THOMAS BERTHELET TO JOHN DAY
On the death of Pynson, in 1529, the office of royal printer was
conferred upon Thomas Berthelet, who was in business at the sign of the
Lucretia Romana in Fleet Street. Herbert gives the first book from his
press as an edition of the Statutes, printed in 1529; but there is some
evidence that he was at work two or three years, and perhaps more,
before this. Among the writings of Robert Copland, the printer-author,
was a humorous tract entitled _The Seuen sorowes that women have when
theyr husbandes be dead_ (British Museum, C. 20, c. 42 (5)), which has
at the end this curious passage:--
'Go lytle quayr, god gyve the wel to sayle
To that good sheppe, ycleped Bertelet.
* * * * * *
And from all nacyons, if that it be thy lot
Lest thou be hurt, medle not with a Scot.'
This is, without doubt, an allusion to the two London printers, Thomas
Berthelet and John Skot; and certain references in the prologue seem to
point to the printing of the first edition of the _Seuen Sorowes_, as a
year or two earlier than the date given by Herbert.
[Illustration: FIG. 15.--Thomas Berthelet's Device.]
There also seems to be conclusive evidence that Berthelet, or, as he was
sometimes called, Bartlett, was a native of Wales. He certainly held
land in the county of Hereford, and he was succeeded in business by a
nephew, Thomas Powell, a Welshman. Berthelet was one of the few English
printers of that period whose work is worth looking at. He had a varied
assortment of types, all of them good, and his workmanship was as a rule
excellent; and as very few of his books are illustrated, we may infer
that he was loth to spoil a good book with the rough and often unsightly
woodcuts of that time.
Berthelet was also a bookbinder and bookseller, and some of his fine
bindings for Henry VIII. and his successors are still to be seen. He was
apparently the first English binder to use gold tooling.
Of his official work very little need be said. It consisted in printing
all Acts of Parliament, proclamations, injunctions, and other official
documents. In the second volume of the _Transcript_ (pp. 50-60),
Professor Arber has printed three of Berthelet's yearly accounts, in
which the titles of the various documents are given, with the number of
copies of each that were struck off, and the nature and cost of their
bindings.
In the year 1530 the divorce of Queen Katherine and the King's marriage
to Anne Boleyn filled the public mind, and in connection with this
event he printed, both in Latin and English, a small octavo, with the
title:
_The determinations of the moste famous and moofte excellent
Vniversities of Italy and France that it is so unlefull for a man to
marie his brother's wyfe that the Pope hath no power to despense
therewith._
Berthelet, in 1531, printed Sir Thomas Elyot's _Boke named the
Governour_, an octavo, in a large Gothic type, very bold and clear. This
type, however, is seen to much better advantage in the folio edition of
Gower's _Confessio Amantis_, which came from this press in 1532. In this
instance the title-page is striking, the title being enclosed within a
panel which gives it the appearance of a book cover. The text of the
work was printed in double columns of forty-eight lines each.
In 1533 Berthelet appears to have purchased a new fount of this type,
with which he printed Erasmus's _De Immensa Dei Misericordia_. If
possible this new letter was more beautiful than the other, the
lowercase 'h' finishing in a bold outward curve, which was absent in the
earlier fount. These founts of Gothic closely resemble some in use in
Italy at this time.
To the year 1534 belongs St. Cyprian's _Sermon_ on the mortality of man,
translated by Sir Thomas Elyot, as well as a second edition of _The Boke
named the Governour_.
Berthelet also brought into use during this year a woodcut border of an
architectural character, with the date 1534 cut upon it. It was used
only in octavo books, and he continued to use it for some years without
erasing the date, a fact that has led to much confusion in the
classification of his books.
We meet with the large Gothic type again in 1535, in an edition of the
_De Proprietatibus Rerum_ of Bartholomæus Anglicus, which Berthelet
printed in that year. But his most notable undertaking during the next
few years was the book for regulating and settling nice points of
religious belief, which had been compiled by the bishops, and was issued
under the King's authority, with the title:--
_The Institution of a Christian Man conteyninge the Exposition or
Interpretation of the commune Crede, of the Seven sacraments, of the X
commandments, and of the Pater Noster, and the Ave Maria, Justyfication
& Purgatory._
When the book was finished, Latimer, then Bishop of Worcester, suggested
to Cromwell that the printing should be given to Thomas Gibson. But
Latimer's recommendation was overlooked, and the work was given to
Berthelet. It would be interesting to know how many copies of the first
edition of this book he printed. It was issued both in quarto and octavo
form, the quarto printed in a very beautiful fount of English black
letter, modelled on the lines of De Worde's founts. The opening lines of
the title were, however, printed in Roman of four founts, and the whole
page was enclosed within a woodcut border of children.
