A Short History of English Printing, 1476-1898 — John Shaqi
A Short History of English Printing, 1476-1898Plomer, Henry R. (Henry Robert)
History
A Short History of English Printing, 1476-1898
Plomer, Henry R. (Henry Robert)
England -- Imprints; Printing -- England -- History
In this same year 1480, Lettou published the _Quæstiones Antonii Andreæ
super duodecim libros metaphysicæ Aristotelis_, a small folio of 106
leaves, printed in double columns, of which only one perfect copy is
known, that in the Library of Sion College. The type is small, and
remarkable from its numerous abbreviations. Mr. E. G. Duff in his _Early
Printed Books_, p. 161, speaks of its great resemblance to those of
Matthias Moravus, a Naples printer, and suggests a common origin for
their types. In his _Early English Printing_, on the other hand, he
writes: 'There are very strong reasons for believing that he [Lettou] is
the same person as the Johannes Bremer, _alias_ Bulle, who is mentioned
by Hain as having printed two books at Rome in 1478 and 1479. The type
which this printer used is identical (with the exception of one of the
capital letters) with that used in the books printed by John Lettou in
London.'
A few years later Lettou was joined by William de Machlinia. They were
chiefly associated in printing law-books, but whether they had any
patent from the king cannot be discovered. Only one of the five books
they are known to have printed, the _Tenores Novelli_, has any colophon,
and none of them has any date. The address they gave was 'juxta
ecclesiam omnium sanctorum,' but as there were several churches so
dedicated, the locality cannot be fixed.
We next find Machlinia working alone, but out of the twenty-two books or
editions that have been traced to his press, only four contain his name,
and none have a date. All we can say is that he printed from two
addresses, 'in Holborn,' and 'By Flete-brigge.' Mr. Duff inclines to the
opinion that the 'Flete-brigge' is the earlier, but it seems almost
hopeless to attempt to place these books in any chronological order from
their typographical peculiarities.
In the Fleet-Bridge type are two books by Albertus Magnus, the _Liber
aggregationis_ and the _De Secretis Mulierum_. The type is of a black
letter character, not unlike that in which the _Nova Statuta_ were
printed, and is distinguishable by the peculiar shape of the capital M.
In the same type we find the _Revelation of St. Nicholas to a Monk of
Evesham_, a reprint of the _Tenores Novelli_, and some fragments of a
_Sarum Horæ_ found in old bindings; a woodcut border was used in some
parts of it. Besides these Machlinia printed an edition of the _Vulgaria
Terentii_.
A larger number of books is found in the Holborn types, the most
important being the _Chronicles of England_, of which only one perfect
copy is known.
The _Speculum Christiani_ is interesting as containing specimens of
early poetry, and _The Treatise on the Pestilence_, of Kamitus or
Canutus, bishop of Aarhus, ran to three editions, one of which contains
a title-page, and was therefore presumably printed late in Machlinia's
career, _i.e._ about 1490.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account