EDWARD HYDE
FIRST EARL OF CLARENDON
(1609-1674)
38. The | History | Of The | Rebellion and Civil Wars | In | England, | [Five lines] Written by the Right Honourable | Edward Earl of Clarendon, | [Two lines, Quotations] Volume The First. [Vignette] Oxford, | Printed at the Theater, An. Dom. MDCCII. [-MDCCIV].
Begun in April, 1641, and finished during the period of Clarendon's exile, which extended from 1667 until his death, the History was prepared for printing under the direction of Laurence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, who received assistance from Dr. Henry Aldrich, Dean of Christ Church, and Thomas Sprat, Bishop of Rochester. Rochester wrote the introduction and dedications.
On the verso of the title-page of the first volume we find "Imprimatur. Ro. Hander Vice-Can. Oxon. Apr. 29. 1702."; the second volume is signed "Guil Delaune Vice-Can, Oxon. Sept. 15, 1703," and the third, by Delaune, "Octob. 16, 1704."
There is no dedication to the first volume, which begins at once with the preface; but the second and third volumes are dedicated to the queen. In the last two volumes a proclamation by her Majesty, dated June 24, 1703, states that: "whereas Our Truſty and Wellbeloved William Delaune, Doctor in Divinity, and Vice-Chancellor of Our Univerſity of Oxford, has humbly preſented unto US, in the behalf of the ſaid Univerſity, that They have at Great Expence already Publiſhed One Volume of the late Earl of Clarendon's Hiſtory, and intend in a ſhort time to Publiſh the Second and Third Volumes for Compleating the Work; and the ſole Right of the Copy of the ſaid Work being Veſted in Our Univerſity of Oxford, and They having humbly beſought US to Grant Them Our Royal Priviledge and Licence for the ſole Printing and Publiſhing the ſame for the Term of Fourteen Years; ... do therefore hereby Give and Grant ... the same." This refers to the fact that Clarendon, who had been chancellor of the University from 1660 until he went into exile, provided in his will that the profits from the sale of copies of the History should belong to the University and should be expended in erecting a building for the exclusive use of the Press, founded in "1468."
Previously, and at the time of the printing of the book, the work of the University Press was done in the "Theatre," a view of which is given at the left of the figure of Minerva, in the vignette on the title-page. This was the Sheldonian Theatre, built from designs by Christopher Wren, at the expense of Archbishop Gilbert Sheldon, who succeeded Lord Clarendon as chancellor. It was opened in 1669, and was used for various academic purposes, as well as for the home of the Press. Clarendon's design was fulfilled in 1713; and the Clarendon Building, as it was called, was occupied until it was outgrown, and the Clarendon Press, for under this name it was now equally well known, was removed once more, in 1830, to its present quarters.
The vignette, with its interesting glimpse of the buildings near the Theatre, is signed "delin
