“ The attention thus paid to the claims of scholarship and accuracy brings doubtless unmixed benefits to learning and education. To the Press as a business concern the blessing is less unequivocal. The Delegates’ resources are not without limits; and they are sometimes embarrassed by the ambitions of learned authors from all parts of the world, to whom nothing but the imprint of the Clarendon Press seems an adequate reward. They are obliged to pick and choose, and sometimes to decline a proposal which would attract them if it had fewer rivals. ”

“ Australia is not only many thousands of miles from the great centres of book-production, but is itself a land of great distances, as yet but sparsely populated; and this creates difficulties for both publishers and booksellers. It is remarkable how far these obstacles have been overcome; and if regard is paid to the number and character of the population, Australia, and New Zealand no less, have a right to be proud of the quantity and quality of the books they buy. ”

“ The modern history of the printing and publishing of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer is a large subject. The University of Oxford, like the other privileged printers, has appreciated the obligations attached to the privilege as well as the opportunities which it affords. Every attention has been paid to accuracy and excellence of printing and binding, to the provision of editions suited to every purpose and every eyesight, and to the efficient and economical distribution of the books all over the world at low prices. ”

“ The endowment of research is a difficult subject, and nobody is more conscious than are the Delegates of the Press, that results of lasting value are not achieved by the mere expenditure of money. Yet they cannot but be aware that by the possession of the machinery and traditions of such works as the English Dictionary, and by their intimate association with experts in many fields, they are in a position to promote research and co-operative enterprise in the most effective and economical way. ”

“ Furnivall realized that an English Dictionary could not be made until the roots of the language could be examined in the mass of our early literature, which was then hardly known; and to provide this essential he founded in 1864 the Early English Text Society—the long list of whose publications, still growing, may be read in the Clarendon Press Catalogue.
But even the enthusiasm of a Furnivall did not avail to prevent a growing sense of despondency, when the work seemed to lengthen out indefinitely with no promise of performance. No private publisher could be found to undertake a work so vast. ”

“ Oxford Series
At one time Oxford books were produced almost always at the instance of an author; and many Oxford books are still so produced. A scholar having devoted, it may be, many years of his life to a subject which he has made his own, applies to the University Press for publication of his researches; and such a claim is often admitted as irresistible. In modern times, however, the need for organization by the publisher has become increasingly apparent. ”

“ The scientific editing of English texts is indeed a relatively recent growth, and depends upon the application of principles which in the field of Greek and Latin textual criticism have been elaborated in the course of centuries. It is thus no accident that the work done in English editing in the last five-and-twenty years has been largely in the hands of scholars trained in the Oxford school of Literae Humaniores, and has synchronized with the production of the Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis. ”

“ In English literature the Press has built up in a quarter of a century a whole library of uniform series, all of respectable dimensions. The Oxford English Texts are library editions of famous authors edited after exhaustive examination of the materials, in print and in manuscript, and handsomely printed from type; the Tudor and Stuart Library consists of first editions and exact reprints of famous books of that period, printed in the types of the period on paper calculated to last for many centuries more ”

“ A reference Bible is, also, a highly complicated piece of printing. Accuracy is secured by the employment of highly-skilled compositors and readers—a new Bible is ‘read’ from beginning to end many times—and by the use of the best material processes; for all Bibles are printed from copper plates on the most modern machines, and the sheets are carefully scrutinized as they come from the press. The Oxford Press offers a guinea for the discovery of a misprint ”

“ The Press produces many works of learning which are so securely based that it is known that the demand, however small, will persist as long as there are copies unsold; and it is the practice of the Press to print from type large editions of such books. ”

“ To-day, thirty-five years after printing began, the work, to which Murray himself contributed more than 7,000 pages, is being carried on by three editors with twelve assistants; and the end is not yet.
It is impossible to value too highly the services of voluntary helpers from the beginning to the present day. The completeness and accuracy of the work, which is probably without a rival in any country or in any age, could not have been secured except by editors of the greatest learning and ability and by the training of a lifetime ”

“ In prudent pursuance of a far-sighted policy, the overseas Branches of the Press were established to increase the sale of Oxford books; new departments of the publishing [43] business were created, such as the very extensive series of cheap editions of the English Classics, and, more recently, the Oxford Elementary Books and the Oxford Medical Publications; and in the course of years the publications of the Learned Press itself have gradually become more popular in character and addressed to a wider audience. ”

“ A distinguished American who had been invited to dine in an Oxford College confessed afterwards that as he entered the room his knees knocked at the thought that ‘all [85] these Fellows talked Latin’; and the public is sometimes frightened away from an Oxford book by the apprehension that it will be found full of Greek quotations. There is in fact no necessary connexion between accuracy and pedantry; and even Dons are often men of the world, well acquainted with the limitations of the average intelligence. ”

“ The Press is so strong in books on India that it has seemed well to issue a special catalogue bringing together a mass of books which in the General Catalogue are listed under a variety of subject-headings. These include [82] a large and important section published by the Press under the patronage of the Secretary of State—notably the Imperial Gazetteer of India in twenty-six volumes, the noble series of documents on the early history of ‘John Company’ compiled at the India Office, and the sumptuous publication of Sir Aurel Stein’s discoveries in Turkestan ”

