A HISTORY OF THE
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1521-1921
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
C. F. CLAY, MANAGER
LONDON: FETTER LANE, E.C. 4
[Illustration]
NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO.
BOMBAY }
CALCUTTA } MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD.
MADRAS }
TORONTO: THE MACMILLAN CO. OF
CANADA, LTD.
TOKYO: MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
[Illustration: THE PITT PRESS BUILDING]
A HISTORY OF THE
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY
PRESS
1521-1921
BY
S. C. ROBERTS, M.A.
SOMETIME SCHOLAR OF
PEMBROKE COLLEGE
[Illustration]
CAMBRIDGE
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1921
PREFACE
As may be inferred from the title-page, this book has been written
to mark the four hundredth anniversary of Cambridge printing.
Of the original authorities used in its compilation the most
valuable has been the large collection of documents relating to the
Press which are preserved in the Registry of the University. Access
to this collection has enabled me to glean some fresh information
concerning the careers of the university printers and a series
of accounts and vouchers from 1697 to 1742 has brought to light
several new titles of books printed at Cambridge during that period.
The making of this book, however, would not have been feasible,
in the limited time at my disposal, had I not been free to use
the work of the pioneers, from Christopher Wordsworth and Henry
Bradshaw onwards, and the chief items of this work are recorded in
the short bibliography on page xiii.
In addition, my personal obligations are many: Mr Francis
Jenkinson, University Librarian, Mr Charles Sayle, Mr A. T.
Bartholomew, and many other members of the Library staff have
helped me ungrudgingly, both in putting their own special knowledge
at my command and in guiding me to the proper authorities; the
Registrary (Dr J. N. Keynes) and his staff have similarly given
me ready access to the documents in their charge; Mr J. B. Peace,
University Printer, provided me with the picture which serves as
frontispiece and with the revised plan of the Press buildings; Mr
G. J. Gray corrected several of my statements in proof and gave
me the benefit of his own latest researches into the career of
John Siberch before they were published; to many other friends
(including my colleagues in the several departments of the Press) I
am indebted for items of advice and help too many to be enumerated.
I have also to thank the Master of Trinity College for leave to
reproduce the portrait of Bentley; Messrs Bowes and Bowes for the
blocks used on pp. 6 and 14; and the Cambridge Antiquarian Society
for leave to make use of the papers on Cambridge printing published
in their _Proceedings_.
* * * * *
Those who are familiar with the _Catalogue of Cambridge Books_ and
the _Biographical Notes on Cambridge Printers_ will appreciate the
measure of my debt to the work of the late Robert Bowes. When, in
1913, I sent him a copy of a magazine article on the University
Press, he wrote:
I am by it carried back to my pleasant work of 25 to 30 years ago,
and I am very glad in my 78th year to see younger men interesting
themselves in the subject.
Time has robbed me of the pleasure of offering him a work which
owes much to his research.
* * * * *
Finally, it should be stated that the book attempts to trace the
general history of Cambridge printing and not to enter into the
finer points of bibliographical technique. Similarly, only the
briefest sketch is given of the growth of Cambridge publishing in
the last 50 years; to do more would be to cross the border-line
between history and advertisement. In Appendix II I have carried
on the work begun by Mr Jenkinson for another 100 years. The list
of books, though it may claim some new titles, makes no pretension
to finality; it is rather a starting-point for the professed
bibliographer.
S. C. R.
_1 August 1921._
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE v
BIBLIOGRAPHY xiii
I JOHN SIBERCH 1
II THE CHARTER--THOMAS THOMAS AND THE STATIONERS 15
III FROM JOHN LEGATE TO ROGER DANIEL 30
IV PRINTERS OF THE COMMONWEALTH AND RESTORATION 62
V RICHARD BENTLEY--THE FIRST PRESS SYNDICATE 74
VI EIGHTEENTH CENTURY PRINTERS 101
VII THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY 120
VIII THE LATEST AGE 142
APPENDIX
I UNIVERSITY PRINTERS, 1521-1921 152
II CAMBRIDGE BOOKS, 1521-1750 153
INDEX 188
ILLUSTRATIONS
THE PITT PRESS BUILDING FRONTISPIECE
(From a water-colour attributed to R. B. Harraden)
PAGE
PART OF HAMOND'S PLAN OF CAMBRIDGE, 1592 6
A PAGE FROM _HENRICI BULLOCI ORATIO_, THE
FIRST CAMBRIDGE BOOK 9
TITLE-PAGE OF THE SECOND CAMBRIDGE BOOK FACING 10
TITLE-PAGE OF FISHER'S SERMON FACING 13
TRADE-MARK OF JOHN SIBERCH 14
ORNAMENT USED BY THOMAS THOMAS 29
PETITION OF THE UNIVERSITY TO JAMES I, 1621 37
THE REPLY TO THE PETITION 39
PRINTING HOUSE OF THOMAS BUCK FACING 50
(Cole MSS. XLIII. 260)
TITLE-PAGE OF THE FIRST CAMBRIDGE EDITION
OF THE AUTHORISED VERSION FACING 54
TITLE-PAGE OF _THE TEMPLE_, 1633 57
A PAGE OF _LYCIDAS_ WITH CORRECTIONS IN MILTON'S HAND 59
ORNAMENT USED BY BUCK AND DANIEL 61
_IMPRIMATUR_ FOR A BIBLE, 1662 66
ALMANACK, 1675 71
RICHARD BENTLEY FACING 74
(From the portrait in the Master's Lodge, Trinity College)
TITLE-PAGE OF BENTLEY'S EDITION OF HORACE, 1711 83
KUSTER'S RECEIPT FOR A PORTION OF HIS FEE 90
A COMPOSITOR'S RECEIPT, 1705 93
TITLE-PAGE OF _CHRISTIAN MORALS_, 1716 94
TITLE-PAGE OF BENTLEY'S _BOYLE LECTURES_, 1735 FACING 99
JOHN BASKERVILLE FACING 106
(From an engraving, after the portrait by Miller, reproduced in
Straus and Dent's _John Baskerville_)
A PAGE OF BASKERVILLE'S PRAYER-BOOK, 1762 110
RIVINGTON'S ACCOUNT WITH THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1767 114
THE SENATE HOUSE, THE NEW LIBRARY, AND ST MARY'S CHURCH 119
(From _Cantabrigia Depicta_, 1763)
A PAGE FROM ISAAC MILNER'S NOTE-BOOK, 1800 121
PLAN OF THE PRESS BUILDINGS FACING 128
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cole MSS. British Museum.