The octavo editions of this notable book were printed in a smaller fount
of black letter, and the title-page was enclosed within the 1534 border.
Several editions were issued in 1537, and the book was afterwards
revised and reprinted under a new title.
At the same time Berthelet was passing through the press Sir Thomas
Elyot's _Dictionary_, a work of no small labour, if one may judge from
the number of founts used in printing it. It was finished and issued in
1538.
Berthelet, who, as befitted a royal printer, plainly took some pains to
keep himself clear of all controversies, did not stir in the matter of
Bible translation until the 1538 edition by Grafton and Whitchurch was
already in the market.
In 1539, however, he published, but did not print, Taverner's edition of
the Bible, and in the following year an edition of Cranmer's Bible. That
of 1539 came from the press of John Byddell, and that of 1540 was
printed for him by Robert Redman and Thomas Petit.
Among the Patent Rolls for the year 1543 (P. R. 36 Hen. 8. m. 12) is a
grant to Berthelet of certain crown lands in London and other parts of
the country, in payment of a debt of £220. His office as royal printer
ceased upon the accession of Edward VI., and though many books are found
with the imprint, 'in aedibus Thomas Berthelet,' down to the time of his
death in 1556, he probably took very little active part in business
affairs after that time.
Meanwhile Pynson's premises were taken by Robert Redman, who, from about
the year 1523, had been living just outside Temple Bar. No new facts
have come to light about Redman, and the reasons why he moved into
Pynson's house and continued to use his devices are as puzzling as ever.
He began as a printer of law books, and printed little else. In
conjunction with Petit he printed an edition of the Bible for Berthelet,
and among his other theological books was _A treatise concernynge the
division betwene the Spirytualtie and Temporaltie_, the date of which is
fixed by a note in the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII. (vol. vi., p.
215), from which it appears that, in 1553, Redman entered into a bond of
500 marks not to sell this book or any other licensed by the King.
Redman was also the printer of Leonard Coxe's _Arte and Crafte of
Rhethoryke_, one of the earliest treatises on this subject published in
English. It has recently been republished by Professor Carpenter of
Chicago, with copious notes.
Redman's work fell very much below that of his predecessor. Much of his
type had been in use in Pynson's office for some years, and was badly
worn. He had, however, a good fount of Roman, seen in the _De Judiciis
et Praecognitionibus_ of Edward Edguardus. The title of this book is
enclosed in a border, having at the top a dove, and at the bottom the
initials J. N.
Redman's will was proved on the 4th November 1540. His widow, Elizabeth,
married again, but several books were printed with her name in the
interval. His son-in-law, Henry Smith, lived in St. Clement's parish
without Temple Bar, and printed law books in the years 1545 and 1546.
Redman's successor at the George was William Middleton, who continued
the printing of law books, and brought out a folio edition of
Froissart's _Chronicles_, with Pynson's colophon and the date 1525,
which has led some to assume that this edition was printed by Pynson.
Upon Middleton's death in 1547, his widow married William Powell, who
thereupon succeeded to the business.
Among those for whom Wynkyn de Worde worked shortly before his death was
John Byddell, a stationer living at the sign of 'Our Lady of Pity,' next
Fleet Bridge, who for some reason spoke of himself under the name of
Salisbury. He used as his device a figure of Virtue, copied from one of
those in use by Jacques Sacon, printer at Lyons between 1498 and 1522
(see _Silvestre_, Nos. 548 and 912). The same design, only in a larger
form, was also in use in Italy at this time. In the collection of
title-pages in the British Museum (618, ll. 18, 19) is one enclosed
within a border found in books printed at Venice, on which the figure of
Virtue occurs. The only difference between it and the mark of Byddell
being that the two shields show the lion of St. Mark, and the whole
thing is much larger.
