THE UNIVERSITY PRESS (fn. 1)
The first date in the history of Cambridge printing
is 1521, the year in which John Lair of Siegburg,
near Cologne, commonly known as John Siberch,
printed the first Cambridge book. Siberch was
associated with a number of Renaissance scholars
including Erasmus and Richard Croke, lecturer in
Greek in the University and afterwards the first
public orator. Siberch had printed a Greek textbook
for Croke in Cologne, and through his influence
received an advance of £20 to set up a press at
Cambridge in a 'space between the gate of humility
and the gate of virtue' of Gonville and Caius College.
The first product of this press was the Oratio of
Henry Bullock in honour of Wolsey's visit to the
University, and among the other nine works printed
by Siberch were Augustine, De miseria ac brevitate
vitae (the first English book to include Greek type),
and Linacre, Galenus de temperamentis.
Siberch printed cum gratia et privilegio and once
described himself as Cantabrigiensis typographus, but
he was simply a private printer enjoying the patronage of a group of Cambridge scholars, and the next
landmark in the history of Cambridge printing is the
charter of 1534. In that year Henry VIII granted to
the University the right to elect 'three stationers and
printers, or sellers of books . . . to print all manner of
books approved of by the Chancellor or his vicegerent and three doctors, and to sell and expose to
sale in the University or elsewhere within or without the realm, as well such books as other books
printed within or without the realm, and approved
of by the Chancellor or his vicegerent and three
doctors'. (fn. 2)
It is clear that this charter was designed not for
the encouragement of the art of printing, but for the
suppression of heretical treatises and to secure to the
University its independence of the exclusive licences
granted to London printers. In particular the University insisted, and has always continued to insist,
upon its rights as a privileged printer of the Bible
and afterwards of the Prayer Book. The University
has no specific patent to print the Bible, as the
Queen's printer has. What it insisted on through the
centuries was that its charter of 1534 (confirmed in
1628) made it independent of the licences granted
to individual printers in London. The Authorized
Version and the Prayer Book remain perpetual
Crown copyrights, and so Oxford and Cambridge
still maintain their right to print them notwithstanding the patent granted to the Queen's printer.
Although three 'stationers and printers of books'
were appointed immediately after the grant of the
charter of 1534, no books were actually printed in
Cambridge for another fifty years. Two of the
printers appointed in 1534 (Nicholas Speyring and
Garrett Godfrey) have left examples of their work
as binders, but it was not until 1583 that there was
a university printer who in fact printed books—
Thomas Thomas, fellow of King's College.
Thomas's press was no sooner established than it
was forcibly seized by the London stationers. The
University appealed successfully to Lord Burghley
and Thomas went ahead with his work, printing at
least twenty books before his death in 1588 at the
early age of 35. (fn. 3) He was a scholar as well as a printer,
and his most notable achievement was the compilation and printing of his Latin Dictionary (1587),
which reached its tenth edition in 1610.
Under Thomas's successors, John Legate and
Cantrell Legge, the dispute between the University
and the London stationers raged violently. The
stationers prosecuted Legge for printing Lily's
Grammar, while the University complained of the
high prices charged by the stationers. Legate rented
a shop in the parish of St. Mary the Great from 1591
to 1609, when he left to work in London; he probably occupied the house in Regent Walk (opposite
the west door of Great St. Mary's) in which Thomas
had lived. Between 1588 and 1625 there was a steady
output of Cambridge books, including the voluminous works of William Perkins; (fn. 4) Giles Fletcher's
Christ's Victorie and Triumph (1610); and The
Whole Booke of Psalmes . . . with apt notes to sing
them (1623), the first Cambridge book to contain
music.
Thomas Buck of Jesus, afterwards fellow of St.