Minute Books of the Syndics of the Press.
Registry MSS. relating to the Press.
University Press Accounts.
ALDIS, H. G. The Book-Trade, 1557-1625 (_Camb. Hist. of Eng. Lit._
IV). Cambridge, 1909.
ALLEN, P. S. Opus Epistolarum Des. Erasmi. 3 vols. Oxford, 1906-13.
ARBER, E. A Transcript of the Registers of the Company of Stationers
of London, 1554-1640. 5 vols. Privately printed, 1875-94.
BARTHOLOMEW, A. T., Catalogue of Cambridge Books bequeathed to the
University by J. W. Clark. Cambridge, 1912.
BARTHOLOMEW, A. T., and CLARK, J. W., Richard Bentley, D.D. A
Bibliography. Cambridge, 1908.
BOWES, R., Biographical notes on the University printers (_C.A.S.
Proc._ V. 283-363). Cambridge, 1886.
Catalogue of Cambridge Books. Cambridge, 1894.
Note on the Cambridge University Press, 1701-1707 (_C.A.S.
Proc._ VI. 362). Cambridge, 1891.
On a copy of Linacre's Galen de Temperamentis (_C.A.S. Proc._
IX. 1).
BOWES, R. and GRAY, G. J. John Siberch: bibliographical notes,
1886-1905. Cambridge, 1906.
BRADSHAW, H. Henrici Bulloci Oratio. With bibliographical
introduction. Cambridge, 1886.
Cambridge Historical Register to 1910. Ed. J. R. TANNER. Cambridge, 1917.
CARTER, E. History of the University of Cambridge. London, 1753.
COOPER, C. H. Annals of Cambridge. 5 vols. Cambridge, 1842-1908.
COOPER, C. H. Athenae Cantabrigienses. 3 vols. Cambridge, 1858-1913.
CRANAGE, D. H. S. and STOKES, H. P. The Augustinian Friary in Cambridge
and the History of its Site (_C.A.S. Proc._ XXII. 53). Cambridge,
1921.
DARLOW, T. H. and MOULE, H. F. Historical Catalogue of the printed
editions of Holy Scripture. 4 vols. London, 1903-11.
DUFF, E. G. The English Provincial Printers, Stationers and
Bookbinders to 1557. Cambridge, 1912.
DYER, G. Privileges of the University of Cambridge. London, 1824.
GED, W. Biographical Memoirs of. London, 1781, and Newcastle, 1819.
Grace Book _Α_. Ed. S. M. LEATHES. Cambridge, 1897.
_Β_ Parts I, II. Ed. MARY BATESON. Cambridge, 1903, 1905.
_Γ_ Ed. W. G. SEARLE. Cambridge, 1908.
_Δ_ Ed. J. VENN. Cambridge, 1910.
GRAY, G. J. Bibliography of the works of Sir I. Newton. Ed. 2.
Cambridge, 1907.
Index to the Cole MSS. Cambridge, 1912.
John Siberch. Cambridge, 1921.
The earlier Cambridge stationers and bookbinders, and the first
Cambridge printer. Oxford, 1904.
GRAY, G. J. and PALMER, W. M. Abstracts from the Wills of Printers,
Binders, and Stationers of Cambridge, 1504-1699. London, 1915.
HART, H. Charles, Earl Stanhope and the Oxford University Press
(Collectanea III). Oxford, 1896.
HERBERT, W. Typographical antiquities. Begun by Joseph Ames. 3
vols. London, 1785-90.
JENKINSON, F. J. H. On a letter from P. Kaetz to J. Siberch
(_C.A.S. Proc._ VII. 188). Cambridge, 1890.
On a unique fragment of a book printed at Cambridge early in the
sixteenth century (_C.A.S. Proc._ VII. 104). Cambridge, 1890.
LOFTIE, W. J. A Century of Bibles. London, 1872.
MONK, J. H. The Life of Richard Bentley, D.D. London, 1830.
MULLINGER, J. B. The University of Cambridge. 3 vols. Cambridge,
1873-1911.
NEWTH, S. On Bible Revision. London, 1881.
NICHOLS, J. Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century. 6 vols.
London, 1812.
POLLARD, A. W. Fine Books. London, 1912.
REED, T. B. A history of the old English letter foundries. London, 1887.
ROBERTS, W. The Earlier History of English Bookselling. London, 1889.
SAYLE, C. E. Early English printed books in the University
Library, Cambridge (1475-1640). 4 vols. Cambridge, 1900-7.
STOKES, H. P. Cambridge Stationers, Printers, Bookbinders, &c.
Cambridge, 1919.
The Esquire Bedells of the University of Cambridge
(_C.A.S. Publications_, 8º Series, XLV). Cambridge, 1911.
