CAXTON--WYNKYN DE WORDE--JULIAN NOTARY.
The history of the Introduction of Printing into England is
comparatively clear and straightforward; for we have neither the
difficulties of conflicting accounts, as in the case of Germany and the
Low Countries, nor troublesome manuscript references which cannot be
adequately explained, as in the case of France. Previous to 1477, when
Caxton introduced the art in a perfect state, nothing had been produced
in England but a few single sheet prints, such as the Images of Pity,
of which there are copies in the British Museum and the Bodleian, and
the cut of the Lion, the device of Bishop Gray (1454-1479), in Ely
Cathedral.
There was no block-printing (for the verses on the seven virtues
in the British Museum, and formerly in the Weigel Collection, are
comparatively late), and with the one exception of the false date of
1468 in the first Oxford book, which we shall treat of later, there
is nothing to confuse us in forming an absolutely clear idea of the
introduction of the art into England, and its subsequent growth.
William Caxton, our first printer, was born, as he himself tells us,
‘in the Weald of Kent,’ but unfortunately he has given us no clue to
the date; probably it was about 1420; and in 1438 he was apprenticed
to Robert Large, a mercer of the city of London, who was Lord Mayor
in 1439-40. His business necessitated his residence abroad, and he
doubtless left England shortly after his apprenticeship, for in 1469
he tells us that he had been ‘thirty years for the most part in
the countries of Brabant, Flanders, Holland, and Zetland.’ In 1453
he visited England, and was admitted to the Livery of the Mercers’
Company. About 1468 he was acting as governor to the ‘English Nation
residing abroad,’ or ‘Merchant Adventurers’ at Bruges. After some six
or seven years in this position, he entered the service of Margaret,
Duchess of Burgundy, sister of Edward IV. The greater leisure which
this appointment afforded him was employed in literary pursuits. In
March 1469 he commenced a translation of the _Recueil des Histoires de
Troyes_, by Raoul le Fèvre, but it was not finished till 19th September
1471, when Caxton was staying at Cologne.
This visit to Cologne marks an interesting period in Caxton’s career,
for it is most probable that it was there he learnt to print. Wynkyn
de Worde tells us that the first book printed by Caxton was the
_Bartholomæus de proprietatibus rerum_, and that it was printed at
Cologne. It has been the general custom of writers to condemn this
story as impossible, perhaps without sufficiently examining the facts.
W. de Worde says in his preface to the English edition—
‘And also of your charyte call to remembraunce
The soule of William Caxton the first prynter of this boke
In laten tongue at Coleyn, hymself to avaunce
That every well disposed man may thereon loke.’
[Illustration: PAGE FROM SARUM BREVIARY.
(_Printed at Cologne._)]
Now, there is a Latin edition, evidently printed at Cologne about
the time that Caxton was there, in a type almost identical with that
of N. Gotz or the printer of the _Augustinus de fide_; and it was in
conjunction with a very similar type, in 1476, that the ‘gros bâtarde’
type, which is so intimately connected with Caxton, first appeared.
Though Caxton worked in partnership with Colard Mansion about 1475-77,
he had probably learnt something of the art before; and, taking into
consideration his journey to Cologne, the statement of Wynkyn de Worde,
and the typographical connexion between the _Bartholomæus_ and Caxton’s
books, we may safely say that the story cannot be put aside as without
foundation. It is not, of course, suggested that Caxton printed the
book by himself, but only that he assisted in its production. He was
learning the art of printing in the office where this book was being
prepared, and his practical knowledge was acquired by assisting to
print it.
Another Cologne book which may have been printed for Caxton, or
produced through his means, is the first edition of the Breviary
according to the use of Sarum. Unfortunately we only know of its
existence through a few leaves in the libraries at Oxford, Cambridge,
Lincoln, and Paris, and have therefore no means of knowing by whom it
was printed, or whether it had any colophon at all. It is a quarto,
printed in two columns, and with thirty-one lines to the column. Such
a book would hardly have been printed without the help of an English
stationer,—and who more likely than Caxton?