Catharine's and esquire bedell, was appointed University Printer in 1625. His printing-house, originally part of the house of Austin Friars, was 'just
behind the east end of St. Benedict's Church and
Corpus Christi College'. There, with a succession of
partners (notably his brother John Buck and Roger
Daniel) with whom he constantly quarrelled, he
produced some famous books. A charter of Charles I
(1628) had confirmed the University's right to print
and sell all books approved by the Chancellor, and
in the following year there appeared the first
Authorized Version to be printed in Cambridge.
There were famous names, too, amongst Buck's
authors: George Herbert's The Tempest (1633),
Richard Crashaw's Epigrammata (1634), John
Donne's Six Sermons (1634), Obsequies to the
memorie of Mr Edward King, containing the first
edition of Lycidas (1638), Thomas Fuller's Historie
of the Holie Warre (1639), Lancelot Andrewes'
Sermons (1641), and William Harvey's de Circulatione Sanguinis (1649) are evidence of the vitality of
Cambridge printing in the period preceding the
Civil War.
John Field became University Printer in 1655. He
built a printing house on part of the land now occupied by the Master's Lodge of St. Catharine's College, and this remained the university printing-house
until the early nineteenth century. Field was in close
touch with the Parliamentary party, and, during the
Protectorate, styled himself 'one of his Highness's
Printers'. One of the most important products of his
press was his folio bible (1660), and John Ray's
Index Plantarum was published in the same year.
Field was succeeded in 1669 by John Hayes, who
printed many editions of classical authors as well as
Crashaw's Steps to the Temple (1670) and Ray's
Collection of Proverbs (1670).
It was at the end of the 17th century that a new
spirit was infused into Cambridge printing, and an
attempt was made to create a press which should be
under the direct control of the University. Under
the conditions of the charter of 1534 the University
had simply licensed tradesmen, who might or might
not be members of the University, to print and sell
books, and consequently the fortunes of the Press
were dependent upon the capacity and temperament
of the individual printer. The moving spirit in the
reform was Richard Bentley, and the formal initiative came from the Chancellor, the Duke of Somerset, who with the help of 'some publick-spirited
men' raised a fund, and submitted a scheme of
renovation to the University in 1696. The University accepted the proposal, and gave Bentley a free
hand in procuring new types and reorganizing the
conditions of printing. Cornelius Crownfield ('a
Dutchman . . . and a very ingenious man') was
appointed Inspector of the Press and a body of
Curators (afterwards called the Syndics of the
Press), consisting of the heads of colleges, the professors, and other masters of arts, was appointed to
control the Press on behalf of the University. Elaborate rules were made for the conduct of business,
and year by year Crownfield presented to the Curators a statement of work, of expenses incurred, and
of cash received.
Most of the books were printed to the order of the
author or of the bookseller responsible for publication, but in one instance the University plunged into
the responsibilities of publishing with disastrous
results. This was an enterprise promoted by Bentley,
who invited Ludolf Kuster, a Berlin professor, to
take up residence at Cambridge with a view to the
printing and publication of his edition of the Suidas
Lexicon. Originally the expense was to be undertaken
by John Owen, an Oxford stationer, but Owen unfortunately became bankrupt, and a new contract
was made for the work to be completed at the joint
expense of the University and Sir Theodore Janssen,
a London merchant. The three volumes of the lexicon were published in 1705, and, in the words of
Bentley's biographer, 'excited public admiration at
the spirit and liberality of the University of Cambridge in undertaking so magnificent a publication'.
But the Curators found it more difficult to sell the
volumes than to print them, and many years later
were still struggling with the problem of disposing
of the stock at greatly reduced prices.
Meanwhile the typographical standards of the
Press had been notably improved. Bentley's own
edition of Horace was published in 1711; the second
edition of Newton's Principia in 1713; and Sir
Thomas Browne's Christian Morals in 1716. These
and many other books brought great credit from the
scholastic and typographical points of view, but the
Curators failed in their control of the Press as a
business. In 1737 it appeared that a heavy loss had
been incurred, and a syndicate was appointed with
plenary powers over the Press for three years.