STRAUS, R. and DENT, R. K. John Baskerville. London, 1907.
WILLIS, R. and CLARK, J. W. Architectural History of the
University of Cambridge. 4 vols. Cambridge, 1886.
WORDSWORTH, C. The Correspondence of Richard Bentley. 2 vols.
London, 1842.
Scholae Academicae. Cambridge, 1877.
I
JOHN SIBERCH
Excursions into the realm of legend have long served as the
traditional method of approach of the academic historian to his
subject. True, the story of the foundation of the university of
Cambridge by "one Cantaber, a Spaniard, about 370 years before
Christ," or, as Fisher described him in 1506, "Cantaber, a king
of the East Saxons, who had been educated at Athens," is now
definitely rejected as unhistorical; but it was only in 1914 that
the name of Sigebert, King of the East Angles, was removed from the
list of royal benefactors[1].
University printing, like the university itself, has its Apocrypha.
Edmund Carter, writing in 1753, includes a short section on
_University Printers_:
Printing had not been long used in _England_ before it was brought
hither, but by whom it is difficult to ascertain, tho' it may be
supposed that _Caxton_, (who is said to be the first that brought
this curious art into _England_, and was a _Cambridgeshire_ Man,
born at _Caxton_ in that County, from which he takes his Name)
might Erect a Press at _Cambridge_, as well as at _Westminster_,
under the care of one of his Servants; (for it is Conjectured, he
brought several from _Germany_ with him). The first Book we find
an Account of, that was Printed here, is a Piece of _Rhetoric_,
by one _Gull. de Saona_, a Minorite; Printed at _Cambridge_
1478; given by Archbp. Parker to _Bennet_ College Library. It
is in Folio, the Pages not Numbered, and without ketch Word, or
Signatures.
Alas for Carter's pious suppositions! Caxton, according to his own
testimony, was born in Kent and Cambridge can claim only to be the
place of compilation of the _Rhetorica_; the phrase at the end of
the book, _Compilata in Universitate Cantabrigiae_, no doubt led
to the entry being made in the catalogue in the form _Rhetorica
nova, impressa Cantab, fo._ 1478, and the mistake persisted for two
centuries.
Nor is Oxford without a controversial prologue to the story of
its printing. In the first Oxford book the date appears in the
colophon as MCCCCLXVIII and for long it was sought to establish
the claim that Oxford printing preceded Caxton. But though it has
been contended that the ground for the claim "has not yet entirely
slipped away," it is now generally accepted by bibliographers that
the printer omitted an X from the date, which should in fact be
MCCCCLXXVIII.
"The oldest of all inter-university sports," said Maitland, "was a
lying match."
* * * * *
To return to Cambridge, we are on firmer, though not very spacious,
ground, when we come to the name of John Siberch, the first
Cambridge printer. "True it is," says Thomas Fuller, "it was a
great while before Cambridge could find out the right knack of
printing, and therefore they preferred to employ Londoners therein
... but one Sibert, University Printer, improved that mystery to
good perfection."
Of the life of Siberch, either at Cambridge or elsewhere, we know
little. He was the friend of several great humanists of the
period, including Erasmus; he was in Louvain, evidently, in 1518.
"I was surprised," writes Erasmus to John Caesarius on 5 April of
that year, "that John Siberch came here without your letter."
The earliest appearance of his name on a title-page is in 1520,
when Richard Croke's _Introductiones in rudimenta Graeca_ was
printed at Cologne "expensis providi viri domini Ioannis Laer de
Siborch."[2] His full name, then (of which there are many forms),
is John Lair and his place of origin Siegburg, a small town
south-west of Cologne.
A discovery made by Mr Gordon Duff in the Westminster Abbey Library
in 1889 makes it almost certain that Siberch was already in England
when Croke's book was printed; for in a copy of a book bound by
Siberch there was found, besides two printed fragments and a letter
from Petrus Kaetz[3], a portion of the manuscript of the _Rudimenta
Graeca_. It seems clear, therefore, that Siberch was in England
when proofs and 'copy' of the work were sent to him.
Richard Croke (afterwards the first Public Orator) was at this
time the enthusiastic leader of Greek studies in Cambridge. He had
earned fame as a teacher at Cologne, Louvain, Leipzig, and Dresden
and, in succession to his friend Erasmus, was appointed Reader in
Greek to the university in 1519. His text-book could not be printed
in England, because there was as yet no Greek fount owned by an
English printer; and it is quite probable, as Mr Duff suggests,
that John Siberch, himself settled in Cambridge, had undertaken to
have Croke's work printed by a friend, possibly by his old master,
in Cologne. Possibly, too, Croke may have previously met Siberch in
Germany and, with Erasmus, have been responsible for his coming to
Cambridge. This, of course, is conjectural, but of the friendship
between Erasmus and Siberch there is no doubt, since, in a letter
from Erasmus to Dr Robert Aldrich, written on Christmas Day 1525,
there is a message sent to "veteres sodales Phaunum, Omfridum,
Vachanum, Gerardum, et Joannem Siburgum, bibliopolas."
From this it would naturally be inferred that Siberch was still in
Cambridge in 1525, but his name does not appear in the Subsidy Roll
of 1523-24 and it is probable, therefore, that, unknown to Erasmus,
he left in the early part of 1523[4].
Siberch, then, probably lived in Cambridge from 1520 to 1523, a
period during which the labours of the first Cambridge humanists
were beginning to bear fruit. In 1497, the Lady Margaret, mother
of Henry VII, had appointed as her confessor John Fisher, Master
of Michaelhouse; and "to the wealth and liberality of the one,"
in Mullinger's words, "and the enlightened zeal and liberality of
the other the university is chiefly indebted for that new life and
prosperity which soon after began to be perceptible in its history."
