Iuniversity) CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY BOUGHT WITH THE, INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND GIVEN IN 185I BY HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE Cornell University Library arW8678 Early printing in Newcastle-upon-Tyne / 3 1924 031 473 857 olin,anx The original of tliis bool< is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031473857 A PAPER READ TO THE MEMBERS OP THE NEWCASTLE TYPOGRAPHIA GUILD (Aaeon Watson, Esq., Editor of the Newcastle Daily Leader, in the Chair), November 2nd, 1895. EICHARD WELFORD. t-ott- Ql-gttic : Printed {for private circulation) by CAIL & SONS, 29 and 31, Quayside. 1895. ^atlg ||rmtm0 m Itetotastlc-HpatT-Cjine. To appreciate properly the circumstances under wMch the art of printing was introduced to Newcastle, it is desirable to turn back the pages of history, and ascertain the methods by which the practice of the art in England, during the early stages of its progress, was developed and controlled. Long before Caxton set up his press at Westminster, the issue of books had been more or less subject to the interference of the State, and as soon as the new method of producing them began to make headway, the State became exceedingly active in asserting its authority. Under shadow of the Throne, the Star Chamber (re-organised, if not created, a dozen years or so after Caxton issued his first volume) assumed the power of supervising all kinds of printed matter. In that capacity it promulgated decrees against "disorders" in printing, and inflicted heavy penalties upon those whom it was pleased to designate as offenders against its Draconian orders. In June, 1566, a Star Chamber ordinance prohibited the printing or procuring of books which criticised or con- troverted the meaning of the laws of the realm, injunctions and letters patent issued by royal authority, &c., under penalty of three months' imprisonment, forfeiture of the books, and disqualification to print for evermore ; while every person who sold, bound, or sewed such books, was to pay a fine of twenty shillings for each volume. At the same time every stationer, printer, or bookseller was ordered to give sureties for the faithful observance of the ordinance. A later decree, dated 1585, required every printer, under penalty of twelve months' imprisonment and defacement of his presses, to send to the Stationers' Company, 4 EARLY PRINTING IN NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. within ten days, a certificate of the numher of printing instruments in his possession; ordered that no presses should be set up outside London, excepting one each in the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; declared that no printer -who had commenced business within six months "last past" should exercise his calling, nor any person start a new press, "till the excessive multitude of printers be abated, diminished, or by death given over, or otherwise brought to so small a number of masters . . . being of ability and good behaviour, as the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London shall think requisite and convenient ; " that no book whatsoever should be printed until these two prelates had approved of it ; and, finally, that apprentices should be limited to three in the workshops of Masters of the Stationers' Company, two in those of Upper "Wardens of the Company, and one in all other cases. In order to secure accuracy in the printing of State papers. Acts of Parliament, &c., certain master craftsmen were appointed, by letters patent, printers to the King. Pynson, in 1503, styled himself "printer unto the King's noble grace," though it is not known that he had any proper license so to designate himself. But, in 1529, Henry VIII. granted letters patent to Thomas Berthelet, who exercised his calling at the sign of Lucretia Romana, in Fleet Street, London, constituting him King's Printer, and he was the first to whom the privilege was formally conceded. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth the royal printers were Christopher and Robert Barker, who lived in Paternoster Row, at the sign of the Tyger's Head, and had a shop in St. Paul's Churchyard, bearing the sign of the Grasshopper. When James I. came to the throne he appointed Robert Barker to be King's printer for life, and, a few years later, extended the license to Robert, son of Robert Barker, to continue for thirty years after the death of his father. The Barkers, by virtue of their appointment, printed several editions of the Scriptures, and Robert, who issued, among others, the Breeches Bible, became the first printer of the Authorised Version, which, com- pleted in 1611, bore the title of The Holy Bible, Conteyning the Old Testament, and the New: Newly Translated out of the Originall Tongues: and with the former Translations diligently compared and reuised, by his Maiesties special Comandement. Appointed to be read in Churches. Imprinted at London by Eobert Barker, Printer to the Kings most Excellent Maiestie. Anno Dom. 1611. STATE KEGULATION OF PRINTING. 