Madan, Falconer
The Oxford University Press.
UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
THE
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
A BRIEF ACCOUNT
By falconer MADAN M.A.
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
MCMVIII
'^^■■:-
p
*>
3 ^
^ X
— 05
r D
A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE
UNIVERSITY PRESS AT
OXFORD WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
TOGETHER WITH A CHART OF
OXFORD PRINTING
BY FALCONER MADAN M.A.
FELLOW OF BRASENOSE COLLEGE
OXFORD : PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
MCMVIII
HENRY FEOWDE, M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
LONDON, EDINBURGH
NEW YORK AND TORONTO
flk /p^€
111
PREFACE
"T^"TEXT to Speech and Writing , [the Prin ting Press J has
^ probably done more to raise the gen eral stand ard of
-L 1 knowledge and attainment than any other hu man in-
vention. No apology is therefore needed for attempting a
short account of the greatest provincial Press in England, one
which can b oast continuit y from Elizabethan days and can yi^^^^
look far fur ther back to a time when the art was unknown /^j^Jij>
in^J^ndon, and to a book bearing a date either anterior to ^' /-
Caxton's first work at Westminster or s econd onl y to that.
This Essay is divided into three parts: — 1. The histoiy
proper. 2. Some incidents and curiosities of the Oxford Press.
3. A chart of printing at Oxford, divided into h^lf centuries ;
in which the effect of the Civil Wai*, the T ractarian movement,
and the Fi rst Unive rsity Commission are clearly traceable.
Much use has been made of my Chart of Oxford Printing
(1903 and 1904), and some facts are drawn from a Souvenir of
the University Press, Oaf or d, July 7, 1906 ; but the scope of
this booklet does not admit of references to authorities.
Perhaps its production may be allowed to commemorate >-^ . i ^
the twenty-fifth anniversary of the union of the Bible a nd f^/S/^
Learn jd Presse s under Mr. Horace Hart, and his management i n o x
ofthenTfrom the year 1883 till now. But gi-ateful acknow- I O O P
ledgement is personally and specially due to Mr. Henry
Frowde, at whose reques t this piece has been undertaken,
and to whose enterprise and sympathetic interest it largely
owes whatever merits it may possess.
^~^ ^ F. M.
OxFOHD : 3/«?/ 15, 1908. /fOS
IV
NOTE
OxE of the illustrations (No. 16), which has no connexion with the
Oxford Press, may seem to need some explanation. It is the only
detailed and artistic representation of a complete printing-office at an
early date: and occurs in a rare work, the Nova Reperta, published at
Antwerp about a. d. 1600, and containing nine plates of recent inventions
designed by Johannes Stradanus (born at Bruges in 152B, but domiciled
in Italy) and engraved by Philippus Gallaeus (born at Haarlem in 1537).
It displays the whole process of printing, from the paper brought in at the
gateway in the background to the ' clean sheets ' hung up to dry. Three
compositors will be noticed, two of a lower grade with inferior 'cases',
and one in the foreground with a ' case ' of thirty-five divisions and a small
box on his left for ' spaces ' (?). The ' copy ' is posed before them almost
as in modern times. There are two stalwart presses of a simple hand-
screw kind, at one of which the type is being inked, while at the other the
platen is on the point of being brought down on the paper. A corrector
of the press is looking over a proof, and a lad is arranging the damp sheets
before drying them on a string. The picture is completed by the burly
figure of the Master Printer, old, experienced, care-worn, and short-
tempered. The small vignette in the upper right-hand corner may repre-
sent a man engaged in what is really primeieval printing, the act of
sealinsr.
Platk II
/ fhilq56phL\.
AN OXFORD TITLE-PAGE OF IWO
CONTENTS
PART I
A SHORT HISTORY
HAPTER PAGE
I. The earliest Oxford Presses, '1468 '-87 and 1517-20 . 1
H. The University Press in private hands, 1585-1669 . . 5
HI. The Sheldonian Press and Dr. John Fell, 1669-1713 . 9
IV. The Clarendon Printing House, 1713-1830 . . .11
V. The Bible Press from 1675 14
VI. The Clarendon Press in modern times . . . .18
Barnabas,
PART II
INCIDENTS AND CURIOSITIES OF THE PRESS
I. The '1468' Book
II. Specimens of Type, 1629
III. The Civil War Counterfeits, 1642-4 .
IV. The Impressio Pbinceps of the Epistle of St.
V. Clarendon Press Keepsakes .
VI. Mercurius Aulicus, 1643-5 ...
VII. Dean Fell's New Year Books, 1661-1709
VIII. The Oxford Gazette, 1665 .
IX. Oxford Almanacks, from 1674
X. The Corpus Statutorum, 1768-1908 .
XI. The Caxton Memorial Bible, 1877
XII. The Golden Gospel, 1881 .
1643
23
24
25
26
27
30
31
32
33
APPENDIXES :
I. Imprints and Statistics . . . . .
II. Type-founding, Musical Type, and Paper-making
35
39
PART III
A CHART OF OXFORD PRINTING,
WITH EXPLANATION
1468 '-1 900
at end
ARMS OF THE UNIVERSITY PRINTED FROM AN OLD WOODBLOCK
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1. The Clarendon Press
2. A Title-page of 1640
3. The last Page of the Jerome, 'l-iSS'
4. Title-page of Burley, 1517
5. First Product of Barnes's Press, 1585
6. Archbishop Laud
7. First Sheldonian Printing, 1669
8. Sheldonian Theatre ....
9. Edward Hyde, Lord Clarendon
10. Coptic New Testament, 1716 .
11. Clarendon Printing House
12. The first Oxford Bible, 1675 .
13. The first Oxford Prayer Book, 1675
14. India Paper Exhibit
15. Professor Bartholomew Price .
16. Str AD anus's Printing Office
17. Specimens of Oxford Type, 1629
18. 19. Keepsakes of 1722 and 1903 .
20. Dr. John Fell
21. The Oxford Gazette, 1665
22. Oxford Sheet Almanack, 1716
23. First Page printed at the Clarendon Printing
House, 1713 ....
24. First Page printed at the Clarendon Press, 1830
25. Walpergen's Music Type, 1695
26. Wolvercote Paper Mill .
27. The Chart of Printing, in six Parts
On pp. vi, viii, and 34 are impressions of the Arms
of the University from old woodblocks.
Frontispiece
opposite p
. V
»5 S5
1
Q
5> 5>
'^
»J 15
4
), »
6
55 51
8
on p
K 10
opposite p
.11
55 55 l*^
onp, 13
opposite p. 14
55 ?
5 16
55 5
, 18
55 5
, 20
55 5
, 22
55 5
5 24
55 5
, 26
55 ;
, 28
55 5
, 30
55 J
, 32
55 !
5 34
55 )
, 36
55
, 38
55
, 40
pp.'
42-7
^^ k « X_. Zl, arms of the university printed from an old woodblock
Platk III
tucidit\s M^tt S I fttquam \)ce Tccunbu
tradicioms fiipca c):pohbi i^guiam con
rccjuarttuc a^Hcttirtuis bcpc^ctmuc vt
nobisi et ommhuQ qui tpc atrt)tunt cence
^afc botnmug fi^c quam riiffepimuij; ciiflo
t>ia ciitfii confumato cjepectace twflicie
tepofi tarn cjconam : et muenin m6cc gof
,qui K'tiirgimt m vifatn efetnam^^Uircaci
.-veto a confuftofit; et obptobwo efecno *
pec caftum bomtnum itoOmm pec «^uenf
i t)Ci) patci ommpotiti cfi f^^icitu fanctd
glocia etimpccium m.fecula rcculocuttf
amen .
^j^p\ic'it cpp^hc'io fanctr^ftomttn fti
finibolo apo}t^olo2um at) papam lauce
cmm JmprrlTa (5>)ioniB ecc mbcis * , t
THE 1. \ST PACJK OK TMK OXFOFll) JF.HOMK
(Bearing the disputed date UfiS : see pj). 1, 22)
PART I
CHAPTER I
THE EARLIEST OXFORD PRESSES
The Fifteenth Century Press, * 1468 '-1487
THE e arliest pri nters seem to have had^oj^dea of the importance of
their work. THey regarded the new_axtj^ compared with pen^work,
as just a less troublesome and much quicker method of producing
books. The e ccle^astica T and academical world probably viewed printers
at first with some suspicion, and made it desirable that as little publicity as
possible should be given to the venture. Early records are in consequence
scanty, and usually to be found jnj^eports of' some legal process concerning ^ /- Jl
the d evolut ion of the type or press, as in the case of ( jiitMiber g, or in the ^ f-tyt^iHi^.^
books themselves. ^A smalTroom — two, or perhaps three, "cases" of
type, placed near the window for li ghfs sa ke — a rude and diminutive
woodwi press — a couple of workmen, and a Bale of paper ,^ such is Blades's
description of the begi nning _ pf pr inting at Westminster and Oxford.
Most unfortunately the Oxford University Registers"©? Congregation and / / / Q
Convocation, otherwise confinujous_from_1448 to the present time, are ' ^ H- ^
wanting from 1463 to 1505, while the Registrum Curiae CancellarU, after . . ^ .
a volume relating to 1 434-69 , begins again only at 1498. ^ H- H^
The fi rst boo k printed at Oxford bears the unmistakable date ii / ^
MccccLxviii (1468), and is discussed at p(22))f the present volume. Even '' "r-
(^the true date be 1478 , as nearly all bibliographers believe, this first Ott^ b , ZZ.
press is of great interest from its vwyjearlydate, the rarity of its pro-
ducts, and the bibliographical problems raised during its course. The
books fall at once into three classes : —
I. '1468-1480 (place _of. printing and d ate al ways jg^ven, but no
printer's name : size of printed page always 4| x 2| inchesT tj'pe no. 1 onl} ).
