The first York stationer, whose name is found in a printed colophon, is Gerard Freez, or Wandsforth, as he more often called himself, the brother of Frederick Freez. The first book printed for him was an edition of the Expositio Hymnorum et Sequentiarum, produced by Pierre Violette at Rouen in 1507. A perfect copy of both parts is in the John Rylands Library, which was formerly in the wonderful collection formed by Richard Vaughan at Hengwrt; an imperfect copy is in the Bodleian, and copy of the Expositio Sequentiarum is in the Bibliotheca Columbiniana at Seville. Though this book is an edition of the ordinary Exposition of the Hymns and Sequences according to Salisbury use, yet the words “ad usum Sarum” have been omitted from the title, perhaps as being considered prejudicial to its sale in York. On the title-page is a woodcut of a scholar seated at his desk, and its occurrence here in a book with Violette’s name was the means of identifying the printer of the first book printed for sale in Scotland, a grammatical treatise by Joannes de Garlandia, which has the same woodcut on the title-page. The year previous to printing this York Expositio, Violette had printed a Sarum Expositio Sequentiarum, and presumably an Expositio Hymnorum now lost, for Andrew Myllar at Edinburgh.
About this time editions were also issued of the Missal, Breviary, and Directory of York use. Of the Missal, apparently only two copies, both imperfect, are known. When perfect it consisted of 232 leaves, with two columns of forty-three lines. The colophon states that it was printed “impensis honesti viri Petri Violette,” but Violette was himself the printer, and his name occurs engraved in the large initial M on the title-page. The book has no date, but may be assigned to about 1507, and the copy sold in the Cholmley sale in 1902 contained the autograph of Dr Martin Colyns, an official of the court of York who died in 1509. The other copy known is the fine copy in the Bodleian, which wants only leaf 117, the leaf preceding the Canon of the Mass, which would have contained a woodcut of the Crucifixion. The Breviary is known from a single copy formerly in the collection of Mr Blew, and now in the University Library. It is a small octavo volume containing both parts, the Pars Hiemalis and the Pars Æstivalis, and, if perfect, should have filled about 600 leaves. It is, however, very imperfect, wanting both beginning and end, title-page and colophon, so that any information which either might have contained is now lost.
Of the last book, the Directorium, no copy is known, but we know of its existence from documentary evidence to be referred to later.
On one of his journeys, presumably to sell books, Gerard Wandsforth was taken ill at King’s Lynn in Norfolk. There on October 3, 1510, immediately before his death, he executed his will. He described himself as a stationer of York, and desired to be buried within the church of St Margaret before the chapel of the Holy Trinity at Lynn. He adds the clause, “Also I require for the love of Jhesu Christ for to be a brother of the Trinity guild kept there, and to pay therfor as the custom of the guild requireth.” To his brother, Frederick, and his brother’s son, Valentine (there is no mention of Edward), he leaves legacies. Then follows, “To Richard Watterson of London xl. s., to the which Richard, Mr Wynkyn de Word, can inform you. Item I giff to the said Mr Wynkyn xl. s., which I howght him.” The executors were his brother Frederick, Ralph Pulleyn, a goldsmith of York, and Mr Maynard Weywik of London. The will was proved at York on October 24. As there is no mention of wife or children, we may presume he was unmarried. The bequests to Richard Waterson and Wynkyn de Worde are interesting. We do not know at present of any Richard Waterson, a stationer in London, but a Henry Watson, and the names are easily confused, was at the time an apprentice to W. de Worde, and we have a reference to another book not now known, printed at London by Hugo Goes, who printed later at York, and Henry Watson. The coincidence of names, though it may not mean anything, is certainly curious. From his owing money to De Worde we may presume he obtained stock from him, and we find all the York printers and stationers had dealings of one sort or another with De Worde. Ralph Pulleyn, the goldsmith, seems to have acted towards Wandsforth as Fust did to the first printer Gutenberg, advancing money to assist him in trade. The third executor, Mr Mayner Weywik, is passed over without notice by Davies in the account of the will in the History of the York Press, but his connexion is fairly easily explained. In the lists of persons admitted to the freedom of York in 1529-30 is a stationer, Johannes Warwyke, son of Edward Warwyke, merchant. Thus the Warwyke family were connected with York and also with the business of a stationer. Mr Mayner Warwyke, who was like Ralph Pulleyn, a partner with Wandsforth, appears to have renounced his executorship and sold his share in the business to Pulleyn. Probably as he lived in London he did not see his way, after Wandsforth’s death, to continuing in the business at York.
Shortly after the proving of the will in October 1510, probably at the beginning of 1511, a suit was brought by Frederick Wandsforth against his co-executor, Ralph Pulleyn, and the evidence brought forward throws a considerable amount of light on the early York book trade. The following abstract of the proceedings is given by Davies.