In 1477 an eventful change took place in Caxton’s career. ‘On June
21, 1476, was fought the bloody battle of Morat between the Duke of
Burgundy and the Swiss, which resulted in the ruin of the Burgundian
power. In the following January, the Duke, while engaged in a murderous
battle at Nanci, was overpowered and fell, covered with wounds,
stubbornly fighting to the last. Caxton’s mistress was now no longer
the ruling power at the court of Bruges. The young daughter of the
late Duke succeeded as the reigning sovereign, and the Dowager Duchess
of Burgundy resigned her position at court, retiring into comparative
privacy on a handsome jointure. Caxton’s services as secretary would
now be no longer required by the Duchess in her altered position.’[31]
[31] _Who was Caxton?_ By R. Hill Blades. London, 1877.
Early, therefore, in 1477, Caxton returned to England, and set up his
press in the Almonry at Westminster. On 18th November of the same year
he finished printing the _Dictes or Sayengis of the Philosophers_,
the first book printed in England. Copies of this book vary, some
being without the imprint. This was followed by an edition of the
_Sarum Ordinale_, known now only from fragments, and the curious
little ‘cedula’ relating to it, advertising the ‘pyes of two or three
commemorations.’
The productiveness of Caxton’s press in its earliest years was most
remarkable, for we know of at least thirty books printed within the
first three years. A good many of these, however, were very small, the
little tracts of Chaucer and Lydgate containing but a few leaves each.
These were the ‘small storyes and pamfletes’ with which, according to
Robert Copland, Caxton began his career as printer. On the other hand,
we have the _History of Jason_ (150 leaves), _The Canterbury Tales_
(374 leaves), Chaucer’s _Boethius_ (94 leaves), the _Rhetorica Nova_
of Laur: Gulielmus de Saona (124 leaves), the _Cordyal_ (78 leaves),
the second edition of the _Dictes or Sayengis_ (76 leaves), and the
_Chronicles of England_ (182 leaves).
The starting of Lettou’s press in London, in 1480, may probably account
for some of the changes introduced by Caxton in that year. His first
indulgence, printed this year in the large type, was at once thrown
into the shade by the editions of the same indulgence issued by Lettou
in his small neat letter, which was much better adapted for such work.
Lettou also in this year used signatures, Caxton doing the same. The
competition caused Caxton to make his fount of small type, and to
introduce many other improvements. It was about this time that he
introduced woodcuts into his books; and the first book in which we
find then is the _Mirrour of the World_. The cuts in this volume may be
divided into two sets, those given for the first time by Caxton, and
those copied from his predecessors. The first are ordinary woodcuts,
the second what we should call diagrams. The woodcuts are of the
poorest design and coarsest execution. Several are of a master with
four or five pupils, others of single figures engaged in scientific
pursuits. The diagrams are more or less carefully copied from the
MSS.: they are numbered in the table of contents as being eight in
part I., nine in part II., and ten [X. being misprinted for IX.] in
part III. Of the eight belonging to part I., Nos. 2 and 3 are put to
their wrong chapters, and consequently No. 4 is omitted altogether. The
diagrams to part II. are wrongly drawn, and in some cases misplaced.
The nine diagrams to part III. are the most correct. Some writers have
contended that the cuts in Caxton’s books are from metal and not from
wood-blocks; but some of them which are found in use at a considerably
later date show marks of worm holes; a conclusive proof of the material
being wood.
To the year 1480 we can ascribe seven books, almost all in the new
type, No. 4. These are the French and English phrase-book, Lidgate’s
_Curia Sapientiæ_, the _Chronicles of England_, and the _Description
of Britain_; and three liturgical books, the _De Visitatione B.M.V._,
the _Psalterium_, and a _Horæ ad usum Sarum_, the two latter printed in
type 3. Of the _Horæ_, but a few leaves are known, which formed part
of the wonderful find of fragments in the binding of a copy of the
_Boethius_ at St. Albans Grammar School. This volume was found by Mr.
Blades in 1858, and from the covers were taken no less than fifty-six
half sheets of printed paper, proving the existence of three works from
Caxton’s press quite unknown before, the _Horæ_ above mentioned, the
_Ordinale_, and an indulgence of Pope Sixtus IV.
