as John Biddel, Thomas Berthelet, etc., to print Bibles in the English tongue. The first of these, printed this year, was a Bible in large folio, with the following title: "The Byble in Englyshe, that is to say, the Content of all the Holie Scripture bothe of the Olde and Newe Testament, truly translated after the Veryte of the Hebrue and Greke Textes, by the dylygent Studye of dyuerse excellent learned men, expert in the forsayde tonges. "Prynted by Richard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch, "Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum. 1539." Grafton was in so much favour, that we find, in Rymer's Fœdera, a patent dated January 28, 1543, as follows:— "Pro divino servicio, de libris imprimendis." In 1545, he printed King Henry VIII.'s Primer, both in Latin and English, with red and black ink, for which he had a patent, that is inserted at the end, expressed in much the same words as the preceding one of 1543. In the first year of Edward VI., Grafton was favoured with a special patent, granted to him for the sole printing of all the Statute Books. This is the first patent that is taken notice of by that diligent and accurate antiquarian, Sir William Dugdale. An eminent printer was Christopher Plantin of Antwerp, who lived in the latter part of the sixteenth century. "I am well aware," says his biographer, "that many illustrious men have flourished as printers, such as the Aldi of Italy, the Frobens from Germany, and the Stephenses from France; but these were all eclipsed in the single name of Plantin: if these," he continues, "were the stars of their own hemispheres, he was the Sun, not of Antwerp merely, nor Belgium, but the world!" His offices at Antwerp, Germany, and France seem to have been established upon the most magnificent scale, and, like one of his great predecessors, Stephens, he indulged himself in the luxury of silver types. At one time, he is reported to have paid to his proof-readers and compositors no less than one hundred golden crowns per diem, no equivocal evidence of the extent of his operations. He also retained, not only in his friendship, but in his employ, a host of the literary men of his day, among the number the renowned De Thou. His chef-d'œuvre-which has been styled the eighth wonder of the world-was his Biblia Polyglotta, in eight folio volumes, copies of which, not being now rare, produce no extraordinary sums at auction. Then we have the no less illustrious names of Francis Raphelengius, the celebrated scholar, and printer to the University of Leyden; and Louis Elzevir, of the same place (temp. 1595-1616), the founder of the most learned family of printers that ever adorned the republic of letters. Elzevir is said to have been the first who observed the distinction between the use of the consonant v, and the vowel u (which had been recommended by Ramus and other writers long before, but never regarded), as also the vowel i from the consonant j. Aldus Manutius, with whom terminated a family of printers scarcely less distinguished in the literary history of their times, extending to upwards of a century, was grandson to the celebrated Aldus. His extraordinary precocity was displayed by the successful publication of a production from his own pen in his eleventh year; and his great work, De Veterum Notarum Explanatione, has not only immortalised his name, but has been long since acknowledged as a standard for reference by the learned. In the reign of the second Charles, we find the name of John Ogilby, geographical printer to the Court, and noted as having written some books, including a pompous account of the coronation of that monarch, which he was appointed to write in 1661. He also published a magnificent Bible, with illustrations, for which he was remunerated by the British Parliament. Towards the close of the seventeenth century, Palliot, the historiographer, printer, and bookseller to the King of France, was also highly distinguished as a genealogist. As a proof of his untiring perseverance and industry, it is recorded that he left, at his decease, thirteen volumes of MSS., in addition to the five folios which he had already published, the plates of which were likewise executed by his own hands. Contemporary with him, lived Rothscholtz, the bookseller of Nuremberg, whose name is distinguished in the world of letters by his great work, in two volumes quarto, entitled, A Short Essay towards an Ancient and Modern History of Booksellers. In early times, bookselling and printing were not only often combined, but, in some instances, it appears, authorship also was united with these several branches of handicraft. Numerous instances attest that a natural and intimate connection subsists between printing and knowledge, and that printers have themselves contributed by their genius to adorn the annals of their age: rising from the servile labours of the press to eminent distinction, and diffusing the light of science even in the darkest times. Bayle speaks of one who composed and printed a work simultaneously, setting up the types with his hands, as fast as his brain concocted his sentences, without the intervention of manuscript corrections. 