Byddell had probably been established as a stationer some years before
the appearance of Erasmus's _Enchiridion Militis Christiani_ from the
press of De Worde in 1533, with his name in the colophon. Another book
printed for him by De Worde, in the same year, was a quarto edition of
the _Life of Hyldebrand_. Both these works De Worde reprinted in 1534,
in addition to printing for him John Roberts' _A Mustre of scismatyke
Bysshoppes_. Byddell was appointed one of the executors to De Worde's
will, and very shortly after his death, _i.e._ in 1535, moved to De
Worde's premises, the 'Sun,' in Fleet Street.
Most of Byddell's books were of a theological character. He printed a
quarto _Horae ad usum Sarum_ in 1535, a small _Primer in English_ in
1536, and a folio edition of Taverner's Bible in 1539 for Thomas
Berthelet.
Among the miscellaneous books that came through his press, one or two
are especially interesting. In 1538 we find him printing in quarto
Lindsay's _Complaynte and Testament of a Popinjay_, a work that had
first appeared in Scotland eight years before, and created considerable
stir. A quarto edition of William Turner's _Libellus de Re Herbaria_
bears the same date; while among the books of the year 1540 are
editions, in octavo, of _Tully's Offices_ and _De Senectute_.
The latest date found in any book of Byddell's printing is 1544, after
which Edward Whitchurch is found at the 'Sun,' in Fleet Street, whither
he moved after dissolving partnership with Richard Grafton.
The early history of these two men has a powerful interest, not only for
students of early English printing, but for all English-speaking people.
To their enterprise and perseverance the nation was indebted for the
second English Bible.
Some very interesting and highly valuable evidence respecting the
history of these men has been brought to light of recent years, perhaps
the most valuable being Mr. J. A. Kingdon's _Incidents in the Lives of
Thomas Poyntz and Richard Grafton_, privately printed in 1895.
[Illustration: FIG. 16.--Richard Grafton's Device.]
From the affidavit of Emmanuel Demetrius [_i.e._ Van Meteren],
discovered in 1884 at the Dutch Church in Austin Friars,[3] it seems
clear that in 1535 Edward Whitchurch was working with Jacob van Metern
at Antwerp in printing Coverdale's translation of the Bible.
Richard Grafton was the son of Nicholas Grafton of Shrewsbury. The first
record we have of him is his apprenticeship to John Blage, a grocer of
London, in 1526. He was admitted a freeman of the Company in 1534, and
at that time seems to have employed himself chiefly in furthering the
project of an English translation of the whole Bible. On the 13th August
1537, Grafton sent to Archbishop Cranmer a copy of the Bible printed
abroad. The text was a modification of Coverdale's translation
ostensibly by Thomas Mathew, but in reality by John Rogers the editor.
In 1538, Coverdale, Grafton, and Whitchurch were together in Paris, busy
upon a third edition of the Bible. In June of that year they sent two
specimens of the text to Cromwell, with a letter stating that they
followed the Hebrew text with Chaldee or Greek interpretations. The
printing was done at the press of Francis Regnault, but before many
sheets had been struck off, the University of Paris seized the press and
2000 copies of the printed sheets, while the promoters had to make a
hasty escape to this country. The presses and types were afterwards
bought by Cromwell, and the work was subsequently finished and published
in 1539. The work had an engraved title-page, ascribed to Holbein, and
the price was fixed at ten shillings per copy unbound, and twelve
shillings bound.
Before leaving Paris, Grafton and Whitchurch had issued an edition of
Coverdale's translation of the New Testament, giving as their reason
that James Nicholson of Southwark had printed a very imperfect version
of it.
In 1540 Grafton and Whitchurch printed in 'the house late the graye
freers,' _The Prymer both in Englysshe and Latin_, to be sold at the
sign of the Bible in St. Paul's Churchyard. In the same year they
printed with a prologue by Cranmer, a second edition of the Great Bible,
half of which bore the name of Grafton and half of Whitchurch, and in
all probability the subsequent editions were published in the same way.
Two very good initial letters were used in the New Testament, and seem
to have been cut especially for Whitchurch. On the 28th January 1543-44
Grafton and Whitchurch received an exclusive patent for printing church
service books (Rymer, _Fœdera_, xiv. 766), and a few years later they
are found with an exclusive right for printing primers in Latin and
English. Upon the accession of Edward VI. Grafton became the royal
printer, but upon the king's death he printed the proclamation of Lady
Jane Grey, and was for that reason deprived of his office by Queen Mary.
