_Head and Tail Pieces--Decorative Blocks_
In the foregoing chapter I have dealt with head and tail pieces, more
or less built up of small single printers’ ornaments. These did all
very well until the advent of something better; but the English printer
had to wait until between 1570 and 1580 before what may be termed
legitimate head and tail pieces--that is, blocks of a decorative or
pictorial design, especially cut for the purpose--were put in his
hands. These ran to all sizes, from blocks measuring 139 by 34 mm. for
head-pieces in folio books to others measuring only 47 by 12 mm., these
last being used independently as head-or tail-pieces, or as ornaments
for the title-page. The larger ones are rarely found used elsewhere
than in their rightful places.
Before their advent, any odd blocks that had done duty in books of
hours or primers on the Continent, and had been bought by some English
printer on his annual visit to the Frankfort Fair, were pressed into
service as head and tail pieces.
One of the earliest examples of the use of an odd block as a tail-piece
is found in Middleton’s edition of the _Statutes_ of the 7th Henry
6th, printed between 1530 and 1540, at the end of Michaelmas term
(sig. K 2), where a geometrical and architectural block, measuring 119
by 19 mm., is very effective. This had previously belonged to Wynkyn de
Worde.
Another may be seen at the end of _A Newe Booke--An Exhortation to
the Sicke_, printed by John Oswen at Ipswich in 1548, where above
and below the imprint are the two blocks here reproduced. They were
clearly not specially cut for the purpose--indeed, I have a shrewd
suspicion that I have seen the lower one in books printed by Robert
Wyer. Nor can we accept the two blocks placed above and below the
colophon to the Sarum Missal, printed by Kingston & Sutton in 1555, as
genuine head and tail ornaments. They obviously belong rather to the
class of border-pieces from some foreign book of hours.
An example of the miscellaneous tail-pieces to be found in sixteenth
century books was brought to my notice recently by Miss Murphy. It
turned up unexpectedly in the second edition of Harman’s _Caveat or
Warneing for Common Cursetors, vulgarly called Vagabones_, printed
by William Griffith in 1567, and it would, I think, be difficult to
match it.
The centre is a cut of the Virgin and Child forming the centre of a
rose. Outside this is a circle of beads, and outside that again a
circle of flowers on a single stem with five roses placed at equal
distances round the circle. The whole measures 95 mm. in diameter. It
may be one block, and the association of the rosary, the beads and the
picture of the Virgin seems to point to its having been cut for some
Roman Catholic book. At the end of the Preface is a good tail-piece of
arabesque design.
Specially designed decorative head and tail pieces began to make their
appearance in English books about the year 1570. One of the earliest I
have met with is a head-piece found in the hands of Thomas Vautrollier,
whose printing office was one of the best equipped in England. It
appears on sig. A of Chaloner’s _De Rep. Anglorum instauranda libri
decem_, a quarto printed in 1579. [B.M. 1070, m. 31.]
The block measures 102 by 22 mm. The design is an elaborate one, the
main feature being two spirals that look like capital A’s. On these
are resting two naked boys with a bowl between them containing fruit
and flowers. Below is a grotesque head. From these large spirals issue
smaller ones with a squirrel on one side and a rabbit at the other, and
two filials of grotesque animals at each of the bottom corners.
This may be a metal block, but it was light and graceful in treatment,
and was in every way suitable to the beautifully printed book in which
it is found. In another book, _M. T. Ciceronis Epistolæ_, printed
at the same press in the same year, is found Vautrollier’s well-known
tail-piece of the Gorgon’s head, with his initials T. V. on either side.
There were, no doubt, similar blocks in use in folio books before 1580,
but the earliest I have met with is the artistic head-piece seen in
sig. A of Bynneman’s edition of Morelius’ _Verborum Latinorum_,
printed in 1583. In the centre we see a figure holding in each hand a
bird with long tail feathers. On either side is an archer with a drawn
bow and arrow, with rabbits sitting behind him, while at each of the
lower corners is an animal with very long and curving horns. This block
measures 139 by 34 mm. It was afterwards in the hands of the Eliots
Court Press, and can be traced in use until about 1650.
