulation from 
 1662 to 1694. 
 
 45. Tell about Roycroft and his work. 
 
 46. Tell about the four type-founders of this time. 
 
 47. Describe the rise to prominence of the Oxford Press. 
 
 48. What three special changes took place in the 
 eighteenth century? 
 
 49. Tell the story of the invention of stereotyping. 
 
 50. Tell how the publishers became the principal power 
 in the book business. 
 
 51. Give the substance of the coypright act of 1709. 
 
 52. What was the effect of this act on the author and 
 on the manufacture of books? 
 
 53. Tell the story of William Caslon. 
 
80 REVIEW QUESTIONS 
 
 54. Tell the story of Samuel Richardson. 
 
 55. Tell the story of the life of Baskerville. 
 
 56. Tell about Baskerville as a type-founder. 
 
 57. Tell about Baskerville's press; his methods; the 
 
 reason for his lack of success. 
 
 58. Was Baskerville's work a failure, and why? 
 
 59. Tell the story of Charles Whittingham, the elder. 
 
 60. Tell the story of Charles Whittingham, the younger. 
 
 61. Tell the story of Pickering and his alliance with 
 
 Whittingham. 
 
 62. Tell the story of Morris and the Kelmscott Press. 
 
 63. Describe Morris's ideas and tell about his work. 
 
 64. What was the effect of Morris's work? 
 
 65. Name a few of the printers most influenced by him. 
 
TYPOGRAPHIC TECHNICAL SERIES 
 FOR APPRENTICES 
 
 r "pHE following list of publications, comprising the Typographic 
 A Technical Series for Apprentices, has been prepared 
 under the supervision of the Committee on Education of the 
 United Typothetae of America for use in trade classes, in course of 
 printing instruction, and by individuals. 
 
 Each publication has been compiled by a competent author or 
 group of authors, and carefully edited, the purpose being to pro- 
 vide the printers of the United States — employers, journeymen, 
 and apprentices — with a comprehensive series of handy and 
 inexpensive compendiums of reliable, up-to-date information upon 
 the various branches and specialties of the printing craft, all 
 arranged in orderly fashion for progressive study. 
 
 The publications of the series are of uniform size, 5x8 inches. 
 Their general make-up, in typography, illustrations, etc., has 
 been, as far as practicable, kept in harmony throughout. A brief 
 synopsis of the particular contents and other chief features of each 
 volume will be found under each title in the following list. 
 
 Each topic is treated in a concise manner, the aim being to 
 embody in each publication as completely as possible all the 
 rudimentary information and essential facts necessary to an under- 
 standing of the subject. Care has been taken to make all state- 
 ments accurate and clear, with the purpose of bringing essential 
 information within the understanding of beginners in the different 
 fields of study. Wherever practicable, simple and well-defined 
 drawings and illustrations have been used to assist in giving 
 additional clearness to the text. 
 
 In order that the pamphlets may be of the greatest possible 
 help for use in trade-school classes and for self-instruction, each 
 title is accompanied by a list of Review Questions covering 
 essential items of the subject matter. A short Glossary of tech- 
 nical terms belonging to the subject or department treated is also 
 added to many of the books. 
 
 These are the Official Text-books of the United Typothetae of 
 America. 
 
 Address all orders and inquiries to Committee on Education, 
 United Typothetae of America, Chicago, Illinois, U. 8. A. 
 
TYPOGRAPHIC TECHNICAL SERIES for APPRENTICES 
 
 PART I — Types, Tools, Machines, and Materials 
 
 1. Type: a Primer of Information. . . By A. A. Stewart 
 
 Relating to the mechanical features of printing types; their sizes, font 
 schemes, etc., with a brief description of their manufacture. 44 pp.; 
 illustrated; 74 review questions; glossary. 
 
 2. Compositors' Tools and Materials . . By A. A. Stewart 
 
 A primer of information about composing sticks, galleys, leads, brass 
 rules, cutting and mitering machines, etc. 47 pp.; illustrated; 50 review 
 questions; glossary. 
 