5 In 1627, three years after the accession of Charles I., a share of the monopoly granted to the Barkers was assigned, with the King's approbation, to Bonham Norton and John Bill. Other master printers, too, about this time, acquired letters patent for special undertakings. One of them, Martin Lucas, associated himself with Barker in publish- ing an edition of the Scriptures known to posterity as the "Wicked Bible." For, by omitting the word "not," the seventh commandment was made to read " Thou shalt commit adultery," for which blunder the printers were fined f 3,000 and the edition was suppressed. The patents granted to the Barkers lasted, with survivals and renewals, a hund!;ed and thirty years. From them the title and privilege of Royal Printer passed to the Baskets, and from the Baskets to John Eyre, whose successors, under the well-known title of Eyre and Spottiswoode, are the Queen's Printers at the present day. But this by the way. Soon after Robert Barker had purged his offence in misprinting the seventh commandment. King Charles and his Scottish subjects entered into those disputes about public worship which had their culmination in civil war. The royal printer naturally attached his name to loyal publications only. Not so the typographers at large. They became particularly obnoxious to the Government, through the promptitude and freedom with which their handicraft was utilised by contending factions in Church and State. Ten of Rushworth's folio pages are occupied by a decree of the Star Chamber, issued on the eleventh of July, 1637, " for the better government and regulation of printers and printing," because, as the ordinance averred, "divers abuses have arisen and been practised by the craft and malice of wicked and evil disposed persons to the prejudice of the publick ; and divers libellous, seditious, and mutinous books have been unduly printed, and other books and papers without license, to the disturbance of the peace of the Church and State." By this decree it was ordered that no books of law should be printed without the special allowance of the Lords Chief Justices and the Lord Chief Baron ; that all books on history should be licensed by the Secretaries of State ; books on heraldry by the Earl Marshal, and all other books (on divinity, physic, philosophy, poetry, &c.) by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of London, or the Chancellor or Vice- Chancellor of either of the Universities. Twenty printers only were permitted to follow their 6 EARLY PRINTING IN NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. calling, over and beyond the Royal and University Printers, and if any other should pursue the trade he should be pilloried or whipped through the City of London. At the same time, to assist in securing obedience to this rigorous ordinance, the number of letter foundries in the kingdom was limited to four, and their apprentices to two in each foundry, no other person but journeymen and apprentices being allowed to work at the trade, save only that a boy, unbound to the craft, might be employed " in pulling off the knots of metal hanging at the ends of the letters when they are first cast." These, then, were the conditions under which the art of printing was practised when, in 1639, the first printing press made its appearance in Newcastle. The events which brought it here were a threatened rebellion in Scotland, and measures taken by the English Government to prevent a general uprising of the Scottish people. Placing himself at the head of a considerable army, King Charles came northward in March, 1639. His Majesty arrived at York on the 80th of that month, and, keeping his Court there, received the nobility and gentry that flocked to his standard, and arranged the details of his projected campaign. Not long after his arrival it was discovered that to carry on the business of the State so far away from London without the means of issuing quickly, and in sufScient number, royal decrees and proclama- tions, was a serious inconvenience. A printer was wanted, and no printer was available, either in the archiepiscopal city or in the sparsely populated towns 'twixt the Ouse and the Tweed. Accordingly, on the 20th of April, the Earl of Arundel and Surrey, Lord General of the army in the North, wrote to Sir Francis Windebank, Secretary of State, at Westminster, informing him that one of the royal printers was required at headquarters, and asking that he and the implements of his craft might be despatched as speedily as possible. " His Majesty would have you with all expedition to send down a printer with a press," so the message ran, "to set out His Majesty's daily commands for his court or army, and that to be done by more than ordinary diligence, the want being daily found so great. I conceive a waggon by land the surer way, to change horses as often as they will by express warrant to take up teams daily." The royal instructions were promptly obeyed. The man sent down was Robert Barker, the King's Printer, and a press, with all necessary THE FIRST PRINTER IN NEWCASTLE. 