A Brief History of Printing in England / A Short History of Printing in England from Caxton to the Present Time

by Frederick W. Hamilton

The Stationers’ Company was organized in the usual form, with its administration in the hands of a Master and two Wardens. The terms of the charter gave the company authority to govern the trade and to enforce its regulations by the exercise of the right of visitation and disciplinary control over its members. This extended not only to the enforcement of the regulations of the Company but also to the enforcement of royal proclamations and injunctions, and decrees of the Star Chamber.

The Star Chamber, frequently mentioned in English history in general, as well as in the history of English printing, was a special court of high officials. The powers and jurisdiction of this court were somewhat vague and undefined. Theoretically it was intended to deal with matters which could not be adequately dealt with by the regular courts because of the necessity of immediate action, the important nature of the case, or other conditions which made the action of the ordinary courts too slow or not sufficiently effective. Naturally the existence of such a court opened the way to serious abuses, and alleged abuses of its authority played a very large part in the Revolution by which King Charles I lost his head. As a result of these revolutionary movements, the court was discontinued in 1641, after an existence of at least three hundred years. It is supposed to have derived its name from the fact that the ceiling of the room it sat in in early times was decorated with stars.

After the organization of the Stationers’ Company the exercise of the trade was limited to its members. The Company was required to keep registers giving the names of the Masters and Wardens, of all the members of the Company and their apprentices, and of all who “took up freedom,” that is to say, became members of the Company from time to time. All books printed were required to be registered with the Company and a copy deposited in the archives accompanied by a fee. This was the beginning of copyright. It was understood that the members of the Company should respect each others’ rights to publications thus registered, although it appears to have been a “gentleman’s agreement” rather than a regulation. This requirement did not apply to books which were published under royal privilege, but the members of the Company were bound to respect these privileges and not in any way infringe upon the rights which they conferred. The requirement of registration did not apply to the king’s printers in so far as their patent for the royal printing extended; that is to say, the royal printer was not required to register statutes, law books, or other government printing, but he was required to register all general publications. This legislation requiring registration was not always strictly enforced.

The powers of the Company were used much more for the regulation and control of printing than for the improvement of the art. It was to the Company that the government looked particularly for the enforcement of the statutes regarding printing. For that reason, if a book were of doubtful character and liable to be prohibited the publisher preferred to run the chance of attempting to evade the regulation regarding registration. Fortunately the registers of the Company containing the records of all their transactions are for the most part still in existence. They furnish an immense fund of valuable information extending over a very long period.

The Stationers’ Company included the printers, bookbinders, type-founders, and booksellers. It had ninety-seven charter members. A few of the London printers are known not to have joined the Company when it was organized. Why they stood out we do not know. Very likely it was simply the usual assertion of British independence and impatience of control. The requirement of membership in the Company as a requisite to carrying on the business was not enforced with regard to those printers who were in business when the Company was chartered, its application being restricted to those who might thereafter desire to enter the business. Some of the independents afterwards joined the Company. The remainder stayed out permanently.

The organization of the Company was not in itself sufficient to secure the desired control of the industry. As has already been pointed out, an immense flood of printed matter was being brought out on account of the bitter religious and political controversies of the time. Most of it was very poor printing. The end desired was to get it out as quickly as possible and as cheaply as possible. Much of it was objectionable to the government and the organization of the Company was immediately followed up by repressive legislation.

In 1558 Queen Elizabeth laid the foundation of legislation for the control of the press by issuing “injunctions” which required that every book should be licensed either by the Queen or by the members of the Privy Council, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, by the Chancellor of one of the two universities, or by other authorities specified in the act. Frequent proclamations and orders show that the injunctions were not obeyed. It may be laid down as a fundamental principle in the study of history that the frequent repetition of legislation on any one subject shows that the subject is considered very important by the government and that the legislation is not effective. So seriously was this matter regarded by the government that very extreme measures were adopted in dealing with offending printers. One William Carter, for instance, who had been several times punished for breach of the printing regulations, finally printed a seditious book, “a treatise of schisme,” for which he was tried for high treason, condemned to death and hanged, disembowelled, and quartered according to the ghastly custom of that time.

By way of further tightening of the regulations a Star Chamber decree was issued in 1586 much more strict than any preceding order. By the provisions of this decree all presses then working had to be reported in the same way as already provided. No presses whatever were allowed outside of London, excepting one each at Oxford and Cambridge. Previous to the charter of the Company provincial presses had been started at Oxford, York, Cambridge, Abingdon, Tavistock, St. Albans, Bristol, Ipswich, Canterbury, and Norwich, in the order named. These, of course, were all swept away by this act excepting those of Oxford and Cambridge. No more presses were to be permitted until the number in use had been reduced to a number which should be pronounced sufficient for the needs of the kingdom by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London. Vacancies in the number of licensed printers were to be filled by three stationers (members of the Company) who would be nominated by the Company and licensed by an ecclesiastical commission. The censorship, both ecclesiastical and lay, was developed and enforced by further provisions of the act.

These are the conditions under which that great literature which is known as Elizabethan literature was created and published. It seems incredible that such literature could have been produced under such conditions. The fact that it was so produced seems to show that the censors made a conscientious attempt to enforce the legislation in such a way as to prevent the actual abuse of the printing press and to protect the government from danger arising from these sources, while leaving pure literature as free as the conditions permitted. Of course, we of to-day regard any system of press censorship as wrong and cannot approve any such legislation. It is worth while, however, to remember that these men made an earnest effort to live up to the moral and political standards of their own time.

In the execution of this edict the Stationers’ Company made weekly official visits to every shop. These visitations were intended to ascertain: