ttM mI 'Mk 3tt}ntu, ^ttB ^atk THE GIFT OF &.W.HcomLte 'ci^7te/uej //a'4^f??'cl', cvTcvTtX The date shows ^en this volume was taken. To renew this b^k copy the call No. and give to the librarian. HOME USE RULES All Books subject to Recall All borrowers must regis- ter in the library to borrow books for home use. All books must be re- turned at end of college year for inspection and repairs. Limited books must be re- turned within the four week limit and not renewed. Students must return all books before leaving town. Officers should arrange for the return of books wanted during their absence from town. Volumes of periodicals and of pamphlets are held in the library as much as possible. For special pur- poses they are given out for a limited time. Borrowers should not use their library privileges for the benefit of other persons. Books of special value and gift books, when the giver wishes it. are not allowed to circulate. Readers are asked to re- port all cases of books marked or mutilated. ^ Do not deface books by marks "and writing. Cornell University Library Z151 .P88 + Short history of the art of printing in 3 1924 029 497 975 olin Overs Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029497975 : A SHORT HISTDRy : OF THE GF rRINTI IN ENGLAND mf)Viv €. 3(; $oix>tll Issued as a Supplement to the Printers' Register, /?« commemoration of the Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Introduction of Printing into England. , LONDON , JOSEPH M,; POWELL, '"PRINTERS' REGISTER" OFFICE. " 1877- . .. M. :powell BROKER, > - .BCAS ALWAYS ON VXEW AT HIS NEW WAEEHOtJS^/ 11 & 13, ST. RRIDE STREET, LUDGATE CIRCUS, E.C. (The ''PRINTERS''fiEGlSTER "jOffige,)': The Latest Novelties connected witli the Printing Trades. nginef ldi:tfinfrg nt AT^L MATERIAL GUABlNTJEED 10 BE TEE BEST. AGENT FOR A. B. ELEMIKG & CO.'S CELEBRATED PRINTING INKS. JOSEPH M, POWELL "TOLiL SUPPLY -'--.'/../ I. d. £ * >. ^f ,1 Demy AlbioitPresB, 24^. x ISin, 40 JDoz.taoliW6odFumitm;e,Double Parehmenu, Blankets, and Pointf .accompany Bread io Narrow inclnsiye 6 the Press gratis. , 1 Dozi eachWood Fiu-niture, 2-lme 1 Ink Table, 50/-, & 1 Brayer, 1/- 2^11 Great Primer,to PearlinoluBiTe 1 She^p'sfoot .... .7 2 2 Doisen yard Side StioEs. i • 3 .. .. ., good .. 1 Ley Brush . •, J ,, BodMna 1 Demy Broaigide Boiler , . ; . 15 i „ 4-to-Pioa Ei4e {24 inch) 1 IG-inch Kbller .... a i; i> 6-to-Pica „ . i .". 1 pr.DemyChages,for8vo.&12mo. "2-;.,v 8-tp-Pica ,, r .. 2 BoyaVFdiio . „ casli .. .. Brass Eule and iead. Cutter . , . 2 Demy - giron Composing Sticks, 6in. ' .•;.-• ajjpng „ „ -„ .. - .. 'ri2in. Stick .. ... 2Demy ito. „ „ .•.. 1 MahpganyGomposingStick,24in. '•? 2 2 Card „ ,. •• ^ „ Demy FoU(;i Galleys.. ' -.• IBank and Horse, r ._, :, 16 2 ,,. „, 4to.- ^ „ .. : 1 DbLCrownIinpo'smg-Stirfaoe,witli 2 „ „ -8vo. „ .. 25jin. 4 10 Frame and Drayer, JSJ x 2 „ ; , „ Long Polio ..' ST^oleFrameB.witiiEaoks.ataO/- ^0 -'^,I)oz. 10-line Wood Letter @ 2/- ' - .. ,-,'2/3' 8 Paiia iCaBeSrbest, 7/6 .. 5J „ -a2„ : „ 5/- i. .. ei)i>iBaie,t ,,. ^i .. 14,.. „ „2/6 4 Treble ^ .. S/- •=• < 5J „ _20.„ „ . „3/6 1 MaUet and 1 Planer . 54 „ .24,, „ ,;4/0 1 Brass-tipped Sfiooter .. .. i Doz. Double Wood Rule •• Fancy 500QupinB«. .. .f. _ Fjoiiafs,' OrnameatSi &c., say A SHORT HISTORY OF THE Art of Printing IN ENGLAND. <artt)ur C. 3. ^toen* Issmd as a SuppUtnent to tlie Printers' Register, in commenwratiim of tlu Four Hundredth Anniversary of the Introduction of Printing into England LONDON: JOSEPH M. POWELL. 'PRINTERS' REGISTER" OFFICE. 1877. '? P REFAfCE, 'J^HE object of this little treatise is to present a brief but fairly complete -* sketch of the history of Printing in this country. By the Art of Printing is generally understood the art of printing from moveable types. It is on this basis that I have dealt with the subject, no reference being made to Lithography, Copperplate printing, or the other processes by which I impressions are obtained. As my readers will be found chiefly among the printers themselves, I have not thought it necessary to describe operations with which they are familiar. At the same time it is hoped that sufficient explanation is given to render the work intelligible to those who are unacquainted with the practice of the art. Being limited as to space, it has been my endeavour, after the introductory chapter, to confine myself strictly to the development of the Art in England, and to state all facts as tersely as possible. As, however, the work is published in commemoration of our first English Printer, I have written his biography at greater length than I should otherwise have done. Wherever practicable, I have sought the original sources