About 1481 appeared the first English edition of _Reynard the Fox_; and
in that year two other books, both dated, _Tully of Old Age_, and the
_Siege of Jerusalem_.
These were followed by the _Polycronicon_, the _Chronicles of England_
(edit. 2), _Burgh’s Cato_, and the second edition of the _Game of the
Chesse_, which is illustrated with woodcuts, the first edition having
none. There are altogether sixteen different woodcuts used in the
volume, and eight occur twice.
Between 1483 and the end of 1485, Caxton was at his very busiest,
issuing in that time about twenty-two books; and amongst them are some
of the most important. There are the _Pilgrimage of the Soul_, the
_Festial_ and _Quattuor Sermones_, the _Sex Epistolæ_, of which the
unique copy is now in the British Museum; the _Lyfe of Our Lady_, the
second edition of the _Canterbury Tales_ (the first with woodcuts),
Chaucer’s _Troilus and Cresida_ and _Hous of Fame_, the _Confessio
Amantis_, the _Knight of the Tower_, and _Æsop’s Fables_. This book,
which appeared 26th March 1484, has a full page frontispiece and no
less than 185 woodcuts, the work of two, if not three, different
cutters. They are of the very poorest execution, and not original in
design, being more or less carefully copied from a foreign edition.
The whole of the earlier part of 1485 must have been expended upon the
production of the _Golden Legend_, the largest book which issued from
Caxton’s press. It contains 449 leaves, and is printed on a much larger
sheet than was generally used by Caxton for folios, the full sheet
measuring as much as 24 inches by 16 inches. It has, as illustrations,
a large cut for the frontispiece, representing heaven, and two
series of eighteen large and fifty-two small cuts, the large series
including one of the device of the Earl of Arundel, to whom the book is
dedicated. Most copies of the _Golden Legend_ now in existence are made
up partly of this and partly of the second edition. As far as can be
judged, the distinguishing mark is the type of the headlines, which in
the first edition are in type 3, and in the second edition in type 5.
No copy is known made up entirely of one edition.
For the latter part of 1485 we have three dated books, the _Morte
d’Arthur_ (31st July), the only perfect copy of which is now,
unfortunately, in America; the _Life of Charles the Great_ (1st
December), the only existing copy of which is in the British Museum;
and _The Knight Paris and the Fair Vienne_ (19th December), of which
again the only known copy is in the British Museum.
In 1487, Caxton tried a new venture, and had printed for him at Paris,
by George Maynyal, an edition of the _Sarum Missal_. Only one copy is
known, slightly imperfect, which is in private hands. In this book, for
the first time, Caxton used his well-known device, probably for the
purpose of emphasising what might easily have been overlooked,—that the
book was printed at his expense. So much has been written on Caxton’s
device, and such extraordinary theories made about its hidden meanings,
that it may be as well to point out that it consists simply of his
mark standing between his initials, with a certain amount of unmeaning
ornament. It was probably cut in England, being coarsely executed,
while those used in France at the same time are well cut and artistic.
About 1487-88 we find two more books ornamented with woodcuts, the
_Royal Book_ and the _Speculum Vite Christi_. The _Speculum_ contains a
number of well-executed cuts, the _Royal Book_ only seven, six of which
had appeared in the _Speculum_.
About 1488 a second edition of the _Golden Legend_ was issued, almost
exactly the same as the first, but with the life of St. Erasmus added,
so that this edition does not end, like the first, with a blank leaf.
At the time of Caxton’s death, he seems to have had a large stock
of this book still on his hands, for he left fifteen copies to the
Church of St. Margaret, and a large number of copies to his daughter
Elizabeth, the wife of Gerard Croppe, a tailor in Westminster. It is
hard to understand how, with this large stock still for sale, Wynkyn de
Worde could afford to print a new edition in 1493 and another in 1498;
for even at the latter date copies of Caxton’s edition were, as we
happen to know, still to be obtained.