Crownfield retired in 1740 and was succeeded by
Joseph Bentham, who printed The History of Ely
Cathedral by his brother, James Bentham, Christopher Smart's Prize Poems, William Mason's Odes,
and many other works; but the most famous name
in Cambridge printing in the 18th century is that
of John Baskerville, a Birmingham printer, whose
ambition was to print an octavo Common Prayer
Book and a folio Bible. With this object in view he
applied to the University, and in 1758 an agreement
was made by which Baskerville was given leave to
print a bible and two prayer books, and was elected
'one of the Stationers and Printers' for ten years. In
fact, he printed four prayer books in 1760, and the
folio bible of 1763 has maintained its reputation of
being 'one of the most beautifully printed books in
the world'. The University, mindful perhaps of its
earlier misfortunes in publishing, drove a hard
bargain with Baskerville. Financially, the Bible involved a heavy loss and Baskerville printed no more
in Cambridge after 1763. After his death twelve
years later his types were bought by a French
society, and after many vicissitudes the punches were
eventually restored to the University Press in 1953.
Up to 1781 the universities of Oxford and Cambridge had had the privilege of printing almanacks;
but, in view of a ruling of the Court of Common
Pleas that the printing of almanacks was a common
law right over which the Crown had no control, an
Act of 1781 granted to each university a perpetual
annuity of £500 in compensation. This sum was
placed at the disposal of the Syndics of the Press for
the publication of unremunerative works of learning,
and is the only subsidy which the Press receives
from an outside source. Under the printers of the
later 18th century (John Archdeacon and John
Burges) the principal trade of the Press was in
bibles and prayer books, but a notable piece of
typography was Thomas Kipling's facsimile edition
of the Codex Bezae (1793). Earlier in the century,
experiments had been made in the use of stereotype
plates and in 1803 the University received an offer
of the secret of the stereotyping process. The inventor was the third Earl Stanhope, and the offer came
from Andrew Wilson, the London printer employed
by him. After much negotiation an agreement was
made with Wilson, and the new process, especially
valuable for bibles and prayer books, was introduced.
Meanwhile the Press buildings were growing. A
new printing house built on the south side of Silver
Street in 1804 soon proved to be inadequate, and in
1827 the buildings which still stand on the west of
the Press courtyard were completed. A more famous
addition was that associated with the name of
William Pitt the younger. The Pitt Memorial Committee, having a large surplus after defraying the
cost of the statue in Hanover Square, London,
offered to the University 'a considerable sum of
money for the erection of an handsome building
connected with the University Press'. The University accepted the offer, and bought the Trumpington
Street frontage between Silver Street and Mill Lane.
The Memorial Committee approved the designs
submitted by Edmund Blore, and the Pitt Press was
completed in 1833 at a total cost of £10,700. (fn. 5) One of
the most striking features of the building was the
lofty room with an immense oriel, designed for
meetings of the Press Syndicate. For many years this
was in fact used as the registry of the University. Annotation 608 Annotation 611
Richard Watts, University Printer from 1802 to
1809, had been succeeded by John Smith, and, apart
from bibles and prayer books, his most notable books
were the editions of classical authors set in 'Great
Porson Greek', the type designed under Porson's
direction. In 1827 the Syndics of the Press, feeling
dissatisfied with Smith's business capacity, engaged
John William Parker, a member of the London firm
of Clowes, to act as Superintendent of the Press.
Parker infused new life into the business: he improved the accountancy, bought new types and
hydraulic presses, and established a depository for
the sale of bibles and prayer books in London.
Steam presses were introduced in 1838. In 1852 the
condition of the Press was surveyed in detail by the
Royal Commission on the University, and the Commissioners reported their view that 'it is only by
associating printers or publishers in some species of
co-partnership with the University, or by leasing
the Press to them that any considerable return can
hereafter be expected from the capital invested in it'.
They were satisfied, they said, 'that no Syndicate,
however active and well chosen, can replace the
vigilant superintendence of those whose fortune in
life is dependent upon its success'.
