Preface and Acknowledgements
This book has three parts. Part 1 gives an account of printing Anglo-Saxon with special letter-sorts designed to mimic those found previously in manuscripts. There are eight main type-designs used in England in London, Cambridge and Oxford, all of them originating through the enterprise of scholars and people with influence who knew a good deal about the subject; these take the form AS1, AS2, etc.; brief details of these are given in Table 1. Many books first published in England were published again in modified form on the continent and Anglo-Saxon type-designs were made for them too, seven type-designs in all, these take the form CAS1, etc.; brief details are given in Table 2. These type-designs were made for printers who did not usually have a scholarly Anglo-Saxonist looking over their shoulder; they were made because they were needed to make the new book look like the one it was based on. This study is based on evidence presented in Part 2, which begins with a glossary of terms and some account of the type-designs referred to in the book, focusing on those for Anglo-Saxon. There follows a catalogue of all the early printed books I have found that contain Anglo-Saxon. Each book is given a reference number based on its year of publication, as 1566.1, so it follows that the books are arranged in chronological order. Basic information is given for each, such as would be found in a bibliography (plus STC, Wing, ESTC or USTC numbers (for books published on the continent up to 1650) as appropriate), the sources of the Anglo-Saxon material in each are enumerated with as much precision as possible (dictionary entries being often so brief that they resist such treatment), and, if the books are printed so as to include special Anglo-Saxon letter-forms or sorts, as a large proportion of them are, details of these are given and discussed. In Part 3 there is an index of punchcutters, the people who actually made the type-designs, and an index of printers and publishers/booksellers, the people who are the link between the type-designs and the books and between the books and the reader. The first part of the Bibliography is a list of manuscripts used for source material in the printed books in the Catalogue, with the reference number for the printed book that made use of each manuscript noted so that it can be seen which manuscripts were used and when; the list of manuscripts is divided into two sections, the first listing medieval manuscripts, the second listing post-medieval manuscripts. The second part of the Bibliography lists books consulted for this study and each entry that relates to a specific printed book is followed by the reference number for that printed book. The book is completed by a general index.
Work first began on this project in 1995 when I was Visiting Fellow at Corpus Christi College Cambridge. Halcyon days. The late Ray Page was librarian of the Parker Library, Tim Graham was on the last year of his stint on the ‘Back to the Manuscripts’ project, and the sub-librarians were Gill Cannell and Pat Aske before she moved to Pembroke College. The late Catherine Hall was the archivist. Ray had just retired as Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon in the university and had been given a room in the attic, which was up so many stairs that he called it ‘Paradise’. He even read proofs there. He also greatly enjoyed inviting guests after dinner up to paradise to sample his malt whisky, of which he was a connoisseur: an academic part des anges. In this heady atmosphere the present work was hatched.
At the same time in the University Library I attended practical historical printing classes run by Nicholas Smith and Colin Clarkson getting my hands dirty setting type, valuable experience. As a medievalist I also took the bibliography course taught to postgraduates by the late Marie Axton in order to try to bring my skills at describing printed books up to those for describing manuscripts. As will be seen, this book, although primarily aimed at Anglo-Saxonists, combines the study of manuscripts and printed books. In the history of type-design Anglo-Saxon is useful to the historian of print because the special needs that it displayed can produce evidence of punchcutting and typefounding at times when it is otherwise thin or even non-existent because roman, italic or textura designs were well established and available. So this work should also be of interest in relation to the history of the book.