I. *1468,' Dec. 17. — Exposicio Sancti leronimi in Simholum Aposto-
lonm: really by Rufinus, bishop of Aquileia: see p. 22. (14 copies known.)
2 CLARENDON PRESS AT OXFORD
2. 1479. — Texhis Ethicorum AristotelU per Leonardum Ai-retinum
translatus. (8 copies.)
3. 14|§, March 14. — Tractatiis fratrts Egidij de peccato or'iginali.
(3 copies : its colophon in red is the earliest printing in colours in
England.)
II. 1480 P-1482 (no place or printer's name except in no. 5, 'Alma
universitas Oxon.' and ' Theodoricus Rood de Colonia' : types nos. 2 and 3).
4. About 1480. — (Ciceronis Oratio pro Milone.) This, if it be really
a product of the Oxford press, is the first classic printed in England.
(Fragments.)
5. 1481, October 11. — Expositio Alexandri {de Hales) super libros
{Aristotelis) de anima. (16 copies : with the earliest woodcut border
known in England.)
6. 1481 ? — (Longe Parvula, by John Stanbridge, a Latin Grammar
in English.) (Fragments.)
7. 1482, July 31. — Liber moralium super Trenis Iheremiey compilatus
per lohannem Lattehnr'y. (17 copies.)
III. 1483 P-1487 ? (no date, place of printing or printer's name given,
except in no. 14, 'Alma universitas Oxoniae,' and 'Teodericus Rood de
Colonia' with 'Thomas Hunte Anglicus' as printers, and the date 1485:
and in no. 16, which bears a date, 148| : types nos. 3-7).
8. 1483? — (Compendium tot'ius grammatical per Johannem Anwykyll)
and, Vrdgaria Tej-entij. (4 Vulgaria, and fragments : there is apparent
evidence of two editions of the grammar.)
9. 1483? — Excitatio anime ad elemosinam, a heato Augustino. (1 copy.)
10. 1483? — Explanationes Ricardi (Rolle de) Hampole super lectiones
lob. (3 copies.)
11. 1483 ? — {Tradatu^ logici.) (2 copies.)
12. 1 483 ? — Opiis Wilhelmi Lyndewoode super constituciones prouinciales.
(22 copies.)
13. 1485? — {Texttis Alexaiidri de Villa Dei, cum sententiis.) (Frag-
ments.)
14. 1485 ? — Phalaridis Epistolae per Franciscum Aretinum in Latinwn
versae. (3 copies.)
Plate IV
9l€tMutagmomim^/f^ptt lih^ p^^>: >^v^\
riojtt 35rcftotiii;^:piecianilimi v¥ii^^^^f^pk
:\'
lOuaimt JButia artmin itbcraltiun
(t trtum pi^tloCbpi^taru mn^
ftri mcrittlltmUtlc in facta
^eoiogia Docto^jS^ pcrCpt
caciiHrntplantfTimtq!
ftu^ pottertf £))commribuje?aDmoiium mig imipit fAii
tim mm ftiinina DOigmtia*
recognitu?^
3^:
FIRST p.\(;e oi" tup: seconu o.xfoud phkss, 1J17
Arms of tlie University with thf old motto : see p. S A^ J^'^.t.'^*^^-*-^
THE EARLIEST OXFORD PRESSES 8
15. 1485? — Compendium totius grammaticae^ a new edition of no. 8.
(Fragments,)
16. 148f, March 19. — The boJce that is callkl Festiuall (by John Mirk).
(4 copies.)
It may be supposed that Theodo ric Rood, coming from Cologne,y
printed the first and second group B yjhimsel f at Oxford : that then about
1483 he took Thomas Hunt, known as an Oxford University stationer since
1473, into partnership, and that he left England in 1485, leaving Hunt to
issue the Festialja lone. It is peculiar that the only other English pro-
vincial press, that at St. Albans (1479-86), ceased atout the same time.
The Second Press, 1517-20
The second press is peculiar for its short and almost mirecorded work,
and for the entire absence of Theology among its products, whereas in the
first_press Theology and Classics were about evenly balanced. It was
undoubtedly situated in St. John Street, near Merton College, and the
printers were John Sco lar (nos. 2-5, and probably nos. 1, 6) and Carolus
Kyrfoth (no. 7), who lived in the same street and pr esumably succeeded to
the business. The Oxford books at pres ent kno mi are : —
1. 1517, Dec. 4. — Tractatus super lihros Posterioriim Arestotilis Walteri
Burlei. (2 copies known.)
2. 1518, May 15. — Qiiestioius super lihros Ethicorum (Aristoielis)
loannis Dedici. Cum privilegio. (8 copies.)
3. 1518, June 5. — Compendium questionum de luce et lumine. Cum
privilegio. (3 copies.)
4. 1518, June 7. — Tractatus de materia, tSr. Walteri Burlei. Cum
privilegio. (3 copies.)
5. 1518, June 27. — De heteroclitis nominibus, editio Roberii Whittintoni.
(11 copies.)
6. 1518 ? — Prenostica lasparis Laet. (2 copies, fragmentary.)
7. 15^, Feb. 5. — Compotus manualis ad vsum Oxoniensium (a calen-
darial treatise). (1 copy.)
B 2
4 CLARENDON PRESS AT OXFORD
It will be noted that the aegis of the University was already held over
the Press. All the productions (except no. 6, which is only a broadside)
bear the arms of the University, and three are issued with express privilege
of the Chancellor, as against other printers, extending over seven years
from publication. The press however ceased in 1519, and all the pro-
vincial presses of the first half of the sixteenth century were similarly
s hort-lived (Yo rk, 1509-16; Cambridge, 1521-2; Tavistock, 1525 and
l5t}4 ; Abingdon, to which John Scolar seems to have transferred his
press from Oxford, 1528 ; St . Alban s, 1534-8 ; Bristol, 1546 ; Ipswich,
1547-8 ; Worcester, 1548-53 ; and Canterbury, 1549-56). Finally the
Charter of the Stationers' Company of May 4, 1556, suppressed all pro-
vincial presses except such as might be at Oxfo rd or Cam bridge.
Mr. A. W. Pollard allows me to add here that he has discovered
recently in the B ritish Museum t^r ee lea ves of a book which will probably
be found to be the earliest product of thi s secon d press, though it is rather
too soon to assume theiact as certain. The title is Opusculum Insoluhilium
secundum vsum insignia scTiole Pandsi in alma vniversitate Oxonie^ a small
book of logic, on the title-page of which is the w^odciit of the Arms of
the University as given on Plate__i y, but apparently in an earlier
condition. The plate is not kn own to have bee n used anywhere but
in Oxford.
Platk V
WIN
'2.
AD VENT VM ILL VSTRIS
SlJfl LECESTRENSIS COMITIS AD
Collegium Liiicolnienje.
CarmT. N Gratvlatokivm.
I Omitcrhoc facflum cR a tc(Conics optImc)vi iftis
f hofpcs in angurtis xdibus clTc vdis.
Qiio minor hate aomus cll.bonitas tua malorhabcnda eft,
, in tcnui hofpitio,gratior hofpcs cris.
O Comes cs comis,mcrito Comes ergo vocaris,
dux tibi fit Chrilhis,nobilitafq; comes.
Oxoniar,Patrix,Elifa:,Adas^cttor,Achatcs,
Crcfcc,Vigc,Pcrfta,Viribus^nc^ide.
OXONIiE
Ex9/£di^losiPHi Barkes
tertiolduslanuarij.
1585.
FIRST PIECE ISSUED FROM JOSEPH BARNES S PRESS
(Jan. 11, loSi: see p. 6)
CHAPTER II
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS ^IN PRIVATE) HANDS
1585-1669
- ^Aia
Compendiosa. BuTsoon the grip of the Parliamenta£^^VisitaliQn_relaxed,
and l earning began to flo urish again , as may be noted on the Chart for
1650-60, while the flow oT booksJw'as from then till about 1690 more
plentif ul than ev er before. In 1658 wa s appointed the^KfsfArchitypo-
graphi ^ or Conjj rgller of^he P ress — an office contemplated in theXaudian
Statutes — and eleven years after, the munificence of Archbishop Sheldon
provided a new and spacious house for the academical prirrEersT
/fr^
0^'^4rU^ y^^^'^i^
Plate VII
E P I C E D I A
u "K I ^' ^- i'- s I r AT I s
OXONIENSIS,
/ ?t
OBITUM
HENRIETTAE MARIAE
R F. G I 7(^t^. fjyt A r R I S. .<
the University, and an ardent promoter of learnin g and of the Learned
Press. It was he who first es tablished a r egular type foundr y at Oxford
in 1667, having presented valuable matrixes in the previous year. It was /oo^7
he who encouraged the fitting u p of a Paper-mill at Wolvercote. It was i J A ^
he who bore the brunt ofthelongstruggle with the L ondon S tationers ^
and the King's Printers about ffieprivilege of pri nting Bibles, Pr ayer /// * _ ^u ^21
Books, and Almanacks, which lasted from about 16 60 tilFafter FelFs death '''
in 1686. And in 1671 he was the chief of a syndicate of foiir who took
over the management of the Press, paying the University the accustomed
£%00 a year for it , and expending about .£'4,000 from their own resources.