To about this time may be ascribed the curious _Image of Pity_ in the
University Library, Cambridge. It is not printed on a separate piece
of paper, but is a sort of proof struck off on the blank last page of
a book with which the indulgence has nothing to do. The book is a copy
of the _Colloquium peccatoris et Crucifixi J. C._, printed at Antwerp
by Mathias van der Goes about 1487, which must have been accidentally
lying near when the printer wanted something to take an impression
upon.[32]
[32] For a detailed account of this and other English _Images of Pity_,
see a paper by Henry Bradshaw, reprinted as No. 9 in his _Collected
Papers_, p. 135.
In 1489, Caxton printed two editions of an indulgence of great
typographical interest. This indulgence was first noticed by Dr.
Cotton, who mentions it in his _Typographical Gazetteer_ under Oxford,
supposing it to have been printed at that place. Bradshaw, on seeing a
photograph of it, at once conjectured from the form and appearance of
the type that it was printed by Caxton, though Blades refused to accept
it as a product of his press without further proof, and it was never
admitted into any of his books on Caxton. The same type was afterwards
found by Bradshaw used for sidenotes in the 1494 edition of the
_Speculum Vite Christi_, printed by W. de Worde, and the type being in
his possession at that date, could have belonged in 1489 to no one but
Caxton.
In a list of Caxton’s types this type would be known as type 7.
In addition to these two indulgences, a number of books may be assigned
to this year. The _Fayttes of Arms_ is dated; but besides this there
are the _Statutes of Henry VII._, the _Governayle of Health_, the _Four
Sons of Aymon_, _Blanchardyn and Eglantyne_, _Directorium Sacerdotum_,
second edition, the third edition of the _Dictes or Sayengis_, the
_Doctrinal of Sapience_, and an _Image of Pity_ printed on one leaf.
The second edition of _Reynard the Fox_, known only from the copy
preserved in the Pepysian Library, may also be assigned to this year.
With the exception of the _Eneydos_, the remainder of Caxton’s books
are of a religious or liturgical character. Amongst them we must
class an edition probably of the _Horæ ad usum Sarum_ not mentioned
by Blades; for though no copy or even fragment is now known, it is
certain that such a book was printed. A set-off from a page of it was
discovered by Bradshaw on a waste sheet of the _Fifteen Oes_. All that
could be certainly distinguished was that it was printed in type 5,
that there were twenty-two lines to a page, and that each page was
surrounded by a border.
The _Fifteen Oes_ itself is a most interesting book. It was printed
originally, no doubt, as an extra part for an edition of the _Horæ ad
usum Sarum_ now entirely lost. It contains a beautifully executed
woodcut of the crucifixion,—one of a series of five which occur
complete in a _Horæ_ printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1494, and it is
also the only existing book from this press which has borders to the
pages. Caxton printed altogether about one hundred books, using in
them altogether eight types. Blades gives ninety-nine books printed
by Caxton, two of which were certainly printed by his associate in
Bruges after Caxton had left for England. On the other hand, he does
not mention the newly-discovered Grammar, the two editions of the
Indulgence of 1489, a second edition of the _Lyf of our Lady_, known
from a fragment in the Bodleian, and one or two other indulgences.
One or two books which Blades includes were printed undoubtedly by De
Worde, such as the _Book of Courtesye_ (which, indeed, contains his
small device), _The Chastysing of God’s Children_, and the _Treatise of
Love_. The genuine Caxtons catalogued by Blades number ninety-four.
As regards types, Blades gives six of Caxton’s, and a seventh which he
conjectures only to have been used by Wynkyn de Worde, though in this
he was mistaken, for it occurs in books printed while Caxton was alive.
Again, the type of the 1489 Indulgence which he does not mention, was
conclusively proved by Bradshaw to be one of Caxton’s types. This type
should be considered as type 7, and the former type, which does not
appear until 1490-91, as type 8. The woodcut initials which occur in
the _Chastysing of God’s Children_ were not used till after Caxton’s
death.