The starting point is encapsulated in the observation by Eric Stanley, first published in 1982: ‘We have not even a full list of books using Saxon type, and we have no full and illustrated account of such type’ (Stanley, Collection, 1987). The approach adopted is to provide in Part 1 an account of the printing of Anglo-Saxon from the beginnings under Archbishop Parker’s aegis to the landmark achievement of the Thesaurus produced under the direction of Hickes. Part 2 provides a catalogue of all the books found to be relevant for the period 1566 to 1705. Bibliographical method is used to describe these early printed books containing Anglo-Saxon but the focus is on the sources used in the books for the passages containing Anglo-Saxon and where appropriate on the special Anglo-Saxon sorts used in them. I aim to trace the origins of Anglo-Saxon type-designs from manuscript models or already extant printed models where appropriate. Over two hundred and fifty books have been identified. This ground-breaking method shows the history of Anglo-Saxon scholarship and studies from the perspective of the end product, the early printed book. It enables us to pinpoint when a particular manuscript was first used productively to reproduce it or some part of it in authentic print. It shows what interested the early scholars, why the subject was studied, how these interests slowly evolved and who made major contributions. The contributors I consider the most outstanding are remembered in the dedication of the book: George Hickes, Franciscus Junius, Sir Henry Spelman, and Humfrey Wanley. Junius, from Leiden, brought a new linguistic perspective to the subject and bequeathed the fruits of his scholarship and printing materials to Oxford University, where they were used by Hickes and Wanley to produce their magnificent Thesaurus. But even in this exalted company Sir Henry Spelman stands out. He saw the need for aids to read manuscripts full of abbreviations, for informing linguistic skills to read Anglo-Saxon with a grammar and a dictionary, for the systematic publication of records, and he put his money where his mouth was by paying for two designs of Anglo-Saxon types and supporting the first lectureship in Anglo-Saxon: at the University of Cambridge. His encouragement of others was notable, his son John, Abraham Wheelock, and William Dugdale amongst others, and his work was revered throughout the rest of the seventeenth century, witness the Reliquiæ Spelmannianæ (1698.3). His approach was historical but he saw the need for philological skills as well, skills that were supplied in abundance by Junius a little later.
In pursuing this work I have of course examined many books and manuscripts. By virtue of the fact that I was based in Dublin until 2004 many of these early printed books belong to libraries in Ireland, copies not generally seen by those making standard bibliographies such as STC. Occasionally these copies produce evidence that modifies the account in STC: see especially 1588.1/1588.2/1591.1. The copy of 1683.1 in Armagh is not found in Wing or ESTC. I have also been greatly aided by other resources. The microfiche facsimiles that come with the ASMMF descriptions of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts have sometimes proved invaluable in checking manuscript references. Although somewhat cumbersome to set up they are easy to look through quickly to find the right page or folio. Access to manuscript facsimiles on-line makes checking the details of references much easier than it was when I began, and it will become easier still. Some sites are much more congenial to use, navigate and manipulate than others: the standard set by the Swiss is the goal to aim at: http://www.e-codices.ch. Equally EEBO provides similar reproductions for early English printed books. But it should be stressed that these aids, while invaluable for checking readings, are no substitute for examining the original, which is three-dimensional by comparison with what some have called ‘the ghost in the machine’. Another extremely helpful aid has been the Dictionary of Old English Corpus, which enables virtually any Old English quotation to be found. If frustrated the unfound text may well turn out to be ‘Elizabethan Old English’ such as that concocted by Nowell or Lambarde, which is naturally not included in the Dictionary.
The work has taken a long time, even longer than it should, because I was distracted by other projects, as well as having heavy teaching and administrative responsibilities. I am extremely grateful for the visiting fellowships I enjoyed not only at Corpus Christi College Cambridge but also at Wolfson College Cambridge and Mansfield College Oxford. My gratitude to Wolfson has been increased by the extended welcome it has offered in the form of senior college membership since I retired from Dublin. I am also grateful to Cambridge University Department of Anglo-Saxon Norse and Celtic for welcoming me as an Honorary Research Associate, which has given me access to some convivial occasions and to library resources. I thank also Andrew Pettegree for accepting this book into Brill’s Library of the Written Word. It is particularly pleasing that it should be published from Leiden, the very place that nurtured Franciscus Junius, the founding father of Germanic philology.