Lastly, he had the charge of the buil ding of the _newhome of the Press,
the Sheldonian Theatr e, and is credited with having originally sug gested
the idea to the archKshop. . / /
In 1669 the new 'T heatre was opened, and the Press installed in it. /^ ^/i
But every year dming the Act and on other special occasions the latter /
was seriously disturbed in i ts work , and the presses hustled off into the
basement, while th e pape r and printed sheets were placed between the
ceiling and the roof. Moreover, as soon as J 688, t he working of the heavy
presses was found to be injuring the buildin g, and the Learned Press was
removed to *Tom Pun's house' about twenty yards south-east of the
Theatre, exactly where was once a bastion of the Cjty_Wall, while the new
Bible Pr ess moved to a house in St. Aldate's ; but, strange to say, the
Sheldonian imprint was still invariably used.
In 1693 the first of the Specimens of Types was issued from the ^
University printing house (see Appendix II), and displayed a richer variety iip^^J-^
to'
\) Ka^HUj 1^ /C^ ^^^<^J^*^L-e<^^^
10
CLARENDON PRESS AT OXFORD
of languages and type than any other Press in the country could show.
It was for this reason that when an edition of the Lord's Prayer in more
than a hundred languag es was published at London, in 1700~and 1713,
pp. 9-24 (two sheets), containing Hebrew, Samaritan. S vriac. Coptic,
Ethiopic, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Gothic, Runic, Icelandic, and Slavonic
tj'pe, were Oxford printing.
The chief works published after the Restoration, besides learned
oriental works by Thomas Hyde and Jidward' Pocbcke, were many of
Robert Boyle's scientific treatises, H. Savage's Balliofergus (1668), the
first hist ory o f,^n Oxford College; Seaman's Turkish Grammar (I&IO) ;
Robert Morison's Plantae Umheltiferae {\Ql^-^^)\ Anthony Wood's ^w^or/a
et Antiquitates Universitatis Oxomensis (1674); Robert Plot's Nattiral
History of Oxfordshire (1677); Hudson's Thucydides, in Greek and Latin
(1696), and the same editor's Geogr-aphiae Scriptores Graeci Minores (1698-
1712), besides many editions and transla^ns of Classics, and the usual
volumes of academical verses.
THE SHELDONIAN THEATRE, FROM AN OLD BLOCK
Plate IX
K»\\AHn IIVUE, KIHST KAHL OF ( LAKENDON
(Died 1674 : from him the Clarendon Press derives its name, see p. 11)
CHAPTER IV
THE CLARENDON PRINTING HOUSE
1713-1830 ;=- 8 7 >*A^
For som^ months in 1713 the classical printers had returned to the
Sheldonian, /4ince their temporary house had been' dem olish ed to make
a clear spade between the new Clarendon Building, then nearly finished,
and the Qim drangle of the Schools . The new printing house derived its
name froml jEdward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon, author of the History of the
Rebellion, from the profits of which "theliouse was chiefl^^_built. Owing
to~lKis peculiar connexion t"he University is still allowed to hold the
perpetual copyright of Clarendon's great work. Curiously, the imprint of
the sOc^omarrTresi contmued to be not infrequentlyusedj^nd is even
found as late (as 1783 !
The eighteenth "century was almost from beginning to end a period of
in activity, a nd the average of books issued yearly from 1700 to 1800 was
actually less than during the second half of the preceding century, see !
p. 36. But as in the history of Oxford at large, so in this part of it, IP J
individual excellence, which does not show large in statistics, makes much
amends for corporate deficiency; and though it is quite impossible in
this brief sketch to give, as hitherto, a list of the chief productions of the
Oxfor^nPressTor indeed to create any definite impression of their kind
and value, it is permissible to mention a few of the giant works which
will occur to the mind of any one familiar with the period, such as Dean
Hickes's Linguanim Septentrionalium Thesaurus with Wanley's list of
^Ajaglo-Saxon MSS. ( 1703-5) : the folio editio n of Clarendon's History of
the Rebellion, with his Life and the Clarendon State Papers (7 vols.,
1702-4, 1759, 1767-86); Chandler's Marmora Oxoniensia (1763);
Kennicott's critical edition of the Old Testament in Hel^ew (1776-80),
f/trt? -/^
12 CLARENDON PRESS AT OXFORD
and Holmes and Parsons''s companion edition of the Old Testament in the
Septuagint Version (1798-1827).
The history of the Coptic New Testament, edited by David Wilkins
and published in 1716 (see Plate X), illustrates the long continuity of
the Press. It was issued at 12j. 6d., and all through the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries its price seems not to have varied. At last in
April, 1907, the last copy was fairly sold off at the original price, and
this book, after 191 years of sale (during 130 of which there was no rival
edition), drops from the Clarendon Press Catalogue into the less dignified
class of second-hand books.
But besides the learned and ponderous folio editions which have been
noticed, there is at least one series of smaller volumes which was of a high
order of merit, and is even now by no means superseded, namely the fine
collection of works on English history and antiquities edited by Thomas
Hearne the antiquary, from 1704 to 1735. Among them may be
mentioned Spelman's Life of Alfred (1709) ; Leland's Itinerary (9 vols.,
1710-12), and Collectanea (6 vols., 1715); the well-known Graeco-Latin
Laudian MS. of the Acts, in quasi-facsimile (1715) ; a Collection of Ctirious
Discourses by Sir Robert Cotton and others (1720) ; the Liher Niger
Scaccarii (1728) ; and the Chronicles of John Ross, Alfred of Beverley,
Camden, William of Newbridge, Thomas Sprott, Robert of Avesbury,
John de Fordun, Robert of Gloucester, Peter Langtoft, John of Glaston-
bury, Adam de Domerham, Thomas of Elmham, Walter Hemingford,
and others (from 1716 onward). And Hearne's editorial work, though he
was debarred from using the Bodleian Library, was so thorough and
accurate that the series has always been a favourite with English historical
students, and commanded a high price for at least a century after the
editor's death.
The lowest point of efficiency at this time is disclosed in a pamphlet
by Sir AVilliam Blackstone, himself a Delegate of the Press, published in
1757 (' To the Reverend Doctor Randolph, Vice-Chancellor'), where he speaks
of 'the Oxford Press languishing in a lazy obscurity, and barely re-
minding us of its existence, by now and then slowly bringing forth
a programme, a sermon printed by request, or at best a Bodleian catalogue'.
A schedule of prices is given which shows that the price of printing 500
copies of an ordinary octavo sheet was 145. in London, but 17*. at Oxford.
Platk X
^
i
UOW \U)^\ }'lTeUIPGU3fflUI
nod EST
No\aiM Ills TAMENTUM
Ex <9K 65. Bouuy ANi s dcscnpjtt,
Cum Vaticaiir*' e/ Fnir(ieiifibiT,S conlulit,
L.
ct in LuWiuin lerinonein. converttt
David \X ij^kins
itcctesice jlnulicdtui' Prc'^bvUr.
OXONTI, ^
ETheatro SheidLOiiiano57I/p{!5 et &uin\ytihusQ}iciukmij:,C]i6.
WILKINS S COPTK NKW TESTAMEN T
(View of the Sheldonian, with the old A.shinolcaii Museum on right : see p. \-i)
THE CLARENDON PRINTING HOUSE 13
He suggests various remedies, and there can be little doubt that much of
the improvement of the second half of the century is due to the energy
and sagacity of that great lawyer.
The annual output first reached 50 in 1807, if we omit the abnormal
figures of the Civil War, and since 1846 has never fallen below 100, nor
since 1885 below 200. Early in the nineteenth century great things were
expected from improvements made by Lord Stanhope in the arts of stereo-
typing in plaster and of logotyping ; but after much expense they produced
little result, and while the latter was wholly dropped, stereotyping in
papier mache was not introduced till 1860.
THE CLARENDON PRINTING HOUSE, FROM AN OLD BLOCK
t^' ihi
lb
CHAPTER V
THE B IBLE PRESS
The right of the University to print Bibles was first clearly admitted,
as has been noted above (p. 6), in the deed oT 1637, by which that right
was bartered away to the Stationers' Company for an annual payment.
Cambridge had claimed the privilege"iin3er its much earlier charter, granted
by Henry VIII, and had occasionally exercised its right, as is witnessed by
O a New Testament of 1628, Bibles and Books of Common Prayer from 1629,
and Greek T estaments from 1632. The last named edition was actually
printed with types cast from O xford matrixes, being the well-known
[ Q ^silver' Gree k type used in the Eton Chrysostom of 1610, and bequeathed
by Sir Henry Savile to the University of Oxford. The matrixes of these
Cj were lent to Ca mbridge on June 30, 1629, so that Oxford can claim some
( connexion with the first Greek Testament issued by the sister Univer sity.
i tfT *l (\ iff On its own account the Oxford Press went so far as to issue a Liber
^ ' ' •' t*recum Puhlicarinn in usum Ecclesiae Cathedralis Christi Oxon. in 1615^
1639, and 1660, as well as a New Testam ent in Turkish in 1666 ; but these
we re not regarded as jnfringi ng the successive agreements that^o^Bibles or
Prayer Books should be printed at Oxford, which extended from 1637 to
1642 and from 1661 to 1672 , wh en renewal was at length refused.
