Mr. Blades’s researches on the varieties of types used by Caxton and other early printers led him to investigate the history of specimen books, and he collected much interesting information respecting these.
In 1881 he contributed to the _Antiquary_[2] an article on “The First Printing-Press at Oxford,” in which he refers to the much-disputed-over _Expositio_ of 1468, a date which he supposes to be a misprint for 1478. This Oxford press appears to have existed for eight years (from 1478 to 1486), during which period sixteen books that have come down to us were produced. Blades divided these eight years into three sections:--
1. 1478-1479: three books printed by one unknown printer, probably Theodoric Rood.
2. 1480-1483: seven books printed by Theodoric Rood.
3. 1483-1486: six books printed by Rood and Thomas Hunte.
S. W. Singer published a pamphlet in 1812 in which he supported the opinion that the date 1468 was the correct one, but as early as 1735 Conyers Middleton made the very probable suggestion that in printing an X had been accidentally dropped out.
In 1860 Mr. Blades printed a pamphlet entitled _Some Account of the Typography of St. Albans in the Fifteenth Century_ (1480-1486), which however went no further than half a dozen proofs. This contains a collation and description of the type of each of the books printed by the printer of St. Albans. Mr. Blades writes: “Seven different works printed at St. Albans about the close of the fifteenth century have descended to modern times. From the colophons of these we learn that the Press there produced _two_ Works in 1480, _two_ in 1481, _one_ in 1486, and _two_ without dates, one of which, however, must have been printed after 1483, which was the year of its compilation. From this it seems very probable that several works may have been printed at St. Albans between 1480 and 1486, of which not a single copy is now preserved. The fact that these seven Books present us with four different Founts of Type leads to the same conclusion, which also receives some confirmation from the colophon to the Essay on Rhetoric by Laurentius de Saona. Laurentius wrote his work in the University of Cambridge in 1478, and the fame of the St. Albans Press would seem to have reached there so early as 1480, as in that year his compilation was printed at St. Albans. But who was the St. Albans Printer? Not one of his productions affords the slightest information. That he must have been connected with the Abbey, or protected by the Abbot there, seems almost certain, as the undertaking otherwise would have been too perilous.”
An interesting article appeared in 1878 in _Macmillan’s Magazine_ on the Plantin Museum at Antwerp, which was translated into French. Mr. Blades made his first visit before the old printing-office was purchased in 1875 by Town Council for £48,000. This will seem a large sum to those who have not the privilege of knowing this interesting relic of the past, with its many and varied treasures. Mr. Blades describes (1) the Mansion; (2) the paintings and engravings--18 oils by Rubens; (3) the Library; (4) the Archives; and (5) the Printing Offices. Among the collections are fine specimens of Sevres, Chinese, and Japanese porcelain. “Some years ago a well-known amateur, distracted by the beauty of six cups and saucers in _porcelaine verte de chine_, offered Mr. Moretus 15,000 francs for the set, but in vain, and these cups, which £50 each would not buy, still grace the Plantin Museum.” In conclusion, we are told of some of the most precious of the stores in this wonderful place: “But what have we here in all these curiously carved old cabinets, a single one of which would render a Soho dealer famous? Shelves upon shelves of wood-cuts, over 15,000, illustrating three centuries of the engraver’s art. All sizes of floriated initials, ‘blooming capitals’ as the Dutch called them; an infinity of head- and tail-pieces, vignettes, printers’ marks, and what the French style _culs de lampes_. One magnificent set of large illuminated initials, probably designed for a great Missal, is quite fresh from the hand of the engraver, having never been used; while numerous designs, although beautifully drawn upon the wood, have still to wait for the skilled hand of the engraver. Not wood-cuts only, but about 8000 copperplates are also carefully preserved, including many splendid title-pages and other illustrations used in bygone ages. In a specially designed and beautifully carved closet are kept all the punches, matrices, and moulds which performed no small part in enhancing the fame of the ‘Plantin Press.’ Probably nothing like it can be seen in Europe, the major part having come from the graceful hands of Guillaume le Bé and Claude Garamond. Close by, packed up in papers ready for immediate use, are a ton or two of types of all sizes, brand-new, covered with a hundred years of dust.”
It is remarkable that a great house should have lasted for so many years, and have remained in the possession of a single family. “One of Plantin’s two daughters married John Moretus, the chief associate of her father in his typographical labours, to whom he bequeathed the mansion and the business. From him through seven generations of printers it has descended unchanged to Edward Joseph Moretus, the last of his race, who has lately transferred it to the safe custody of the city of Antwerp.”
In 1875 Mr. Blades contributed to the _Printers’ Register_ a useful account of “Some early Type Specimen Books of England, Holland, France, Italy, and Germany,” which was reprinted as a pamphlet. “The first positive notice we have of type-founding in England is the fount of Saxon cut by John Day for Archbishop Parker and used in 1567. The next is found in a Decree of the Star Chamber in 1637, restricting the foundries in England to four, and further restricting each master-founder to two apprentices and one boy ‘to pull off the knots of metal hanging at the end of the letters when they are first cast, _and no more_.’ The first dated type specimen is a sheet of Moxon’s, who was the earliest English writer on the practice of type-founding and printing. His sheet is headed thus:--
Proves of several sorts of Letters cast by Joseph Moxon, Westminster. Printed by Joseph Moxon in Russel Street at the sign of the Atlas, 1669.
“English type-founding was in a very depressed state until an accidental circumstance induced the first Mr. Caslon to try his hand at punch-cutting. This was in 1720 upon a fount of Arabic for the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and his complete success in this determined his future life. He started an infant foundry, cutting his punches with his own hand, and in 1734 published the following as a Large Post Broadside:--
A specimen by William Caslon, Letter Founder, in Chiswell Street, London.
This sheet is very interesting, as showing from what a small commencement this celebrated Foundry took its rise.”
Mr. Blades proceeds to give an account of American Specimen Books, and then describes specimens published in various parts of the Continent. The earliest book with a date which he found has this title:--
Typorum et Characterum Officinæ Chalcographicæ Georgii Leopoldi Fuhrmanni ... designatio. Nurimbergæ, 1616. 4to.
“In 1743 the Haarlem firm of Isaac and John Enschedé originated the plan of presenting their patrons with a well-bound and well-printed volume, in which their types were advantageously displayed.” In 1870 Mr. Blades communicated to Berjeau’s _Book-worm_ an interesting article on this Type Foundry. He writes: “The elegant volume which has suggested these remarks is a newly published Specimen Book of all the old types anterior to the year 1800 now in the Enschedé Foundry, or which is the same thing, now extant in Holland. Great pains have been taken to show them off to advantage by excellent press-work; while to add additional interest to the volume, the engraved title-pages which ornamented the early specimen books of the same firm more than a century ago, are here reproduced from the original plates.”
Mr. Blades contributed to Berjeau’s _Book-worm_ in 1869 a short article on some Early Greek Types belonging to the Royal Printing Office, Paris, which the University of Cambridge wished to purchase in the year 1700. This article is printed in the present volume.