A Short History of English Printing, 1476-1898. Henry Robert Plomer
black letter type used was identical in character with that of Wynkyn de Worde.
No book is found printed by Notary between the years 1510 and 1515. In the former year he appears to have had a house in St. Paul's Churchyard, as well as the Three Kings without Temple Bar. In 1515 he speaks only of the sign of St. Mark in St. Paul's Churchyard, and three years later this is altered to the sign of the Three Kings. It is just conceivable that this last was a misprint, or that the St. Mark was a temporary office used only while the Three Kings was under repair.
In 1507 Notary exchanged the simple merchant's mark that had hitherto served him as a device for one of a more elaborate character. This took the form of a helmet over a shield with his mark upon it, with decorative border, and below all his name. From this a still larger block was made in the same year, and this was strongly French in character. It showed the smaller block affixed to a tree with bird and flowers all round it, and two fabulous creatures on either side of the base. The initials 'J. N.' are seen at the top. This he sometimes used as a frontispiece, substituting for the centre piece a block of a different character.
Richard Pynson also changed his address shortly after Wynkyn de Worde, moving from outside Temple Bar to the George in Fleet Street, next to St. Dunstan's Church. He also appears to have entirely given up the use of Gothic type in favour of English black letter about this time. It is not easy to form a conjecture as to the motive which led to the abandonment of this type, and it is impossible to regard the step without regret. Even in its rudest forms it was a striking type; in the hands of a man like Pynson it was far more effective than the black letter which took its place. With regard to this latter, there seems reason to believe, from the great similarity both in size and form of the fount in use by De Worde, Notary, and Pynson at this time, that it was obtained by all the printers from one common foundry. Nor is it only the letters which lead to this conclusion, but the common use of the same ornaments points in the same direction. The only difference between the black letter in use by Pynson in the first years of the sixteenth century and that of his contemporaries, is the occurrence of a lower case 'w' of a different fount.
In 1509 Pynson is believed to have introduced Roman type into England, using it with his scholastic type to print the Sermo Fratris Hieronymi de Ferraria. In the same year he also issued a very fine edition of Alexander Barclay's translation of Brandt's Shyp of Folys of the Worlde. In this, the Latin original and the English translation are set side by side. The book was printed in folio in two founts, one of Roman and one of black letter. It was profusely illustrated with woodcuts copied from those in the German edition.
About 1510 Pynson became the royal printer in the place of W. Faques, and continued to hold the post until his death. At first he received a salary of 40s. per annum (see L. and P. H. 8, vol. 1, p. 364), but this was afterwards increased to £4 per annum (L. and P. H. 8, vol. 2, p. 875). In this capacity he printed numbers of Proclamations, numerous Year-books, and all the Statutes, and received large sums of money. In 1513 he printed The Sege and Dystrucyon of Troye, of which several copies (some of them on vellum) are still in existence. Other books of which he printed copies on vellum are the Sarum Missal of 1520, and Assertio Septem Sacramentorum of 1521.
Besides these and his official work, Pynson printed numbers of useful books in all classes of literature. The works of Chaucer and Skelton and Lydgate, the history of Froissart and the Chronicle of St. Albans; books such as Æsop's Fables and Reynard the Fox, romances such as Sir Bevis of Hampton are scattered freely amongst works of a more learned character. On the whole he deserves a much higher place than De Worde. It is rare, indeed, to find a carelessly printed book of Pynson's, whilst such books as the Boccaccio of 1494, the Missal printed in 1500 at the expense of Cardinal Morton, and known as the Morton Missal, and the Intrationum excellentissimus liber of 1510 are certainly the finest specimens of typographical art which had been produced in this country.
Pynson's earliest device, as Mr. Duff has noted, resembled in many ways that of Le Talleur, and consisted of his initials cut on wood. In 1496 he used two new forms. One shows his mark upon a shield surmounted by a helmet with a bird above it. Beneath is his name upon a ribbon, and the whole is enclosed in a border of animals, birds, and flowers. The other was a metal block of much the same character, having the shield with his mark, and as supporters two naked figures. The border, which was separate and in one piece, had crowned figures in it and a ribbon. The bottom portion of this border began to give way about 1500, was very much out of shape in 1503, and finally broke entirely in 1513. This border was sometimes placed the wrong way up, as in the British Museum copy of Mandeville's Ways to Jerusalem (G. 6713). It was succeeded by a woodcut block of a much larger form, which may be seen in the Mirroure of Good Manners (s.a., fol.). The block itself measures 5–⅝'' x 3–⅝'' and has no border. The initials print black on a white ground. The figures supporting the shield have a much better pose, and those of the king and queen differ materially. The bird on the shield is much larger, and is more like a stork or heron.
Pynson died in the year 1529, while passing through the press L'Esclarcissement de la Langue Francoyse, which was finished by his executor John Hawkins, of whom nothing else is definitely known.
Whilst these three printers had been at work, many other stationers, booksellers, and printers had settled in London. They seem to have favoured St. Paul's Churchyard and Fleet Street; but they were also scattered over various parts of the city and outlying districts, even as far west as the suburb of Charing.
In 1518, Henry Pepwell settled at the sign of the Trinity in St. Paul's Churchyard, and used the device previously belonging to Jacobi and Pelgrim, two stationers who imported books printed by Wolfgang and Hopyl. His books fall into two classes—those printed between 1518–1523, and those between 1531–1539. The first were printed entirely in a black-letter fount that appears to have belonged to Pynson. The second series were printed entirely in Roman letter. A copy of his earliest book, the Castle of Pleasure, 4to, 1518, is in the British Museum, as well as the Dietary of Ghostly Helthe, 4to, 1521; Exornatorium Curatorum, 4to, n.d.; Du Castel's Citye of Ladyes, 4to, 1521. His edition of Christiani hominis Institutum, 4to, 1520, is only known from a fragment in the Bodleian. Several books have been ascribed wrongly to this printer (Duff, Bibliographica, vol. i. pp. 93, 175, 499).
In the year 1504, a printer named William Faques had settled in Abchurch Lane. He was a Norman by birth, and Ames suggested that he learnt his art with John Le Bourgeois at Rouen, but this is unconfirmed. He styled himself the king's printer. Of his books only some eight are in existence, three with the date 1504, and the remainder undated. His workmanship was excellent. The Psalterium which he printed in octavo was in a large well cut English black letter, and each page was surrounded by a chain border. The Statutes of Henry VII. are also in the same type with the same ornament, but the Omelia Origenis, one of the undated books, is in the small foreign letter so much in vogue with the printers of this time. His device has the double merit of beauty and originality. It consisted of two triangles intersected with his initials in the centre and the word 'Guillam' beneath. His subsequent career is totally unknown, but his type, ornaments, etc., passed into the hands of Richard Fawkes or Faques, who printed at the sign of the Maiden's Head, in St. Paul's Churchyard, in the year 1509, Guillame de Saliceto's Salus corporis Salus anime, in folio. Not only is the type used in this identical with that in the Psalterium of William Faques, but the chain ornament is also found in it. After this we find no other dated book by Richard Faques until 1523, when he printed Skelton's Goodly Garland in quarto, in three founts of black letter, and a fount of Roman, and a great primer for titles. Amongst his undated works is a copy of the Liber Festivalis, believed to have been printed in 1510, and an Horœ ad usum Sarum printed for him in Paris by J. Bignon. During the interval he had moved from the Maiden's Head in St. Paul's Churchyard to another house in the same locality, with the sign of the A. B. C, and he also had a second printing office