Cantabrigiensium Luctus & Gratulatio_, containing a Hebrew poem by
Cudworth; whilst two years later Field, with fine impartiality,
printed _Academiae Cantabrigiensis ΣΩΣΤΡΑ_, as well as two editions
of the speech delivered by Richard Love in honour of the return of
Charles II and a sermon by John Spencer on the same happy theme.
Several bibles were printed during this period, including a folio
"with Chorograph Sculps by T. Ogilby" (1660)[65]. Field, however,
did not (in the earlier years of his career, at any rate) maintain
the high reputation of Cambridge bibles established by Buck and
Daniel; for in 1656 William Kilburne presented a statement to the
Vice-Chancellor showing a long list of errata in bibles printed
by Field in 1653, 1655, and 1656. These errata were based upon an
examination only of a few sheets and in a note at the end of the
list it is stated:
If those severall Bibles were read over throughout, they would
be found egregiously erroneous, without all question; And of
the severall Impressions, there were about fower score Thousand
printed, And all, or the greatest part of them sold by Mr Field
and dispersed, to the great scandall of the Church[66].
Amongst the editions of classical authors printed during this
period may be noted Statius (1651), Poetae Minores Graeci (1652,
1661, 1667), Terence (1654), Cicero, _de Officiis_ etc. (1660),
Homer (1664), Sophocles (1665, 1669), Sallust (1665).
Editions of Euclid appeared in 1655 and 1665, the former by Isaac
Barrow, afterwards Lucasian Professor and Master of Trinity College.
A work which has a special interest in the history of the study
of botany in Cambridge is _Catalogus plantarum circa Cantabrigiam
nascentium_ (1660) to which ("in gratiam tyronum") various indexes
were added. The author was John Ray, of St Catharine's, afterwards
Fellow of Trinity College.
Controversial theology is, of course, prominent; _Ichabod: Or Five
Groans of the Church_ (1663) prudently foresees and passionately
bewails the Church's Second Fall and on the title-page is a
mournful female figure holding a church in her lap.
A work of lighter fancy is _University Queries, In a gentle Touch
by the By_ (1659). One of the queries propounded runs:
Whether if the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford should be
annihilated, and the revenues imployed to the publique affairs of
this Commonwealth, (Religion being now out of date, and learning
of no use, where men are so generally inspired,) it is not fitting
that Brasen Nose College in Oxford should be exempted from that
general devastation, as a memorial of the Respect they bore to
Oliver late Lord Protector.
This period was not free from disputes between the university and
the London Stationers. Field and his partner had in 1655 bought
from Christopher and Matthew Barker "ye Manuscript Coppie of the
Bible," and the right of printing it, for £1200. In August 1662
two letters were received by the Vice-Chancellor from Charles
II, ordering the university to "forbeare to print the Bible and
new Testament otherwise than according to the Orders of 1623 and
1629." The university appealed against this and Lord Clarendon
appointed a day for hearing both parties--the King's printers and
the university. Field undertook not to publish any prayer-books
until further orders; Clarendon proposed "an accommodation by way
of agreement," and John Pearson, Bishop of Chester, advised the
university to make a composition with its rivals. From another
correspondent, who signs himself W. D.[67], the Vice-Chancellor
received very different advice:
The University's priviledge is looked upon as a trust for the
publick good, and theire printing of these bookes will force the
Londoners to print something tolerably true ... who otherwise
looking meerly at gaine will not care how corruptly they print,
witness the 200 blasphemy's wͨͪ Mr B. found in theire bibles; &
the millions of faults in their schoolbookes, increasing in every
edition, so long as Mr B's composition with the stationers held
... whence it was that often errors were drunk in in grammer
schooles scarcely after to be corrected at the University, unlesse
schoolmͬˢ were so careful as to correct bookes by hand before they
lett theire boys have them. It being therefore the University's
interest to have youths well and truly grounded in school bookes &
the interest of the whole nation to have true bibles, I cannot but
think the University trustees in both respects, & feare they would
afterwards rew the betraying of so great a trust if they should
sell it by farming[68].
The university appears to have taken this advice and a New
Testament printed by Field appeared in 1666.
Field's name is found in the St Botolph's parish books from 1657 to
1668, and in 1660 he was churchwarden.
He died on 12 August, 1668, and no successor was immediately
appointed, a letter being received by the Vice-Chancellor from the
King requesting that the office should not be filled for a time.