To the Lady Margaret were due the foundation of St John's and
Christ's Colleges and the Professorship and Preachership which bear
her name; Fisher, afterwards Bishop of Rochester and President of
Queens' College, was the first holder of the Divinity chair and
it was at his invitation that Erasmus, who had taken a degree in
divinity in Cambridge in 1506, came to live, in 1509 or 1510, in
the turret-chamber of Queens'. Though it is, perhaps, as the first
teacher of Greek (himself for the most part self-taught and not,
as Gibbon says, the importer of Greek from Oxford) that Erasmus is
most famous, the result of his first lectures was disappointing:
So far I have lectured on the grammar of Chrysoloras, but to few
hearers; perhaps I shall have a larger audience when I begin
the grammar of Theodorus, perhaps I shall take up a theological
lectureship.
This last hope was fulfilled in 1511, when Erasmus was elected to
the Lady Margaret's professorship of divinity. His letters are full
of petulant complaints which may be taken as seriously as those
of Gray in later years. He sees no hope of lecture-fees since his
conscience will not let him rob 'naked men,' and only by touting
does it appear possible to get pupils. The college beer is bad
and the townsmen boorish. So he retires to his garret in Queens'
and applies himself to his work on the New Testament (_Novum
Instrumentum_) and his edition of St Jerome, both of which were to
play an important part in preparing the way for the Reformation in
England.
When weary of study, "for lacke of better exercise he would take
his horse and ryde about the Market Hill." But he has words of
praise for the Cambridge school of theology:
In the University of Cambridge instead of sophistical arguments,
their theologians debate in a sober, sensible manner and depart
wiser and better men.
[Illustration: PART OF HAMOND'S PLAN OF CAMBRIDGE, 1592]
It was to this Cambridge and, probably, to this patron in Cambridge
that John Siberch came. The single reference to his place of
residence and to his position in the university occurs in the
_Annals_ of Dr Caius:
The space (he writes) between the gate of humility and the gate
of Virtue was formerly occupied by a tenement called the King's
Arms. This was once the residence of John Sibert, alias Siberch,
the University Printer, who printed some books of John Lydgate and
others, and of Erasmus when he was residing at Cambridge.
The "tenement called the King's Arms" explains the use by Siberch
of the royal arms as a printer's device; but although _cum gratia
et privilegio_ appears on the title-page of several books printed
by him, there is no official confirmation of his having held the
office of university printer[5].
There are entries, however, in _Grace Books_ and in the _Audit
Book_ of the university which show that in 1520 or 1521 the
university advanced to him the sum of twenty pounds:
Obligatur doctor Manfeld loco et vice magistri Norres pro summa
pecunie quam recepit Johannes bibliopola ab universitate[6].
Probably, Mr Duff suggests, this sum of money--a larger amount than
a university stationer's fee--may have been advanced with a view to
helping Siberch in the establishment of a press.
The debt is entered in the proctors' accounts until the year
1524-25 and in _Grace Book B_ it is recorded under the date
1538-9 that John Law, an alien priest, with Drs Ridley, Bulloke,
Wakefield, and Maundefelde owed £20 sterling to the university,
for which they had given a bond with their signature and seals;
reference is made to this bond in the _Audit Book_ under the dates
1546, 1549, and 1553. From the description of Siberch as "presbiter
alienigena" Mr Duff infers that Siberch eventually forsook printing
for the Church.
Such are the fragmentary references that have survived concerning
the career of the first Cambridge printer.
* * * * *
Fortunately, however, eight complete specimens of his book-printing
have been preserved:
I The first Cambridge book (of which a page is shown in facsimile)
reflects the atmosphere of the time. It is the _Oratio_ delivered
by Henry Bullock, D.D., Fellow of Queens' College and afterwards
Vice-Chancellor, in honour of the visit of Cardinal Wolsey to the
university in the autumn of 1520. The 'frequentissimus cetus'
before whom the oration was given included the imperial ambassadors
and several bishops.
The cardinal was lodged at Queens' College and both town and
university delighted to honour him, as may be seen from the
following items from the proctors' accounts:
To the Vicechancellor for expences in going round the town with
the mayor, to cleanse the streets against the coming of the
Cardinal, 2_s_ 2_d_.
Gifts to the Cardinal: for wine £3 6_s_ 8_d_; for carrying the
same to Queens coll. 12_d_; for 2 oxen, £3 7_s_ 8_d_; for 6 swans,
28_s_ 8_d_; for 6 great pikes, 33_s_ 4_d_; for 6 shell fish, 4_s_
4_d_; for a river fish called a breme, 6_s_ 8_d_.
For repairing the streets on the Cardinal's coming, 13_d_.
To 2 scholars who carried an altar on the coming of the Cardinal,
4_d_.
[Illustration: A PAGE FROM _HENRICI BULLOCI ORATIO_, THE FIRST
CAMBRIDGE BOOK]
The style of the oration is even more lavish than the ceremonial
preparations. "Scarcely from the obsequious senates of Tiberius and
Domitian did the incense of flattery rise in denser volume or in
coarser fumes."[7]
Bradshaw pointed out that the type used for the printing of the
_Oratio_ appears to be quite new. Many of the lines are wavy and
irregular and there are no woodcut initials or ornaments of any
kind. The second imprint, at the end of the book, runs: _Impressa
est haec oratiūcula Cantabrigiae, per me Ioannem Siberch, post
natum saluatorem, Millesimo quingentesimo uicesimoprimo. Mense
Februario._ A second impression was printed a few months later and
issued with Siberch's third book.
