Falconer Madan

“ It is peculiar that whereas theology claimed a fair proportion of the first press, it is entirely absent from the second; grammar, logic, arithmetic, natural science, and the Ethics of Aristotle being alone represented, except that one broadside consists of a Prognostication, which Dorne’s lists in 1520 show to have been a popular form of literature in Oxford at that time. ”

“ On the contrary, the first three Oxford books are printed with the same type, with similar signatures, with the same sized page and the same number of lines in a column. “In fact,” says Blades in the Antiquary, vol. iii, no. 13, Jan. 1881, in an article on The First Printing Press at Oxford, “if a leaf of one was extracted and inserted in another it would, typographically, excite no remark.” Natura nihil facit per saltum, and we are accustomed to apply the idea of evolution and development to every art and trade. ”

“ There are a great many booksellers in Oxford, who are not sworn to the University; the consequence of which is, that books of great value are sold and carried away from Oxford, the owners of them are cheated, and the sworn stationers are deprived of their lawful business ”

“ See 1638 R. This is a curious example of three parts of a volume being entirely independent of each other, there being no general titlepage, but yet being indissolubly welded together by the signatures, so that no part could be issued separately. The first edition seems to have been issued in 1587, the 4th at London in 1619. The plan of the work is to assign a motto to every emperor, and then to discuss the motto and character of the person together: so that in effect the book is largely a discussion of proverbs of the nature of Erasmus’s Adagia. ”

“ So that at Oxford Printing was first set up in England, which was before there was any Printing-Press, or Printer, in France, Spain, Italy, or Germany, (except the City of Mentz) which claimes Seniority, as to Printing, even of Harlein it self, calling her City, Urbem Maguntinam Artis Tipographicæ Inventricem primam, though ’tis known to be otherwise, that City gaining that Art by the Brother of one of the Workmen of Harlein, who had learnt it at Home of his Brother, and after set up for himself at Mentz. ”

“ Only some plain facts, therefore, will be stated with respect to their occurrence in the early Oxford books.
If we take the first group (the Jerome, Aretinus and Aegidius) , we find no less than 26, out of a total of 50. The Rufinus has seven (two shared with the others, one shared with the Aretinus only, one shared with the Latteburius, and three peculiar to itself) . The Aretinus has 22, most of which are found in the later groups, but eight are peculiar to itself. The Aegidius has two only, common to the group. ”

“ The only copy known is in the Bodleian. It was reprinted in 1883 at the private press of Mr. C. H. Daniel of Worcester College, Oxford. Each idyll is preceded by an “argument” and followed by an “embleme” or motto. It has been suggested that E. D. to whom the dedication is addressed, may be Edward Dyer. This is the first Oxford édition de luxe, except perhaps the xvth. cent. issues on vellum. ”

“ The testimony of Stowe—corroborated by Howell—that “William Caxton of London, Mercer,” introduced it in 1471, was unsuitable. Atkyns, however, came upon a copy of the “1468” Oxford book, and “the same most worthy Person who trusted me with the aforesaid Book, did also present me with the Copy of a Record and Manuscript in Lambeth-House, heretofore in his Custody, belonging to the See (and not to any particular Arch-Bishop of Canterbury) ; the substance whereof was this (though I hope, for publique satisfaction, the Record it self, in its due time, will appear) .” ”

“ Poems by members of the University congratulating the King on his return from Scotland in Aug. 1633. The perigee of the sun or a planet is when it is nearest to the earth. Most of the poems are Latin, but six are Greek, sixteen at the end English, and one French. Three chronograms occur. One English poem is by John Lichfield the printer. There are some signs of an arrangement of the poems, those by great persons coming first, and the English last. ”

“ As it is, the Appendix only contains an alphabetical list, without references, of the authors of which manuscripts were preserved at Oxford: the intended catalogue appears in the Ecloga Oxonio-Cantabrigiensis, Lond., 1600. The preface alludes to the founding of the Bodleian, but dr. James had not yet been appointed Librarian. There is no sufficient ground for supposing with mr. Thomas (ut supra, p. lv) and mr. Macray (Annals of the Bodleian, 2nd ed., p. 25) that the single advance copy of 1598 implies an issue or edition of that year. ”

“ Case was elected scholar of St. John’s College, Oxford, in 1564; and in 1568 fellow. “But so it was,” says Wood (Ath. Ox., ed. Bliss, i. 685) , “that being Popishly affected he left his fellowship and married [in 1574] and ... read logic and philosophy to young men (mostly of the R. C. religion) in a private house in St. Mary Magd. parish.”
The external evidence about the authorship in question may be put as follows. In favour of Case is the important fact that Thomas Watson the poet in a sonnet to Case does certainly seem to allude to the English as well as the Latin treatise. ”