 3. Type Cases, Composing Room Furniture By A. A. Stewart 
 
 A primer of information about type cases, work stands, cabinets, case 
 racks, galley racks, standing galleys, etc. 43 pp.; illustrated; 33 review 
 questions; glossary. 
 
 4. Imposing Tables and Lock-up Appliances By A. A. Stewart 
 
 Describing the tools and materials used in locking up forms for the press, 
 including some modern utilities for special purposes. 59 pp.; illustrated; 
 70 review questions; glossary. 
 
 5. Proof Presses By A. A. Stewart 
 
 A primer of information about the customary methods and machines for 
 taking printers' proofs. 40 pp. ; illustrated; 41 review questions; glossary. 
 
 6. Platen Printing Presses .... By Daniel Baker 
 
 A primer of information regarding the history and mechanical construc- 
 tion of platen printing presses, from the original hand press to the modern 
 job press, to which is added a chapter on automatic presses of small size. 
 51 pp.; illustrated; 49 review questions; glossary. 
 
 7. Cylinder Printing Presses . . .By Herbert L. Baker 
 
 Being a study of the mechanism and operation of the principal types of 
 cylinder printing machines. 64 pp.; illustrated; 47 review questions; 
 glossary. 
 
 8. Mechanical Feeders and Folders By William E. Spurrier 
 
 The history and operation of modern feeding and folding machines; with 
 hints on their care and adjustments. Illustrated; review questions; 
 glossary. 
 
 9. Power for Machinery in Printing Houses By Carl F. Scott 
 
 A treatise on the methods of applying power to printing presses and allied 
 machinery with particular reference to electric drive. 53 pp. ; illustrated; 
 
 69 review questions; glossary. 
 
 10. Paper Cutting Machines .... By Niel Gray, Jr. 
 
 A primer of information about paper and card trimmers, hand-lever 
 cutters, power cutters, and other automatic machines for cutting paper, 
 
 70 pp.; illustrated; 115 review questions; glossary. 
 
 11. Printers' Rollers . . . . . . By A. A. Stewart 
 
 A primer of information about the composition, manufacture, and care of 
 inking rollers. 46 pp.; illustrated; 61 review questions; glossary. 
 
 12. Printing Inks By Philip Ruxton 
 
 Their composition, properties and manufacture (reprinted by permission 
 from Circular No. 53, United States Bureau of Standards) ; together with 
 some helpful suggestions about the everyday use of printing inks by 
 Philip Ruxton. 80 pp.; 100 review questions; glossary. 
 
 ii 
 
TYPOGRAPHIC TECHNICAL SERIES for APPRENTICES 
 
 PART I (continued) — Paper and Printing Plates 
 
 13. How Paper is Made . . By William Bond Wheelwright 
 
 A primer of information about the materials and processes <>f manufactur- 
 ing paper for printing and writing. 68 pp.; illustrated; 62 review ques- 
 tions; glossary. 
 
 14. Relief Engravings . . . .By Joseph P. Donovan 
 
 Brief history and non-technical description of modern method! of engrav- 
 ing; woodcut, zinc plate, halftone; kind of copy for reproduction; things 
 to remember when ordering engravings. Illustrated; review questions; 
 glossary. 
 
 15. Electrotyping and Stero typing 
 
 By Harris B. Hatch and A. A. Stewart 
 
 A primer of information about the processes of electrotyping and stereo- 
 typing. 94 pp.; illustrated; 129 review questions; glossari* ■-. 
 
 PART II — Hand and Machine Composition 
 
 16. Typesetting . . ... . . By A. A. Stewart 
 
 A handbook for beginners, giving information about justifying, spacing, 
 correcting, and other matters relating to typesetting. Illustrated; 
 review questions; glossary. 
 
 17. Printers' Proofs By A. A. Stewart 
 
 The methods by which they are made, marked, and corrected, with 
 observations on proofreading. Illustrated; review questions; glossary. 
 
