(Vol. ii., p. 473.; Vol. iii., p. 187.)
DR. RIMBAULT, in his Note "On the First Paper-Mill in England," after
alluding to the errors of various writers on the subject, adds, "In
_Bartholomeus de Proprietatibus Rerum_, printed by Wynkyn de Worde in
1495, mention is made of a paper-mill near Stevenage, in the county of
Hertford, belonging to John Tate the younger, which was undoubtedly the
'mylne' visited by Henry VII." Now this statement itself needs
correction. The English translation of the work of Bartholomeus (De
Glanvilla) informs us merely of the fact of John Tate the younger having
lately _in England_ made the paper which was used for the printing of
this book. The lines, which occur at the end of the volume, are as
follows:
"And also of your charyte call to remembraunce
The soule of William Caxton, first prynter of this boke
In Laten tonge at Coleyn [Cologne] hysself to avaunce,
That every well-disposed man may theron loke:
And JOHN TATE the younger joye mote [may] he broke,
Which late hathe in Englond doo make this paper thynne,
That now in our Englysshe this boke is printed inne."
A rare poem, an early specimen of blank verse, entitled _A Tale of Two
Swannes_, written by William Vallans (who was, I believe, a native of
Ware), and printed in 1590, supplies us with the information that the
mill belonging to John Tate was situated at Hertford. One of the notes
in the poem states that, "in the time of Henry VIII., viz. 1507, there
was a paper-mill at Hertford, and belonged to John Tate, whose father
was Mayor of London." The author, however, is here mistaken in his
chronology, as Henry VIII. did not begin to reign till 1509. The extract
from the privy purse expenses of Henry VII., under the date of May 25,
1498, "for rewards geven at the Paper Mylne, 16s 8d," most clearly has
reference to this particular mill, as the entry immediately preceding
shows that the king went to Hertford two days before, viz. on the 23rd
of May.
In answer to HERTFORDIENSIS, who asks for information as to its site, I
quote a passage from Herbert's edition of Ames's _Typographical
Antiquities_, under the description of the work of Bartholomeus, printed
by Wynkyn de Worde. Herbert says, vol. i. p. 201.:--
"I have been informed that this mill was where Seel, or Seal Mill
is now, at the end of Hertford town, towards Stevenage; and that
an adjoining meadow is still called Paper-mill Mead. This Seel
Mill, so denominated from the adjoining hamlet, was erected in the
year 1700; and is noted for being the first that made the finest
flour, known by the name of _Hertfordshire White_. It stands upon
the river Bean, in the middle of three acres of meadow land,
called Paper-mill Mead, so denominated in the charter of King
Charles I. to the town of Hertford for the fishery of a certain
part of that river. Hence, perhaps, some have thought it was at
Stevenage, but there is no water for a mill at or even near that
place."
The French authorities are particularly unhappy on the subject of the
introduction of the art of paper-making in England. According to the
_Dictionnaire de la Conversation_, "la première manufacture, établie à
_Gertford_ en Angleterre, est de 1588;" while the _Encyclopédie des Gens
du Monde_ asserts that "la première patererie de chiffons qu'eu notre
pays fut établie en 1312; celle d'Angleterre en 1388."