“ This aspect of the activities of the Press in America is shown by the large number of Bibles which are manufactured (‘made’ is the American idiom) in the United States—among these the now famous Scofield Reference Bible is conspicuous—and also by books written—or at least rewritten—for American requirements. The Branch, in co-operation with American scholars, has produced valuable series of text-books for schools and universities—the Oxford English Series, the Oxford French Series, and the Oxford German Series. Even more important, perhaps, are adaptations of Oxford books of tried merit. ”

“ In the event, the Press to-day possesses a business of such magnitude and variety as will, it may be hoped, enable it to surmount the formidable obstacles which the increased cost of manufacture opposes to the production of all works of learning. ”

“ Inquirers spend much of their own and others’ time, and in the end write to one of the editors, in quest of information which has for years been available in the published volumes. Nor is it solely the student of language who can profit by the use of the Dictionary, although in this respect it is of unique value both for English and Continental philologists. Every scholar and scientist is likely to find in it some fresh light upon his own subject, for many special points in the history and terminology of the various sciences have for the first time been elucidated in its pages. ”

“ Paper of this kind reaches its acme in the famous Oxford India Paper, the invention of which made revolutionary changes in the printing of Bibles. A great many Oxford books are now printed in two editions, an ordinary and an India paper. If the saving of space is an important consideration, the convenience of the thinner editions of such books as the Concise Oxford Dictionary, the Concise Dictionary of National Biography, or the Oxford Survey of the British Empire is obvious; and many people like to read the Poets and the Classics in thin and light volumes. ”

“ The increase of staff has made it possible to open a new branch in Calcutta—a sub-branch in Madras already existed—and it is confidently hoped that in the near future the business done in Oxford books, and adaptations of them, will be increased in volume, and that the service rendered by Oxford to the Indian Empire will be further enhanced by the activities of its Press. ”

“ For the convenience of specialists the Catalogue is also issued in sections—History, Literature, the Classics, Natural Science, Cheap Reprints—and special lists have recently been made of books on such subjects as the British Empire, International Law and Politics, India, Modern Philosophy. Schoolmasters and University teachers are asked to apply for the Select Educational Catalogue issued at frequent intervals, which by omission of the larger and more elaborate books allows of illustrative information for which there is no room in the general catalogue. ”

“ Oxford Bibles and Prayer Books can be inspected in mass at many booksellers’, as well as in the Depository at 116 High Street, Oxford, and in the showrooms at Amen Corner, in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and in the Branches overseas. Lack of space has everywhere made it impossible to exhibit the far greater number of Clarendon [53] Press and other secular books on the same scale, but the books may be seen on application at any of the Press offices, and the popular series, gift books, &c., are always displayed. ”

“ Macdonell’s Vedic Grammar for press, was well known to three generations of Oriental scholars; the late Mr. W. F. R. Shilleto did much to secure accuracy and uniformity in the series of Oxford Classical Texts; and Mr. George Ostler has left the marks of his vigilance upon many editions of the English classics. Long training in a severe school develops unusual powers; and authors are sometimes startled by instances of what seems beyond natural acumen. ”

“ James Murray, who had thrown himself into the work with an energy equal to Furnivall’s own, and was by acclamation designated as editor, entered into negotiations with the Delegates of the Press, and an agreement was signed.
It is fortunate that the magnitude of human undertakings is seldom perceived by those who engage upon them. Coleridge had intimated that it would be time to begin the Dictionary when a hundred thousand quotations had been pigeon-holed. ”

“ Books of this kind best represent the type at which Oxford has aimed in the historical and human sciences, and it is to the promotion of such works that the resources of the Press have in this field been most advantageously applied. When, however, the progress of a subject and the enthusiasm of an editor have combined to suggest another way, the opportunity has been taken of organizing research upon a common plan. ”

“ These books range from ‘simplified classics’ to editions of Shakespeare’s plays, from school geographies to handbooks for students of medicine and law. At the same time the sale of more advanced Oxford books was largely increased. A brief description is given elsewhere of the books produced at Oxford upon the history and art of India as well as upon its classical literature and its religions. Books like Mr. Vincent Smith’s Early History of India and his Fine Art in India command a wide sale among the educated natives of India.
Another field of enterprise is in vernacular education. ”

“ The long experience of printing Bibles on thin paper and especially on Oxford India paper has given the Oxford machine-minder an unrivalled dexterity in the nice adjustment required to produce a fine clean effect on paper which will not stand a heavy impression. ”

“ The support given to the Press in the past, whether by individuals or by other institutions devoted to learning, has been trifling in consideration of the work which it has produced. The need of such support is now far more urgent; and the record of the Press is proof that financial support would be turned to good account.
[45]
§ 7. Oxford Imprints The imprints used by the Press as printers and as publishers are various, and their import is not always understood. Oxford at the Clarendon Press is historically and strictly a printer’s imprint, and it is confined to books printed at Oxford ”

“ Many books which if published in isolation would reach only a small public are found capable of a wider usefulness when issued as part of a larger plan; and thus the initiative in publishing passes more and more into the hands of the professional commanding the advice of a body of experts. ”