 18. First Steps in Job Composition . . By Camille DeV6ze 
 
 Suggestions for the apprentice compositor in setting his first jobs, 
 especially about the important little things which go to make good 
 display in typography. 63 pp.; examples; 55 review questions; glossary. 
 
 19. General Job Composition . 
 
 How the job compositor handles business stationery, programs and 
 miscellaneous work. Illustrated; review questions; glossary. 
 
 20. Book Composition . . . . By J. W. Bothwell 
 
 Chapters from DeVinne's "Modern Methods of Book Composition," 
 revised and arranged for this series of text-books by J. W. Bothwell of 
 The DeVinne Press, New York. Part I: Composition of pages. Part II : 
 Imposition of pages. 229 pp. ; illustrated; 525 review questions; glossary. 
 
 21. Tabular Composition By Robert Seaver 
 
 A study of the elementary forms of table composition, with examples of 
 more difficult composition. 30 pp.; examples; 45 review questions. 
 
 22. Applied Arithmetic By E. E. Sheldon 
 
 Elementary arithmetic applied to problems of the printing I rade, calcula- 
 tion of materials, paper weights and sizes, with standard I ablea and rules 
 for computation, each subject amplified with examples and exercises. 
 159 pp. 
 
 23. Typecasting and Composing Machines A. W. Finlay, Editor 
 
 Section I — The Linotype By L. A Bernstein 
 
 Section II — The Monotype Bj Joseph Bayi 
 
 Section III — The Intertype By Henry W. Cosseni 
 
 Section IV — Other Typecasting and Typesetting .Machines 
 
 By Frank II Smith 
 A brief history of typesetting machines, with descriptions of their 
 mechanical principles and operation-. Illustrated; review questions; 
 glossary. 
 
 iii 
 
TYPOGRAPHIC TECHNICAL SERIES for APPRENTICES 
 
 PART III — Imposition and Stonework 
 
 24. Locking Forms for the Job Press . By Frank S. Henry 
 
 Things the apprentice should know about locking up small forms, and 
 about general work on the stone. Illustrated; review questions; glossary. 
 
 25. Preparing Forms for the Cylinder Press By Frank S. Henry 
 
 Pamphlet and catalog imposition; margins; fold marks, etc. Methods of 
 handling type forms and electrotype forms. Illustrated; review questions; 
 glossary. 
 
 PART lY—Presswork 
 
 26. Making Ready on Platen Presses . By T. G. McGrew 
 
 The essential parts of a press and their functions; distinctive features of 
 commonly used machines. Preparing the tympan, regulating the 
 impression, underlaying and overlaying, setting gauges, and other 
 details explained. Illustrated; review questions; glossary. 
 
 27. Cylinder Presswork By T. G. McGrew 
 
 Preparing the press; adjustment of bed and cylinder, form rollers, ink 
 fountain, grippers and delivery systems. Underlaying and overlaying; 
 modern overlay methods. Illustrated; review questions; glossary. 
 
 28. Pressroom Hints and Helps . . By Charles L. Dunton 
 
 Describing some practical methods of pressroom work, with directions 
 and useful information relating to a variety of printing-press problems. 
 87 pp.; 176 review questions. 
 
 29. Reproductive Processes of the Graphic Arts By A. W. Elson 
 
 A primer of information about the distinctive features of the relief, the 
 intaglio, and the planographic processes of printing. 84 pp.; illustrated; 
 100 review questions; glossary. 
 
 PART V — Pamphlet and Book Binding 
 
 30. Pamphlet Binding • . . By Bancroft L. Goodwin 
 
 A primer of information about the various operations employed in 
 binding pamphlets and other work in the bindery. Illustrated; review 
 questions; glossary. 
 
 31. Book Binding By John J. Pleger 
 
 Practical information about the usual operations in binding books; 
 folding; gathering, collating, sewing, forwarding, finishing. Case making 
 and cased-in books. Hand work and machine work. Job and blank- 
 book binding. Illustrated; review questions; glossary. 
 
