There is reason to believe that Richard Tottell was the third son of Henry Tottell, a famous citizen of Exeter. The name was spelt in a great variety of ways, such as Tothill, Tuthill, Tottle, Tathyll, and Tottell. Richard Tottell at the time of his death held lands in Devon, and some of the same lands that belonged to the Tothill family of Exeter. Moreover, his coat of arms was the same as theirs. But before 1552 he was in London, for in that year he received a patent for the printing of law books, and was generally known as Richard Tottell of London, gentleman. He appears to have married Joan, a sister of Richard Grafton, and in this way became possessed of considerable land in the county of Bucks. From this we may assume that he had business relations with Richard Grafton, and it becomes only natural that he should have printed various editions of Grafton's _Chronicle_, and come into possession of some of his finest woodcut borders. [Illustration: FIG. 23.--Richard Tottell's Device.] It was in June 1557 that he printed his 'Miscellany,' an unpretentious quarto, with the title: _Songes and Sonnettes, written by the Ryght Honorable Lorde Henry Hawarde, late Earl of Surrey and other_. Before the 31st July a second edition became necessary, and several new poems were added. The third edition appeared in 1559, the fourth in 1565, and before the end of the sixteenth century, four more editions were called for. Another of Tottell's works was Gerard Legh's _Accedens of Armory_, an octavo, printed throughout in italic type, with a curiously engraved title-page, besides numerous illustrations of coats of arms, and several full-page illustrations. It was printed in 1562, and again in 1576 and 1591. The best of Tottell's work as a printer is to be found in the law-books, for which he was a patentee. In these he used several handsome borders to title-pages, one of an architectural character with his initials R. T. at the two lower corners, another, evidently Grafton's, with a view of the King and Parliament in the top panel, and Grafton's punning device in the centre of the bottom panel. In 1573 Richard Tottell tried to establish a paper mill in England. He wrote to Cecil, pointing out that nearly all paper came from France, and undertaking to establish a mill in England if the Government would give him the necessary land and the sole privilege of making paper for thirty years (Arber, i. 242). But as nothing was ever done in the matter, the Government evidently did not entertain the proposal. Tottell was Master of the Company of Stationers in 1579 and 1584. During the latter part of his life he withdrew from business, and lived at Wiston, in Pembrokeshire, where he died in 1593. He left several children, of whom the eldest, William Tottell, succeeded to his estates.