Читать книгу A Brief History of Printing in England - Frederick W. Hamilton - Страница 5

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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. In culture and the refinements of civilization, as well as in many more practical things, England was not so far advanced as the rest of Europe nor was it to be so for many years to come.

England at this time was an agricultural and grazing country. A colony of Flemings had been brought over to start the cloth industry. There was still, nevertheless, a large export of wool to Flanders, which was there woven and sent back as cloth. The English nobles lived largely on their estates, looking after their tenants, hunting for diversion, and doing a little fighting occasionally when life became otherwise unbearably uninteresting. They were not an educated class and the peasantry were profoundly ignorant. The cities which, as always, depended upon manufacture and commerce were just beginning to grow, with the exception of some of the seaport towns which were already prosperous and wealthy.

Not only was this general condition true, but there were special conditions which rendered the middle of the fifteenth century unfavorable to culture and to the introduction of a new invention auxiliary to culture. In 1450 England was shaken and horrified by the bloody insurrection of peasants, with its attendant outrages, known as Jack Cade’s Revolt. Scarcely had order been restored when a disputed succession to the crown plunged the country into the bloody civil war between the adherents of the Houses of York and Lancaster, known as the Wars of the Roses. This period of civil strife lasted for thirty years and affected the general welfare of England very seriously. It was especially marked by mortality among the noblest families in the realm, many of which were actually exterminated.

Some time within this bloody half-century the art of printing was introduced into England. There is in existence a book printed in Oxford and dated on the title page 1468. Upon the existence of this book, and upon a somewhat doubtful legend, has been built a claim that English printing originated in Oxford. This claim, however, has practically ceased to be maintained. The legend appears to be baseless, and it has been generally concluded that the date is a misprint and that it should be 1478, an X having been dropped in writing the Roman date, a not uncommon error in publications of this period. Historians have now generally agreed that the introduction of printing in England is due to William Caxton, one of the most interesting figures in the whole annals of printing.

Caxton was born in the Weald, or wooded land, of Kent, a place of simple people and uncouth speech, about 1421. As a boy he was apprenticed to Robert Large, a prominent mercer or silk merchant of London. On the death of Large, not many years later, Caxton went to Bruges, in Belgium, then part of the territory of the Dukes of Burgundy, and became connected with the so-called English “Nation” or “House.” This was a chartered company of merchant adventurers similar to the companies which later settled certain portions of North America and to the famous East India Company. 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. Caxton immediately came into friendly relations with the Duchess, who shortly after gave him a position in her personal service. It is not quite clear what this position was. It has been supposed by some that the purpose of the Duchess was to enable Caxton to pursue his literary labors with the special end of making continental literature known to the English through translation. A more probable supposition, however, is that he was the confidential business adviser to the Duchess. It is a well-known fact that royal personages at this period engaged freely in trade and that sometimes they engaged in extensive commercial transactions with other royal personages although trade between their two countries might be strictly prohibited by law, as was the case with England and Flanders during part of the reign of Edward IV. At an early period of their friendship Caxton showed the Duchess Margaret his unfinished translation of the Troy stories. Fortunately for the world, the Duchess was a friendly but candid critic. She saw both the strength and the weakness of Caxton’s work, and while she took him to task roundly for his rough and poor English she encouraged and commanded him to complete his translation and at the same time improve himself in English. Caxton thereupon renewed his work and completed the translation of the Troy stories at Cologne in 1471.

Caxton was immediately besieged with demands for copies of his translations, which, of course, he was unable to furnish, although he appears to have worked at it until time, strength, and eyesight failed. He thereupon determined to learn the new art of printing so that he might by that means multiply copies of this and other works which he might execute. Unquestionably he saw printing presses in operation in Cologne. It has been claimed that he learned to print there, and this claim receives some support from an ambiguous statement attributed to him many years later by Wynkyn de Worde. It is possible that Caxton may have worked a little in one of the Cologne printing offices, but it seems clear on internal evidence that Mr. Blades is right in his conclusion that Caxton did not learn the art there. The early printed work of Caxton is by no means equal to that of the Cologne printers, and represents an earlier stage of development than that which had been reached by Cologne at this period. Many of the compositor’s methods which were familiar to the Cologne printers of 1470 did not appear in Caxton’s books until years later.

