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
Meanwhile Pynson's premises were taken by Robert Redman, who, from about
the year 1523, had been living just outside Temple Bar. No new facts
have come to light about Redman, and the reasons why he moved into
Pynson's house and continued to use his devices are as puzzling as ever.
He began as a printer of law books, and printed little else. In
conjunction with Petit he printed an edition of the Bible for Berthelet,
and among his other theological books was _A treatise concernynge the
division betwene the Spirytualtie and Temporaltie_, the date of which is
fixed by a note in the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII. (vol. vi., p.
215), from which it appears that, in 1553, Redman entered into a bond of
500 marks not to sell this book or any other licensed by the King.
Redman was also the printer of Leonard Coxe's _Arte and Crafte of
Rhethoryke_, one of the earliest treatises on this subject published in
English. It has recently been republished by Professor Carpenter of
Chicago, with copious notes.
Redman's work fell very much below that of his predecessor. Much of his
type had been in use in Pynson's office for some years, and was badly
worn. He had, however, a good fount of Roman, seen in the _De Judiciis
et Praecognitionibus_ of Edward Edguardus. The title of this book is
enclosed in a border, having at the top a dove, and at the bottom the
initials J. N.
Redman's will was proved on the 4th November 1540. His widow, Elizabeth,
married again, but several books were printed with her name in the
interval. His son-in-law, Henry Smith, lived in St. Clement's parish
without Temple Bar, and printed law books in the years 1545 and 1546.
Redman's successor at the George was William Middleton, who continued
the printing of law books, and brought out a folio edition of
Froissart's _Chronicles_, with Pynson's colophon and the date 1525,
which has led some to assume that this edition was printed by Pynson.
Upon Middleton's death in 1547, his widow married William Powell, who
thereupon succeeded to the business.
Among those for whom Wynkyn de Worde worked shortly before his death was
John Byddell, a stationer living at the sign of 'Our Lady of Pity,' next
Fleet Bridge, who for some reason spoke of himself under the name of
Salisbury. He used as his device a figure of Virtue, copied from one of
those in use by Jacques Sacon, printer at Lyons between 1498 and 1522
(see _Silvestre_, Nos. 548 and 912). The same design, only in a larger
form, was also in use in Italy at this time. In the collection of
title-pages in the British Museum (618, ll. 18, 19) is one enclosed
within a border found in books printed at Venice, on which the figure of
Virtue occurs. The only difference between it and the mark of Byddell
being that the two shields show the lion of St. Mark, and the whole
thing is much larger.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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