Then, at last, when Dr. Fell pad infused some of his own energy into
the University, it began t o a,wake not merely to the fact of itsprivileges,
but also to the duties belonging to them. In 1675, three years after the
•^ l ast agr eement "with fKe Stationers' Company had lapsed, it issued a quarto
^ ?^i i Englis h BiHi e (see Plate XII ; begun to be printed in 1673), an octavo New
X ^ f * Testament in Greek, a quarto Book of Common Prayer (see Plate XIII), and
a quarto Psalter in Sternhold and Hopkins's English metrical version. The
y^ London printers at once imitated and undersold these^ditions, though at
?^ a pecuniar£loss ; and so persistently was this d6ne~that in 1678 it was
foimd advisable to bring in some London booksellers into the Oxford
business, and Oxford Bibles between 1679 and l691 bear in consequence
l^y^
,\^(>
Ih
f^}S
(J -Jlo'cfl
Platk XII
THE HOLY
BIBLE
Containing the
Old Teftament
And the New:
Tranflated out of the Original
Tongues and with the former Tranflations
diligently compared and rcvifed.
B Y.
His z^M^ajeJlies fpecial Command.
Appointed to be read in Churches.
X F R D.
At the THEATER i<^75-
TITLE-PAGE OF THE FIRST OXFORD BIBLE
(See p.
IKS 1
THE BIBLE PRESS
/Us
15
the imprints of Thomas Guy, Peter Parker, Mose s Pitt, and William
Leake. It is possible that the List of Prohibited Degrees in Marriage,
now so commonly found in Prayer Books, was first brought in by Dr. Fell ;
for it seems to occur first in the earliest Oxford Folio Prayer Book, that
of 1681. /^__^ ^
In 1688 at latest the/* Bible Press 7 and the ' Learned ' or ' Classical
Press' were separatecr(see p. U), and the former was carried on in 'Fell's
House ' in St. Aldate's, the Bible printing being now leased for twenty-one
years to the Stationers' Company — apparently by a kind of compromise
which ^ded litigatio n. In 1690 a Folio /Welsh B ible was printe3',~and in
1695 a Spanish Prayer Book.
During the eighteenth century the Bible Pre ss seems to have flourished,
while the Learned Side was managed with comparative want of success.
At any rate the ordinary eighteenth-century Bible met with in catalogues
is more often from Oxford than from London or Cambridge. "VVTien the
new Clarendon Printing House began to be used, in 1713, t he Bible Press
occupied the eastern half, but during the century was driven to make use
of three extensions, a storage room in the Schools Quadrangle (adjoining
the north side of the Tower of the Five Orders, on the ground floor),
a house at the west end of ^Holywell Str eet, where the / Indian Inst itute
now stands, and i n London a Bible Warehouse in Patern oster Row (not
later than 1770). From 1715~to 1768 thT Bible Side was leased to
members of the Baskett family, and for the rest of the century chiefly to
AV. Jackson, T. WfigKt"rand W. Gill.
Among the remark able Bibles and Prayer Books of the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries are the fam ous Greek New Testament of Dr. J. Mill
(1707), which was absolutely tlie ^first to^provid e an apparat us criticus :
ther Vinegar Bible' of 1717, so called from an error in t he running title
at SI. Luke xx, which should have been ' Parable of the Vineyard ', as is
found (corrected) in some copies ; the first Ox ford Hebrew Bible, edited
by Nathaniel F orster (1750 ) ; the Folio Bible edited by Dr. J. Blayney in
1769, which was for many~years the standard for the text of all Oxford
Bibles, though it was itself b y no m eans im maculat e ; the Small Pica 8vo
Reference Bible of 1824, which has ever since been the standard ; a Diamond
S4)mo Bible of 1842, which was the first book printed on r eal India paper
(only twenty-four copies, none for sale, since the stock of paper was quite
/^&r
J^es
/S^M
It-ei^-
16 CLARENDON PRESS AT OXFORD
inadequate) ; the polyglot English Bible, edited by Forshall and Madden,
giving the early English versions in parallel columns (1850) ; the Caxton
Memorial Bible of 1877, see p. 32; and the Revised Version of 1881, of
which a million Oxford copies were sold on the first day. Several editions
have nicknames from unfortunate misprints, such as the ' Vinegar ' Bible
mentioned on p. 15, the 'Murderers' Bible of 1801 {murderers for murrmirers
in Jude 15), the 'Ears to ear' Bible, 1807 (Matt. xiii. 43), and the 'Wife-
hater' Bible of 1810 {wife for life in Luke xiv. 26). Of one Latin New
Testament there is an interesting history. The title tells much of it : —
Novum Testamentum Vidgatae editionis . . . Sumptihus Academiae Oxonkn-
siSf in usum Cleri Gallicani in Anglia exulantis. Cura et studio quo-
rundam ex eodem Clero Wintoniae commorantium. (Oxonii, e Typographeo
Clarendoniano, mdccxcvi, 8vo.) Two thousand copies were printed by the
University for free distribution among the French Refugee Clergy, and as
many more were soon found necessary and were printed at the expense of
the Duke of Buckingham.
Early statistics of the Bible Press are not easy to obtain, and all
records of the number of editions are peculiarly deceptive, since of some
editions a vast number were printed, and of others only a few hundreds.
The following facts give some information, and refer to Bibles, Common
Prayer Books, parts of them, and editions of the metrical versions of the
Psalms : — From 1675 to 1700, about four editions a year were printed ;
from 1701 to 1750, less than three ; from 1750 to 1800, about two. On
the other hand, in 1815 it was ascertained that the number of Bibles
printed in the preceding seven years was 460,500 ; of New Testaments,
386,600 ; of Common Prayer Books, 400,000 ; of Psalters, &c., 200,000,
their total value being ^213,000, while the output of the Classical Side
for the same period was estimated as worth only .^^24,000. In 1822 there
were on sale nineteen editions of the Bible, nine Testaments, and twenty-
one Prayer Books, varying in price from £5 \0s. for a Royal Folio Bible
to Sd. for a Nonpareil 24mo Prayer Book. In 1870 twenty-six editions of
the Bible were on sale ; in 1895 seventy-eight editions, and ninety of the
Prayer Book; while in 1907 the numbers had grown to ninety-eight
editions of the Bible, and 101 of the Prayer Book.
The sale of Prayer Books fluctuates more than that of the Bible. In
recent years the former have gone out from Oxford at rates varying from
Plate XIII
THE
BO O
COMMON PRAIER,
AND
ADMINISTRATION
SACRAMENTS.
AND
Other RiT E s and C E RE M o N I E s of the
CHURCH of ENGLAND.
WITH THE
PSALTER « PSALMS
DAVID
Pointed as they are to befungorfaid in
CHURCHES.
OXFORD.
At the THEATER 167^.
TITLE-PAGE OF THE FIRST OXFORD PRAYER BOOK
(See p. 14)
THE BIBLE PRESS 17
750,000 to 1,250,000 per annum, while the sale of Bibles has been eis
below : —
For the year 1875 . . . 500,000 copies.
1885 . . . 700,000 „
„ 1895 . . . 1,000,000 „
1905 . . . 1,120,000 „
The large Folio Bible for the reading desk sells at the rate of between
thirty and forty per annum, and the Folio Prayer Book in like numbers,
but the editions of the Bible and Prayer Book most in demand are disposed
of at the rate of 250,000 and 350,000 per annum respectively.
Not until 1883 were the two sides of the Pi'ess united under one
management, that of Mr. Horace Hart, the present Controller of the Press.
Mr. Henry Frowde has been publisher of the Bible Side since 1874, and of
both from 1880.
CHAPTER VI
THE CLARENDON PRESS IN MODERN TIMES
When the Press moved in 1830 to its new and stately home in Walton
Street, the Bible Press took the South Wing, and the Learned Press the
North, and a great expansion of their varied activities took place, and
indeed their work now becomes too complicated and extensive to be
treated summarily. It may be noted that printing machines driven by
steam were first used in 1840, modern stereotyping in 1860, electrotyping
three years later, and photographing for illustrations in 1885. But it
would be tedious and annalistic to chronicle the separate steps in the
continuous progress of the business, and they may be best summarized in
a few words on the present condition of the five parts which now make up
the University Press.
The Learned Pi-ess employs about 300 persons, chiefly compositors and
proof-readers, and sets up in type the numerous Classical, English, and
Oriental works, for which the Press is famous. More than 150 languages,
each with its appropriate type, can be offered to the prospective author or
editor, including Eskimo, and even the Cretan or Eteo-Cretan characters
lately discovered by Dr. Arthur Evans, the Keeper of the Ashmolean
Museum. On this side are kept the Music founts, and a number of the
old oak frames used for hand-printing in the Sheldonian days. The offices
of the Secretary and of the Controller are also in this northern wing.
The average production of the Learned Press is now about one book
for every working day, that is to say about 320 a year.
On the opposite or South side is the Bible Press where about 4jOO
persons, with sixty modern printing machines, produce on an average
3,000 copies of the Bible, not to mention Prayer Books, every day. Here,
too, are the rooms for standing type, for folding and stitching the printed
sheets, and for current binding work, such as is not sent to London for
wholesale production. Electrotyping and stereotyping machines, and
Plate XIV
I
PHOTOGRAPH OF A STRIP OF OX
SUPPORTING A VOLUME OF THE~5.\
FORI) ^)i A |^VPER THREE IX( HES IN WIDTH
m^RD ENGLISH DICTIONARY
{See p. 19)
'?
