The Bookbinder in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg: An Account of His Life & Times, & of His Craft — John Shaqi
The Bookbinder in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg: An Account of His Life & Times, & of His CraftFord, Thomas K.
History
The Bookbinder in Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg: An Account of His Life & Times, & of His Craft
Ford, Thomas K.
Bookbinding -- Virginia -- Williamsburg
June 11 William Waters, Binding Corelis Sonate, 8/9
lett^d ... 4to
June 19 Hon. John Blair, Binding Amelia [County] 15/-
rent roll. folio
June 27 George Davenport, Binding Mrs Ballard’s 3/9
Prayer Book
Col Robert Bolling, Binding Councel of 17/6
Trent, folio, gilt & Letter’d 15/- D^o ...
Baconi Historia, Henrici Septimi, d^o 2/6
Thomas Jefferson, D^o History Virginia, 4to 8/9
July 3 Col Robert Bolling Jun^r Lettering Pope’s 5/7½
Works, 9 Vols for Miss Sally Waters
Aug. 28 Rev^d David Mossom, Binding a Bible 5/-
John Gilchrist, Ditto Love Elegies 2/- 7/-
Aug. 31 James Anderson, Blacksmith Binding a Quarto 10/-
Bible. in ruff Calf
An advertisement Royle placed in the _Maryland Gazette_ for May 2, 1765,
throws an interesting light on one of the characteristic
labor-management difficulties of his time:
WILLIAMSBURG, April 23, 1765
Ran away from the Printing-Office, on Saturday Night, a Servant Man
named _George Fisher_, by Trade a Book-Binder, between 25 and 26 Years
of Age, about 5 feet 5 Inches high, very thick, stoops much, and has a
down Look; he is a little Peck-pitted, has a Scar on one of his
Temples, is much addicted to Licquor, very talkative when drunk, and
remarkably stupid.
Whoever apprehends the said Servant, and conveys him to the
Printing-Office, in Virginia, shall have Five Pounds Reward, and if
taken out of the Colony, TEN POUNDS, beside what the Law allows.
JOSEPH ROYLE
This seems a generous reward indeed for the return of a man of Fisher’s
unendearing qualities. Not that Fisher, a transported convict, was
untalented in his way. “Conveyed” to Williamsburg and lodged in the
gaol, he escaped at the end of July, both from custody and from history.
_MASS PRODUCTION BY HAND_
The third principal variety of work done in the Williamsburg binderies
was edition binding—the stitching and uniform covering of a whole run of
books printed in the same shop. Session laws of the Virginia Assembly,
and periodical codifications of them printed in editions of 1,000 copies
or more constituted the bulk of edition binding for Parks and his
successors.
Shortly before his death Parks had agreed to print and bind 1,000 copies
of the 1748 revision of the Virginia code “with the Arms of Virginia
stampt on each book.” Along with the other assets and liabilities of the
printing office, Hunter took over this contract, which called for the
volumes to be finished by June 10, 1751. In October of that year
however, he felt obliged to defend himself with the following notice in
the _Virginia Gazette_:
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