Before the close of the sixteenth century specially designed head
and tail pieces of all sizes were in general use, and continued so
throughout the following century. When I add that every good block was
immediately copied, and frequently copied so faithfully that it needs
almost microscopical examination to discover the difference, some idea
will be gained of the wide field of illustration thrown open in this
branch of our subject. In the dainty little devotional works of Abraham
Fleming, already alluded to in my chapter on Borders, are found several
delightful little head and tail pieces, all of which passed into the
hands of Henry Bynneman, and from him to the Eliots Court Press.
Holinshed’s _Chronicles_, first printed in 1577, also contain
some very fine examples. At the head of the Dedication to the first
volume is seen the block with a bear sitting on his haunches holding
spirals of foliage. Two dogs, two men with staves, and two serpents are
also parts of this design. It seems possible that these large folio
head-pieces were lent by one printer to another, as this one is found
in many books. Again, at the head of the “First Booke of the Historie
of England,” in these _Chronicles_, is a semi-architectural
head-piece with the Royal Arms in the centre. At the head of sig. K
6 in the “Chronicles of Ireland” is another good decorative block,
which is sufficiently like that at the head of the Dedication to the
first volume to suggest a common origin, as indeed do those in use by
the Eliots Court Press. Another good example of these blocks is that
found at the head of Geoffrey Fenton’s _History of Guicciardini_,
printed by Richard Field in 1599. The same spirit seems to run through
them all, and they deserve more notice than they have hitherto
received. The charming little tail-piece, showing a boy playing two
drums, is also from the _Chronicles_, and is found at the end of
the Preface to the “Chronicles of Ireland” in the third volume. In some
respects it is reminiscent of the eighteenth rather than the sixteenth
century. At the opening of the seventeenth century the decorative
blocks used by the Eliots Court printers call for special notice, and
by the kind permission of the Bibliographical Society one or two of
those that appeared in my article in _The Library_ a short time
ago are here shown. It was not possible at that time to illustrate any
of the head-pieces that appeared in books printed in folio. No such
restriction bars us now, and consequently three of these characteristic
head-pieces from an edition of the _Workes_ of Homer, printed
at that press, are here shown. The first, which measures 142 by 36
mm., consists of spirals of flowers, radiating from a central stem,
with caterpillars and various winged insects dotted all over it. This
was also used in the folio edition of Bishop Jewell’s _Works_,
published by John Norton in 1609, and two years later M. Bradwood, who
succeeded Arnold Hatfield in the management of the office, used it in
Queen Anne’s _New World of Words_, and as late as 1639 it was in
the hands of Edward Griffin the second.
The second of these large head-pieces has as its design the sun in
glory and four horsemen between sprays of flowers and foliage. It
is found again in the folio edition of _Montaigne_, printed by
Bradwood, and was in constant use down to the year 1638.
The third, in which the principal features are two large cornucopiæ
and two lions holding shields, was also used by all the Eliots Court
printers down to 1640, and there was also another block something like
it in the hands of other printers.
Passing to the smaller blocks of this press, one of the most artistic
is that of the two cherubs blowing horns, used as head-piece in _A
Copy of a Letter written by E. D._, a pamphlet printed in 1606 by M.
Bradwood. It was of Continental origin, and it has served as a model
for printers down to our own day, a variation of it being amongst those
in use by the Chiswick Press.
In the same book is found the ‘fleur-de-lys’ head-piece. It was
used by all the Eliots Court printers without exception; but Felix
Kingston, another London printer, had a block so similar that it is
almost impossible to tell one from the other. It makes a very handsome
head-piece.
The other two examples here shown are also from _A Copy, etc._,
and both were in use, the one as late as 1644 and the other to 1650.
The one with the squirrels was copied repeatedly, and several variants
of it are met with in other books. The blocks of the national emblems
when used together formed an effective head-piece, but they were
sometimes used in pairs to form side-pieces to other blocks. There was
also a smaller set without the decorative spirals.