7 material to ensure good workmanship, accompanied him. Travelling by express waggon, with even "more than ordinary diligence," was not a very rapid method of locomotion, and by the time that Barker arrived at York the Court was in motion towards the Border. He therefore continued his journey, and came to Newcastle to await the King's orders. His Majesty left York on the 29th of April, and, having been nobly entertained at Raby Castle by Sir Henry Vane, proceeded to Durham, in which city he stayed for a week. On Sunday, the 5th of May, ho attended public service in the Cathedral, where his host. Bishop Morton, preached a serfaon on Divine Right and Royal Prerogative. The sermon pleased his Majesty exceedingly. It was a sermon calculated to encourage loyal subjects, to convert the wavering, and to confound the King's enemies. His Majesty ordered the MS. to be sent to New- castle to be printed and published by the newly arrived printer. This was done, and thus it happened that Bishop Morton's sermon before the King in Durham Cathedral was the first book (•■■) printed in Newcastle, and that the first printer who exercised his craft upon Tyneside was that notable typographer, Robert Barker. The first production of the printing press in Newcastle is a small quarto of forty-two pages, twenty-six lines to a page, printed in what, not being a practical printer, I suppose to be the type called English. The text is plentifully bestrewed with capitals and italics, as was the custom then and for long after, and it is copiously annotated with marginal and inset references. The full title of the book is — A Sermon Preached Before the Kings most Excellent Majestic in the Cathedrall Church of Durham. Upon Sunday, being the fifth day of May, 1639. By the Eight Reverend Father in God, Thomas, Lord Bishop of Duresme. Published by his Majesties speeiall command. Imprinted at Newcastle-upon- Tyne, by Robert Barker, Printer to the King's most Excellent Majestic : And by the Assignes of John Bill. 1639. Above the imprint is a printer's block, representing a conventional head, supported by Fame blowing a trumpet. * Dr. Cotton quotes from Davidson's Bibliotliecn Devonietisis a statement that tlic British iluseum contains a copy of "The Lamentation of Mr. Page's "ft'ife of Plymouth (who was hanged at Barnstaple for his murder), printed at Newcastle in 1590," hut the suhjcct and the topography alike seem to exclude the idea that the printing was executed in Xowcastle-upon- Tj-nc. 8 EARLY PRINTING IN NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. The Bishop's text was taken from Romans, chapter xiii., verse 1 :— "Let every soul be subject to the higher Powers," and his lordship divided his discourse into the following heads, or parts : — I. Part. Who? [Every Soul.]— II. Part. [To the higher Powers.] —III. Part. [For there is no Power but of God : the Powers that be are ordained of God.] — IV. Part of this Canon ; [Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the Power, resisteth the Ordinance of God. That is Eesisteth God himselfe.] — V. They that resist shall receive to themselves Damnation. But into the prelate's arguments we need not enter. King Charles came to Newcastle on the 8th of May, and on the following day Edward Norgate, Windsor Herald, in attendance upon his Majesty, wrote to his cousin, Robert Eeade, nephew of Mr. Secretary Windebank, that a Royal Proclamation to the Covenanters had been read in Church (St. Nicholas' no doubt), the previous Sunday, and that copies of it had been sent into Scotland. " We have brought hither," he continued, "a printer with all his trinkets, ready to make new [that is new copies of the proclamation] as occasion may require." Three days later, in a further communication to Robert Eeade, he returns to the same subject, the novelty of adding a printer to the Royal equipage having evidently impressed him. "We have a printer here," he wrote, "and this day I made ready for the King's hand a proclamation for the importation of butter." This order, which permitted butter to be brought into the Northern ports for the use of the army, and another issue of four hundred copies of "the proclamation of pardon to the Scots," are described as "now printing." Whether they were issued before or after Bishop Morton's High prerogative discourse cannot now be ascertained, but the point is not of much importance. They were probably broadsides, but whatsoever may have been their size, shape, and date of publication they can hardly rank as books or booklets. Bishop Morton's sermon, therefore, retains its pre-eminence as the first book printed in Newcastle. Norgate's correspondence with Eeade makes us acquainted with the second book which issued from Barker's press while it remained with the King in Newcastle. Writing on the 16th of May, Windsor Herald tells his friend that "The Book of Ordinances was proclaimed this morning by our Clariencieux, in a miserable cold morning, with hail and LAWES AND ORDINANCES OF WARRE. 