Four libraries possess copies: the British Museum; the Bodleian
Library; Lambeth Palace; and Archbishop Marsh's Library, St
Patrick's, Dublin. Cambridge unfortunately has no copy.
II The second Cambridge book is the rarest of all those printed by
Siberch, only one copy (John Selden's, bequeathed to the Bodleian
Library in 1659) having been preserved.
It contains a letter addressed by a 'certain faithful Christian' to
'all Christians' and a sermon of Augustine _De miseria ac brevitate
vitae_, of which the full title may be read in the facsimile. In
addition to its uniqueness, the book has a further interest in
that the Greek motto on the title-page was printed from the first
genuine moveable Greek type used in England. Woodcuts depicting
scenes from the Last Judgment and probably copied from a German
_Book of Hours_ are also used on the title-page.
[Illustration: TITLE-PAGE OF THE SECOND CAMBRIDGE BOOK]
III The next book contains Lucian _περὶ δωδιψάδων_ translated by
Henry Bullock, together with a reissue of the _Oratio_. On the
title-page there appears for the first time the elaborate border
with the Arma Regia (the sign of the house in which Siberch lived)
at the foot. No other ornament is used, but Greek type appears on
the title-page, in the dedication, and at the end of the book.
Four copies are known: two in the British Museum, one in St John's
College, Cambridge, and one at Lambeth Palace.
IV The fourth book, Archbishop Baldwin's _Sermo de altaris
sacramento_ (1521), contains for the first time a woodcut initial
and the Arma Regia in another form. The book is dedicated to
Nicholas West, Bishop of Ely, and in the dedication Siberch claims
to be the first printer to use Greek type in England--"Ioannes
Siberch primus utriusque linguae in Anglia impressor."
Nine copies have survived: two in the Bodleian, two in the
University Library, Cambridge, one in Trinity College, Cambridge,
one in Magdalene College, Cambridge, one in All Souls' College,
Oxford, one in Lincoln and one in Peterborough Cathedral Library[8].
V The next book has many points of interest. In the first place,
it is by the printer's friend, Erasmus, and its title gives a
brief survey of the manner of its composition: _Libellus de
Conscribendis epistolis, Autore D. Erasmo, opus olim ab eodem
cœptum, sed prima manu, mox expoliri cœptum, sed intermissum, Nunc
primum prodit in lucem...._ MDXXI.
Secondly, it is the first book of any size undertaken by Siberch.
"Ignosces," he pleads, "candide lector iam primum experienti mihi."
Further, the phrase _Cum gratia et privilegio_ is now used on the
title-page for the first time; for this leave had probably been
obtained through Bishop Fisher, in a dedication to whom the printer
calls himself 'Cantabrigiensis typographus.'
Four copies are known: two in the British Museum, one in St John's
College, Cambridge, and one in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge;
the last has an additional interest in that it was bound by
Nicholas Speryng.
VI The sixth of the books printed by Siberch is the commonest. It
is a translation of Galen by Thomas Linacre: _Caleni Pergamensis de
Temperamentis, et de inaequali intemperie libri tres Thoma Linacro
Anglo interprete._
It is described on the title-page, which has the same border-device
as III, as "opus non medicis modo, sed et philosophis oppido q_uam_
necessariu_m_"; it is dedicated to Pope Leo X and printed "cum
gratia et privilegio."
[Illustration: TITLE-PAGE OF FISHER'S SERMON]
The existing copies of the book are in two states: a copy in the
first state was found by the late Mr Robert Bowes in the library
of Trinity College, Dublin, containing only the _De Temperamentis_
and having on the last leaf but one a woodcut of the Adoration
of the Shepherds. The copy in the Royal College of Physicians
consists of this first issue with the second essay added. The
remaining ten copies--University Library, Cambridge (2); Bodleian
Library (2); British Museum; Trinity College, Cambridge; All
Souls' College, Oxford; Hunterian Museum, Glasgow; the Duke of
Devonshire; Mr Bowes--are in the second state, containing both the
_De Temperamentis_ and the _De inaequali intemperie_, the last two
leaves of the former essay as they appear in the first state being
cancelled.
VII The full title of the seventh Cambridge book may be read in
the facsimile here shown. It is a Latin translation of the sermon
delivered in London by Fisher when Luther's books were publicly
burned.
Siberch has now discarded his ornamental title-border, but at
the end of the book there appears a new device, embodying his
trade-mark and initials. The book was printed late in 1521 and
probably issued early in the January of the next year.
Five copies are known: two in the Bodleian Library; one in the
University Library, Cambridge; one in Magdalene College, Cambridge;
and one in the John Rylands Library, Manchester.
VIII The last of the eight books printed by Siberch of which
complete copies survive is _Papyrii Gemini Eleatis Hermathena,
seu De Eloquentiae Victoria_, printed on the 8th December, 1522.
There are three different states of the title-page and six complete
copies are known: University Library, Cambridge; British Museum; St
John's College, Oxford; Archbishop Marsh's Library, St Patrick's,
Dublin; Duke of Devonshire; Lincoln Cathedral Library.
To these eight books must be added the _De octo partium orationis
constructione libellus_ of Lily and Erasmus, two leaves of which
were found in the book bound by Siberch which Mr Duff discovered
at Westminster. This _libellus_, originally written by William
Lily and revised, at Colet's suggestion, by Erasmus, was a popular
school book of the period.
