[c] [e] [d] น Ramana e foluktibz boč afreenno gmde PP.CCCC.taæfiö Explicit opuo magistri wil 27. Colophon of Lyndewode's Constitutiones. Oxford, 1482 (?). Showing the types [c], [d], [e], [f]. Í face p. 138. new founts of Black-letter, types [d] and [e], or rather one fount having one size of capitals, and a small and large size of "lower-case," all cast on the same body, about a Pica, and capable of being used interchangeably. Subsequently they used another double fount, types [f] and [g], cast in the same manner, [f] being the small, and [g] the large "lower-case," with one size of capitals for both, all cast on a body closely corresponding to Great Primer. The character of this letter is decidedly Caxtonian, and suggests the possibility that at this stage of their labours the printers may have learned the art of making their own type. Type [f] had been in use for some time in combination with [c], [d] and [e], before type [g] appeared. The accompanying facsimile from the Lyndewode shows types [c], [d], [e] and [f]. We thus find that the seven early Oxford types reduce themselves to four principal founts, and one fount of initial letter, of which the following table will briefly sum up the typographical details: The first Oxford press disappeared altogether in 1486, between which date and 1517 no work is known to have issued. In 1517 John Scolar, another German, printed a few small works very neatly in English and Brevier blackletter, with a Great Primer for titles, and made use of the University arms for the first time, either on his titles or last pages. Scolar's press, in turn, came to an abrupt standstill in 1519, after which, in common with the other provincial presses of the country, printing at Oxford remained dormant for upwards of half a century.1 It was not till the year 1585 that the art was actively resumed. In that 1 Bagford attributes this general cessation of printing in Oxford, Cambridge, York, Tavistock, St. Albans, Canterbury and Worcester to Cardinal Wolsey's interference while legate. year the Earl of Leicester presented a press, and the University made a grant of £100. The Star Chamber Decree of the following year formally allowed (with rigid restrictions) the establishment of the new press, and under Joseph Barnes, the first University printer, it rapidly rose to prominence. It appears from the outset to have been well provided with types, many of them of a beautiful cut, particularly those of the Greek character. The Chrysostomi Homilia, printed by Barnes in 1586, and the Herodotus of 1591, were both noticeable for the excellence of their letter. The former is said to be the first Greek book printed at the University. The reputation of the University for its Greek types was enhanced some years afterwards by the acquisition of the letter in which the magnificent edition of St. Chrysostom1 had been printed at Eton by John Norton in 1610-13, at the charge and under the direction of Sir Henry Savile. This work, one of the most splendid examples of Greek printing in this country, is said to have cost its author £8,000. Respecting the origin of the types, Bagford says, in one of his MSS.: "Sir Henry Savile, meditating an edition of St. Chrysostom, prepared a fount of curious Greek letters, which in those days were called the Silver letter, not being cast of silver, but for the beauty of the letter so called." Beloe,3 on the other hand, considers that the types were procured from abroad. "They certainly resemble," he says, "those of Stephens, and the other Paris printers, as well as those of the Wechels at Frankfort, at a subsequent period. From the Wechels indeed they are said by some to have been procured, but this fact I have not been able to ascertain. It appears beyond a doubt, from a passage in one of the Epistles of Isaac Casaubon, that they were cast abroad." The fine execution of this work obtained for Norton the distinction accorded to Robert Estienne of Paris by Francis I, of "Regius in Græcis Typographus." Scarcely less high an honour had been paid to this printer in 1594, when we are told Paul Estienne (son of Henri Estienne II) visiting England, and appreciating his merit, permitted him to make use of the device of the Estiennes.5 At what date these famous Greek types came into the possession of the 1 S. Joannis Chrysostomi opera Grace, octo voluminibus. Etona, in Collegio Regali, Excudebat Joannes Norton, in Græcis &c. Regius Typographus. 1610-13. Fol. * Sir Henry Savile (who is not to be confounded with his kinsman and namesake, Long Harry Savile, Camden's friend) was formerly Greek tutor to Queen Elizabeth. In 1585 he was made Warden of Merton, and in 1596 became Provost of Eton College, where he died in 1621, ætat. 72. 3 Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books. London, 1807-12. 6 vols., 8vo, v, 111, 122. 4 The passage referred to is the following vague reply to an inquiry addressed by Sir Henry Savile to Casaubon: "De characteribus Stephanicis longa historia, longæ ambages. Itaque melius ista coram.” 6 Dupont, Histoire de l'Imprimerie. Paris, 1854. 2 vols., 8vo, i, 488. 35 ΠΕΡΙ ΙΕΡΩΣΥΝΗΣ. Λογ.. દ Μοὶ πολλοὶ μὲ ἐνύοντο φίλοι, γνήσιοι τε και αλεθεῖς, [3] μαθημα ή λάμπα τ αὐτῶν, καὶ διδασκάλοις έλλη σάμθα τοῖς αὐτοῖς, εν ἢ ἡμῖν [ε] προθυμία ή σπουδή πεὶ τὸ λόγοις, ὃς ἐπονέμεθα, μια, επιθυμία τε ἴπη, ε ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν ακλουθώνη πραγματα εις διδασκάλε μόνον ἐφοιτῶμου, άλλα και τίκα ἐκεῖθεν ἐξελθόντας βολεύεσθαι ἐγειν, ὁποίου ἐλέσθαι τὸ βίου βέλτιον ἡμῖν ὁδὸν, 30 και ταῦτα ομογνωμονόντες ἐφαινό πια η έτερα προς τέτοις ἡμῖν τα ομόνοιαν ταύτω 28. Greek fount of the Eton Chrysostom, 1613. Τί γάρ; μή τι ὑμᾶς ἔτησα ; ἢ τῆς παρ' ὑμως ἰσχύος δέομαι, ώςε σῶσαι με ἐξ ἐθρῶν, ἢ ἐκ χειρὸς διαςῶν ῥύσαπς' με ; Quid enim? nunquid aliquid vos petii ? aut fortitudine veftra indigeo, ut falveris me de inimicis, vel de manu potentium liberetis me? HRYSOSTOMI. Num in ali Xim Sicura, cher C quare, inquit, moleftus vobis fui, ut ΡΥΣΟΣΤ. Μή, φησιν, ἐν τινὶ μόνως ὅπως ἐλεήσατε; ἢ πρὸς συμμαχί- mecrudeliter adeo tractareris ? vel opem veftram contra adverfarios meos rogavi? vel 29. From the Catena on Job. 1637. ut [faer p. 140. |