“ There are many woodcuts of figures of propositions. Most copies have a device on the titlepage, but a presentation copy from the author to the Bodleian and the copy in the Savile Library omit it. The absence of a dedication is unusual. ”

“ The mysterious “B. P. N.” on the titlepage (followed by “Non quæro quod mihi vtile est, sed quod multis”) is explained by him as perhaps “Bibliothecae Praefectus Novae” or “Nostrae” or rather “Bono Publico Natus:” it has been suggested that they may stand for “Beati Pauli Norma,” alluding to 1 Cor. x. 33. The Editor explains that it was intended that the work should be followed by an Appendix containing a catalogue of all MSS. at Oxford, a purpose which seriously delayed the issue of the book. ”

“ Some copies have 1639 in the colophon. At pp. 266–69 are some woodcut facsimiles of cipher-alphabets, &c. The engraved titlepage by W. Marshall (95⁄8 × 53⁄4 in.) bears the title on a sheet suspended between two obelisks representing Oxford and Cambridge: above it are two globes and “INSTAVR.MAG.P.I.”: below, a ship in full sail and the imprint: the whole is fully described in the British Museum Catalogue of Prints and Drawings, Div. 1, vol. 1 (1870) , p. 116 (no. 153) . Three out of the four British Museum copies have a portrait of Bacon, but the translator’s own copy in the Bodleian has not. ”

“ No Bibles or Prayerbooks were issued at Oxford till 1675, but this Grammar and three Almanacs (see 1637 B, C, and W.) raised the standard of revolt against monopoly. On 20 March 1636
7 the Stationers’ Company agreed to pay the University £200 a year, if it would agree not to issue the classes of books in question, and no further difficulties arose till after the Restoration. ”

“ Oxon., ii. 331 (where “Lond.” is an error for “Oxf.”) and 1629 P. Pemble died in 1623. The editor was a pupil of Pemble (Wood’s Ath. Oxon., iii. 1062) , and succeeded him in his lectureship at Magdalen hall. There is something curious about the printing of this volume: the pagination is peculiar, and sign. K 1r (p. “31”) has the running title of sermon 4 instead of 5: also the catchword on p. “38” is have instead of having, and the next page differs in style of printing. The second edition shows each sermon with a separate pagination, but appears otherwise to be a verbatim reprint. ”

“ Oxon., ed. Bliss, iii. 275. The sheets of this work were reissued in 1650 at London, with a new title Pharamus, sive Libido vindex, Hispanica tragædia, but neither Wood nor his editors have been aware of this earlier edition. Both were anonymous, and the direct evidence for the authorship (which need not be doubted) is difficult to find. Bp. Barlow wrote the author’s name on the title of his copy of Pharamus. The poems imply that the play had been written some years before 1640: the author matriculated at St John’s College, Oxford, in June 1634. ”

“ The verso of each leaf is in general Italian poems, and the recto of the next leaf a Latin version of them. On signn. F 2v and L 3v-M 2v are letters and testimonials about him: at H 1v is a poem in Italian and Latin on sir Thomas Bodley’s death: at H 2v begins his Selua or Sylva in two parts, and at N 4v a long and curious account in Italian and Latin verse of his stay in England and particularly Oxford and New College, which he was forced to leave (in 1614?) by the puritanical party. On M 3v is an oration delivered in Italy, and on Q 2v is a poem in both languages on the death of dr. ”

“ It is “a small broadside on vellum, consisting of 24 lines only, printed very closely and occupying a space of about nine inches by six.” The Indulgence is from Johannes de Gigliis alias de Liliis Apostolicus Subdiaconus, granted by Pope Innocent iii: and is dated 1499, there being no name of place or date of printing. There is no doubt that Cotton was mistaken in attributing this piece to the Oxford press.
1498. 1. Bagford, in his inaccurate way, gives the title of an edition of the Greek text of the Ethics of Aristotle by Aretinus “Oxon. 1498” (Brit. Mus. MS. Harl. 5901, fol. 3) . ”

“ English Roman. Contents:—p. (1) “A”: (3) title: (5–13) Epistle dedicatorie to Ralph Hockenhul and Hugh Hurlston, dated from St. Mary hall, Oxford, 1 Apr. 1602: (14) “The Contents of this Treatise”: 1–71, the treatise.
See Wood’s Ath. Oxon. ii. 25. In spite of the imprint this book, like the Higins (No. 5) above, was not printed at Oxford, the type but especially the woodcuts (with one exception) being entirely unknown at Oxford. It was printed no doubt in London, and the imprint falsified, perhaps in order to escape the necessity of registration at the office of the Stationers’ Company. ”

