Frederick W. Hamilton

“ They alleged that the Company 45of Stationers was controlled by the booksellers and that they cheapened printing and impoverished the printers, that the Company of Stationers was so large that only old men could attain to the dignity of masters or wardens, and that only once in ten or twelve years was it possible for a journeyman printer to become a master printer. They claimed that a new Company would free the printing industry from these shackles, that it would improve the quality of printing, and that it would secure for the government better supervision of the output of the press. ”

“ These privileges had a most unfortunate effect upon the industry both on the side of business and on that of craftsmanship. On the side of business they gave to certain printers a monopoly of practically all of the work which was certain to produce good financial returns, leaving to the unprivileged printers the doubtful enterprise of producing current literature. On the side of craftsmanship they took away the spur of competition. The greater part of the literature of this period was produced by unprivileged printers, most of it with very little profit to them. ”

“ In England to-day practically all trades are very thoroughly unionized. The printing industry is no exception. Union membership is much more universal among the workmen in the industry than it is in the United States. This development of organization among the workmen has been accompanied by a development of strong organizations of employers in all industries. To-day practically all industrial bargaining in England is collective bargaining carried on between associated employers and associated employees. ”

“ It soon became the habit of the printers to open shops apart from their printing offices for the sale of their productions. These salesrooms developed into 53book-shops through carrying in stock the books of other printers. In the old-world cities trades had a habit of congregating in one place. If a man wanted to open a book-shop, instead of trying to find a good location where there were no other book-shops very near at hand, he tried to get a location as near as he could to all the other book-shops. ”

“ The early printers were their own publishers and booksellers. Previous to the invention of typography the maker and seller of the book were not ordinarily the same person. It was only natural that in a short time the stationers, that is to say, the sellers of manuscript books and of writing materials, should sell printed books also. Both the printer and bookseller were interested in an attempt to cut out one profit. If the printer sold to the bookseller and the bookseller sold to the public, both must profit by the transaction. ”

“ The English Pioneers England was slow to take up printing and slow and backward in the development of it. It was 25 years after the invention of printing before any printing was done in England. It was many years after that before the work of the English printers could compare with that done on the continent. The reason for this is to be found in the conditions of the country itself. Although the two great universities had long been in existence, Oxford dating back to 1167 and Cambridge to 1209, England as a whole was a backward country. ”

“ The history of English printing shows one more epoch-making figure. It is that of William Morris, poet, socialist, idealist, and craftsman. Morris is in many ways one of the most picturesque figures of the nineteenth century. Interested in many kinds of craftsmanship, he was particularly interested in printing and in 1891 he set up the Kelmscott Press in order to express his idea of what a book should be. Morris was above all things a man of the Middle Ages. ”

“ Most persons are content with smaller profits, providing they can be released from risk. Under the system which now developed the publisher assumed the risk. In that way he became the patron of both author and printer.
The first of the modern type of publishers was Jacob Tonson, the elder, who began business in 1678. A consideration of the development of the publishing industry would take us too far afield and it will be touched upon only as it directly concerns the development of printing. ”

“ If the printer could sell directly to the public or the bookseller could print his own books, obviously the whole or the greater part of both of these profits might go to one man. In this competition, however, the bookseller had three advantages. One came from the fact that the carrying on of a printing plant was a business enterprise and the additional care of maintaining a selling organization for marketing books with the 52public was more than most printers were equal to. The second was that the bookseller could buy a whole edition or contract for its publication. ”

“ No form was to be kept standing to the injury of workmen. The meaning of this is clearer when we remember that all composition at this time was hand composition and that stereotyping and other methods of preserving forms were not known and consequently a reprint or re-issue was, excepting for absence of editorial work, a new job. If there was expectation that a new reprint might soon be required and the printer had the type to spare he might leave a form standing and so avoid the labor of recomposition. ”

“ Each publication has been compiled by a competent author or group of authors, and carefully edited, the purpose, being to provide the printers of the United States—employers, journeymen, and apprentices—with a comprehensive series of handy and inexpensive compendiums of reliable, up-to-date information upon the various branches and specialties of the printing craft, all arranged in orderly fashion for progressive study. ”

“ Minor changes in the formation of English letters are not important, providing the general form of the letter is retained. In languages using a different character, however, even slight modifications are liable to be confusing and scholarly conservatism naturally shrinks from changes of this sort. It is probable, moreover, that the universities and the few persons doing printing in Greek did not encourage the new character as it would have involved a considerable expenditure for new type. With the comparatively small use for Greek type one font would last for a very long time. ”

“ No man can ever do anything better than it has yet been done without contributing to the progress of true art, even though his productions are appreciated by but few people. Unquestionably Baskerville’s work influenced the Whittinghams, who are the great figures in the world of printing in the early nineteenth century.
67It is interesting to note, before passing to the consideration of the work of the Whittinghams, that several of the great English printing houses whose names are familiar to all readers of books run back far into the eighteenth century. ”

“ Disheartened and disgusted by the lack of appreciation and support, Baskerville tried to sell out his type-foundry, but was unsuccessful. He negotiated with several of the leading printers of the continent and with Franklin, but was not able to effect a sale. Twenty years after his death, however, his type was used in the famous Boydell Shakspeare. His type obtained partial recognition. His work has been called too artistic for his time. It is said that Baskerville was an artist, but the England of the eighteenth century was not artistic. ”