I have received assistance in various ways from the following, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart: Dr Elizabeth Armstrong (Oxford), Dr Raymond Astbury and Mrs Sheila Astbury (Dublin), Mr Nicolas J. Barker (London), Dr Bruce Barker-Benfield (Oxford), Dr Carole Biggam (Glasgow), Professor Peter Blayney (Toronto), Dr Hans Brandhorst (The Hague), Professor Rolf Bremmer (Leiden), Professor Stefan Brink (Aberdeen), Dr Helen Carron (Cambridge), Professor James Carley (Toronto), Dr Kees Dekker (Groningen), the late Dr Ian Doyle (Durham), Professor David Dumville (Aberdeen), Professor Mordechai Feingold (California), Professor Mirjam Foot (London), the late Professor John L. Flood (London), Professor Timothy Graham (Albuquerque NM), the late Mrs Catherine Hall (Cambridge), Dr Oliver Harris (London), Dr Lotte Hellinga (London), Professor Paul G. Hoftijzer (Leiden), Professor Simon Keynes (Cambridge), Professor Nicolas K. Kiessling (Pullman WA), Mr Daniel Korachi-Alaoui (Canterbury), Dr Peter van der Krogt (Utrecht), Mr John Lane (Leiden), who kindly sent me his notes on Anglo-Saxon types, Dr Elisabeth Leedham-Green (Cambridge), Professor David McKitterick (Cambridge), Ms Jo Maddocks (Oxford), Mr James Mosley (London), Dr Evelyn Mullally (Belfast), the late Ms Robin Myers (Cambridge and London), Dr Colette Nativel (Paris), Dr Ben Outhwaite (Cambridge), the late Professor Ray Page (Cambridge), the late Professor Malcolm Parkes (Oxford), Dr Oliver Pickering (Leeds), Mr Nicholas Rogers (Cambridge), Dr Sophie van Romburgh (Leiden), the late Professor Richard Sharpe (Oxford), Dr Peggy Smith (Reading), the late Professor Eric Stanley (Oxford), Professor Gerald Toomer (Providence, RI), the late Professor Dr Hendrik Vervliet (Antwerp), the late Lord Wardington, Professor Per-Axel Wiktorsson (Uppsala).
For funding support in the earlier stages of part of the work I thank the Bibliographical Society and the Neil Ker Fund at the British Academy. For technical assistance I thank Jennifer Pollard (English Faculty, Cambridge) for help with fonts, Chris Quy (PC-Support, University of Cambridge) for help with Illustrations 46 and 47, and Gavin Lucas (London) for assistance with Illustration 17b.
The following libraries and librarians have offered the use of their collections and facilities with courtesy and helpfulness: The Admiralty Library (Ministry of Defence) formerly at HMG Hydrographic Office Taunton (where I was assisted by Adrian Webb) and now at Portsmouth (from where the Librarian, Jenny Wraight, answered queries), Armagh Public Library (where I was assisted by Lorraine Frazer), Queen’s University Library Belfast (where I was assisted by Mary Kelly), Cambridge University Library (where all the staff are wonderfully supportive; I thank Claire Welford-Elkin, Nicola Hudson and William Hale in the Rare Book Room and Anne Taylor in the Map Room in particular, and Rosalind Esche for being helpful beyond the call of duty), Christ’s College Cambridge, Corpus Christi College Cambridge, Emmanuel College Cambridge, English Faculty Library Cambridge, King’s College Cambridge (where I thank Peter Murray Jones), Magdalene College Cambridge (where I was assisted by the Pepys Librarian, Mrs Aude Fitzsimons), Peterhouse Cambridge (where I thank Roger Lovatt and Scott Mandelbrote), Queen’s College Cambridge, St John’s College Cambridge (where I thank Kathryn McKee), Sidney Sussex College Cambridge, Trinity College Cambridge, Trinity Hall Cambridge, Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library (where Sheila Hingley, since moved to Durham, was particularly helpful), Trinity College Dublin (where I thank the late Charles Benson), Archbishop Marsh’s Library Dublin (where I thank Muriel McCarthy), Founders’ Library Lampeter (where I thank David and Pamela Selwyn), Leeds University Brotherton Library, Leiden Universiteitsbibliotheek (where I was assisted by R. Breugelmans), British Library London (where I was assisted by Philippa Marks), Lambeth Palace Library London, Royal Geographical Society London (who charged a daily consultation fee, but Francis Herbert was very helpful), Chetham’s School Library Manchester, Russell Library Maynooth, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek Münich, The National Trust (Blickling Hall, Aylsham, Norfolk (where I was assisted by Yvonne Lewis), University of Newcastle Robinson Library (from where Dr Lesley Gordon answered queries), Bodleian Library Oxford, Balliol College Oxford, English Faculty Library Oxford, Christ Church Oxford (where I was assisted by Steven Archer, Judith Curthoys, Janet McMullin and Cristina Neagu), Exeter College Oxford, Reading University Library (where I was assisted by David Knott).