CLARENDON PRESS IN MODERN TIMES 19
the greatly developed photographic department, with lithographing and
collotype appliances, occupy another part, and also the engines, boilers,
and repairing works connected with the varied machinery used throughout
the building. It is for Bibles that the Oxford India Paper, so extra-
ordinarily thin, opaque, and tough, is chiefly used, and without it the
' smallest Bible'', measuring 3| x 2| x | inches, and weighing less than
3 ounces, could not be produced. The sales of this particular edition
from its first issue in 1874 to the end of 1907 have amounted to more
than one and a half millions.
All Bibles, Prayer Books and Clarendon Press books are published
and distributed by Henry Frowde at Amen Corner, Paternoster Row,
London. The increasing size of the business has made it necessary
fi'om time to time to open branch establishments in different parts of
the world ; and the Oxford Press now has branches or depots at New
York, Toronto, Melbourne, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The wholesale Binding' work is done in Aldersgate Street, London.
Side by side are carried on in the Bindery, cloth binding, leather binding,
and the binding of specially valuable books, the cost of which may be
as much as ^^50 per volume. The skins of 100,000 animals are used every
year for the covers of Oxford Bibles alone, and 400,000 sheets of gold are
required for gilt lettering, to say nothing of gilt edges, for which a still
larger quantity is employed.
The Paper is made chiefly at the Wolvercote Mill, two miles from
Oxford, for which see p. 40.
The entire Press in all its branches is in the hands of a body of eleven
Delegates, who are appointed by and represent the University, and the
highest permanent officers are the Secretary to the Delegates (Mr. Charles
Cannan), the Controller (Mr. Horace Hart, Printer to the University), and
the Publisher in London (Mr. Henry Frowde).
The dominating personality of the last half-century, and the third of
the great names connected with the Press, has been the Rev. Professor
Bartholomew Price. No one who knew him could speak of his work
without enthusiasm. An exceptional capacity for business and an enter-
prising spirit Mere combined in him with unaff'ected kindness of heart, and
as was said of him ' he understood business because he understood men '.
From 1861 when he became Delegate, and still more from 1868 when he
c 2
20 CLARENDON PRESS AT OXFORD
became Secretary to the Delegates, until his death in 1899, he was the life
and soul of the institution. One of his great works was gradually to regain
for the University the absolute control of the Press, which could only be
done by buying out, as opportunity offered, the interests of the partners
who ever since FelPs time had held certain proportions of the partnership.
The well-known Clarendon Press Series began in 1867, the present London
Warehouse was arranged in 1880, the Photographic Department and much
besides were arranged and started in his time. And not the least of his
achievements was the sound financial basis on which he settled the entire
establishment.
It has been found quite impossible to select books for mention from the
lists of nineteenth-century publications, but this essay cannot conclude
without a mention of some of the Series which have been, and are being
produced, and of that crowning work — over-topping perhaps all others,
except the Bible — the Nexv English Dictionary.
Of the Series may be mentioned the Works of the English Divines
(Hooker, Butler, Barrow, &c.) published in the first half of the last century,
the ' Anecdota Oxoniensia ', the ' Oxford Classical Texts ", the ' Rulers of
India ', the ' Sacred Books of the East ', the ' Annals of Botany ', and the
' Oxford Poets ' ; but as many more deserve a place in the list, if space
permitted.
Of the New English Dictionary, edited by Dr. J. A. H. Murray, the
Times said in 1897, 'It is the greatest enterprise which has ever been
undertaken by the Clarendon Press, the greatest effort which any Uni-
versity, it may be any printing press, has taken in hand since the invention
of printing . . . An exhaustive dictionary intended to equal or surpass the
work which Littre completed for the French language was a labour which
was beyond the scope of private enterprise. It will be not the least of
the glories of the University of Oxford to have completed this gigantic
task.' The subject of this eulogy is an attempt to survey on historical
principles the whole of English literature from a.d. 1200. In the case
of each word, the meanings are traced in their historical development, and
illustrative quotations are given (with full references) not merely to every
meaning but to almost every half-century of the usage of a word in any
particular sense. Thus at both ends of the scale the Dictionary makes
an immensely extended advance on previous attempts. At one end the
Plate XV
PROFESSOR BARTHOLOMEW PRK E 4- I 17 4 ^
(Died 1899 : see p. 19. ' Sic sedebat')
h 'y^
uotat.-i,ijfdcm dicinominibus-. & verba qaidamproprie; Diitindiones ^
verd per Metonymtamrqux nomen rei fignificatae tribuit figno- Sic Pc-
rioduSj&plenamSententiae Djftinftionem;& jpfatnplcnam Scntenti-
amjdtnotat. vtOr'xx.iptxi-.^ /^%, Confiat\ Per$odus 0> plena Compre' -
henflo^ e uJ.Sicdicimus, Dempta* V/treMtheJi ant t ' ,r'^^f '^*'^*
p.u\ttl}fli.,tnte^yn:» nutno e 'etucnttdfenfum (-y ccnjlrud-toneTn^ ' ' * <^|['"5 "*'
DeDiftinftioiium Prommciatione, vidtRhet.l.j.c.4. rcntheii aut
(rjG^wfr^. Genera litcranimvariafunt: qu.i: corporum proceritatc Parathcliin-
diftingimntur .• Primier, Pique, Englifh.' & fupra h*c.
Great Primier , Double Pique p
^Double Engliftl : ,,,,,. quod ^velDemka.
„„.„„., Canon: ,.. -
vcio Pnmier^r^>/«!»,quodideo Breuier,- Sccujus refpe^u.priusiUud^ -^
hnf Primici',vulg6 dicitur:atquc .qiioJ minimum cA, NojipwtiJ. 5
'(s)Spectesduplex:,Rom,(^ itaL Additur caam,in mcdijs gcncribuSj _
profcrmone Anglico,^»^//f'<: vt,
Englifli Komm,BngUjh iulicke,)
were issued, presumably on Sundays, from Sunday, January 7, to Sunday, Novenaber 24,
The collation is, pages 751-1274, signatures a-z, aa-zz, aaa-zzz, aaaa-gggg, in fours
and twos.
28
CLARENDON PRESS AT OXFORD
3.— 16-1-5. In this year the series is often broken, and paging and signatures falsified
to give the impression of there being no gaps. As in 1644, there is no consecutive num-
bering, but the dates of each number are from Sunday to Sunday, taking eight days instead
of seven. Thus No. (100) is December 29-January 5 ; No. (101) is January 5-12; (102),
January 12-19, &c.
The following are the nineteen numbers of this year, the date assigned being that of
the last day mentioned, a Sunday. The collation is A-Z (except E, O, R), Aa-Zz (except
Cc, Dd, Hh-Mm, Pp-Rr, Vv, Xx), pages ' 1321'-' 1736', with gaps.
(100) Jan. 5, 164^.
(101) Jan. 12 —
(102) Jan. 19 —
(Oap of one weelc.)
(103) Feb. 2, 164^.
(104.) Feb. 9 —
(105) Feb. 16 —
(Oap of one iceek.)
(106) Mar. 2, 164J.
(107) Mar. 9 —
(Oap of one week.)
(108) Mar. 23, 164|.
(109) Mar. 30, 1645.
(Oap of one week.)
(110) April 13, 1645,
(111) April 20, 1645
(112) April 27 —
(113) May 4 —
(114) May 11 —
(Oap of three weeks.)
(115) June 8, 1645.
( This large number embraced May 25- June S.)
(Oap of five weeks following the defeat of
Naseby.)
(116) July 20, 1645.
(Oap of three weeks.)
(117) Aug. 17, 1645.
(Oap of two weeks.)
(118) Sept. 7, 1645.
(The last number.)
VII. FeWs New Year Books, 1661-1709
Among the many activities of Dr. John Fell, Dean of Christ Church,
1660-86, one of the most fruitful and admirable was a practice of
interesting the more promising Students of the House in literary work,
by proposing each year to them a classical author or work, to be edited
with an introduction and notes. Every New Year's Day did the Dean
present each member of the House with a brand new book, usually a thin
octavo, containing the first attempt of one of their number to edit
a Greek or Latin treatise, or sometimes a small work of his own. This
was thoroughly in accord with Wood's character of the Dean, who * would
constantly on several mornings in the week take his rounds in his College,
go to the chambers of noblemen and gentlemen commoners, and examine and
see what progress they made in their studies \ It might have been thought
that such a series would have attracted attention, but AVood declares that
he had ' endeavoured to recover [a list of the volumes] that the titles might
Pl.ATK XX
DOCTOR JOHN FELL
(Dean of Christ Church, Bishop of Oxford : died 1686. See pp. 9, 28)
INCIDENTS AND CURIOSITIES 29
be known and .... set down, but in vain ', though Wood was living in
Oxford during their publication until his death in 1695. There is little
doubt that a close study of the Oxford publications of the period would
reveal them all, for Fell usually contributed ' an epistle, or running notes,
or corrections ' to each book. Imitation is the sincerest flattery, and both
Dr. Henry Aldrich, Fell's successor in the Deanery (after John Massey's
brief term of office), carried on the series from 1689 till his death in 1710,
and Dr. Arthur Charlett, Master of University College, 1692 to 1722, is
stated to have earned out a similar idea.