It was in the binding of the same book that the letter from Petrus
Kaetz, a Dutch printer, was also found. This letter has many points
of interest. Kaetz sends Siberch "25 prognostications and 3 New
Testaments small," as well as a parcel to be delivered to Niclas
[Speryng] and we may fittingly conclude our notice of Siberch with
the tribute of a contemporary to his prospects as a printer:
Know, Jan Siborch (writes Petrus Kaetz) that I have received your
letter as [well as specimens] of your type, and it is very good;
if you can otherwise ... and conduct yourself well, then you will
get enough to print.
(Translation by Dr Hessels, Jenkinson, _C.A.S._ VIII, 186.)
[Illustration: TRADE-MARK OF JOHN SIBERCH]
II
THE CHARTER--THOMAS THOMAS AND THE STATIONERS
Though it may not be clear to what extent John Siberch was
officially recognised as printer to the university, it is evident
that no successor to him was immediately appointed. University
stationers and bookbinders, however, had been for some time
established in a privileged position. As early as 1276 we find a
reference to the "writers, illuminators, and stationers, who serve
the scholars only," and in a note on this phrase Fuller defines
the _stationarii_ as "publicly avouching the sale of staple-books
in standing shops (whence they have their names) as opposite to
such circumforanean pedlers (ancestors to our modern Mercuries and
hawkers) which secretly vend prohibited books."
In 1350 John Hardy, procurator of the Corpus Christi Gild, is
described as "stationarius of the University" and we learn
something of the stationers' duties from the prohibition by
Convocation in 1408 of the use in schools of "any book or tract
compiled by John Wiclif, or any one else in his time or since or to
be compiled thereafter" unless first examined by the universities
and afterwards approved by the Archbishop. After the book had been
finally sanctioned, it was to be delivered "in the name and by the
authority of the University to the stationers to be copied; and a
faithful collation being made, the original should be deposited in
the chest of either University, there to remain for ever."
In his edition of _Grace Book A_ (1454-88) Sir Stanley Leathes
summarises the position of the _Stationaries_ as follows:
They were not students, nor were they exactly servants or
tradesmen. They were the official agents of the University for the
sale of pledges, and official valuers of manuscripts and other
valuables offered as security. They seem to have received an
occasional fee from the Chest.... Like the servants and tradesmen
dependent on the University they were under the University
jurisdiction.
Many of the stationers were binders as well and the keeping of the
university chest was included in their duties; from the will of
Petrus Breynans (_c._ 1504) it also appears that they were provided
by the university with a distinctive gown[9].
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, we find the stationers
involved in one of the many disputes between university and town,
damaging alike to study and to business. In 1502 both parties
besought the "amicable interference" of the Lady Margaret, who
counselled arbitration; the result was an "indenture of covenant"
executed by university and town "pursuant to the award of Sir
Thomas Frowycke and the other arbitrators." One clause in the
indenture runs:
ITEM, yt ys covenanted, accorded, and agreed bitwene the said
Parties, accordinge to the said Award, that all Bedells of the
said Universitie, and all Mancipills, Cooks, Butlers, and Launders
of everye Colledge, Hostell, and of other places ordeyned for
Scolers, Students, and places of religion in the said Universitie,
and all appotycares, Stacioners, Lymners, Schryveners,
Parchment-makers, Boke-bynders, Phisitions, Surgeons, and Barbers
in the sayd Universitie ... shall be reputed and taken as Common
Ministers and Servants of the said Universitie, as longe as they
shall use eny such occupacion, and shall have and enjoye lyke
privilege as a Scolers Servant of the same Universitie shall have
and enjoye....[10]
In the list at the end of the award containing the names of
those privileged by the university, the last entry is "Garreit
Stacioner.", This "Garreit" is the stationer and binder generally
known as Garrett Godfrey. When he first began business in Cambridge
is not known, but more than fifty specimens of his binding,
dating from 1499 to 1535, have survived. We know also that he was
churchwarden of Great St Mary's in 1516 and again in 1521 and that
he died in 1539[11].
Erasmus refers to him in 1516 as his "old host, Garrett the
bookseller" (which suggests that he stayed in his house during his
first visit to Cambridge), and in 1525 sends a message, already
quoted, to Garrett and other booksellers.
Another stationer and bookbinder of the period is Nicholas
Spierinck (Speryng), whose name first appears in _Grace Book B_
under the date 1505-6. Little is known of him as a stationer. He
was a Dutchman by birth and, like Garrett Godfrey, was a friend of
Erasmus and a churchwarden of Great St Mary's. His will, of which
he appointed Thomas Wendy, the royal physician, as supervisor,
shows him to have been a man of property, since he bequeathed to
Nycholas Spyrynke, his "sonnes sonne," the "howse of the Crosse
Keyes"--a brewery in Magdalene Street[12]; of his work as a binder
nearly fifty examples remain.
The third of the Cambridge stationers of this period whom we must
consider is Segar Nicholson. He also came from Holland, and, as Mr
G. J. Gray remarks, affords an early example of a member of the
university engaging in business, being a pensioner of Gonville Hall
from 1520 to 1523. His career has more varied features than those
of his fellow-stationers.
In 1529 he was charged with holding Protestant views and further
with the unlawful possession of Luther's books and other heretical
works. Now Luther's books had been publicly burnt in Cambridge
eight years before and the ceremony had, as we have seen, been the
occasion of a notable sermon by Bishop Fisher. About this time,
however, there had grown up a small society of members of the
university who were sympathetic towards Lutheran doctrine. They met
in secret in the White Horse inn, which stood where are now the
back buildings of the Bull Hotel--a place chosen so that members
might enter unobserved by the back door and nicknamed 'Germany' by
the orthodox[13]. Among the heretics who frequented these meetings
was Segar Nicholson.