But while we venerate Caxton as our first printer, we must not overlook
the claims which he has upon us as a translator and editor. Wonderful
as his diligence in press-work may appear, it is still more wonderful
to consider how much literary work he found time to do in the intervals
of his business. He was the editor of all the books which he printed,
and he himself translated no less than twenty-two, including that great
undertaking the _Golden Legend_. Even on his deathbed he was still at
work, as we learn from the colophon of the _Vitas Patrum_, printed by
Wynkyn de Worde in 1495: ‘Thus endyth the moost vertuouse hystorye
of the deuoute and right renowned lyves of holy faders lyvynge in
deserte, worthy of remembraunce to all wel dysposed persones, which
hath ben translated oute of Frenche into Englysshe by William Caxton of
Westmynstre late deed and fynysshed at the laste daye of hys lyff.’
On Caxton’s death, in 1491, his materials passed into the hands of
Wynkyn de Worde, his assistant, who continued to print in the same
house at Westminster. Up to 1493 he continued to use Caxton’s type,
with the addition of some woodcut initials obtained from Godfried van
Os, from whom he also obtained a complete set of type, which was not
used till 1496, and then only for printing one book.
W. de Worde, though he must have lived for some time previously in
England, only took out letters of denization in 1496. The grant is
dated 20th April to ‘Winando de Worde, de ducatu Lothoringie oriundo,
impressori librorum.’
The earliest books which he printed have no name, and are all in
Caxton’s type, Nos. 6 and 4*, but with some additional types which
distinguish his works from Caxton’s.
From the time of Caxton’s death, in 1491, to the time when his own name
first appears in an imprint, Wynkyn de Worde printed five books. They
are the _Chastysing of God’s Children_, the _Treatise of Love_, and the
_Book of Courtesye_, all printed in type 6; and the _Golden Legend_ and
the _Life of St. Catherine_, printed in a modification of type 4*, a
type which is used in no other books. The _Chastysing_ is interesting
as having a title-page, the first in any book from this office; while
in the _Book of Courtesye_ we find the device of W. de Worde used for
the first time.
In 1493 we find for the first time a book containing De Worde’s name.
This is the _Liber Festivalis_, probably printed towards the end of the
year, for the _Quattuor Sermones_, generally issued with it, is dated
1494. The next book to appear was Walter Hylton’s _Scala Perfectionis_;
and in the same year was issued a reprint of Bonaventura’s _Speculum
Vite Christi_, a book of very great interest, for the sidenotes are
printed with the type which Caxton used for his Indulgence of 1489,
and which was used for no other book than this. To this year 1494 we
may ascribe a beautiful edition of the Sarum _Horæ_, adorned with
woodcuts and borders, nearly all of which were inherited from Caxton.
The type which De Worde used for these books seems to have come into
Caxton’s hands from France, during the last year of his life, and
resembles closely certain founts which belonged to the Paris printers
P. Levet and Higman, if indeed it is not the same. After 1494, De Worde
discarded it, using it only occasionally for headings or titles. Blades
wrongly says that the use of this type separates the early W. de Worde
books from the Caxton’s; but Caxton certainly possessed and used it.
The distinctive mark of the early Wynkyn de Worde books is the use of
the initials obtained from G. van Os. Bradshaw, speaking of these,
says, ‘Indeed, the woodcut initials are what specially serve at once to
distinguish W. de Worde’s earliest from Caxton’s latest books.’
In 1495 we have three dated books, the _Vitas Patrum_, which Caxton
was engaged in translating up to the day of his death; Higden’s
_Polycronicon_, the first English book containing musical notes,
and the _Directorium Sacerdotum_. Besides these, a fair number of
undated books may be ascribed to this year or the year after. The most
important is the Bartholomæus, _De Proprietatibus Rerum_. Apart from
its ordinary interest, it is considered to be the first book printed on
paper made in England.
‘And John Tate the younger, joye mote he broke,
Whiche late hath in Englond doo made this paper thynne
That now in our englisshe this boke is prynted Inne.’
In 1496 appeared the curious reprint of the _Book of St. Albans_. It
seems never to have been noticed that this book is entirely printed
with the type which was obtained from Godfried van Os about the time
of his removal to Copenhagen. Besides the _Book of St. Albans_, it
has an extra chapter on fishing with an angle, the first treatise on
the subject in English. An edition of the _Dives and Pauper_, with
a handsome title-page, was issued this year, as well as a number of
smaller books of considerable interest, as the _Constitutions_ of
Lyndewode, the _Meditacions_ of St. Bernard, and the _Festial_ and
_Quattuor Sermones_. Among the dated books of 1497 are the _Chronicles
of England_, an edition copied from the one printed at St. Albans; and
it is from the colophon to this edition that we learn that the printer
at St. Albans was ‘sometyme scole mayster’ there.