On Caxton’s return from Cologne he associated himself with one Colard Mansion, who for a few years unsuccessfully attempted to carry on a printing business at Bruges. The probability is that Caxton learned the art during this association with Mansion. The association was terminated in 1476 by the bankruptcy of Mansion. During this period, however, Caxton and Mansion published five books, two in English and three in French. The first to be published, and the first book to be printed in English anywhere, was the translation of the Troy stories. One of the other books was the first book that was ever printed in French. It is interesting to note that the first book to be printed in French was done by an Englishman in Flanders.

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. Caxton’s shop appears to have been in a building known as the “Red Pale” within the abbey “close.” Caxton continued to print here until his death in 1491.

Within this period he printed ninety-three books and perhaps eight or ten more whose attribution is uncertain. Of these ninety-three, fifteen ran to two editions and three of the fifteen ran to three editions. Caxton was a good business man and was probably possessed of considerable capital when he began. He not only made the business pay, but took advantage of his somewhat independent position financially to lead and create the popular taste instead of following it. Caxton was thoroughly English. He knew his people and knew what they would take and he printed accordingly. He did a good business in service books, school books, and statutes or public printing. These were what we should call to-day “pot boilers” and kept his office going on a sound business basis. Beyond that he printed a large number of works of good literature, but he took no unnecessary chances even in this field. He always endeavored either to get the financial backing of some wealthy noble or to assure himself of a reasonable sale before he undertook a new publication.

In the field of literature his work was different from that of almost any other printer of his time. He printed no Bibles. 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. There was no demand for theology in English, and theology in Latin and Greek could be cheaply imported. Moreover, although Caxton was a profoundly religious man and a perfectly loyal son of the Church, he appears to have had no personal interest in theology whatever. For similar reasons he printed no edition of the Fathers and only two volumes of the classics. He left all of these matters to the importers.

His field of publication was the putting before the public of good, recent literature in the English language. He did this partly through printing the works of Chaucer, Langland, and other good English authors and partly through translation of works in French and Latin. He was very much interested in English history and works relating to England, publishing several of the old chronicles and other matters of this sort. He believed that there was great help to be found in reading stories of good women and brave men and he attempted to lay a store of such stories before his readers. His own translations cover over five thousand closely printed folio pages, but he had many other translations made for him. He was a good linguist in French, Flemish, and Latin and a tireless worker at his literary and business labors. He meant that everything which he printed should be helpful to his readers and should make for the betterment of the life of his time, although he would have been the first to disclaim the title of reformer or missionary.

Two notable instances of his literary honesty appear. After the publication of his first edition of Chaucer, an acquaintance came to him and called his attention to the fact that he had followed a very imperfect manuscript. His friend said that his father had a very fine manuscript and Caxton at once arranged for a loan of it. Finding that through following an imperfect text he had omitted many things from Chaucer’s text and inserted many others which did not belong there, he at once printed a correct edition, probably at very serious loss to himself. The unsold copies of the first edition became useless and the cost of a second edition was equal to the first, as the work had to be entirely done over again from the beginning. The other instance must be judged by the standards of his time rather than ours, but showed his desire to present only correct texts to his readers. Caxton published in 1483 a translation of John Mink’s “Liber Festivalis.” An independent translation was published at Oxford in 1487. A few years later Caxton published a second edition, but followed the Oxford text rather than his own earlier translation.

Personally Caxton is a most interesting figure, a sturdy, honest, high-minded, common-sensible English gentleman, a man who loved and served God, honored the King, and helped his neighbor to the best of his ability, and who did his country an inestimable service not only by the introduction of a new art but by the opening of a new field of literature.