Foxe, in his _Acts and Monuments_, gives a sad account of the
treatment of Nicholson: "The handling of this man," he says, "was
too too cruel." After his release from prison, Nicholson remained
a stationer till the age of 60, when he was ordained deacon by the
Bishop of London.
In the meantime the university had taken steps to ensure the
suppression of heretical books. In 1529 a petition was presented to
Cardinal Wolsey, begging:
that for the suppression of error, there should be three
booksellers allowed in Cambridge by the King, who should be sworn
not to bring in or sell any book which had not first been approved
of by the censor of books in the University, that such booksellers
should be men of reputation and gravity, and foreigners, (so it
should be best for the prizing of books,) and that they might have
the privilege to buy books of foreign merchants[14].
It was, no doubt, as a result of this petition that five years
later Cambridge printing was formally established by royal charter
on 20 July, 1534, when Henry VIII by letters patent gave licence to
the Chancellor, masters, and scholars
to assign and elect from time to time, by writing under the
seal of the Chancellor of the University, three stationers and
printers, or sellers of books, residing within the University,
who might be either aliens or natives, and hold either their
own or hired houses. The stationers or printers thus assigned,
and every of them, were empowered to print all manner of books
approved of by the Chancellor or his vicegerent and three doctors,
and to sell and expose to sale in the University or elsewhere
within the realm, as well such books as other books printed
within or without the realm, and approved of by the Chancellor
or his vicegerent and three doctors. If aliens, these stationers
or printers were empowered to reside in the University, in
order to attend to their business, and were to be reputed and
treated as the King's faithful subjects and lieges, and to enjoy
the same liberties, customs, laws, and privileges; and to pay
and contribute to lot, scot, tax, tallage, and other customs
and impositions as the other subjects and lieges of the King.
Provided, that the said stationers or printers, being aliens, paid
all customs, subsidies, and other monies, for their goods and
merchandizes imported or exported, as other aliens[15].
This is the _Magna Carta_ of Cambridge printing and Fuller quotes
with quiet pride the opinion of Sir Edward Coke that "this
University of Cambridge hath power to print within the same 'omnes'
and 'omnimodos libros' which the University of Oxford hath not."
We should now expect to see a steady continuance of university
printing. But, in spite of the King's letters patent, the history
of Cambridge printing for nearly fifty years is a blank. It is true
that the university immediately availed itself of the privilege
conferred upon it, and the "three stationers and printers or
sellers of books residing within the university" who were appointed
were Nicholas Speryng, Garrett Godfrey, and Segar Nicholson,
whose careers have been sketched above. That two of these were
bookbinders and churchwardens, that one owned a brewery, and that
one took holy orders we have evidence, but of printing there is
no trace. The strangest appointment is that of Nicholson, since
the aim of the university in petitioning Wolsey for the control
of printing and bookselling was the suppression of those Lutheran
doctrines for which Nicholson had recently been imprisoned.
But it is clear that, for a time at any rate, the university, while
showing no desire to encourage the art of printing, was quick to
establish its control and censorship of books.
Some idea of a university bookseller's stock at this time may be
obtained from the will of Nicholas Pilgrim[16], appointed in 1539
as successor to Garrett Godfrey, from whom he inherited a "furryd
gown and iij presses with a cuttynge knife." Of the 717 books of
which an inventory is given in Pilgrim's will 216 were bound and
501 unbound, the whole stock being valued at £26 11_s_ 6_d_. Most
of the books are either editions of the classics or theological
works, but there are a few on medical and botanical subjects.
But like Richard Noke, appointed in 1540, and Peter Sheres (1545-6)
Pilgrim appears to have been university printer only in name.
At the beginning of Elizabeth's reign, when all unlicensed printing
was prohibited, the powers of the chancellors of the universities
to license books were duly recognised and in 1576, when John
Kingston was appointed as printer, the university seems definitely
to have contemplated the establishment of a printing-press:
On the 18th of July, Lord Burghley wrote from Theobalds to Dr Goad
Vicechancellor and the Heads, with reference to their intention
of bringing the exercise of printing into the University, for
which purpose they had engaged one Kingston of London, whom
they purposed to protect with the University privilege to print
Psalters, Books of Common Prayer, and other books in English,
for which the Queen had already granted special privileges to
William Seres, Richard Jugge, John Day, and others. His Lordship
disapproved of any attempts to prejudice the Queen's grants,
but thought they might employ an artificer for printing matters
pertaining to the schools &c.[17]
In the light of this pronouncement it is easy to understand why
John Kingston, who was well-known as a London stationer, printed no
books in Cambridge.
At last, in 1583, we come to the name of a university printer who
in fact printed books at Cambridge: Thomas Thomas, Fellow of King's
College, was appointed University printer by grace of 3 May, 1583,
and in the same year began to print a work by William Whitaker.
The Stationers' Company of London quickly seized his press and
declared that his attempt was an infringement of their rights.
In a letter to Burghley, dated 1 June, 1583, the Bishop of London
wrote:
There was alsoe found one presse and furniture which is saide to
belonge to one Thomas a man (as I heare) utterlie ignoraunte in
printinge, and pretendinge that he entendeth to be the printer for
the universitie of Cambridge.
The Vice-Chancellor and Heads, however, took up the cause of
their printer and in reply to a letter from Burghley suggesting a
conference with the Stationers, wrote as follows:
Our most humble duties to your honour remembred.