of information, but want of time has prevented m^ from proving some dates and statements as thoroughly as I could wish. My thanks are due to Mr. William Blades, for supplying me with the means obtaining photographic blocks of of several old engravings ; to Mr. Elliot Stock, affording the opportunity producing for of a facsimile of a page of the first book printed in England; to Mr. John Southward, for m^ny valuable suggestions: and to Messrs. Koenig Bauer, & Messrs. Miller & Richard, Mr. Talbot Reed, Mr. Wm. Conisbee, Mr. W. Dawson, Mr. Samuel Bremner, Mr. J. M. Napier, and other gentlemen, for information they have given me. A. P. London, June, 18^7, A SHORT HISTORY OF THE ART OF PRINTING IN ENGLAND, ) •• c INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. THE INVENTION OF PRINTING. HE possibility of obtaining an impressed image of an object upon suitable material, must have been one of the earliest perceptions of the reasoning mind of man. Even at the very dawn of his intellectual powers, he could scarcely fail to observe the prints of his feet on the ground that he traversed, or the nature of plastic earth to retain shapes imparted to it. That he soon made use of this knowledge is certain, for we find mention of seals in the histories of the most remote ages. Relics which have come down to us of the great kingdoms of old show, too, that the notion expanded, though not to any material extent. Bricks made in Egypt and in Babylon many centuries before the Christian era have been found bearing impressed designs and frequently impressed writings. One of such bricks is now carefully preserved in the museum of Trinity College, Cambridge, another is in the British Museum, and many other examples have lately been discovered. It has been deemed surprising that both the Greeks and the Romans, though they made considerable advances in the art, failed to 2 BLOCK PRINTING. perceive the great ends to which it might be applied.* The only one of the ancient nations that appears to have possessed any notions of it at all approaching those of modern times was the Chinese, that wonderful people which has in so many inventions forestalled the sages of the West. Printing is said to have been practised by them no less than fifty centuries before Christ, and their methods of employing the art were greatly in advance of those of the Egyptians or the Assyrians. Their present process (and it probably differs little from that used a thousand years ago), is to place a written sheet face downwards upon a block of soft wood, and to press it so that the lines are transferred to the wood ; the plain surface is then cut away, and the words are left in relief In printing, the ink is applied with a soft brush, the paper laid on the block and the impression taken by passing another brush over it. It is contended by some that this system was communicated to the Italians by Marco Polo, the great Venetian traveller, on his return from the East in 1/95, and that he was the introducer into Europe of the art of Block Printing. But this art would appear to have been independently invented in Italy some ten years earlier, the credit of the invention being generally attributed to Alberico and Isabella Cunio, twin children of one of the lords of Imola. These, when only sixteen years of age, engraved on wood some pictures designed to represent certain " heroic actions of Alexander the Great," and from the blocks thus produced they took several impres- sions on vellum, one of which they dedicated to Pope Honorius IV. From this fact the date of the invention has been fixed at 1284-5. The process of Block Printing was not long confined to Ravenna, its birthplace. It rapidly spread, not only throughout northern Italy, but also to the principal cities of France, Germany, and the Low Countries. It was used for producing rude pictures of the saints, but more especially for printing playing cards, the impression being taken by laying the paper on the inked block and rubbing the back with a burnisher, That this trade was a flourishing one may be gathered from a decree of the Court of Venice in 1441, which, reciting that the influx of foreign playing cards and printed figures (carte e figure stampide) had become so great that the native workmen were seriously prejudiced, forbad all importations of them for the future. From the printing of single pictures to that of books was a march of * There is preserved in the Library at Upsal an ancient translation of the Scriptures called the Codex Argenteus, which was discovered in the Abbey of Werden in Westphalia, and is believed by some to be the identical version of Ulphilas, Bishop of the Goths, in a.d.