[10] This was the mark of Erpenius, whose stock was purchased by the Elzevirs.
[11] The imprint is merely Lvgdvni Batavorum, ex officina Elzeviriana.
CHAPTER IX.
THE EARLY ENGLISH PRESSES.
IN the short time that intervened between the invention of printing by means of movable type and the end of the fifteenth century some 20,000 different works are known to have been issued from the European press. Many copies of these are doubtless hidden away in old lumber rooms, or in the recesses of imperfectly catalogued libraries of obscure and decaying towns. Some have altogether perished, leaving no trace of their ephemeral existence; others are known by name, but have themselves vanished as effectually as if they had never existed. What, for instance, has become of the fifteen books of Ovid's Metamorphoses which Caxton, in his preface to the Golden Legende, says that he printed? Hitherto no copy has been unearthed, nor any fragment of a copy. Where is the Lyfe of Robert Erle of Oxenford mentioned in the preface to the Four Sons of Aymon? What was the great printer doing between the years 1486-8, during which time, so far as can be discovered, he printed nothing? These and many similar questions are important, as raising a very strong probability that the bibliography of Caxton is very far from being complete. The same remarks apply more or less to nearly every other fifteenth century printer. There is a field here which has never been fully explored, and which, in all probability, never will be until some Augustus shall arise, and by a wave of his hand throw open the dwellings, the libraries, and even the outhouses of the world to his troop of eager agents. In the meantime, a single discovery of a hitherto unknown book of the fifteenth century acquires an importance proportionate to the exceptional nature of the occurrence; and though the book hunter never despairs, he knows only too well that such rarities fall only to fortunate mortals like the French bibliophile Resbecq, whose extraordinary luck was proverbial, or to those whose ignorance is so dense that they seem provided, as compensation, with more than a fair share of attractive power. It seems a pity that the unappreciative should often obtain chances which are denied to those who could utilise them to advantage, but it is often the case. The merest tyro sometimes experiences a success which the experienced bibliophile sighs for in vain.
Glowing as this picture appears, the collector must not run away with the idea that all early printed books are valuable. Some, even of the fifteenth century, are not worth an Englishman's ransom by a long way. The question of value depends mainly on the name of, and the degree of reputation acquired by, the printer. Thus, books printed by Fust and Schœffer, Gutenberg and Fust, Sweynham and Pannartz, and many others of the oldest continental printers, are scarce and valuable in the extreme; so are any books from the presses of the early English printers. On the other hand, the Estienne, Giunta, and Plantin presses are comparatively neglected. Here, again, it is a question of reputation, only, in this case, the inquiry is directed not to the book itself, but to the printer, a reversal of the usual rule, and one that is productive of an extraordinary result, namely, that trivial books are often the most valuable, simply because they have not been worth keeping. Let no one, then, look, in the first instance, to the character of an early printed book, but let him rather study that of the craftsman, keeping in mind the current of popular favour and the direction in which it flows. If he does this, he will find that, so far as this country is concerned, there is a scope amply sufficient to satisfy the most earnest aspirations. The long line of printers from Caxton, in 1477, to Day, in 1546, and, in a lesser degree, those of the subsequent fifty years, discloses names which are graven on the heart of the collector, who often accounts himself fortunate if he can procure a single specimen from the early English press. As the chance of his doing so, though remote, is by no means impossible, seeing that copies are frequently offered for sale while many others must be hidden away, it is necessary that he should have some ideas of his own. To let slip a chance which fortune throws in his way, and which may never occur again, would be productive of never-ending regret, especially as, with a little care and attention, there is no reason why such a disaster should occur.
The subject of the early English press could not, of course, be entered upon fully without occupying considerable space, and I must content myself with such a résumé as can conveniently be compressed within the compass of a few pages.
It is worthy of note that many of these old English printers were, like Aldus Manutius, editors as well. In the early days labour was not divided as it is now, and it is well known that Caxton, for example, not merely translated many of his publications, but cast his own type and bound the sheets when ready for publication. Each of these processes was perfected in his own office, and so well that to this day his handiwork is seldom surpassed. Improved apparatus cannot always hold its own against manual dexterity—an observation which becomes more than ever accentuated when we apply it to the art of Typography, perfect in its results almost from infancy.