Chapter I: Preface

The treatment of the material used in this volume will be found somewhat different from that adopted in the two preceding. The narrower field of inquiry makes possible a closer following of the ordinary chronological method of arrangement rather than the topical method of the other volumes. An attempt is made to trace the history of printing in England through the centuries from Caxton to Morris and to include some insight into legal regulations, trade conditions, and industrial development generally. As before, it is to be remembered that this is a primer, a book of introductions. No attempt, therefore, is made to go far into details or to discuss disputed points or to include any considerable amount of technical detail. It is hoped that the reader will get a comprehensive view of the subject, will feel its human interest, and will catch some glimpse of its larger relation to the general history of the time.

The writer has consulted a considerable range of authorities, a few of the more accessible of which are cited in the short list of books for supplementary reading. Mention should be made of the very excellent study of John Baskerville, privately printed by Col. Josiah H. Benton, of Boston. This book may perhaps be found in the larger public libraries. Here, as always, it is to be regretted that although much has been written on the subject of printing and of the history of printing a good general history of the subject is still greatly to be desired.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I PAGE

THE ENGLISH PIONEERS 7

CHAPTER II

THE REGULATION OF THE INDUSTRY AND THE COMPANY OF STATIONERS 18

CHAPTER III

JOHN DAY AND THE DARK AGES OF ENGLISH PRINTING 34

CHAPTER IV

THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY: THE PERIOD OF TRANSITION 49

CHAPTER V

THE WHITTINGHAMS AND THE MODERN BOOK 68

SUPPLEMENTARY READING 76

REVIEW QUESTIONS 77

PRINTING IN ENGLAND