The remainder of his life he spent in the compilation of English
_Chronicles_ in keen rivalry with John Stow.
Richard Grafton died in 1573. He was twice married. By his first wife,
Anne, daughter of ---- Crome of Salisbury, he had four sons and one
daughter, Joan, who married Richard Tottell, the law printer. By his
second wife, Alice, he left one son, Nicholas.
Grafton used as his device a tun with grafted fruit-tree growing through
it.
Among the noted booksellers and printers in St. Paul's Churchyard at
this time must be mentioned William Bonham. As yet it is not clear
whether he belonged to the Essex family of that name, or to another
branch that is found in Kent.
From a series of documents discovered at the Record Office relating to
John Rastell and his house called the Mermaid in Cheapside, it appears
that in the year 1520 William Bonham was working in London as a
bookseller, and on two different occasions was a sub-tenant of Rastell's
at the Mermaid. Yet not a single dated book with his name is found
before 1542, at which time he was living at the sign of the Red Lion in
St. Paul's Churchyard, and issued a folio edition of Fabyan's
_Chronicles_, besides having a share with his neighbour, Robert Toye, in
a folio edition of Chaucer. Even at this time William Bonham held some
sort of office in the Guild or Society of Stationers, for from a curious
letter written by Abbot Stevenage to Cromwell in 1539, about a certain
book printed in St. Albans Abbey, he says he has sent the printer to
London with Harry Pepwell, Toy, and 'Bonere' (_Letters and Papers_, H.
8, vol. xiv. p. 2, No. 315), so that it would look as if they were
commissioned to hunt down popish heretical and seditious books. By the
marriage of his daughter, Joan, to William Norton, the bookseller, who
in turn named his son Bonham Norton, the history of the descendants of
William Bonham can be followed up for quite a century later.
At the Long Shop in the Poultry we can see the press at work almost
without a break from the early years of the sixteenth century till the
close of the first quarter of the seventeenth. Upon the removal of
Richard Bankes into Fleet Street its next occupant seems to have been
one John Mychell, of whose work a solitary fragment, fortunately that
bearing the colophon, of an undated quarto edition of the _Life of St.
Margaret_, is now in the hands of Mr. F. Jenkinson of the University
Library, Cambridge. Whether this John Mychell is the same person as the
John Mychell found a few years later printing at Canterbury there is no
evidence to show. Nor do we know how long he occupied the Long Shop. In
1542 Richard Kele's name is found in a _Primer in Englysh_, which was
issued from this house. He may have been some relation to the Thomas
Kele who, in 1526, had occupied John Rastell's house, the Mermaid, as
stated by Bonham in his evidence. During 1543, in company with Byddell,
Grafton, Middleton, Mayler, Petit, and Lant, Richard Kele was imprisoned
in the Poultry Compter for printing unlawful books (_Acts of Privy
Council_, New Series, vol. i. pp. 107, 117, 125). Most of the books that
bear his name came from the presses of William Seres, Robert Wyer, and
William Copland. Perhaps the most interesting of his publications next
to the edition of Chaucer, which he shared with Toye and Bonham, are the
series of poems by John Skelton, called _Why Come ye not to Courte?_
_Colin Clout_, and _The Boke of Phyllip Sparowe_. They were issued in
octavo form, and were evidently very hastily turned out from the press,
type, woodcuts, and workmanship being of the worst description. At the
end of _Colin Clout_ is a woodcut of a figure at a desk, supposed to
represent the author, but it is doubtful whether it is anything more
than an old block with his name cut upon it.
Looking back over the work done at this time, it is impossible to avoid
the conclusion that the art of printing in England had much deteriorated
since the days of Pynson, while the best of it, even that of Berthelet,
could not be compared with that of the continental presses of the same
period. There was an entire absence of originality among the English
printers. Types, woodcuts, initial letters, ornaments, and devices, were
obtained by the printers from abroad, and had seen some service before
their arrival in this country. But just at this time a printer came to
the front in this country, who for a few years placed the art on a
higher footing than any of his predecessors.
[Footnote 3: The _Registers of the Dutch Church, Austin Friars_, edited
by W. J. C. Moens (Introduction, pp. xiii.-xiv.).]
[Illustration: FIG. 17.--John Day.]