The press at Abingdon is represented by one book only, and of that only one copy is known, preserved amongst Archbishop Sancroft’s books in the library of Emmanuel. It is a Breviary printed for the use of the brethren of St Mary’s Monastery, the black monks of the order of St Benedict. It is printed in red and black, in double columns, with thirty-four lines to the page, and there are no headlines, catchwords, or numbers to the leaves. When complete it should have contained 358 leaves, but unfortunately two leaves of the Kalendar containing the months from May to August are missing. The Kalendar at present consists of four leaves, three signed AI, AII, AIII, and one unsigned leaf; and the missing two leaves should have come between AII and AIII, which looks as though the printer had originally omitted them by mistake. But so important an error could not remain uncorrected. A very curious point about the book is that one part is set up entirely in quires of sixes, while the rest is set up in a way common to several early English printers, in quires alternately of eight and four leaves, thus doing away with the half sheet. The colophon states that the book was printed by John Scolar in the monastery of the blessed virgin at Abingdon, in the year of our Lord, 1528, and of Thomas Rowland, the abbot, the seventeenth year. Another colophon gives the more exact date of September 12. Throughout the book occur some curious woodcut initials. Two, a large E and S, are exceedingly bad copies of good work. A large C contains the figure of a knight in armour, a very close copy of one used earlier at Cambridge.
The printer, John Scolar, is doubtless the Oxford printer of 1517-18, but where he had been or what he had been doing in the intervening ten years we have not the slightest evidence to show. Since he is not mentioned among the stationers and booksellers in the Oxford Lay Subsidy Roll of 1524, we may presume he was not in the town.
The last of these monastic presses was at St Alban’s. The earlier press, spoken of in a previous lecture, was at work from about 1480 to 1486, but we have no reason for believing that it was connected with the abbey. The town is specifically mentioned in the colophons with no reference to the abbey, nor is any person connected with the abbey mentioned as favouring or assisting in the production of the books. As regards the revived press the case is quite different. The books were produced at the request of the abbot, Robert Catton, or his successor, Richard Stevenage, and the latter’s close connexion with the press is shown by the occurrence of his initials in the device placed at the end of some of the books.
The second St Alban’s press was at work from 1534 up to the time of the suppression of the abbey in 1539. One book, however, may be earlier than this date, a Breviary of St Alban’s use. The unique copy is in the library of the Marquis of Bute at Cardiff Castle, but I have never had an opportunity of examining it, nor have any facsimiles from it been published, so that it is impossible to determine when or where it was printed. The librarian at Cardiff Castle considers it to have been printed at the abbey about 1526.
In 1534 was issued the Lyfe and passion of Seint Albon prothomartyr of Englande, translated by John Lidgate, and printed at the request of Robert Catton, abbot of St Alban’s. This book, of which two copies are known, has no printer’s name or place of printing, but is generally ascribed to Herford’s press. The next book is Gwynneth’s Confutation of Frith’s Book, dated 1536. Of this there is a copy in the University Library. It again contains no printer’s name, but has a device having in the centre the initials R. S. joined by a band, standing for Richard Stevenage, the last abbot of St Alban’s. In 1537 there is an edition of the Introduction for to lerne to reken with the pen. A copy was mentioned by Ames as in the possession of W. Jones, Esq., but this has since disappeared, though a last leaf containing the device is said to be amongst the Bagford fragments. There may be some confusion between this and Bourman’s edition, whose device was very similar to the one used by Herford. The description given by Herbert makes no mention of printer, place, or device, merely the date 1537.
Three more books are quoted by Herbert under the year 1538. A godly disputation between Justus and Peccator, The rule of an honest life, written by Martin, bishop of Dumience, and An epistle against the enemies of poor people. Two, if not three, appear to have had full colophons, stating that they were printed at St Alban’s by John Herford for Richard Stevenage, but unfortunately no copies of any of these books are now known, so that we have no book which contains Herford’s name which was printed at St Alban’s. These three books were originally mentioned in Maunsell’s catalogue, but Herbert’s entries are considerably fuller and must have been derived from some other source. There is no reason to doubt their genuineness, and we know from other evidence that Herford was at St Alban’s.
An undated book, printed at St Alban’s by Herford, was in Lord Spencer’s collection, and is now at Manchester. It is entitled, A very declaration of the bond and free wyll of man: the obedyence of the gospell and what the very gospell meaneth. This book, hitherto unknown to bibliographers, contains the name of the place only, and has no date or printer’s name.
In 1539 Herford appears to have been indiscreet and to have printed some very unorthodox book. Among the State papers is a letter from Stevenage, the abbot, to Thomas Cromwell, in which he writes: “Sent John Pryntare to London with Harry Pepwell, Bonere [Bonham] and Tabbe of Powlles churchyard stationers, to order him at your pleasure. Never heard of the little book of detestable heresies till the stationers showed it me.” The book spoken of must have been considered to be of importance, when three of the leading London stationers were sent down to make inquiries about it. It may be that this was the undated book last mentioned, for it alone is without the name or device of the abbot himself, yet if the printer had thought that he was publishing anything obnoxious to the powers, he would hardly have added “printed at St Alban’s” to his book. The abbot’s letter was dated October 12, and two months later the abbey was handed over to Henry VIII.’s commissioners. Of Herford we hear nothing more for five years.
On the suppression of the abbey the printing material was moved to London, where it was used for a short time by a printer, Nicholas Bourman. Now the name of the last abbot of St Alban’s was Richard Stevenage or Boreman, and it is quite probable that this Nicholas was some relative to whom the presses and type were entrusted during Herford’s absence. The device used by Bourman was almost identical with that used at St Alban’s by Herford, the initials of Richard Stevenage in the latter being replaced by N. B., and a book which had been printed in the abbey, the Introduction to learn to reckon with the pen, was reprinted by Bourman in 1539. The last definite date in a St Alban’s book is 1538, and, in the following year, Herford, the printer, was taken to London and presumably imprisoned or punished. The abbot was left with the printing material on his hands, which we may suppose from the occurrence of his initials in the device to have been at any rate partly his property. He therefore transferred it to London for the use of his relative until such time as Herford could resume work. This Herford did in 1544, and Bourman transferred the material back to him. After this Bourman’s name is found in no book, though he was a member of the Stationers’ Company and lived to the year 1560.
The death of Henry VIII. and the accession of Edward VI. in 1547 gave a fresh impetus to printing, and presses were set up in three new towns, Ipswich, Worcester, and Canterbury. For some years previous to this no book had been printed outside London, and with the religious opinions changing from day to day, even the London printers themselves hardly knew what they might or might not issue without fear of prosecution. Numbers of persons who had fled abroad returned, and with them came an immense number of foreigners seeking refuge from their own religious persecutions abroad. As might be expected, the three new presses were mainly devoted to printing books on the religious questions then occupying the attention of the public.