9 snow." The "Book of Ordinances," as Norgate terms it, contained the regulations for the conduct of the army, and bore the title of — Lawes and Ordinances Of Warre. For the better Government of His Maiestiea Army Eoyall, in the present Expedition for the Northern parts, and safety of the Kingdome. Under the Conduct of his Excellence, the Right Honourable Thomas Earl of Arundel and Surrey, Earl Marshall of England, &c., and Generall of His Majesties Forces. Imprinted at Newcastle by Eobert Barker, Printer to the Kings most Excellent Majestic : And by the Assignes of John Bill. 1639. The type and arrangements of this little volume, which contains only 27 pages, quarto, is identical with those of Bishop Morton's sermon. The sheet signatilres are the same ; all of them run to three figures. The block in the title page is different, but the floriated head piece at the beginning is used again, and the paper is of the same texture and colour. In the sermon is one ornamental initial letter (T), forming an inset five lines deep ; in the Book of Ordinances are two (S. and F.) a little larger, making an inset six lines deep. Neither of the books, it may be noted, contain Barker's punning device — a man stripping a tree of its bark, i.e., a barker. The paper having been made apparently of good linen rags, without admixture of clay, or other opaqufe ingredient, and the pressman's arm having been strong, the ink on the copies extant shows through the blank spaces ; otherwise the pages are of good colour, eiean and bright, and free from set-offs. I may point out, in passing, that the regulations of "His Majesties Army Royall" as detailed by Barker's booklet were stern and rigorous. Whosoever was found to have blasphemed the Deity, "or any of the blessed persons of the holy Trinity," or derided God's word; the Articles of Faith, or the clergy, or their oface, must confess his fault publicly during divine service, and be kept three days in prison upon bread and water ; while, for a second offence, he was to have " a red hot iron thrust thorow his tongue, and after that be ignominiously for ever turned out of the army." Sacrilege, swearing, drunkenness, gambling and duelling, were forbidden under heavy penalties. All suspicious and common women were to be turned out of the army, and if found a second time were to be "whipped like common strumpets"; soldiers who frequented their company were to be fined and imprisoned, and ofScers for a like offence were to "utterly lose" their places. All wilful murders, rapes, burning of houses, thefts, outrages and unnatural abuses were punish- 10 EARLY PRINTING IN NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. able with death, while he who "dishonestly" touched any married or unmarried woman, woman in childbed, or children, was to be cashiered without money or passport. Those who gave the lie to any person of the army were to be fined or imprisoned, and whosoever disparaged the actions or directions of any chief commander, "unless he be able to make it good," was to "die for it." Acceptance of these drastic regula- tions was enforced by an oath, which the soldiers, holding up their hands or fingers, were to repeat "after him that readeth," as follows: — All these Lawes and Ordinances wHeh have publikely here been read unto us we do hold and allow o£ as sacred and good; and will confirme, fulfiU, and keep them to the uttermost of our power : So helpe us God. How long Robert Barker, "with all his trinkets," remained upon Tyneside is not known. King Charles stayed in Newcastle for a fort- night, and then proceeded to Berwick, where, after much parleying, articles of pacification were signed, and the army was disbanded — "flying homeward," as Norgate expressed it, " like a broken up school." Robert Barker, his occupation gone, went home with the rest, and upon this side of the Tyne was seen no more. Three years later — in 1642 — he accompanied the King to York, as before, but when his service was completed he returned to his shop in London, and there, so far as is known, he remained. About this time a printer named Stephen Bulkley, possibly one of Barker's workmen, though there is no evidence of such a connection, started business in York on his own account. He appears to have been a loyal subject, and loyalty being just then at an increasing discount,, he probably found it difficult to make ends meet in that city. Howsoever that may have been, it is certain that during the summer of 1646, when the King was practically a prisoner in Newcastle, he brought his print- ing press to the Tyne. It is believed that he was invited hither by the Court party, whose interests misfortune and mismanagement had brought to a low ebb. The result, if not the object of his coming, soon became apparent. A tract or pamphlet appeared, and this tract, con- sidering the source to which it was attributed, made considerable stir in the country ; for it was a loyal treatise, purporting to be— An Answer sent to the Ecclesiastical Assembly at London, by the reverend, noble, and learned man, John Diodate, the famous Professor of Divinity, and most vigilant Pastor of Geuevah, translated out of Latin into English. A PIECE OF PEELATICAL FORGERY. 