At this point the names of Thomas and John Buck re-appear. In a
petition to the Vice-Chancellor they repeat accusations, made
against Field in 1665, both of false printing and of failure to pay
sums due to the two brothers[69]. Whether the claim against Field's
estate was substantiated does not appear, but it is evident that
Thomas and John Buck still held their printer's patents in 1668.
The first election made after Field's death was that of Matthew
Whinn, Registrary, in March, 1669; this seems, however, to have
been a purely formal appointment and Field's successor was in
fact John Hayes, who was elected in October of the same year, the
printing having previously been leased to him for £100 a year,
on the condition that there should be no further treaty with the
London Stationers.
The books printed during the earlier part of Hayes's tenure of
office are similar in general character to those of his predecessor
John Field. Dyer describes the Andronicus Rhodius of 1679 as an
_editio optima_ and among the other books of the period will be
found the usual congratulatory, or lachrymatory, symposia evoked by
the funeral of Henrietta Maria, the marriage of William and Mary,
the death of Charles II; several university and assize sermons;
editions of Homer, Sophocles, Euripides, Terence, Lucretius, Ovid,
Livy, Sallust; Crashaw's _Steps to the Temple_ and the second
edition of _Poemata et Epigrammata_ (1670); John Ray's _Collection
of Proverbs_ (1670 and 1678); editions of à Kempis, _De Christo
Imitando_ (1685), of Erasmus, _Enchiridion_ (1685), and of North's
Plutarch's _Lives_ (1676); as well as bibles, prayer-books, and
almanacks. The almanacks are an interesting feature of Cambridge
printing at this period. Every year, under a pseudonymous heading
(Dove, Swallow, Pond, Swan, etc.), a number of these attractive
little books were issued.
[Illustration: ALMANACK, 1675]
The title-page of _Swan_ (1675) is reproduced here and in _A Brief
Chronology_ included in the book the history of the world is
summarised from the Creation (4004 B.C.) and the Flood (2347 B.C.)
to the building of Cambridge (635 A.D.) and the peace with the
Dutch (1674 A.D.).
At this time the printing of Hebrew seems to have fallen into
disuse, as Isaac Abendana, writing from Cambridge in 1673,
complains:
Paravi nuperrime versionem ... sed his desunt characteres Hebr.[70]
Hayes probably remained as printer--in name, at any rate--until
his death in 1705, since there is in existence a bond of 1703, by
which John Hayes and John Collyer (a London stationer) promised
to pay the university £150 a year so long as Hayes continued as
printer[71].
A pleasant description of the printing-house in 1689 is preserved
in the diary of Samuel Sewall, an American judge who visited
Cambridge in that year:
By it [Katherine Hall] the Printing Room, which is about 60 foot
long and 20 foot broad. Six presses. Had my cousin Hull and my
name printed there. Paper windows, and a pleasant garden along one
side between Katherine Hall and that. Had there a print of the
Combinations[72].
During Hayes's lifetime several other appointments to the office
of printer were made: John Peck (1680), Hugh Martin (1682), James
Jackson (1683), Jonathan Pindar (1686), H. Jenkes (1693), another
Jonathan Pindar (1697)[73]. All these appointments seem, however,
to have been merely formal. They were, presumably, the last to be
made in accordance with the original provision of the charter of
1534, by which the university was empowered to elect three printers
simultaneously. Far more important was the arrival of Cornelius
Crownfield. As early as 1694 his name appears on the title-page
of Joshua Barnes's edition of Euripides of which Dyer says: "the
magnificence and typographical excellence ... form an epoch in
the History of Greek Printing at Cambridge. It reminds us of the
blooming infancy of this useful art, and the Harlem press"; and
Crownfield's appointment, in 1698 or earlier, as Inspector of the
Press, was part of an energetic movement to establish Cambridge
printing on a new basis.
V
RICHARD BENTLEY--THE FIRST PRESS SYNDICATE
In the movement for the revival of Cambridge typography at the
end of the seventeenth century the most prominent name is that of
Richard Bentley.
The renovation of the University Press (writes his biographer,
Monk), which had continued in decay since the Usurpation, was
projected by him, and mainly accomplished through his agency. New
buildings, new presses, and new types were all requisite; and the
University itself being destitute of funds, a subscription for
these purposes was procured principally by his exertions; and the
deficiency was made up by the Senate borrowing a thousand pounds.
The task of ordering types of every description was absolutely
committed to his discretion by a _grace_ in very complimentary
terms; and the power of attorney given him on this occasion is the
most unlimited I recollect ever to have seen[74].
The reference to the continuous decay of the Press during fifty
years savours of exaggeration. The typographical inaccuracies in
Field's bibles, it is true, became notorious; but it was Field who
built the new printing-house and from 1655 onwards there is no year
in which the continuity of book-production is broken.