Figure 41a is reproduced by permission of the Plantin-Moretus Museum, Antwerp. Figures 1, 3a/b. 4, 5, 6a/b, 18a, 19b, 20, 22a/b, 25, 27, 28, 29 are reproduced by permission of the Master and Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Figures 15a/b, 16a/b, 18b, 19a, 21, 24/a/b/c/d, 30, 31, 33a/b, 34a/b, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 are reproduced by permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library. Figure 13 is reproduced by permission of the Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge. Figures 23a/b/c are reproduced by permission of the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge. Figure 41b is reproduced by permission of the Rijksuniversiteitsbibliothek, Leiden. Figures 2, 26 are reproduced by permission of the British Library Board, London, who charged a fee. Figure 35 is reproduced by permission of the Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford. Figure 14 is reproduced by permission of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey.
Parts of the text in Part 1, now modified, excerpted and rearranged, have appeared in an earlier form in articles: chapter 2 in ‘A Testimonye of Verye Ancient Tyme? Some Manuscript Models for the Parkerian Anglo-Saxon Type-Designs’, in Of the Making of Books: Medieval Manuscripts, their Scribes and Readers: Essays presented to M. B. Parkes, ed. P. R. Robinson and R. Zim (Aldershot: Ashgate, 1997), pp. 147–88; chapter 3 in ‘Parker, Lambarde, and the Provision of Special Sorts for Printing Anglo-Saxon in the Sixteenth Century’, Journal of the Printing Historical Society, 28 (1999), 41–69; chapter 4 in ‘From Politics to Practicalities: Printing Anglo-Saxon in the Context of Seventeenth Century Scholarship’, The Library, VII.4 (2003), 28–48, and ‘Abraham Wheelock and the Presentation of Anglo-Saxon: From Manuscript To Print’, in Beatus Vir: Studies in Early English and Norse Manuscripts in Memory of Phillip Pulsiano, ed. A. N. Doane and K. Wolf (Tempe AZ:, Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies 319, 2006), pp. 383–439; chapter 5 in ‘Printing Anglo-Saxon in Holland and John Selden’s Mare Clausum seu de Dominio Maris’, Quaerendo, 31 (2001), 120–36, and ‘William Camden, Seventeenth-Century Atlases of the British Isles and the Printing of Anglo-Saxon’, Antiquaries Journal, 98 (2018), 219–44. My thanks to the editors and publishers of these books and journals.
And a big Thank You to the Brill team at Leiden who saw this book through the press: Ivo Romein, who took over from Francis Knikker as managing editor, Gera van Bedaf the desk editor, and Joshua Hey the copy editor, in particular, and others who worked behind the scenes.
Finally it is difficult to find words to thank my wife Angela, herself a medievalist interested in books as well as texts, and on other occasions co-author with me. Quite simply, without her interest and support this book would not have been written.
Peter J. Lucas
27 December 2021
Feast-day of St John the Evangelist
Patron of authors, bookbinders, booksellers, compositors, editors, engravers, papermakers, printers, publishers, scholars, typesetters and writers.