“ It is at present also unsafe to assume that Theodoricus Rood of Cologne who printed at Oxford in 1481–85 was the first Oxford printer, or ever used type no. 1.
Type 2 (1480?-1482) . Character:—Narrow Dutch Black.
Body:—English, nearly (10 lines = just less than 2 in.) .
Used in the Cicero (1480?: by itself) , Latin Grammar (1481?: by itself) , Ales (1481: chiefly, but with no. 3) , and Latteburius (1482: chiefly, but with no. 3) . ”

“ Contents:—p. (1) “A”: (3) title: (5–10) dedication to Maximilian de Rassenghem, Lovanii, 1 Jan. 1627: (11–15) “Ad Lectorem”: 1–505, the work, in 6 books: (2–8) “Index capitum et articulorum” in the order of the book: (10–22) “Index rerum memorabilium”, alphabetical.
This is a reprint of the 1627 or 1631 Antwerp edition, being itself the third. The scope of the work may be gathered from the definition of “Meteora” as being phenomena produced by vapour (rain, &c.) , or by exhalation (fiery, as lightning and falling stars: or non-fiery, as winds) , or by both (clouds) . ”

“ He wears the form of King Alfred and bears a legend beneath, telling us boldly that he founded the University [12] . The clamour of disputation never reaches that silent room, the changes of centuries have disregarded it, and it remains the one place where a belief which cast 252a lustre of royalty over early Oxford, and to this day gives primacy to one of the oldest colleges, is still maintained without contradiction. The figure neither utters nor listens to argument: it asserts and chooses to assert. But the spirit of the age is at the door: St. ”

“ Type 6 (1483?) . Character:—Large Dutch Black, a Church type going with no. 4.
Body:—Pica, nearly (as no. 4) .
This is the larger type of the Hampole, the larger type (two half lines only) of the Logic, the larger type imbedded in the small type of the Lyndewoode, the intermediate type (one line) in the Augustine, and occurs in the Anwykyll (all 1483?) . The capitals are identical with those of type 4. ”

“ Rare and valuable. See Wood’s Ath. Oxon., ii. 58, where some extracts are given. Each leaf bears an engraving of the arms of the University or a College, and a short Latin poem following. The title appears to indicate the struggle of king James and England against Italian wiles, the words being from Virg. Aen. i. 72, where the context bears a different meaning. The dedication shows that the poems were written in 1606. The arms are in some respects peculiar, and were probably engraved at Oxford.
15. Twyne, Brian. ANTIQVI-|TATIS ACADEMIÆ OXO-|NIENSIS APOLOGIA. | In tres libros divisa. ”

“ Syllabus”: 1–186, six exercises: (1) errata.
Scheibler’s Metaphysica was first issued in 1617, and reissued at Oxford in 1665, as well as often elsewhere. Bp. Barlow edited it, and added the Exercitationes de Deo (see Wood’s Ath. Oxon., ed. Bliss, iv. 336) , which were reissued in 1658. The edition of 1638 is simply a reissue of the sheets of the 1637 edition, with different imprint and date on the first titlepage, and “Meta-” on the first titlepage altered to “Meta-.” Some woodcut diagrams occur in the Exercitationes: in which also the sections change from eights to fours. ”

“ Lübeck [10] ] many works were issued with MS. signatures with a later date than this. It is dangerous to assert that a book is wrongly dated because you cannot make it fit into a bibliographical theory; but I feel inclined, from the general aspect of the book, to date it as 1482, rather than 1472.” And yet a very high authority on typography assures me that the book is undoubtedly of 1472! What then prevents the tentative and isolated experiment of Cologne from having a similar tentative and isolated forerunner, even at Oxford? ”

“ So Bagford (Brit. Mus. MS. Harl. 5901, fol. 23v, cf. Bodl. MS. Rawl. D. 375, p. 103) . Probably not printed at Oxford.
Before 1520. John Dorne, bookseller in Oxford, sold in 1520 several copies of a small book described in his day-book as “Bene fundatum,” “Bene fundatum Oxonie” or “Bene fundatum uosgraf.” This seems to be a trace of a real Oxford book now lost, but no such printer as Vosgraf or Foxgrave (Dorne was from the Low Countries) is known. It would probably belong to the 1517–19 press. See Dorne’s book edited in the Collectanea vol. i of the Oxford Historical Society, 1885. ”