In 1498 three large and important books were printed; of these the
first was an edition of the _Golden Legend_, of which only one perfect
copy is known, in the Spencer Collection; the next, a second edition
of the _Morte d’Arthur_, the first illustrated with woodcuts. The only
known copy of this book, wanting ten leaves, is also in the Spencer
Library. The third book was an edition of the _Canterbury Tales_. In
1499 a large number of books were printed, the most curious being an
edition of _Mandeville’s Travels_, illustrated profusely with woodcuts
of the wonders seen by the traveller, who got as far as the walls
of Paradise, but did not look in. Of this book two copies, both
imperfect, are known. _A Book of Good Manners_ and a _Psalterium_, both
known from single copies, were also printed in this year. An _Ortus
Vocabulorum_, printed in 1500, is the last book which was issued by
De Worde at Westminster. Altogether, from 1491 to the time he left
Caxton’s old house at Westminster, W. de Worde printed about a hundred
books, certainly not less; and he also had a few books printed for him,
and at his expense, by other printers.
In a very large number of De Worde’s early books he inserted the cut
of the crucifixion, which is first found in Caxton’s _XV Oes_. In 1499
the block split at the time when they were printing an edition of the
_Mirror of Consolation_, sometime after the 10th July, so that all the
books which contain the cut in its injured state must be later than
10th July 1499.
The year 1500 gives us an excellent date-mark for W. de Worde’s books,
for in that year he moved from Westminster ‘in Caxton’s house,’ to
London, in Fleet Street, at the sign of the Sun. Upon moving he seems
to have destroyed or disposed of a good deal of printing material. Some
of his woodcuts passed to Julian Notary, who was also at that time a
printer in Westminster. One of his marks and some of his type disappear
entirely at this time. The type which he had used in the majority of
the books printed in the last few years of the fifteenth century we
find in use up to 1508 or 1509, when it disappears from London to
reappear at York; but his capitals and marks had changed. From 1504
onward he used in the majority of his books the well-known square
device in three divisions, having in the upper part the sun and moon
and a number of stars, In the centre the W. and C. and Caxton’s mark;
below this the ‘Sagittarius’ shooting an arrow at a dog. It has not
hitherto been noticed that of this device there are three varieties,
identical to a superficial view, yet quite distinct and definitely
marking certain periods. The first variety in use from 1505 to 1518
has in the upper part eleven stars to the left of the sun and nine to
the right, while the white circular inlets at the ends of the W. are
almost closed. The second variety used from 1519 to the middle of 1528
has the same number of stars, but the circular inlets at the ends of
the letters are more open. The last variety has ten stars to the left
of the sun and ten to the right. It was used from 1528 to the time of
De Worde’s death. In the colophons of some of his early books De Worde
mentions that he had another shop in St. Paul’s Churchyard, with the
sign of Our Lady of Pity.
Wynkyn de Worde was essentially a popular printer, and he issued
innumerable small tracts; short romances in prose and verse, books of
riddles, books on carving and manners at table, almanacs, sermons,
grammars, and such like. Many of these books were translations from
the French, and were made by Robert Copland, who was one of De Werde’s
apprentices. The later books of De Worde are often puzzling. He seems
to have employed John Scot to print for him, and many books which have
only De Worde’s name are in Scot’s type. One book is particularly
curious. It is an edition of _The Mirror of Golde for the Sinful Soul_,
29th March 1522. Some copies have a colophon, ‘Imprinted at London
withoute Newgate, in Saint Pulker’s Parysche, by John Scot.’ Other
copies have the first sheet and the last leaf reset, while the colophon
runs, ‘Imprinted at London in Fletestrete, at the sygne of the Sone, by
Wynkyn de Worde.’