Whereas we understand by your honours letters, that certain of
the company of the stationers in London have sought to hinder the
erecting of a print within the university of Cambridg, and to
impugne that antient privilege, granted and confirmed by divers
princes for that purpose, to the great benefit of the university
and augmentation of learning: these are in most humble manner to
desire your honour, not so much in respect of Mr Thomas, who hath
already received great injury and dammage at their hands, as in
behalf of the university; which findeth itself very much aggrieved
with the wrongful detaining of those goods, wherewithal, as we
are persuaded, in right and equity they ought not to meddle, to
continue our honorable patron, and to direct your favourable
warrants to the warden of the stationers, that he may have his
press delivered with speed; lest that by their means, as he hath
been disappointed of Mr Whitakers book, so by their delays he be
prevented of other books made within the university, and now ready
for the press.
As for the doubts which they caused, rather in respect of their
private gain and commodity, and to bring the universities more
antient privileges in this behalf than theirs under their
jurisdiction at London, than for any other good consideration, the
deciding or peril whereof also pertaineth not to them; we dare
undertake, in the behalf of Mr Thomas whom we know to be a very
godly and honest man, that the press shall not be abused, either
in publishing things prohibited, or otherwise inconvenient for the
church and state of this realm. And this we promise the rather,
for that his grace (whereof we have sent a copy to your honour by
himself) was granted unto him upon condition that he should stand
bound from time to time to such articles as your honour and the
greatest part of the heads of colleges should ty him unto.
And for the conference, whereunto your honour moveth us, if it
shall be your honours pleasure, wee, as desirous of peace and
concord, (the premisses considered,) shall be ready to shew
our willingness thereunto, if it shall please the company of
stationers in London to send hither some certain men from them
with sufficient authority for that purpose. Thus most humbly
desiring that the press may no longer be stayed, and hoping
that your honour will further our desire herein, we do in our
daily prayer commend your lordship to the blessed tuition of the
Almighty.
From Cambridge, this 14th of June[18].
This letter has been quoted in full partly because it is the first
of a long series of protests, partly because it is a good example
of the attitude consistently adopted by the university in regard
to printing--a dutiful desire not to abuse their privilege coupled
with a dignified determination not to be bullied by the Stationers.
As a result of the appeal contained in the letter, the charter of
1534 was submitted to the Master of the Rolls, who concurred in
the opinion that it was valid; and on 24 July, 1584, Thomas entered
into a recognizance in 500 marks before the Vice-Chancellor.
Books now began to issue from Thomas's press and some of them
quickly excited the odium theologicum; when, for instance, a work
by Walter Travers in support of Presbyterianism was printed, the
greater part of the edition was confiscated.
Ever sens I hard that they had a Printer in Cambridg (wrote
Archbishop Whitgift to Lord Burghley), I did greatlie fear this
and such like inconveniences wold followe, nether do I thingk
that yt wyll so stay, for althowgh Mr Vicechancellor that now
ys, be a verie careful man and in all respectes greatlie to be
commended, yet yt may fawle owt hereafter, that some such as shal
succeade hym wyll not be so well affected, nor have such care for
the publike peace of the Church, and of the state, but whatsoever
your Lordship shall thingk good to be done in this matter ...
I wyll performe yt accordinglie. I thingk yt verie convenient
that the bokes should be burned, beeing verie factius and full
of untruthes: and that (yf printing do styll there continew)
sufficient bonds with suerties shold be taken of the printer not
to print anie bokes, unlesse they be first allowed by lawfull
authoritie, for yf restrante be made here and libertie graunted
there, what good can be done....[19]
From this time forward, indeed, Cambridge printing was for many
years continually harassed by two disturbing forces--theological
suspicion and by commercial jealousy. Thus, in 1585, when it was
discovered that London printers had printed various books already
printed by the universities, a grace was passed forbidding
Cambridge booksellers to sell, and Cambridge students to buy, "any
book printed at London or elsewhere in England, which had been
or thereafter should be printed at Cambridge or Oxford," always
provided that the university printers did not sell their books at a
higher price than that fixed by the Vice-Chancellor and the others
named in Thomas's articles.
In the next year the archbishop was again growing anxious; in June,
1586, it was laid down by a Star Chamber ordinance that no book
was to be printed without either his own or the Bishop of London's
approval, and a few months later Whitgift wrote to his very loving
friend the Vice-Chancellor:
Salutem in Christo. I understand that there is now in printing by
the printer of that university, a certain book, called Harmonia
Confessionum Fidei, in English, translated out of Latin; which
book, for some special causes, was here [i.e. in London] rejected,
and not allowed to be printed. These are therefore to require
you, that presently upon receipt hereof you cause the said book
to be stayed from printing any further; and that nothing be don
more therein, until you shall receive further direction from me.
And whereas there is order taken of late by the lords of the
council, that from henceforth no book shall be imprinted either in
London or in either of the universities, unless the same shall be
allowed and authorized by the bishop of London or my self, I do
likewise require you to take special care, that hereafter nothing
be imprinted in that university of Cambridge but what shall be
authorised accordingly. And so not doubting of your diligent
circumspection herein, I commit you to the tuition of Almighty
God[20].
As the _Harmony of Confessions_ was duly published in the same
year, it would appear that it eventually received the archbishop's
approval; Macaulay's view of Whitgift as a "narrow-minded, mean,
and tyrannical priest" would certainly have been confirmed had he
considered him in the light of his censorship of Cambridge books.
Thomas Thomas's greatest achievement, perhaps, was the compilation
and printing of his _Latin Dictionary_ and when the London
stationers began to publish editions of this and other Cambridge
books, the university made another long protest to the Chancellor,
pointing out that it was a "verie hard matter" either for the
university to maintain its privilege or for the printer to do any
good by his trade and begging of him "to become a meanes to her
highnes in this behalf ... to graunt a speciall lycence to this our
Universitie."