A Greek press was established in London in 1632, under peculiar circumstances, which, though not strictly bearing upon the history of letter-founding at Oxford, we may here refer to as an interesting episode in the history of English printing. Robert Barker and Martin Lucas, the King’s printers in London, were arraigned before the High Commission Court for a scandalous error in a _Bible_[244] printed by them in 1631, whereby the seventh commandment was made to read, “Thou shalt commit adultery.” For this grave offence, the impression (which numbered 1,000 copies and was full of typographical errors) was called in, and {143} the printers were ordered to pay a fine of £300.[245] This sum of money Laud received the royal authority to expend in the purchase of Greek types, according to the terms of the following letter addressed to him by the King, dated January 13, 1633: “Most reverend father in God, right trusty and right entirely beloved counsellor, we greet you well. Whereas our servant, Patrick Young, keeper of our library, hath lately with great industry and care published in print an epistle of Clemens Romanus[246] in Greek and Latin, which was never printed before, and has done this to the benefit of the church, and our great honour, the manuscript, by which he printed it, being in our library; and whereas we further understand that the right reverend father in God, Augustin,[247] now Bishop of Peterborough, and our said servant Patrick Young, are resolved for to make ready for the press one or more Greek copies every year, by such manuscripts as are either in our library or in the libraries of our universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or elsewhere, if there were Greek presses, matrices, and mony ready for the work which pains of theirs will tend to the great honour of our self, this church, and nation; we have thought good to give them all possible encouragement herein, and do therefore first require you, that the fine lately imposed by our high commissioners upon Robert Barker and Martin Lucas for base and corrupt printing of the Bible, being the sum of three hundred pounds, be converted to the present buying of such and so many Greek letters and matrices, as shall be by you thought fit for this great and honourable work. And our further will and pleasure is that the said Robert Barker and Martin Lucas, our patentees for printing, which either now are, or shall hereafter succeed them, being great gainers by that patent, which they hold under us, shall at their own proper costs and charges of ink, paper, and workmanship, print, or cause to be printed in Greek, or Greek and Latin, one such volume in a year, be it bigger or less, as the right reverend father aforesaid, or our servant Patrick Young or any other of our learned subjects