Caxton’s printing was not remarkable for typographical excellence. He used soft type and thin ink, very much to the detriment of the beauty of his impressions. The first type which he used was a font of black letter made in imitation of the handwriting of the Burgundian clerks of the time. This font had belonged to Mansion and was probably obtained by Caxton from Mansion’s creditors. Later he cut for himself several other fonts, some authorities say five, some seven. All of his fonts were black-letter Gothic and all more or less related to the Burgundian script with which he began. He used / instead of commas and periods. He had a habit of correcting typographical errors by hand after the books were finished. He went over the first copy, making the corrections himself, and afterward the other copies were made to conform by clerks or apprentices.

While Caxton was at work a few other printers made their appearance in England. Some time before 1478 Theodoric Rood, of Cologne, opened a printing office at Oxford. The office was open for about eight years, but seems to have done only a small business. We have fifteen books which are known to have come from this press. They were printed from three different fonts of type. Two of them were good letters imported from Cologne. About 1487 Rood disappeared and is supposed to have gone back to Cologne. In 1479 a press was started at the abbey of St. Albans. 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.

In 1480 a printer appeared in London named John Lettou. Lettou was evidently not an Englishman, but his origin is unknown. The word Lettou is an old form of Lithuania. Attempts have been made to identify him with certain continental printers, but as these attempts rest on similarities of type-face they are uncertain. Soon after his appearance Lettou was associated with William Machlinia or de Machlinia (William of Mechlin or Malines in Belgium). Machlinia made a specialty of law books. The business was later taken over by Richard Pynson. None of these made any particular contribution to typography. Their interest lies chiefly in the fact that they were the beginners of English printing.

There was no successor to carry on Caxton’s traditions of scholarship, of literary taste, or even of craftsmanship. Caxton, as we have said, was a successful business man before he became a printer and was doubtless financially independent during the whole of his later life. His successors were men who were dependent entirely upon their craft for their livelihood. Caxton’s immediate successors were two, Wynkyn de Worde, a native of Lorraine, and Richard Pynson, a native of Normandy. Both of these men appear to have learned their trade with Caxton. Wynkyn de Worde carried on the business after Caxton’s death. De Worde appears to have been a man of very little education. Pynson was a graduate of the University of Paris, but he never became at home in the English language.

De Worde carried on the Caxton business from 1491 to 1534, at first in Caxton’s own shop, afterward in London (Westminster and London have now grown together, but at that time they were a considerable distance apart). During this time De Worde published over six hundred books. His books were cheap and poor in every way. De Worde was slow to start publishing. He published almost nothing for a couple of years after Caxton’s death. He appears to have lacked initiative and probably lacked capital. He seems to have discovered that there was money in cheap publications of a sort that catered to the popular taste, and he diligently worked that line of business. He appears to have made money, but cannot be credited with any higher type of success. He hired translators and editors and he evidently hired cheap ones, as the editorial work on his books is not good.

Pynson printed from 1492 to 1529. He did a much higher class of work than De Worde, although he is by no means eminent for his typography. He made less money than De Worde, but appears to have kept out of financial difficulties. His publications were mostly law books. He took over the business of Lettou and Machlinia, but had specialized in law books on becoming printer to the king in 1510. Pynson introduced the use of roman type in 1509, although it was some time before it displaced the gothic in common use. In 1523 to 1525 he printed Lord Berners’s translation of the “Chronicle” of Froissart. In literature this is a notable event. Froissart was really the first modern historian. The book marks the transition from the dry chronicles of the Middle Ages to history proper.

Robert Copeland, who began to print about 1514, is notable as being probably the first English printer, that is to say, the first native-born Englishman to go into the business.

One of the few good printers of this early period was Thomas Berthelet or Bartlett. Berthelet was a Welshman and was an excellent bookbinder as well as a good printer. He was the first man in England to use gold tooling on his binding. Berthelet enjoyed the position of royal printer. Richard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch were the first printers of English Bibles, which began to appear about the middle of the sixteenth century.