Accordingly, on Parker's resignation in 1854, the
Syndics recommended that the University should
enter into partnership with George Seeley of Fleet
Street, London, bookseller, and Charles John Clay,
M.A. of Trinity College and of Bread Street Hill,
London, printer. Seeley retired two years later and
C. J. Clay, having entered into a fresh agreement
with the University, dominated the Press for the
next 40 years. Primarily, he was University Printer,
and at the end of his first ten years it was estimated
that he had at least quadrupled the turnover of the
printing house. This increase demanded larger
accommodation, and new machine rooms, warehouses, and a foundry were built between 1863 and
1878.
While the printing business thus rapidly developed,
the publications of the Press, apart from bibles and
prayer books, were almost negligible, consisting in
1860 of about 30 books of an academical character.
Up to 1872, the sales of these publications were
managed by London agents, but in that year the
Syndics, on Clay's advice, took the important decision to conduct their London business in an office
of their own in Paternoster Row. This was, in fact,
the beginning of Cambridge publishing in the
modern sense, and the catalogue of books published,
as well as printed, at the Press steadily grew. The
Revised Version of the Bible, published jointly with
the Oxford University Press, the Cambridge Bible
for Schools, and the Pitt Press series, originally designed to meet the needs of candidates for Local
Examinations, were among the most important
enterprises inaugurated in the seventies. In the
following decade many notable works (including
Maitland's edition of Bracton's Note Book, Jebb's
Sophocles, and Doughty's Arabia Deserta) were
added to the Syndics' catalogue, and in 1891 it was
found necessary to appoint a permanent Secretary
to the Syndics, with the particular duty of controlling negotiations with authors. The first holder of
the post was R. T. Wright, formerly fellow of
Christ's, and a separate building, containing syndicate and secretarial offices, was built on the south
side of the Press courtyard in 1893. In the following
year C. J. Clay retired, leaving his elder son John
Clay in charge of the printing business and his
younger son C. F. Clay as manager of the London
publishing house, which had been moved to Ave
Maria Lane in 1883.
The most important project inaugurated by R. T.
Wright was the Cambridge Modern History, the first
of a long series of volumes planned on the basis of
co-operative authorship and probably the first work
to make the Cambridge publishing imprint well
known throughout the world. (fn. 6) In 1905 the Syndics
acquired new and larger premises in Fetter Lane
and their catalogue of published works continued to
expand. Wright was succeeded as Secretary by A. R.
Waller in 1912 and on the death of John Clay in
1916, J. B. Peace, fellow of Emmanuel, was appointed University Printer. During Peace's tenure
of office, the distinguished American typographer,
Bruce Rogers, came to the Press for two years as
typographical adviser and inaugurated a most valuable reform in printing design. In 1922 Waller was
succeeded as Secretary by Mr. S. C. Roberts, and on
Peace's sudden death in the following year Mr.
Walter Lewis, a printer of great experience, was
elected in his place. With the assistance of Mr.
Stanley Morison as typographical adviser, Mr. Lewis
secured the Press in its position as one of the most
distinguished printing houses in the country. On his
retirement in 1946 he was succeeded by Mr. Brooke
Crutchley.
By the outbreak of war in 1939, the University
Press had not only enlarged and modernized its
printing house and its machinery, but had eventually
built a London publishing house adequate to its
needs. In 1937 Bentley House was completed as the
centre from which Cambridge books are distributed
all over the world. (fn. 7) Its manager, Mr. R. J. L. Kingsford, succeeded Mr. Roberts as Secretary to the
Syndics in 1948 and his place was taken by Mr.
R. W. David. In 1948 an American branch of the
Press was established in New York under the
management of Mr. F. R. Mansbridge.
Such, in the last hundred years, has been the
expansion of a university printing house with the
privilege of printing the Bible and the Prayer Book
into a printing and publishing business of large
dimensions, but still under the direct control of the
University.