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