 PART VI — Correct Literary Composition 
 
 32. Word Study and English Grammar By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A primer of information about words, their relations, and their uses. 
 68 pp.; 84 review questions; glossary. 
 
 33. Punctuation By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A primer of information about the marks of punctuation and their use, 
 both grammatically and typographically. 56 pp.; 59 review questions; 
 glossary. 
 
 iv 
 
TYPOGRAPHIC TECHNICAL SERIES for APPRENTICES 
 
 PART VI (continued) — Correct Literary Composition 
 
 34. Capitals By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A primer of information about capitalisal ion, with some practical I 
 graphic hints as to the use of capitals, is pp.; 92 review questions; 
 
 glossary. 
 
 35. Division of Words .... By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 Kulos for the division of words at the ends of lines, with remarks on 
 spelling, syllabication and pronunciation. 12 pp.; 70 review questions. 
 
 36. Compound Words . . . . By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A study of the principles of compounding, the components "t com- 
 pounds, and the use of the hyphen. 34 pp.; 62 review questions. 
 
 37. Abbreviations and Signs . . . By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A primer of information about abbreviations ami sii:ns with classified 
 lists of those in most common use. 58 pp.; 32 review questions. 
 
 38. The Uses of Italic . . . . By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A primer of information about the history and uses of italic letters, 
 31 pp.; 37 review questions. 
 
 39. Proofreading By Arnold Le vitas 
 
 The technical phases of the proofreader's work; reading, marking, 
 revising, etc.; methods of handling proofs and copy. Illustrated by 
 examples. 59 pp.; 09 review questions; glossary. 
 
 40. Preparation of Printers' Copy . . By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 Suixtrestions for authors, editors, and all who are engaged in preparing 
 copy for the composing room. 3G pp.; 67 review questions. 
 
 41. Printers' Manual of Style . 
 
 A reference compilation of approved rules, usages, and suggesl ions 
 relating to uniformity in punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations, 
 numerals, and kindred features of composition. 
 
 42. The Printer's Dictionary . . . . By A. A. Stewart 
 
 A handbook of definitions and miscellaneous information aboul various 
 processes of printing, alphabetically arranged. Technical terms ex- 
 plained. Illustrated. 
 
 PART VII — Design, Color, and Lettering 
 
 43. Applied Design for Printers . . . By Harry L. ( rage 
 
 A handbook of the principles of arrangemenl , \\ it li brief comment on t be 
 periods of design which have most influenced printing Treats "t har- 
 monv, balance, proportion, and rhythm; motion; symmetry and variety ; 
 ornament, esthetic and symbolic. 37 illustration-; 10 review questions; 
 glossary ; bibliography. . 
 
 44. Elements of Typographic Design . . By Harry L. G 
 
 Applications of the principle- of decorative design. B uildin g material 
 of typography: paper, types, ink, decorations and illustrations. Handling 
 
 of shapes. Design oi complete I k, treating each pai 
 
 commercial forms and single units. Illustrations; review questions. 
 
 glossary; bibliography. 
 
 V 
 
TYPOGRAPHIC TECHNICAL SERIES for APPRENTICES 
 
 PART VII (continued) — Design, Color, and Lettering 
 
 45. Rudiments of Color in Printing . . .By Harry L. Gage 
 
 Use of color: for decoration of black and white, for broad poster effect, 
 in combinations of two, three, or more printings with process engravings. 
 Scientific nature of color, physical and chemical. Terms in which color 
 may be discussed: hue, value, intensity. Diagrams in color, scales and 
 combinations. Color theory of process engraving. Experiments with 
 color. Illustrations in full color, and on various papers. Review ques- 
 tions; glossary; bibliography. 
 
 46. Lettering in Typography . . . .By Harry L. Gage 
 
 Printer's use of lettering: adaptability and decorative effect. Develop- 
 ment of historic writing and lettering and its influence on type design. 
 Classification of general forms in lettering. Application of design to 
 lettering. Drawing for reproduction. Fully illustrated; review ques- 
 tions; glossary; bibliography. 
 