[Illustration: RICHARD BENTLEY]
On the other hand, it is clear that the old system inaugurated
by the charter of 1534 had broken down. Under that system the
university simply licensed tradesmen (who might, or might not, be
members of the university) to print and sell books; and the proper
working of the Press was dependent on the capabilities of the
individual printer. He might be bullied by the London Stationers,
as were Thomas Thomas and John Legate (the elder), and involve the
university in a long series of petitions and counter-petitions; on
the other hand he might make commercially profitable arrangements
with the Stationers' Company, as did Thomas Buck, and disregard
the interests of the university; he might accept the office with
no intention of printing, but simply in the interests of a family
monopoly, as did Francis Buck; or he might neglect his duties
altogether, as did John Legate, the younger.
Consequently, the standard of typography, the expansion of the
Press buildings, and the purchase of new type were at the mercy of
the commercial fortunes of the holders of the patents.
It was with the object of bringing the Press directly under the
control of the university and, at the same time, of making it
worthier of Cambridge scholarship that the movement associated with
Bentley's name began.
The formal initiative came from the Chancellor himself. On 29 June,
1696, the Duke of Somerset wrote to the members of the Senate:
GENTLEMEN
As I have yͤ honour to be a servant to you all, soe am I ever
thinking of wͭ may be most for yͬ interest, and for yͤ support
of that reputation, and great character wͨͪ yͤ University have
soe worthily deserved in yͤ opinion of all good, and of all
learned men: & in my poore thoughtes, noe way more effectual,
than the recovering yͤ fame of yͬ own printing those great, and
excellent writinges, yͭ are soe frequently published from yͤ
Members of yͬ own body; wͨͪ tho' very learned, sometimes have been
much prejudiced by yͤ unskillful handes of uncorrect printers.
Therefore it is, yͭ I doe at this time presume to lay before
you all, a short, and imperfect Scheame (here enclosed) of some
thoughtes of mine, by way of a foundation, for you to finishe, and
to make more perfect; wͨͪ tho' never soe defective at present,
yett they have mett with aprobation among some publick spirited
men (much deserving the name of friends to us) who have freely
contributed eight hundred pounds towards yͤ Carying on this good,
and most beneficiall worke.
Now, Gentlemen, their is nothing wanting of my part, to endeavour
the procuring the like su[̄m]e againe from others, but yͬ
aprobation, and consent, to have a Presse once more erected at
Cambridge: and when that shall bee resolved on, then to give a
finishing hand (like great Masters as you are) to my unfinished
thoughtes, that I may be proude in having done some thing, yͭ you
think will bee for your service; wͨͪ I doe hope will bee a meanes
to procure mee a general pardonn from you all, for laying this
Matter before you, having noe other ambition, than to bee thought
your most obedient and most faithfull humble servant.
SOMERSET.
The duke himself lent the university the sum of £200 towards the
cost of the scheme[75] and the Senate quickly acted on his letter,
for on 10 July a grace was passed authorising Bentley to act on
behalf of the university and the power of attorney, referred to by
Monk, gave him
potestatem generalem et mandatum speciale omnimoda literarum et
characterum genera ab exteris gentibus comparandi et omnia ad idem
negotium spectantia et pertinentia pro arbitratu suo perquirendi
et sumptibus Academiae in nostrum usum coemendi.
"The commission," says Monk, "was executed with promptitude and
judgment: he procured to be cast in Holland those beautiful
types which appear in Talbot's Horace, Kuster's Suidas, Taylor's
Demosthenes, &c."[76]
The next step was a grace of the Senate for the appointment of the
first Press Syndicate:
Placeat vobis, ut Dⁿͧˢ Procancellarius, Singuli Collegiorum
Praefecti, Dⁿͥ Professores, Mͬ Laughton Coll. Trin. Academiae
Architypographus, Dͬ Perkins Regin. Mͬ Talbot and Mͬ Lightfoot
Trin. Mͬ Nurse Joh. Mͬ Beaumont Petr. Mͬ Moss CCC. Mͬ Banks Aul.
Pemb. Mͬ Leng Aul. Cath. Mͬ Pierce E[̄m]an. Mͬ Wollaston Sidn. Mͬ
Gael Regal. aut eorum quinque ad minus, quorum semper unus sit
Dⁿͧˢ Procancellarius, sint Curatores Praeli vestri Typographici
lect. & concess. 21 Jan. 169⅞.