By far the best known product of this plan is the edition of the spurious
Letters of Phalaris, produced at Aldrich's instigation by the Hon. Charles
Boyle when only seventeen years of age. At the beginning of 1695 it was
duly published, and contained a reflexion on Bentley's courtesy about
a manuscript of the Letters, which eventually brought about the well-
known Boyle and Bentley controversy, in the course of which the spu-
riousness of the Letters was conclusively proved by Bentley. As the
historian of Christ Church admits, ' Boyle's cause was hopeless from the
first, and the Cambridge scholar was incomparably superior to his Oxford
antagonists, not only in learning but in dignity and even in humour."'
The following is a first attempt to reconstruct a partial list of the
series known as 'Fell's New Year Books': 1667 Alcinoils, 1671 Nemesius,
1674 a translation of Scheffer's Lapland, 1676 Theocritus, 1677 Clemens
Romanus, 1679 Zosimiis, 1680 Epktettis, 1681 Cyprian, 1682 Athenagoras,
1683 Clemens Alexandrinus, \QM Ladantius or Theophilus, 1685 Barnabas,
1686 Origen. On July 10, 1686, Fell died, and Aldrich carried on the
series: 1690 XeTiophon''s Memorabilia, 1691 his Agesilaus, \QQ9. Aristcas,
1693 XenophorCs De re equestri, 1695 Phalaiis, 1698 Aesop, which con-
tains a satire on Bentley, 1705 Odyssey, 1707 Epicfetus, 1708 Ignatius,
and, the last of all, Palladio, in 1709. Some even of the above are
doubtful.
VIII. The Oxford Gazette, 1665
The King and Court came to Oxford on Sept. 25, 1665, in prepara-
tion for the Session of Parliament held there, Oct. 9-31. But as the
plague still raged in London, the Court remained when the Parliament
30 CLARENDON PRESS AT OXFORD
had been prorogued, and the King did not leave until Jan. 27, 166|.
In the meantime he wisely determined to institute an official Gazette,
wliich should contain all appointments, with court and general news.
Accordingly, on Wednesday, Nov. 15, came out ^The Oxford Gazette^
Numb. 1. Published by Authority "*, containing news from Nov. 7 on
a single leaf, with the colophon, ' Oxford, printed by Leonard Lichfield,
Printer to the University, 1665,' but no other 'date. Number 21
(Jan. 22-25, 166|) was the last printed at Oxford. Ever since that date
the Gazette has been printed in London, but the title of Oxford Gazette
was retained for two more numbers, and the first which bears the title
The London Gazette is the 2-ith (Feb. 1-5, 166|). The Gazettes, there-
fore, which bear an Oxford title exactly make up signatures A-Z, each
a single folio leaf in double columns.
The London Gazette of May 5, 1908, bears the number 28134), and
Oxford has the honour of having initiated the oldest newspaper still
existing in England.
I X . Oxford A ImanackSy 1674
The year 1674 saw the beginning of the splendid series of Oxford Sheet
Almanacks. The design of these sheets was to combine an academical
calendar and list of the chief officers of the University with an engraving,
either of an allegorical or emblematic nature (1674-1722, 1754-5), or
(because the allegories were persistently twisted into politiceJ meanings)
of a view of some part of Oxford — a design adhered to up to the present
day. The only gap in the set is in 1675, when no sheet was issued.
The right to print almanacks was a monopoly of members of the
London Stationers'" Company from Queen Elizabeth's time, until Charles I
in 1635 made Oxford a co-monopolist. As soon, however, as the Oxford
printers began to exercise their right (in 1637), the Stationers' Company
hastily bought the privilege from them by an annual payment — an
arrangement which lasted till the Restoration. Thereafter, until 1834,
there was a tax on sheet almanacks, which rose from 9,d. to 4J. in 1781,
and to\5d. before it was wholly abolished in 1834 (4 & 5 Will. 4, cap. 57).
5: J- -
::*•->. r^-'o
"to t« .^ £2 ti «:
SrS C''*" o ^ o
urtftt:
f -O CI Ci 'O 1'
•-§:3r /*-£ tx*
;o 2-- So' «^
S 5 g 1*2'^ « a
c " '^ ■■-
»j t; ti >2
g S p :^
g-S3
*-• ""rs 2 o ^
a u-1 ," tij "v. o
Oni
«^^ g 2 ^^ C ^ S-S'
fTj ^ Ct4
^^
•^
5* op u i^^ *-
w S 1- t>
O I- t- V,
INCIDENTS AND CURIOSITIES 31
It was probably on account of this tax and the tax on paper that an
attempt was made to evade it by printing the ahnanacks on silk, of which
examples are found between 1676 and 1776. In 1775 the Court of
Common Pleas decided that there was no monopoly in almanacks, and
Oxford Avas granted (in 1781) compensation for the loss occasioned by the
decision.
The 1674 sheet is the largest and finest of all, being four sheets
conjoined, measuring in all 39 in. by 30 in. In subsequent issues we
almost always find the engraved picture or view at the top and the
almanack in the lower part. The emblematic pictures were generally on
an Italian model, but the designer found it difficult in Jacobite Oxford to
avoid exciting suspicion of a hidden political meaning, as in 1706, 1711,
1712, and 1754. In 1716 (see Plate XXII) there is a cm-ious mixture of
the two kinds of almanack, allegorical and topographical. The figures and
the position of the chief buildings are still imaginary or emblematic, but
in the centre is a singular anticipation of the RadclifFe Library, which was
not begun till 1737. Behind it is the Quadrangle of the Schools, but
without the Divinity School. It would appear that Dr. Radcliffe's
Trustees had almost from the first contemplated, not only the position,
but the very style of building which was subsequently erected. Mr. C. F.
Bell has pointed out that the figures in the foreground are partly from
Raphael's cartoon of the Death of Ananias, and partly from the same
painter's picture of the Transfiguration ! In 1723 began the fine series of
illustrations of Oxford topography, and so great was the demand for these
almanacks that from as early as 1703 till 1767 two plates had to be
engraved. J. M. W. Turner contributed the designs for 1799, 1801-2,
1804-8, 1810, and 1811, the chief earlier artists having been Michael
Burghers and George Vertue.
X. The Corpus Statutoriim Universitatis, 1768
The Laudian Code of Statutes issued in 1634 was believed to be
unalterable by any action of the University, and in the eighteenth century
was found to be a grievous burden, owing to the complete change of
manners and life since the Civil War. The original printed copies of the
32 CLARENDON PRESS AT OXFORD
Code contained only draft Statutes, and the complete Statutes were only
to be found in the printed draft as corrected and supplemented by hand in
certain copies in 1636. It was obviously desirable that there should be
a reprint of the authentic Code, and in 1768 a fine quarto volume was
issued from the Clarendon Press, containing the Laudian enactments with
some minor changes and additions, bringing it up to date. The curiosity
about the book is that it is still going on, the Addenda having at present
(1908) reached p. 1,124. This is surely a rare example of a book (not
a periodical or serial) continuing for one hundred and thirty-five years,
* necdum finitus.""
The parts of this remarkable book are as follows : —
Corpiis Statutonim Universitatis Oxonknsis (Oxf. 1768, 4*').
— Addenda ad Corjnis Statutorxim (Oxf. 1800, 4°).
Addenda ad Corpus Statutorum (Oxf. 1825, 4"). This is in
effect a second edition of the Addenda above.
This 1825 Addenda is followed by a series of separate issues of
statutes or gi'oups of statutes, nominally paged from 227 to 790.
Addenda ad Corpus Statutorum. Pars II ab anno 1870
(Oxf., no date, large quarto). Still in progress.
XI. The Caxton Memorial Bible, 1877
The Caxton Exhibition was opened on June 30, 1877, with a speech
from Mr. W. E. Gladstone. The list of Bibles in the Exhibition was
headed by the first Bible printed (1450-3 .^), and ended with one printed
and bound within the twelve hours which preceded Mr. Gladstone's speech.
The printing at Oxford actually began at two on that morning, from
movable type which had not been used for some years. Exactly one
hundred copies (each containing 1,052 pages) were printed, and numbered
consecutively ; the sheets were artificially dried and sent up to London by
the nine o'clock morning express. They were at once bound at the Oxford
University Press Bindery in London, in turkey morocco, with gold lettering
and the arms of the University on the side, and a parcel containing ten
copies was taken to the Exhibition by two o'clock in the afternoon.
INCIDENTS AND CURIOSITIES 33
Mr. Gladstone considered that this feat might be called * the climax and
consummation of printing '. The credit for the scheme may be divided
between Mr. Henry Stevens of Vermont, who suggested it, Mr. Henry
Frowde, on whom the burden of the special arrangements fell, and
Professor Bartholomew Price, who decided that the idea could be
carried out.
XII. The Golden Gospel, 1881.
It is seldom that even a privately printed edition or issue consists of
three copies only. In 1881, Major-General Gibbes Rigaud, desiring to
benefit a lady with failing sight, experimented with various colours and types
in order to ascertain what combination of the two could be read most easily
xind with least strain to the eyes by persons in that condition. He found
that the glint of 'Franklin' type (of wHicH tHls IS diX\
'6Xdrnpl6 j printed in dull gold letters on a dark olive-green back-
gi'ound best fulfilled the required conditions, and arranged with the Press
to have the Gospel of St. John so printed. This was done at the close of
1881, and only the copy supplied to the lady at Sandgate and two others,
one reserved by one of the partnei's of the Press and one by the Press itself,
Avere produced. The first is lost, and the one remaining exemplar outside
the Press deserves to rank as a curiosity, being a representative of the most
restricted issue and actually the rarest book produced at Oxford since the
fifteenth century.