66 Lackington, the well-known bookseller, insists that there is an affinity between the two pursuits. He writes: among all the schools where a knowledge of mankind may be acquired, I know of none equal to that of a bookseller's shop, where, if any one have any taste for literature, he may be said to feed his mind, as cooks' and butchers' wives get fat by the smell of meat." It cannot be denied, however, that there are numerous exceptions to this supposed rule; for the instances of eminent printers and booksellers we have presented, are from the many whose commerce with literature seemed to have awakened little or no sympathy with its pleasures, its pains, or its pursuit. The remark is not less applicable to our own times. Perhaps the most curious instance that ever occurred of an author publisher, if we may venture so to style him, was that of an individual well known, years since, in the streets of London, who was no less remarkable for the novel method he adopted for displaying his productions before the world, even without the aid of the press, than as presenting the singular anomaly of writer and publisher combined, giving to the public his labours anonymously. How often have we seen him in our boyish peregrinations, and lingered to gaze on his ingenious performances! The "mammoth sheets" of our own day, stupendous as they are, shrink into a paltry insignificance as we trace out in mental vision the broad superficies of the former. Nor was the literary department the only feature that exhibited the skill of this luminous writer; he united within himself the artist also, equally excelling in design, engraving, and chirography. A black's head, with a ring through his nose, and a group of fish, were portrayed upon the pavement with inimitable fidelity. This singular genius, who used to fix his location wherever the pavement was sufficiently smooth, was a cripple, and it was amusing to observe, if among the admiring crowd, any inquisitive little urchin happened to encroach too closely on his prescribed limits, the implement which supplied to him the lack of limbs, was made the summary instrument to visit upon the shins of the offender the penalty of his trespass. His writing was exceedingly well executed, and his poetic lucubrations were generally no less admirably pointed—we regret that our recollection supplies us with no more than the following specimen : Let no rude footsteps on this pavement tread, The very stones themselves cry out in vain! This hapless votary of the muse has passed away; and though unchronicled in any "Curiosities of Literature," we trust we have said enough to rescue his memory from utter annihilation. Craving indulgence for the digression into which the recurrence of an early association has beguiled us, we retrace our steps, while we solicit the reader to accompany us adown the stream of time a few centuries back. In the olden time prior to the era of printing, the MSS. of authors were obliged to be subjected to the ordeal of critical censorship, previous to their being allowed public perusal; their works being required to be read over before the Universities, for three successive days, or by appointed judges, when, if approved, copies were allowed to be executed by the monks, scribes, and illuminators. Even in the classical days of Greece and Rome, we find a trade carried on in books; those works most in demand being multiplied by the scribes and copyists. An exclusive traffic in the MSS. of those days seems to have been carried on along the shores of the Mediterranean, and the Greek colonies of the Euxine. During the middle ages, the booksellers were styled Stationarii at the Universities of Paris and Bologna; they used to sell and loan MSS. This was the commencement of the bookselling business. A species of literary censorship, it appears, was first established at Paris, in 1342, when a licence from the University was requisite previously to engaging in such business. The booksellers were, in fact, regularly matriculated by entry on its roll, and considered as its officers; the prices of all books were also fixed, according to the tariff of four sworn booksellers, by the institution; a fine was imposed for selling an imperfect copy of a work, and a catalogue, with the prices annexed, was further required to be always kept in the shops. This censorship was afterwards invested in the person of Berthold, Archbishop of Mentz, in 1486, and again renewed with greater vigour with respect to books, by the Council of Trent, in 1546, being subsequently enforced by the popes, down to 1563, by whom several Indices Librorum Prohibitorum were issued. In France the censorship was vested in the Chancellor ; in England it was exercised by the well-known Star-Chamber; and after the abolition of that court, by Parliament itself; it was abolished in England about 1694, although it still continues in force, we believe, in several of the Continental States. The first bookseller, so called on record, was Faustus. He is said to have carried his books for sale to the monasteries in France and elsewhere; and the first bookseller who purchased MSS. for publication, without possessing a press of his own, was John Otto, of Nuremberg (1516). |