“It appears that the testator, Gerard Wandsforth, his friend Ralph Pulleyn, and another friend Mr Manard (Mr Mayner Weywick), had made a considerable purchase of books as co-partners in equal third shares. The books, which, it is stated, were bought in France, consisted of 252 missals, 399 portifers (breviaries), and 570 Picas all printed upon paper. The whole were consigned to the care of Wandsforth, who deposited them in a room or chamber of his house, near the church of St John del Pyke at York, of which chamber Ralph Pulleyn had a key. As soon as the death of Wandsforth became known at York, Pulleyn hastened to the house of the deceased and took possession of all the books deposited there, not only those which had been bought in partnership, but others which were the sole property of Wandsforth, and caused them to be carried to his own house in Petergate. He alleged he was justified in taking this course by having advanced money to Wandsforth to enable him to defray the cost of printing some books and purchasing others. It was natural that Frederick, the testator’s brother, should feel much aggrieved by Pulleyn’s grasping conduct, and upon their encountering each other in the street of Petergate, near Pulleyn’s residence, high words passed between them which ended in an affray. When Frederick charged the goldsmith with detaining from him the property he was entitled to as his brother’s executor, and thus preventing him from paying his brother’s debts and legacies, and fulfilling the trusts of his will in other respects, Pulleyn said to him, ‘You shall have your brother’s goods delivered to you that ever I had of his.’ But when they went together to Pulleyn’s house only part of the books were offered to be given up, and these Frederick refused to accept, insisting upon having the whole. It was then that, to enforce his rights, he resorted to legal proceedings against Pulleyn. Whilst the suit was pending, the contending parties were induced, by the good offices of friends, to agree to refer all matters in dispute to the arbitration of Sir John Symson, priest, one of the vicars choral of the cathedral, and Mr John Scauseby, a gentlemen residing in Goodramgate, and a formal deed of reference was executed. The books which had been purchased by the testator, jointly with Pulleyn and Manard, they divided into three equal parts and had them valued by John More, a moneylender, who lived in Walmgate, whose estimate amounted to the sum of £86, 19s. 8d. Those belonging solely to the testator, of which Pulleyn had taken possession, consisted of about 300 volumes, some bound and some not bound, which were estimated to be worth about £20. These were chiefly books used in the services of the church, as Primaria, Doctrinalia, Hymni et Sequentiæ; with some Alphabeta, and others, both in Latin and English, the titles of which unfortunately are not stated. The award of the arbitrators was in favour of Frederick Wandsworth, the complainant in the suit. It was pronounced in the presence of Ursin Milnour, and three other persons, who are described as laics of the respective dioceses of Rouen, Durham, and York.”
The original documents of this suit are still preserved in the registry of the Dean and Chapter of York, and it is much to be desired that a full reprint of them might be issued, as it is clear that they contain many points of interest passed over by Davies in his abstract, as well as names which might afford valuable evidence.
The books belonging to Wandsforth which are mentioned by name are, we have seen, Primaria, Doctrinalia, Alphabeta, and Hymni et Sequentiæ.
The only trace of an early York Horæ or Primer now known is an unfolded imperfect quarter-sheet containing six out of eight leaves of signature P among the Bagford fragments in the British Museum. The book was of very small size, a 32º with fourteen lines to a full page printed in black and red. The type is apparently Pynson’s, and it is the only known book printed by him connected with York. But another proof of his connexion with York has lately come to light, for there has been found in the Plea Rolls for 1505 a notice of a lawsuit brought by Pynson against Frederick Frees, bookseller of York, for £5, 10s. 6d., perhaps relating to this very book. The Doctrinalia and Alphabeta were presumably school books, while the Hymni et Sequentiæ belonged to the edition already described. The foreign printed books belonging jointly to the partners consisted of Missals, Breviaries, and Picas. The Missal and Breviary, printed at Rouen by Violette, have already been described, but no copy of a foreign printed York Pica (or Directorium) is known. An edition, shortly to be described, was printed in York in February 1509-10, which is described in the colophon as revised and amended, and perhaps it was reprinted from the lost foreign edition. Its competition might account for the large number (570) remaining of the earlier edition in the hands of Wandsforth’s executors.
The books actually printed in York are six in number, and are the work of two printers, Hugo Goes and Ursyn Mylner. Goes has been conjectured from his name to have been related to Matthias van der Goes, a printer of Antwerp, but for this no proof is forthcoming. In 1509-10 he printed an edition of the York Directorium, of which two copies are known, one in York Minster wanting about fifteen leaves, the other in the library of Sidney Sussex College wanting only the last leaf, which would either have been blank or have contained a printer’s device.