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
Two years later, in 1564-5, he obtained a license under the Privy Seal
to print the Acts of Parliament of Queen Mary and the Psalms of David in
Scottish metre. Of this edition of the Psalms there is a perfect copy in
the library of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Again, in 1567, Lekpreuik
obtained the royal license as king's printer for twenty years, during
which time he was to have the monopoly of printing _Donatus pro pueris_,
_Rudimentis of Pelisso_, _Acts of Parliament_, _Chronicles of the
Realm_, the book called _Regia Majestas_, the _Psalms_, the _Homelies_,
and _Rudimenta Artis Grammaticae_.
Among his other work of that year may be noticed a ballad entitled _The
testament and tragedie of vmquhile King Henry Stewart of gude memory_, a
broadside of sixteen twelve-line stanzas, from the pen of Robert Sempil.
A copy of this is in the British Museum (Cott. Caligula, C. i. fol. 17).
In 1568 there was danger of plague in Edinburgh, and Lekpreuik printed a
small octavo of twenty-four leaves, in Roman type, with the title, _Ane
breve description of the Pest, Quhair in the Cavsis signes and sum
speciall preservatiovn and cvre thairof ar contenit. Set furth be
Maister Gilbert Skeyne, Doctoure in Medicine_.
In 1570 he printed for Henry Charteris a quarto edition of the _Actis
and Deides of Sir William Wallace_, and in 1571 _The Actis and Lyfe of
Robert Bruce_. This was printed early in the year, as on the 14th April
Secretary Maitland made a raid upon Lekpreuik's premises, under the
belief that he was the printer of Buchanan's _Chameleon_. The printer,
however, had received timely warning and retired to Stirling, where,
before the 6th of August, he printed Buchanan's _Admonition_, and also a
letter from John Knox 'To his loving Brethren.' His sojourn there was
very short, as on the 4th September Stirling was attacked and Lekpreuik
thereupon withdrew to St. Andrews, where his press was active throughout
the year 1572 and part of 1573. In the month of April 1573 Lekpreuik
returned to Edinburgh and printed Sir William Drury's _Regulations_ for
the army under his command. But in January 1573-74 he was thrown into
prison and his press and property confiscated. How long he remained a
prisoner is not clear, but in all probability until after the execution
of the Regent Morton in 1581. In that year he printed the following
books--Patrick Adamson's _Catechismus Latino Carmine Redditus et in
libros quatuor digestus_, a small octavo of forty leaves, printed in
Roman type; Fowler's _Answer to John Hamilton_, a quarto of twenty-eight
leaves; and a _Declaration_ without place or printer's name, but
attributed to his press: after this nothing more is heard of him.
Contemporary with Lekpreuik was Thomas Bassandyne, who is believed to
have worked both in Paris and Leyden before setting up as a printer in
Edinburgh.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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