 47. Typographic Design in Advertising . . By Harry L. Gage 
 
 The printer's function in advertising. Precepts upon which advertising 
 is based. Printer's analysis of his copy. Emphasis, legibility, attention, 
 color. Method of studying advertising typography. Illustrations; 
 review questions; glossary; bibliography. 
 
 48. Making Dummies and Layouts . . . By Harry L. Gage 
 
 A layout: the architectural plan. A dummy: the imitation of a proposed 
 final effect. Use of dummy in sales work. Use of layout. Function of 
 layout man. Binding schemes for dummies. Dummy envelopes. 
 Illustrations; review questions; glossary; bibliography. 
 
 PART VIII— History of Printing 
 
 49. Books Before Typography . . . By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A primer of information about the invention of the alphabet and the 
 history of bookmaking up to the invention of movable types. 62 pp.; 
 illustrated; 64 review questions. 
 
 50. The Invention of Typography . . By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A brief sketch of the invention of printing and how it came about. 
 64 pp. ; 62 review questions. 
 
 51. History of Printing— Part I . . By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A primer of information about the beginnings of printing, the develop- 
 ment of the book, the development of printers' materials, and the work 
 of the great pioneers. 63 pp. ; 55 review questions. 
 
 52. History of Printing— Part II . . By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A brief sketch of the economic conditions of the printing industry from 
 1450 to 1789, including government regulations, censorship, internal 
 conditions and industrial relations. 94 pp. ; 128 review questions. 
 
 53. Printing in England . . . . By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A short history of printing in England from Caxton to the present time. 
 89 pp. ; 65 review questions. 
 
 54. Printing in America . . . . By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A brief sketch of the development of the newspaper, and some notes on 
 publishers who have especially contributed to printing. 98 pp.; 84 
 review questions. 
 
 55. Type and Presses in America . . By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A brief historical sketch of the development of type casting and press 
 building in the United States. 52 pp.; 61 review questions. 
 
 vi 
 
TYPOGRAPHIC TECHNICAL SERIES for APPRENTICES 
 
 PART IX — Cost Finding and Accounting 
 
 56. Elements of Cost in Printing . . By Henry P. Porter 
 
 The Standard Cost- Finding Forms and their uses. What they should 
 show. How to utilize the information they give. Review question*. 
 Glossary. 
 
 57. Use of a Cost System ... By Henry P. Porter 
 
 The Standard Cost-Finding Forms and their uses. What they should 
 show. How to utilize the information they give. Review questions. 
 Glossary. 
 
 58. The Printer as a Merchant . . By Henry P. Porter 
 
 The selection and purchase of materials and supplies for printing. The 
 relation of the cost of raw material and the selling price of the finished 
 product. Review questions. Glossary. 
 
 59. Fundamental Principles of Estimating By Henry P. Porter 
 
 The estimator and his work; forms to use; general rules for estimating. 
 Review questions. Glossary. 
 
 60. Estimating and Selling ... By Henry P. Porter 
 
 An insight into"the methods used in making estimates, and their relation 
 to selling. Review questions. Glossary. 
 
 61. Accounting for Printers . . . By Henry P. Porter 
 
 A brief outline of an accounting system for printers; necessary books and 
 accessory records. Review questions. Glossary. 
 
 PART X — Miscellaneous 
 
 62. Health, Sanitation, and Safety . . By Henry P. Porter 
 
 Hygiene in the printing trade; a study of conditions old and new; practical 
 suggestions for improvement; protective appliances and rules for safety* 
 
 63. Topical Index By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A book of reference covering the topics treated in the Typographia 
 Technical Series, alphabetically arranged. 
 
 64. Courses of Study By F. W. Hamilton 
 
 A guidebook for teachers, with outlines and suggestions for classroom and 
 shop work. 
 