The title is ' The Gospel according to St. John {^University Anns'].
Oxford : at the Clarendon Press, 1881 ', large octavo.
ARMS OF THE UNIVERSITY PRINTED FROM THE ACTUAL WOODBLOCK
USED IN THE OXFORD FOLIO BIBLE DATED 1701
ANT1Q_UARI1 COLLECTANEA.
of Cruelte, Philip fliortely dyed, and eche of his Sunnes reignid
but a wile after hym.
Charles, the yongeft Sunne of King Philip that was King
of Navar, his Father lyving, had but one Doughter by hit
Wife Heir of Navare, that after was maried to the Counte
of Everus, that after was King of Navar.
Ifebel, Doughter to King PhiJ-p, her 5. Brethern beyng
deade with owte Iffue Male, was countid the next Heire to
the Kingdom of France^ wher apon the Right cam to Ed-
uarde her Sun by Eduarde the fccunde her Husband.
Thomas Gray, Warden ot the Caftel of Couper and of
Fife of the Kin^e of Englandes Part in Scotland, cumming
from Edwardes Coronation toward the aforefaide Caltel, was
layde for privile bv Gualter Bickirkton, Knight of Scotlandej
that had prive Intelligence when, and by what way, he could
cum, and lay yn waite with 400. Menne of Armes with hym.
The which thing being told to Thomas Gray at hand, that
had with hym but i6. Men of Armes, wel appointid and wcl
horfid) cauGd his Varlettes to cum yn Sight behynd with a
Baner, and with his fmaul Band roode thorough the Rankes
of Scottes by Force, and bak agayn by Force thorough them,
killing dyvers of them. And then they efpying Grayes Ver-
lettes cumming toward them, fledde alie, and ievyng theyr
Horfes tooke the Marrefis, or Bogges. And Thomas drave pag 7^4.
their Horfes a way for his Pray to the Caftel of Couper.
A nother tyme Alexander Frefile a Scotte, Frend to Ro-
bert Brufe, was fet with in a litle of Couper Caftel with an
Embufchemenr, and cauffid certen of his to pille a Village
ther by, fo fuppohng to bring Thomas Gray in to a Trappe :
the which hering the Cry went to Horfe to fe what it was.
The Embufchement feyng that, roode of Force to the very
Caftel Gates Thomas feing this returnid his Horfe, and
cam faire and foftely thorow the Toune of Couper, and
then laying Spurres to his Horfe, and rode thorough them,
and got with in the Barres of the Caftelj- wher he founde his
oune <» Meny cumming out to help hym.
King Edward caullid a gayn Peter Gaverfton, a yong Mart
of Gateoyne, afore exilid by his Father ; caufling Thomas PctfrCavr
Erie of Lancaftre, with other, to fwere to the Accomplifche- J^" "|^[/'
mentof the Banifchmem, and cauflid hym to take toWife^f ^^^.,„
the Doughter of his Sifter and the Erie of Gloceftre, and Daughter.
made hym Counte of Comewalle.
Peter Gaverfton then became noble, liberal, and gentil in
fummeFafcions: but after fill of Pride and Difdayne, of the
which the Nobilles of England tooke great Dei'pite.
Tom. I. Par. i. Zis It
Plate XXIII
FIRST PAGE PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRINTING HOUSE
(Leland's Collectanea, vol. i, 1713; see p. 11)
APPENDIX I
IMPRINTS AND STATISTICS
SEQUENCE OF SOME UNIVERSITY IMPRINTS
Oxoniae, ' 1468 '-1 480.
Oxoniis, 1479.
In alma universitate Oxon., 1481.
In alma universitate Oxoniae, 1485,
In academia Oxoniae, 1517.
In celeberrima universitate Oxoniensi, 1518-9.
Oxoniae, 1518.
From 1585 the usual imprint is ' Oxoniae ' or ' Oxonii ' (the former
more usual till 1670, the latter after the Sheldoniau Press was established).
Before the Civil War common expressions are ' ex officina . . . ', ' excudebat
...', 'typis...'.
' Oxford ', ' At Oxford ' (the former common at all times).
' Rhydychen ' (for Welsh books, at all times from 1595).
'Bellositi Dobunorum' occurs in 1628, 1662, and 1663.
'E typographia Sheldoniana ' occui's on the first book printed at
the Sheldonian in 1669, but not after that year.
' E theatro or typographeo Sheldoniano ' (' At the Theatre,' &c.) is the
common imprint from 1669 to 1713, and in lessening degree to 1783.
'E typographeo or prelo Clarendoniano ' (or ' Academico ') is found
at all times from 1713 : with 'at the Clarendon (or University) Press'.
B 2
36
CLARENDON PRESS AT OXFORD
STATISTICS
The following figures give the total and average output of the Oxford
Press in successive decades and half-centuries, and taken in connexion with
the details to be obtained by inspection of the Chart, will supply the chief
facts about the productiveness of Oxford as a place of printing, so far as
they can be expressed in figures. If allowance be made for books not yet
recorded in my lists or not here registered, the whole number of books
printed at Oxford from '1468' to the end of 1907 may be estimated at
not less than twenty-two thousand. This includes all the printing
establishments in Oxford, but until the nineteenth century the printing
other than academical is almost negligible, and is at present perhaps about
SO per cent, of the whole, if works are counted, but if the number of copies
issued be considered, it is perhaps less than 5 per cent.
'1468,' 1479-1486
Total number
of books
produced.
15
Avera
per y
2
ige
ear.
1517-1519
1585-1590
7
50
2
8
-'1468'-1600.
Total 148
1591-1600
76
sj
1601-1610
97
10^
1611-1620
134
13
Total 1161
1621-1630
135
14 1601-1650.
Average
1631-1640
248
25
55'
23 per year
1641-1650
547
1651-1660
296
30\
1661-1670
282
28
Total 1428
1671-1680
323
32 1651-1700.
Average
1681-1690
294
29
29 per year.
1691-1700
233
23^
1701-1710
284
28
1711-1720
266
27
Total 1108.
1721-1730
207
21 1701-1750.
Average
1731-1740
155
16
22 per year
1741-1750
196
20^
Plate XXIV
Kf0, 2. nP02 PQMAI0Y2.
421
iSiravr] rw vofj^, km Kav)(aa-ai iv 0e^, ""jcal' Pk"'- >-io-
ytfcicr/cfir ro Stkrifta, /tai 8oKifia^fts ra Sia-
igepoi'Ta, Karrj^ovfjievos ex rov vofjLoV nt-jroi-
6ds Tf (TfavTov obrjyov civai TV(f)\coy, (boa
20r(bv (V (TKOTei, naiSfvrfjv acftpovQiu, 5(5a(r«q-
Xoi/ vrjwlaiv, €)(ovtu ttjv fxopipoariv rrji yudt-
21 (Taos Kal rny aKnSeias iv rat vouu)' '6 ovv fit- ■< r^ai. :o.
^ ' ' '7' 10, .S;i'. M.iit
SuVKdlV (Tfj)OV, (TtaVTOV OV fitSuCTKftr ; 6 «fj- 'J- '"'"•
22 ptjcrcroov iir) KXsirreiv, KkeTTTtcs ; 6 Xiyatv fit)
fwi)(evftv, fioL\fV€ti ; 6 08(\vcrcr6fx(voi ra «'-
23 SwXa, Upoa-vXfls ; 'or «V i/o/iiiu Kav^uvai,^')*-
dia rrjs Trapa^diTfcoi rov pofiov rov Qtov art-
2^^ ^(i>fif ; " Tu yap ovofui roO Qfov Si i yap oxpfXfl, iav vofua/
npacrajif tav 8« napa^rrjs vofiov jfs, ^ mpt-
26 TOfiTi (Tov aKpo^xKrrla yiyovtv. iav ovv fj axpo-
/9vOTta TO 8iKaia)fiara tov pofwv (fivKatrari,
ov)(i T) aKpo^vcrria avrov ds nepiropfjif Xo-
2'j yKrSriatTai ; Kal Kpivt'i f) tK (pvcreais axpoffv-
aria rov vofiov TfXovcra, ere rov 6ia ypap.fia-
28 ros Ka\ TTfpirofjiTji Trapaffarrjv vofwv. '^ovyap J ♦•'• ■'"''•
6 tp Tw (pavfpat 'louSalds iartv, oxjhi tj iv r^
2g oXX* 6 iv ^^\J*^''*\
Kpimra 'lovSa'ios, Ka\ irtpirop.r} KapBias iv f ",' *• *,
nvfVfuiri, OV ypafipari ov o tnaivos ovk «^iP»i -* /T»' Cor. 4. (.
^ avdpamov, a\\ fx rov Qtoii. Tt ovv to 1 Tbt*.. 3. 4.
