A Short History of English Printing, 1476-1898

by Henry R. Plomer

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 5-5/8'' x 3-5/8'' 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).

Fig. 11.—William Faques' Device.

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 in Durham Rents, without Temple Bar, that is in some house adjacent to Durham House in the Strand. The earliest extant printed ballad was issued by Richard Faques, the Ballad of the Scottish King, of which the only known copy is in the British Museum, and amongst his undated books is one which he printed for Robert Wyer, the Charing Cross printer, under the title of De Cursione Lunæ. It was printed with the Gothic type, and the blocks were supplied by Wyer. Richard Faques' device was a copy of that of the Paris bookseller Thielmann Kerver, with an arrow substituted for the tree, and the design on the shield altered. The custom of adapting other men's devices was very common, and is one of the many evidences of dearth of originality on the part of the early English printers.

Fig. 12.—Richard Faques' Device.

The latest date found in the books of this printer is 1530.