When George Purslowe joined the firm he brought with him several
ornaments that had belonged to Simon Stafford, and in 1620, when he
printed the Rev. Elnathan Parr’s _Exposition on the Epistle to the
Romans_, he used as a head-piece a block which is found in the hands
of Henry Bynneman as far back as 1581, and it was a curious medley of
part of one of Simon Stafford’s and part of the ‘fleur-de-lys’ block,
and shows that the designs of both those blocks had their origin in
sixteenth century work.
These Eliots Court head-pieces are very typical of seventeenth century
work; but such printers as Robert Barker, Adam Islip, Humfrey & R.
Lownes, Miles Fletcher, and others had a large and varied stock, from
each of which an equally good collection might be made.
A good decorative head-piece was that used by H. Lownes in J. Dowland’s
_Pilgrimes Solace_, printed in 1612, embodying the national
emblems.
Passing over the period of the Revolution and Commonwealth, in which
most of the blocks used were old ones, a word or two must be said of
the work done by Mr Burghers at Oxford during the last years of the
seventeenth century and the opening years of the eighteenth century.
It is somewhat remarkable that so little attention has been paid to M.
Burghers and his work by Oxford students. For upwards of fifty years
he must have been a well-known figure in the University town. For many
years he designed the allegorical illustration for the Oxford Almanac.
There is no question as to his ability both as artist and engraver.
Yet Bryan, in his _Dictionary of Engravers_, dismisses him curtly
without even mentioning the period during which he worked, and refers
to his work as ‘stiff and tasteless.’ _The Dictionary of National
Biography_ accords him just twenty-three lines, and finishes off by
saying, “He died, according to Hearne’s _Reliquæ_, on the 10th
January 1726–7.” As a matter of fact, Hearne gives the best memoir of
him, but has very little to say about the vast amount of work he did
and his skill as an artist. On these points all he says is, “He was
looked upon as the best general engraver in England, and had always
till very lately, within these last two or three years, a vast deal of
business, so that being withal a very industrious man, he got a vast
deal of money and purchased a pretty estate in Oxford.”
This is a poor account of a man whose work was not confined by any
means, as the _Dictionary of National Biography_ would lead one
to think, to the engraving of portraits, but who executed engravings
for many books. None of his biographers call attention to the wonderful
series of head and tail pieces and initial letters which Burghers
designed and engraved for the folio edition of Clarendon’s _History
of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England_ ... printed at the
Theater, An. Dom. MDCCII. (-IV.).
Amongst the many things collected by John Bagford were specimens of
Burghers’ work.[9] Unfortunately he gave no clue as to what books they
appeared in, but some of them were from this work, and the beauty
of the designs no less than the excellence of the engravings places
them in the very first rank of English Printers’ Ornaments. None
of these deserve Bryan’s censure. They are not only spirited; but
they are worthy of the great work in which they appeared. No. 234 in
Bagford’s volume is a head-piece, the design of which is classical in
treatment--spirals of flowers and foliage of a highly ornate character
springing from a central stem, which consists of the body of a child
emerging from foliage with his hands uplifted in terror of the two
lions who are apparently coming for him on either side. This is the
head-piece to the thirteenth Book, vol. iii., p. 285. No. 207 in the
same volume was evidently designed for an English book on Science,
printed about 1696. In the centre is seen Britannia, with shield and
trident, looking out over the sea. Beneath her is the date 1696, the
whole being surrounded by a laurel wreath. On either side are open
books, that on the left apparently dealing with Euclid and that on
the right with architecture. Other books and rolls and mathematical
instruments have also a background of laurel, and the design is
surrounded by a decorative frame.
The tail-pieces designed by Burghers are even more splendid than the
head-pieces. The two we have chosen for illustration are entirely
different in character, but are both remarkable for their grace and
beauty. No. 310 in Bagford’s collection consists of spirals emanating
from a central sun-like flower. These dancing figures and two birds
form part of the design, which measures no less than 152 by 120 mm.,
and has the signature “M. Burge, sculp.” at the bottom. No. 322 is
a classical design figuring Hercules. Both appeared in Clarendon’s
_History_.
With the opening of the eighteenth century the character of these
decorative head and tail pieces other than the fleuron changed entirely.