“ During this period there were four type-founders of importance—Joseph Moxon, the Andrews brothers, the Glover brothers, and Thomas James. The most famous of these was James Moxon. Primarily a man of science, he was distinguished as a mathematician and hydrographer. To these interests he added type-founding. Like Dürer in Germany and Geoffry Tory in France, he worked out a theory of type design in exact mathematical proportions, but like these and other attempts of the same sort it was not successful. ”

“ This press published eight books that we know of, all for church use or the direct use of the abbey. These books were printed from four fonts of type, two of which are identical with two of Caxton’s. It is possible that this was a side enterprise of Caxton’s, although it is equally possible that the abbey may have bought the type of Caxton or obtained the use of his matrices or even hired some type of him. The conclusions based on apparent identity of type-faces are always doubtful, as this identity may be accounted for in a considerable number of ways. ”

“ The Master and the Wardens of the Stationers’ Company might have three presses each and three apprentices. No other printer could have more than two presses. A master printer on the livery (a member of the Company) might have two apprentices, others only one. The master printers were to give work to journeymen when requested to do so. This enactment was not made out of any tenderness for unemployed journeymen but for the reason that the unemployed journeyman was always tempted to pick up an occasional shilling by printing unlicensed or objectionable books. ”

“ In 1875 the whole matter was put on a new basis by the legal acceptance of the principle that it is lawful for any combination of men to do any act which it would be lawful for either of them to do singly. This, of course, was a reversal of the fundamental principle of more than six hundred years of labor legislation, that it was not lawful for a combination of men to do things which any one of them might lawfully do. Since that time the unions have rapidly won their way to full 22recognition and to great importance in the industry. ”

“ Only four type-founders were permitted to carry on business. Books could be sold only by booksellers. The punishments imposed for infractions of these laws included destruction of stock, fines, imprisonment, and whipping at the cart’s tail. The allowance of type-founders, small as it was, seemed to be ample, in spite of the 42fact that English type-founders had now ceased to cut type. English type-founding had generally been poor up to this time and was to continue so for some time to come. What new type came into use in the English printing offices was mainly bought on the continent. ”

“ For a long time printing was not an English industry. It will be remembered that although Caxton was English born most of the early printing was done by foreigners who came to England for that purpose, and for a long time there was a very large foreign element in the industry. In 1523 a law was passed that no alien engaged in the printing business 43in England could take any but English-born apprentices. In 1529 an act was passed that no alien not already naturalized could set up any house or shop for the exercise of any handicraft in England. ”

“ Caxton appears to have been successful in business and became Governor of the English “Nation” in 1462.
Bruges was at this time a city of wealth and culture, the Flemings being far in advance of the English in this respect. Life in these surroundings caused Caxton to become interested in reading and good literature, and in 1467 he undertook a translation into English of a collection of stories of Troy, or as he called it “Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye.” Shortly after this, Margaret, sister of Edward IV of England, married the Duke of Burgundy and came to Bruges to live. ”

“ In 1476 Caxton withdrew entirely from his business connections in Bruges, went to England, taking with him his presses, type, and workmen, and opened a printing office within the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It has often been stated that Caxton’s printing office was in the abbey building itself, but this is undoubtedly an error. English abbeys and cathedrals are commonly surrounded by a considerable extent of ground called a “close.” Within this “close” are dwelling houses and not infrequently shops. The entire property belongs to and is controlled by the abbey or cathedral authorities. ”

“ It may be laid down as a fundamental principle in the study of history that the frequent repetition of legislation on any one subject shows that the subject is considered very important by the government and that the legislation is not effective. ”

“ Latin Bibles could easily be imported from the continent, probably cheaper than he could print them. English Bibles were not permitted to be printed unless the English translation had been made before the appearance of Wickliffe’s Bible in 1380. There were translations into English before Wickliffe, as well as a considerable number of later date, but with the loose and uncertain dating of manuscripts the printing of an English Bible was altogether a more risky proposition than Caxton cared to undertake. He printed no works on theology. ”

“ Unlike Caslon, this interest did not lead him directly to take up type-founding or printing as his life work. In 1736 a man by the name of John Taylor set himself up in business at Birmingham as a manufacturer of japanned ware. Baskerville became interested in Taylor’s work and learned Taylor’s trade secrets by following him about and whenever he went into a shop and made a purchase going in himself and buying the same things in the same quantities. In this way he learned the composition of the japanning mixture and shortly set up a business for himself. ”

“ England was also beginning to feel the stirrings of philosophical and religious discussion. There was a great demand for educational books to meet the needs of the scholars and there began to be a great output of controversial literature. Wynkyn de Worde sometimes printed three or four editions of the same Latin grammar in one year, so great was the demand for educational books. ”

“ The powers of the Company were used much more for the regulation and control of printing than for the 26improvement of the art. It was to the Company that the government looked particularly for the enforcement of the statutes regarding printing. For that reason, if a book were of doubtful character and liable to be prohibited the publisher preferred to run the chance of attempting to evade the regulation regarding registration. Fortunately the registers of the Company containing the records of all their transactions are for the most part still in existence. ”

“ Naturally the unprivileged printers were constantly tempted to infringe upon the monopoly rights of the others, with the result that there was constant friction and appeals to authority were taken on both sides. The matter finally came to a head in a serious revolt of the unprivileged printers under the leadership of one John Wolfe. Wolfe was a member of the Fishmongers’ Company, but had undertaken to do printing and declared boldly that he proposed to lead a movement 31which would revolutionize the entire situation. ”