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The Scribal Publication of a Printed Book: Francis Bacon's Certaine Considerations Touching ... the Church of England (1604)

Serjeantson, R., Woolford, T. — 2009-06-25

This article answers a number of questions about the first printed edition of Francis Bacon's Certaine Considerations Touching the Better Pacification and Edification of the Church of England (1604). We show that the press of its printer, Thomas Purfoot Jr, was stayed in the course of printing and that the partly-printed book was called in by order of the Bishop of London, Richard Bancroft. We further demonstrate, however, that a significant proportion of the printed sheets escaped this order, and that the half-printed book was made available to early readers in the form of copies completed in manuscript by professional scribes, a phenomenon we call ‘the scribal publication of a printed book’. The article also provides an analysis of the political and ecclesiological circumstances in which the book was first written and subsequently printed; it also addresses the question of Bacon's own role in the printing and suppression of his book.

The Market for Music in the Late Eighteenth Century and the Entry Books of the Stationers' Company

Mace, N. A. — 2009-06-25

In the last half of the eighteenth century, the demand for printed music rose dramatically, in part fueled by the lively musical environment in England and by the growth of the middle class, who purchased printed music suitable for amateur musicians, which they could play at home and in small groups. No one, however, has examined the market for music: what types of compositions were printed, what composers were most marketable, and what music sellers were most influential in determining what did and did not get printed and sold. One way of gauging a work's popularity is registration with the Company of Stationers because members of the print trade only registered a work if they believed in its commercial viability and were concerned that their competitors might attempt to pirate it. Therefore, an examination of music entries is one way we can discover which compositions music sellers and composers considered marketable enough to justify the expense of registration. Such an analysis reveals that the public preferred the works of British theatrical composers over their prestigious European counterparts, upon whom scholars studying this period up until now have almost exclusively focused their attention. In addition, they were interested in buying music adapted for instruments like the pianoforte and harpsichord, which they could play in their homes. As the Stationers' Company records suggest, then, scholars should examine more fully the entire range of archival evidence relating to the music trade in the late eighteenth century to gain a more complete picture of musical England during the late eighteenth century.

Lost Books Printed in French before 1601

Wilkinson, A. S. — 2009-06-25

Research into the history of the book before 1601 has reached an important moment. Within a few years, scholars will have at their disposal short title catalogues covering almost all of the major print domains of Europe. Such significant advances in research infrastructure will fundamentally transform our understanding of the first great age of print. It is therefore timely that we begin to address one of the most inconvenient of truths — the issue of lost books. This article focuses on publishing in French as a case study. This is a particularly fertile avenue of investigation because of the existence of two exceptional sources — short title catalogues of French books published in the 1580s. By mapping the entries in these sources to the most recent short title catalogue of French print published in 2007, we can begin to explore the extent and character of the survival and loss of vernacular print in this period.

Ecclesiastical London. Ed. by MARY C. ERLER. (Records of Early English Drama.)

Davison, P. — 2009-06-25

The Earliest Books of Canterbury Cathedral: Manuscripts and Fragments to c. 1200. By RICHARD GAMESON.

Andree, A. — 2009-06-25

Thomas Gascoigne, Libraries and Scholarship. By R. M. BALL. (Cambridge Bibliographical Society Monographs, 14.)

Thomson, R. M. — 2009-06-25

A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology, 1450-2000. By PETER BEAL.

Hunt, A. — 2009-06-25

Archaologie des gedruckten Buches. By MARTIN BOGHARDT. Ed. by PAUL NEEDHAM in collaboration with JULIE BOGHARDT. (Wolfenbutteler Schriften zur Geschichte des Buchwesens, 42.)

Flood, J. L. — 2009-06-25

The Cosmographia of Sebastian Munster: Describing the World in the Reformation. By MATTHEW MCLEAN. (St Andrews Studies in Reformation History.)

Bendall, S. — 2009-06-25

Christopher Plantin and Engraved Book Illustrations in Sixteenth-Century Europe. By KAREN L. BOWEN and DICK IMHOF.

Griffiths, A. — 2009-06-25

La Censure negociee: le controle du livre a Geneve, 1560-1625. By INGEBORG JOSTOCK. (Travaux d'Humanisme et Renaissance, 180.)

Pettegree, A. — 2009-06-25

Die kaiserlichen Druckprivilegien im Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv Wien. Verzeichnis der Akten vom Anfang des 16. Jahrhunderts bis zum Ende des Deutschen Reichs (1806). Ed. by HANS-JOACHIM KOPPITZ. (Buchwissenschaftliche Beitrage aus dem Deutschen Bucharchiv Munchen, 75.)

Flood, J. L. — 2009-06-25

Boston Parish Library Catalogue.

Harris, N. — 2009-06-25

Popular Children's Literature in Britain. Ed. by JULIA BRIGGS, DENNIS BUTTS, and M. O. GRENBY.

McGrath, L. — 2009-06-25

The Commonwealth of Books: Essays and Studies in Honour of Ian Willison. Ed. by WALLACE KIRSOP, with the assistance of MEREDITH SHERLOCK.

Roberts, J. — 2009-06-25

Recent Books

2009-06-25

Books Received

2009-06-25

Notes on Contributors

2009-06-25

Information

2009-06-25

The Bibliographical Society: The Annual General Meeting

2009-06-25