In the first place the old wood block was superseded by metal ones, and
no doubt the change gave greater clearness of impression and longer
life. Then with Caslon’s advent as a type-founder native talent began
to assert itself; but the alteration went even further than this, and
heralded a change in taste on the part of printers, who seem to have
been captured by a different school of designers altogether. We suspect
that this was largely due to the influence of the Oxford engraver, M.
Burghers. Whether the blocks produced during this century were or were
not more artistic than those they supplanted must be left to experts to
decide. My work is to record the change and show its development.
In 1712 William Bowyer printed a great folio, Atkyn’s _Ancient
and Present State of Gloucestershire_, in which we find a large
head-piece signed I. L., which is a good example of the head-piece that
had come into fashion.
The centre shows a basket piled with fruit, with some kind of drapery
hanging from it and the letters I. L. f. below this. On either side of
the basket the ornament takes the form of sprays or spirals of flowers
or foliage, somewhat resembling the designs of M. Burghers at Oxford.
Indeed, baskets of fruit and flowers became a feature in nearly all
head and tail pieces of the eighteenth century. In the same volume is a
tail-piece which is equally typical of eighteenth century work.
Some very beautiful examples of the decorative head and tail pieces
of the early eighteenth century are found in the octavo edition of
Lucretius’ _De rerum natura_, printed by J. Tonson and J. Watts
in 1713. While some of these head-pieces are pictorial, they are in
some measure called forth by the text, and perhaps more in the nature
of illustrations; the tail-pieces have a character of their own,
especially the one at the end of the fourth book and that at the end of
the sixth book, and the final one.
Another fine head-piece is seen in the first volume of the _Works of
Sir William Temple_ (sig. B ij), printed in folio in 1720, and is
matched by the tail-piece on the verso of B 3 in the second volume.
Another example of a signed head-piece occurs on a block found in the
octavo edition of the _Works of George Farquhar_, published by
Knapton and other booksellers in London in 1728. Whether it is meant to
be emblematical or not it is hard to say, but in the foreground is seen
a lion pointing with his right foreleg to a plant in front of him, two
of the leaves of which bear the initials F. H. and M. M. Round about
are several trees. The work of F. H. was evidently a favourite as late
as 1738, when we meet with another example of it in a sermon printed
for J. Roberts in Warwick Lane. In this case not only is the block
larger, but the design consists of vegetable growths, ornately treated
with a vase of flowers in the middle and a bird with outstretched wings
at the top.
The various parts of James Thomson’s poem on Liberty, printed in 1735,
have head-pieces, none of them of great merit, of which one is here
shown as a contrast with that just noticed, while, as an example of
how thoroughly bad some eighteenth century work could be, we show a
tail-piece representing a fountain, found in a volume of translations
of the _Odes of Horace_, printed in 1743. [B.M. 11375, c. 17.]
The provincial printers probably stocked themselves from the London
foundries, and consequently their ornaments followed the prevailing
fashion. We have already seen specimens of the work of M. Burghers at
Oxford, and while the sister University cannot show anything quite
so gorgeous, the printers in Cambridge had a good selection, many of
which are shown in R. Bowes’ Catalogue of Books printed at Cambridge
from 1521 to 1893. From these has been chosen a head-piece used by
Cornelius Crownfield between 1698 and 1743 as being typical of the
period, and two tail-pieces used by the same printer [Nos. 81, 82 in
that Catalogue], while a tail-piece from a work by an unknown printer
illustrates once again the innumerable ways in which the fleuron could
be treated. In this case twenty-eight units are arranged so as to form
an inverted triangle.
Moving further northwards we find John White, the printer at
Newcastle-on-Tyne, with a good stock of ornaments, which he used with
effect in Bourne’s _History of Newcastle_, which he printed
in 1736. The head-piece here shown is a characteristic example of
eighteenth century work (note the baskets of flowers and fruit, the
birds and the cherubs), and Mr Welford, in his _Early Newcastle
Topography_, describes the larger of the two tail-pieces as
‘gorgeous.’
Coming south again, the printer at Truro, from whose press came the
unfinished work called the _Compleat History of Cornwal_, used the
head-and tail-piece here reproduced.
MISCELLANEOUS ORNAMENTS