De Worde died at the end of 1534. His will is dated 5th June 1534, and
it was proved 19th January 1535. His executors were John Bedill, who
succeeded him in business, and James Gaver, probably a bookbinder, and
one of the numerous family of that name who exercised their craft in
the Low Countries. In the forty years that he printed, Wynkyn de Worde
produced over six hundred books, that is, more than fifteen a year, a
much higher average than any other early English printer attained.
About the year 1496 three printers started in partnership at the sign
of St. Thomas the Apostle in London. They were Julian Notary, Jean
Barbier, and a third whose name is not known, but whose initials were
I. H., and who may perhaps have been Jean Huvin. The first book which
they printed was the _Questiones Alberti de modis significandi_, a
quarto of sixty leaves, printed in a clear, handsome black letter.
At the end of the book is a printer’s mark, with the initials of
the printers, but there is no colophon to tell us either their names
or the date of printing. In 1497 they issued an edition of the _Horæ
ad usum Sarum_, printed, as we learn from the colophon, for Wynkyn
de Worde. The same printer’s mark is in this book, but again we have
no information about the names of the printers. In 1498 the firm had
changed,—I. H. had left, and the two remaining printers, Notary and
Barbier, had moved to Westminster, perhaps in order to be nearer the
printer for whom they worked. In this year they printed an edition of
the _Sarum Missal_ for Wynkyn de Worde, and after this Jean Barbier
returns to France, leaving Notary at Westminster by himself. There he
continued to print up to some time before 1503, and in that year we
find him living ‘without Temple Bar, in St. Clement’s Parish, at the
sign of the Three Kings.’ Before moving, he had printed, besides the
books mentioned above, a _Festial_ and _Quattuor Sermones_ in 1499, a
_Horæ ad usum Sarum_ in 1500, and the Chaucer’s _Complaint of Mars and
Venus_, without date. About this time he obtained some woodcuts from
Wynkyn de Worde, and we find them used in the first book he printed at
his new address, the _Golden Legend_ of 1503[4], and in it also are
to be found some very curious metal cuts in the ‘manière criblée.’ An
undated _Sarum Horæ_, in which the calendar begins with 1503, should
most probably be put before the _Golden Legend_. From 1504 to 1510
Notary printed about thirteen books, and in that latter year (as we
learn from the imprint of the _Expositio Hymnorum_) he had, besides his
shop without Temple Bar, another in St. Paul’s Churchyard, of which the
sign was also the Three Kings.
[Illustration: PART OF A PAGE FROM GOLDEN LEGEND.
(_Printed by Notary, 1503._)]
Between 1510 and 1515, Notary issued no dated book, but in the latter
year appeared the _Chronicles of England_, and in the year following
two _Grammars_ of Whittington. The old printing-office ‘Extra Temple
Bar’ seems to have been given up, for at this time Notary was printing
in Paul’s Churchyard, at the sign of St. Mark. After 1518 there is
another interval of three years without a dated book; but between 1518
and 1520 several were issued from the sign of the Three Kings in Paul’s
Churchyard, and after that Notary printed no more. His movements from
place to place are difficult to understand. In 1497 he is in London at
the sign of St. Thomas Apostle, in 1498 at Westminster in King Street.
About 1502-3, he moves to a house outside Temple Bar, the one probably
that Pynson had just vacated. In 1510, while still printing at the same
place, he had a shop in St. Paul’s Churchyard at the sign of the Three
Kings. In 1515 he is at the sign of St. Mark in Paul’s Churchyard,
in 1518 again at the Three Kings. It seems probable that some of his
productions must have entirely disappeared, otherwise it is hard to
account for the number of blank years.
The latest writer on Julian Notary conjectures that the sign of St.
Mark and the sign of the Three Kings were attached to the same house;
that Julian Notary, on moving to Paul’s Churchyard, went to a house
with the sign of St. Mark, and after printing under that sign for two
years, altered it, for commercial reasons, to his old emblem of the
Three Kings. This is ingenious, but impossible, for the writer has
ignored the fact that Notary had a shop in St. Paul’s Churchyard at the
Three Kings five years before we hear of the one with the sign of St.
Mark.