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The Press made to the prosecution of the War both a direct and an indirect contribution. In August 1914 about 575 adult males were employed at Oxford; of these sixty-three, being members of the Territorial Force, were mobilized at the outbreak of war; and of the remainder some 293 enlisted in 1914 or later. Considering the number of those who from age or other causes were unfit for service, the proportion of voluntary enlistment was high. The London Office and Wolvercote Mill also gave their quota to the service of the Crown.

Those who were obliged to remain behind were not idle. The Oxford historians at once engaged in the controversy upon the responsibility for the War; and in September 1914 the Press published Why We are at War: Great Britain’s Case, a series of essays closely and dispassionately reasoned, and illustrated by official documents including the German White Book, reproduced exactly from the English translation published in Berlin for neutral consumption and vitiated by clumsy variations from the German original. Why We are at War rapidly went through twelve impressions, and at the instance of Government was translated into six languages. The profits were handed over to the Belgian Relief Fund. At the same time was initiated, under the editorship of Mr. H. W. C. Davis, the series of Oxford Pamphlets on war topics, of which in a short time more than half a million copies were sold all over the world. Later, when the public appetite for pamphlets slackened, and the world had leisure for closer study, the series of Histories of the Belligerents was founded, which is noticed elsewhere.

‘The Clarendon Press,’ writes Sir Walter Raleigh in his Introduction to the Oxford University Roll of Service, ‘though deprived of the services of virtually all its men of military age, was active in the production of books and pamphlets, most of them written by Oxford men, setting forth the causes and issues of the War—a mine of information, and an armoury of apologetics.’

Not the least of the services rendered by the Press was the printing done for the Naval Intelligence Department of the Admiralty directed by Admiral Sir Reginald Hall. Both secrecy and speed were essential to the usefulness of this work, and to secure them the Printer to the University made special arrangements involving a severe strain upon himself and those to whom the work was entrusted. Admiral Hall, when unveiling the Press War Memorial in October 1920, declared that the work done was unique in kind, and that without the help of the Press the operations of his Department could not have been carried out with success.

WOLVERCOTE PAPER MILL

Rag Sorting

Rag Cutting

Rag Boiling

Rag Breaking

As the War dragged on, the numbers employed at the Press steadily declined; the demands of Government as steadily increased; the shortage of materials of all kinds became more and more acute. None the less the Bible Press met an unprecedented demand for the New Testament by supplying within three years four and a half million of copies for use in the field. The Learned Press, too, continued to produce, though the volume of production became less and less. The machinery of the Dictionary, though its movement was retarded, never came to a standstill. The scientific journals continued to appear, and not a few learned books were published. A greater number, however, were placed in the Delegates’ safes, in expectation of the increased facilities which the end of the War has hardly brought. The manufacturing powers of the Press, indeed, have virtually reached their pre-war level; but the ever-rising cost of labour and materials has made it as yet impossible to restore to its old volume the output of books which could at no time have been remunerative. It may be added that the Delegates, like other publishers, have had to consider that the purchasing power of the public on which they rely has not kept pace with the rise in costs. The price of books has of course risen very greatly; but the ratio of increase has been substantially lower than that of commodities in general.