Though Hayes retained his position as printer, the active part in
the renovation of the Press was taken by Crownfield in his capacity
as Inspector. Crownfield is described by Ames as "a Dutchman, who
had been a soldier, and a very ingenious man"; and the earliest
orders of the newly-appointed Curators seem to have been carried
out by him.
A new printing-house, facing Queens' Lane, was built to the north
of that established by John Field; and for some years it appears
that both may have been in use[77]. But in 1716 a grace was passed
allotting the new printing-house (as being _Academiae alioquin
infructuosum_) to the use of the Professors of Chemistry and
Anatomy for lectures and experiments, and the printing was carried
on at the older press at the corner of Queens' Lane and Silver
Street.
The Curators' activities may be illustrated by some extracts from
the first Order Book[78]:
Aug. 23rd 1698
1 Agreed then at a meeting of yͤ Curators of yͤ University-Press,
yͭ Mͬ Jacob Tonson have leave to print an edition of Virgil,
Horace, Terence, Catullus, Tibullus and Propertius in 4ᵗͦ with
yͤ double Pica Letter: he paying to such persons as shall be
appointed by yͤ said Curators 12ˢ p. Sheet for yͤ impression
of 500 copies: 14ˢ for 750; and so in proportion for a greater
Number: and yͭ Dͬ Mountague, Dͬ Covell, Mͬ Leng, Mͬ Laughton and
Mͬ Talbot shall sign yͤ Articles of yͤ agreement above mentioned,
on yͤ part of yͤ University.
2 Agreed at yͤ same time, yͭ Mͬ Edmund Jeffries have leave to
print an Edition of Tully's works in 12ᵐͦ with the Brevier Letter:
he paying 1ˡ. 10ˢ. yͤ sheet for 1000 Copies.
3 That Cornelius Crownfield have leave to send to Roterdam for
300ˡ weight of yͤ double Pica letter in order to yͤ Printing of
Virgil, Horace, &c in yͤ manner above mentioned.
The next extract shows the executive arrangements made by the
Curators; clearly the whole body (including the Heads of Houses and
Professors) was too large to handle the details of administration
and committees of delegates were appointed to take monthly tours of
duty.
Provision was also made for the reading of proofs by competent
scholars to be nominated by the editor and approved by the
delegates.
Octob. 17. 98.
Present Dͬ James Vicechancellour, Dͬ Covell,
Dͬ Blithe, Dͬ Roderick, Dͬ Smoult, Dͬ Perkins,
Mͬ Barnet, Mͬ Laughton, Mͬ Leng, Mͬ Beaumont,
Mͬ Pearse, Mͬ Wollaston, Mͬ Talbot, Mͬ Bennett.
1 Agreed yͭ all resolves made at any meeting of yͤ Curatours for
the press be entered in yͤ Register for yͤ Press.
2 That yͤ Major part of yͤ Curatours present at any meeting shall
determine who shall write yͤ resolves then made into yͤ said
Register.
3 That all graces granted by yͤ Senate relating to yͤ Press be
entered into yͤ said Register.
4 That there shall be a general meeting of yͤ Curatours upon yͤ
first Wednesday in every month.
5 That yͤ general monthly meeting shall determine, wͭ persons
shall be delegates for yͤ said Month.
6 That the sͩ delegates appointed by them shall meet weekly on
Wednesdays at 2 of yͤ clock in yͤ afternoon.
7 That every Editour shall appoint his own inferiour Correctour to
attend yͤ press.
8 That no Editour shall have power to appoint any inferiour
Correctour to attend yͤ Press, but such as shall be approved by
the delegates, & yͭ yͤ allowance for yͤ Correctours labour be set
by yͤ delegates.
The delegates for this month are Mͬ Vice-Chancellour Mͬ Peirse, Mͬ
Leng, Mͬ Talbot, Mͬ Bennett.
Wednesday Octob. 26. 1698
1 Ordered, yͭ Mͬ Cornelius Crownfield do go to London to procure
an Alphabet of Box flourish't Letters, and to retain Workmen for
the Press, and to take care for yͤ Carriage of Mͬ Tonson's Paper:
and to hasten yͤ return of yͤ double Pica Letter from Holland.
2 Upon yͤ proposall of Mͬ Talbot of Dˢ Penny[79] to be his
correctour for yͤ edition of Horace with yͤ approbation of yͤ
delegates; agreed, yͭ the said Dˢ Penny be spoken to to undertake
yͤ said office of Correctour.
January yͤ 4ᵗʰ 1698/9.