 Vll 
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENT 
 
 THIS series of Typographic Text-books is the result of the 
 splendid co-operation of a large number of firms and in- 
 dividuals engaged in the printing business and its allied industries 
 in the United States of America. 
 
 The Committee on Education of the United Typothetae of 
 America, under whose auspices the books have been prepared and 
 published, acknowledges its indebtedness for the generous assist- 
 ance rendered by the many authors, printers, and others identified 
 with this work. 
 
 While due acknowledgment is made on the title and copyright 
 pages of those contributing to each book, the Committee never- 
 theless felt that a group list of co-operating firms would be of 
 interest. 
 
 The following list is not complete, as it includes only those who 
 have co-operated in the production of a portion of the volumes, 
 constituting the first printing. As soon as the entire list of books 
 comprising the Typographic Technical Series has been completed 
 (which the Committee hopes will be at an early date), the full list 
 will be printed in each volume. 
 
 The Committee also desires to acknowledge its indebtedness to 
 
 the many subscribers to this Series who have patiently awaited its 
 
 publication. 
 
 Committee on Education, 
 
 United Typothetae of America. 
 
 Henry P. Porter, Chairman, 
 E. Lawrence Fell, 
 A. M. Glossbrenner, 
 J. Clyde Oswald, 
 Toby Rubovits. 
 
 Frederick W. Hamilton, Education Director. 
 
 Vlll 
 
CONTRIBUTORS 
 
 For Composition and Electrotypes 
 
 Isaac H. Blanch ard Company, New York, N. Y. 
 
 S. H. Burbank <fc Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 J. S. Cushing & Co., Norwood, Mass. 
 
 The DeVinne Press, New York, N. Y. 
 
 R. R. Donnelley & Sons Co., Chicago, 111. 
 
 Geo. H. Ellis Co., Boston, Mass. 
 
 Evans-Winter-Hebb, Detroit, Mich. 
 
 Franklin Printing Company, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 F. H. Gilson Company, Boston, Mass. 
 
 Stephen Greene & Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 W. F. Hall Printing Co., Chicago, 111. 
 
 J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 McCalla & Co. Inc., Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 The Patteson Press, New York, New York 
 
 The Plimpton Press, Norwood, Mass. 
 
 Poole Bros., Chicago, 111. 
 
 Edward Stern & Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 The Stone Printing & Mfg. Co., Roanoke, Va. 
 
 C. D. Traphagen, Lincoln, Neb. 
 
 The University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 
 For Composition 
 
 Boston Typothetae School of Printing, Boston, Mass. 
 
 William F. Fell Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 The Kalkhoff Company, New York, N. Y. 
 
 Oxford-Print, Boston, Mass. 
 
 Tom' Pvibovits, Chicago, 111. 
 For Electrotypes 
 
 Blomgren Brothers Co., Chicago, 111. 
 
 Flower Steel Electrotyping Co., New York, N. Y. 
 
 C. J. Peters & Son Co., Boston, Mass. 
 
 Royal Electrotype Co., Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 H. C. Whitcomb & Co., Boston, Mass. 
 For Engravings 
 
 Amkrican Type Founders Co., Boston, Mass. 
 
 C. B. CoTrRELL & Sons Co., Westerly, R. I. 
 
 Golding Manufacturing Co., Franklin, Mass. 
 
 Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 
 
 Inland Printer Co., Chicago, 111. 
 
 Lanston Monotype Machine Company, Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 Mergenthaler Linotype Company, New York, N. Y. 
 
 Geo. H. Morrill Co., Norwood. Mass. 
 
 Oswald Publishing Co., New York, X. Y. 
 
 The Printing Art, Cambridge, Mass. 
 
 B. D. Rising Paper Company, Bousatonic, Ma 
 
 The Vandercook Peess, Chicago, III. 
 For Book Paper 
 
 American Writing Paper Co., Bolyoke, Mass. 
 
 West Virginia Pulp A: Paper Co., Mechanicville, X. i . 
 
 ix 
 
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 MAY 2 3 1990 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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