TtfpKTtTov TOV \ovhaiov , f) ris ^ a>(pfXf ui rrjt
2 '/rtpiTOfirfs ; 'ttoXu, Kara irdvra rporrov. rrpa- p';,j'-"'|-
TOV fUv yap ort iiTi(rr(v&r}(rav ra Xoyui roC J'"'- '*'■•''
3 9f oC. ^ Tt yap, ft rfiticmjvdw Twts ; /iiy t) ^^- ^^ ,^
pp
FIRST PAGE PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
(Part of a Greek New Testament, 1830 ; see p. 18)
APPENDIX I
37
Total number
of books
produced.
1751-1760 267
Average
per year.
27x
1761-1770
270
27
Total 1365
1771-1780
263
26
-1751-
-1800.
Average
1781-1790
251
25
27 per year
1791-1800
314
31^
1801-1810
462
46]
1811-1820
616
62
Total 4449
1821-1830
874
87
^1801-
-1850.
Average
1831-1840
1141
114
89 per year
1841-1850
1356
136
1851-1860
1485
149]
1861-1870
1531
153
Total 9816
1871-1880
1952
196
^1851-
-1900.
Average
1881-1890
2126
213
196 per year
1891-1900
2722
272
'1468'-
-1600
Total nun
of bool
product
148
iber
ts
;d.
1601
-1650
1161
1651-
-1700
1428
1701-
-1750
1108
Total 19475.
1751
-1800
1365
1801-
-1850
4449
1851-
-1900
9816J
First occur reyices of imusual type, &^c., at Oxford.
First colour printing in England : Oxford, 14|S (Aegidius).
First woodcut border used in England : Oxford, 1481.
First use of Greek type, 1586.
First use of Hebrew type, 1596 ; the first Hebrew book in
Hebrew type, 1655.
First use of Arabic type, 1648.
First use of Anglo-Saxon type, 1659.
38 CLARENDON PRESS AT OXFORD
First use of Music type, 1660.
First use of Syriac type, 1661.
First Armenian type acquired, 1667.
First Coptic type acquired, 1667.
First Samaritan type acquired, 1667.
First Slavonic type acquired, 1667.
First Runic type acquired, 1677.
First Gothic type acquired, 1677.
First Icelandic type acquired, 1677.
First Ethiopic type acquired before 1693.
First use of Etruscan type, 1738.
First use of Sanskrit type, 1840.
The use of Hand-presses for Bibles and Prayer Books
abandoned, 1840.
Steam-power driving introduced, 1840.
First Chinese type acquired, 1858.
First Gurumukhi type acquired, 1876.
First Pahlavi type acquired, 1883.
First Tibetan type acquired, 1884.
First Zend type acquired, 1884.
Gas-power driving introduced for certain departments, 1885.
First Bengali type acquired, 1888.
First Russian type acquired, 1888.
First Tamil type acquired, 1889.
First Burmese type acquired, 1890.
Type of Hieroglyphics (Lepsius) acquired, 1900.
Prehistoric Script (Cretan or Eteo-Cretan) produced in 1901
for use in the books of Dr. A. J. Evans.
Steam-power driving completely discontinued, 1902.
(ias-power driving adopted throughout, 1902.
l^irst Sinhalese type acquired in 1904.
First Cyrillic type acquired in 1906.
Walpergen Music type for Short Score, and in smaller size,
adapted and first cast in 1907.
International Phonetics (the form adopted by L' Association
phonetique inteniationale) first produced in 1907.
Plate XXV
-"«
Mufick, Two line Double Pica.
3
i^
0-
m
#_i
^
SX o z:^
t tf
r^
&
u
7
n
s?
I
J2
n
3
-# H
-I
^feg
H
in^
XL
i
■?
I
J i^
' ](Yr)o,
^., il t^ (^ "
• \,\Aii^
^- -i — e~^^T-
.
g
-0
■e-
21
•^feE
^T^H
Sii
^
=' , I .ji,./ff
■^
^^^^^^
walpergen's music type, 1695
(Specimen only, not musically correct)
APPENDIX II
TYPE-FOUNDING, MUSICAL TYPE, AND
PAPER-MAKING
It is clear that the earliest printers in England obtained their first
type from abroad, and that Caxton, for instance, printed at Westminster
for at least a year before he founded letters. The first Oxford type also is
from Cologne, and not till between 1586 and 1637 did the trade of letter-
founder become a distinct one. But it appears that the honour of
establishing the first high-class type foundry, properly equipped, belongs
to the University Press at Oxford, in connexion with the splendid gifts of
matrixes by Dr. Fell, procured in Germany, France, and Holland, about
the year 1667. In 1677 Francis Junius augmented Fell's gifts by pre-
senting matrixes of Gothic, Runic, and Anglo-Saxon ; and the foundry was
so well supplied that in 1693 it issued a first Specimen of Types, exhibiting
more than sixty varieties. The 1695 edition is the first specimen produced
anywhere in which a particular passage of Scripture (in this case the
Lord's Prayer) is reproduced in polyglot.
The two first type-founders at Oxford were Dutchmen, one being
named Peter Walpergen, who was succeeded by his son, who died in 1714,
and he by Sylvester Andrews, whose foundry was removed to London in
1733. The fount of Coptic type in the Oxford foundry was given by the
Burgomaster of Amsterdam. The actual founding took place in the base-
ment of the Sheldonian as soon as that was ready, and for some years
previously in a private house hired by Dr. Fell. The dates of the Oxford
Specimens of Type, or 'Letter' as they were then called, are 1693, 169-5
(two issues), 1706, one broadside undated, 1753, 1768 (also issued with
additions in 1770 and 1775), 1786, and 1794. These have been reprinted,
with much valuable and original matter, by Mr. Horace Hart in his N'otcs
on a Century of Typography at Oxford 1693-1794 (1900).
40 CLARENDON PRESS AT OXFORD
Not the least interesting pai-t of the Fell donation is the Music type,
generally called Walpergen''s type, which is reproduced in the 1695
Specimen, and in Mr. Hart's Notes, pp. 58-9, 142, see Plate XXV.
Seventy Music matrixes were in the gift, but musical printing was not
unknown at an earlier date at Oxford, having been used first by Professor
John Wilson in his Cheeyful Ayres, printed by William Hall in 1660 ;
while as early as 1609 some engraved music is to be found in Charles
Butler's Feminine Monarchic. But Hall's type was very rough and in-
complete, and not to be compared with Walpergen's, the first date of
the use of which, however, cannot at present be stated.
No earlier mention of paper-making at or near Oxford can be found
than Dr. Fell's encouragement of an engraver named George Edwards in
the latter's plan of fitting up a paper mill at Wolvercote, about 1670.
Hearne mentions it in 1718 as being worked by John Beckford, saying of
it that ' some of the best paper in England is made at Wolvercote Mill ' :
and throughout the eighteenth century it maintained a high repute. In
the nineteenth century it changed hands several times, being o^vned by
Mr. James Swann, by the Duke of INIarlborough, by Mr. Combe, who
rebuilt it soon after in 1855, and finally by the Clarendon Press, which
bought it in 1870.
^
■^
^
EXPT.ANxVTION OF THE CHART
THE Chart is intended to exhibit the number t)f books printed or pubhshed
at Oxford, both average and actual, up to tlie year I90O inchisive, and to
distinguish in each year the numl)er of theological, of classical or learned,
and of miscellaneous books. The principles of construction have been as follows : —
The lines on the Chart indicate by upward direction an increase of output,
and by direction from left to right chronological sequence from year to year.
As far as the records make it possible, every book, pamphlet, or report which
contains more than four ])ages, has been included, but there is no doubt that
many editions of the Bible have not been yet registered. Works consisting of
more than one volume are counted as more than one book, the general test in
such a case being the number of separate title-pages.
The shaded part bounded by a continuous black line indicates at each year
the average product of that year and the year preceding and the year following.
Up to 1752 the year is necessarily counted as beginning on March 25.
The thick broken black line indicates the actual product of each year.
The thin broken line indicates the number of ihen/ogical books, reckoned from
the base line, for each year. These include controversial pam))hlets. l)ut not
Eastern religions.
The thin continuous line indicates the actual output of classical or learned
books, reckoned from the base line. These comprise Latin books on classical logic,
rhetoric or philosophy, as well as classical authors, translations or commentaries
on them, and books on classic-al archaeology. Also books in Eastern languages
or translations of them (except Hebrew) are included, but modern Latin
compositions, or books on Oriental authors, are excluded. The idea has been
to show the extent of what may be called learned literature, other tliaii
theological.
The miscellaneous can l)e calculated, as being the remainder of the output.
when the theological and classical books are deducted. Tiic only deliberate
omissions have been tradesmen's catalogues, pros))ectuses and testimonials, after
about 1800.
The undated books of each century, when they could not be assigned to
a particular year, have been spread evenly over the century.
Periodicals have been counted as one work in each year of their issue.
Reports of Societies and Institutions have been taken in tens, each group ot
ten counting as a volume at the earliest date in the group. Other series have
been counted by volumes, or ten i)arts have been regarded as a volume, according
to the si/e.
'^
Q
^
Outputfor "1468," 1479-1486, 1517-1519.
Year Theology Classics Miscellaneous Total
146S"
1
1479
1
USO
-
7481
-
1482
7
1483
3
1484
1485
-
1486
1
1517
-
1518
-
1519
.
-
-
1
1
-
2
2
-
2
2
.
5
-
-
2
-
2
1
1
2
3
1
5
.
1
1
ijtoi^cooo'-c-wro ttinor-comor-Mto ^iO(DNtoo)0,-« m t o.-cn co