At a meeting of Eight of yͤ Curators--
Ordered that Mͬ Talbot have full power to treat about & procure a
Rolling press fit for yͤ service of yͤ Printing house the charges
thereof to be defrayed out of such money as he shall receive upon
subscriptions to yͤ press at London.
Agreed also that 4 pence [p_] week for copy money be allowed to yͤ
workmen at yͤ Press and half a crown [p_] Quarter for cleaning yͤ
Press[80].
The three following entries show that in their first few years of
office, at any rate, the Curators approached their duties in a
business-like way:
March 4 1698
1 Orderd, that a particular account of each Body of Letter, & of
all Tooles & Moveables belonging to yͤ New Printing House be taken
in writing in yͤ presence of the Delegates for yͤ weekly meetings
of this Month, and yͭ it be entered into yͤ Journal Book by yͤ
person appointed to keep that Book: and yͭ yͤ said account be
sign'd by yͤ Delegates, & Mr Crownfield yͤ Printer....
3 Order'd, That all Combinations, Verses, and other exercises upon
Public Occasions be printed only at yͤ University's New Printing
House.
May 3ͬͩ 1699
Ordered--that 400 lbs weight of Paragon Greek Letter be sent for
to the Widow Voskins in Holland.
* * * * *
At a general meeting of the Curators June 7ᵗʰ 1699
Order'd that Dͬ Green & Dͬ Oxenden or either of them do examine Dͬ
Bentley's account in relation to our Press, and upon his delivery
of the Vouchers relating to it, and all other things in his hands
belonging to the University Press; give him a full discharg; and
likewise take a discharg of him for the Summ of four hundred and
thirty three pounds received by him of the University.
1 At a General Meeting of the Curatͬˢ Septebͬ yͤ 6ᵗʰ 1699 'twas
then agreed yͭ Mr Crownfield be order'd to buy twelve Gallons of
Linseed Oyle and a rowl of Parchment.
2 Order'd yͭ yͤ Sashes be renew'd.
3 Order'd yͭ twenty shillings per annū be allowed to Printers for
their weigh-goes.
This last entry refers to the printers' annual holiday of which
Randall Holme, writing in 1688, says
It is customary for all journeymen to make every year, new paper
windows about _Bartholomew-tide_, at which time the master printer
makes them a feast called a _waygoose_ to which is invited the
corrector, founder, smith, ink-maker, etc., who all open their
purses and give to the workmen to spend in the tavern or ale-house
after the feast. From which time they begin to work by candle
light[81].
By 1701 Bentley's activities had begun to bear fruit.
Already (says Monk) some handsome editions of Latin Classics had
been printed.... Terence had been edited by Leng, of Catharine
Hall, afterwards Bishop of Norwich; Horace by Talbot, the Hebrew
Professor; Catullus, Tibullus, and Propertius by the Hon. Arthur
Annesley, Representative for the University; and Virgil by J.
Laughton of Trinity.
Nor was it only in Holland that search was made for beautiful
types. In 1700 Matthew Prior was sent, on behalf of the university,
to procure Greek type (the famous _Grecs du Roi_) from the Paris
press. The negotiations, however, fell through owing to the
demand of the French that on the title-page of any book for which
their type was used there should be added after the words _typis
Academicis_, a full acknowledgment in the form _Caracteribus Græcis
e typographeo regio Parisiensi_. Correspondence passed between
Prior, the Earl of Manchester, the Chancellor, and the Abbé Bynon,
but the university refused to comply with this condition[82].
Of the books printed about this time we may note first the works
edited by Bentley himself.
The title-page of the famous edition of Horace (1711) is reproduced
here and a full account both of its compilation and of its
reception may be read in Monk's _Life_:
This publication had been long and anxiously expected; and its
appearance excited much sensation and surprise. There were found
between seven and eight hundred alterations of the common readings
of Horace; all of which, contrary to the general practice of
classical editors, were introduced into the text.... This book
was, it must be confessed, unlike any edition of a Latin author
ever before given to the world.
[Illustration: TITLE-PAGE OF BENTLEY'S EDITION OF HORACE, 1711]
Especially characteristic of the atmosphere in which Bentley
lived and worked is "the important affair of the dedication."
Having discovered that the Earl of Oxford was "anxious that the
world should know, that his ancestors were related to the Veres
and Mortimers of former centuries, and that his family estate in
Herefordshire had been in possession of the Harleys since the reign
of Edward the First," Bentley took particular pains that these
glories should be "fully and accurately displayed." "Good taste"
comments Monk "had not yet abolished the fashion, which demanded
from every dedicator, whether classical or vernacular, the most
unsparing praise that language could supply."