11 It was a nine days' wonder how Diodate, an eminent Genevan Protestant, well known as a translator of the Bihle into French and Italian, could have set his hand to such a production, and then, like many other sensational episodes, it resolved itself into what the Loyalists called a hoax and the Puritans stigmatised as a forgery. The imposition was exposed in December, 1646, by a news sheet which, started a month earlier as The Diutiims Brittaiiicu.s, had changed its name to that of The Mcrcurius Diutinus, or Collector of the Affairs of Great Britain. In the hands of the Jupiter who controlled this new Mercury, the treatise attributed to Diodate became "a piece of prelatical forgery, a very fiction, drawn up by some of their creatures here in England, and (most unworthily) published with the name of that reverend divine said to be printed at Genevah for the good of Great Britain, 1646, but printed by the new printer that went from York to the Court at Newcastle." This tract, the third publication printed in Newcastle, was followed by another entitled — A Message from his Majestie, to the Speaker of the House of Peeres, Pro Tempore, To be Communicated to the Lords and Commons in the Parliament Assembled at Westminster. And to the Commissioners from the Parliament of Scotland. Newcastle, Printed by Stephen Bulkley, Printer to the King's most Excellent Majesty, 1046. [Small quarto, 4 pp.] Then, the following year, the tract attributed to John Diodate, annotated by the King himself, was re-issued under the title of — The King's Possessions, written by His Majesties own Hand, annexed by way of Notes to a Letter sent to the Ecclesiastical Assembly at London in answer to a Letter sent to them. Newcastle, Printed by Stephen Bulkley, Printer to the King's Majesty, 1647." [Small quarto, 12 pp.] At the end of the pamphlet is a " Copy of a Certificate from one of the Scribes of the Assembly to a Minister in London," declaring that the writer, having perused the tract of the previous year and examined the records, finds that "there was never any such letter sent from Dr. Diodate in the name of the Church of Geneva to the Assembly," and that it was "an abominable forgery." Nothing that issued from Stephen Bulkley's press during the two years that followed has been preseived. The country was in the throes of civil war, and provincial printers, few as they were, found little scope for the exercise of their craft. It is not certain tjhat Bulkley remained in Newcastle during those two memorable years; but, in the absence of 12 EARLY PRINTING IN NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. any evidence to the contrary, it may be assumed that he stayed among the people who had invited him, and subsisted upon such municipal and commercial typography as a jobbing printer at that time and under those circumstances would be likely to obtain. He was undoubtedly here in 1649, for in that year he published the most important work that issued from his press — a history of Newcastle, the first separate account of the town that had been published. Here it is, with its curiously-bordered title page and its long-drawn title : CHOEOGEAPHIA, or A SVRVEY of NEWCASTLE Upon TINE. The Estate of this Country under the Romans. The Building of the famous Wall of the Picts, by the Romans. The Ancient Town of Pandon. A briefe Description of the Town, Walls, Wards, Churches, Religious Houses, Streets, Markets, Fairs, River and Commodities; with the Suburbs. The Ancient and present Government of the Town. AS ALSO A Relation of the County of Northumberland, which was the Bulwark for England, against the Inrodes of the Scots. Their many Castles and Towers., Their ancient Families and Names. Of the Tenure in Cornage. Of Cheviot-Hills. Of Tinedale and Reedsdale, with the Inhabitants. Potestas omnium ad Cssarem pertinet, proprietas ad singulos. Newcastle, Printed by S. B. 1649. This book, written, as we now know, by William Gray, a native of the town, contains thirty-four quarto pages, and is printed in what I take to be pica type. The dedication, to the burgesses and good men of Newcastle, is ornamented with a large, and nearly square, cut of the town arms. Headpieces adorn the introduction, the contents, and the opening paragraph, built up with little blocks in true jobbing office style; while the "rules" that serve to divide the various chapters are, with a few exceptions, fudged, i.e., made up of short pieces not very carefully adjusted. The title signature runs to three figures ; the rest to two only. A floriated initial letter, six lines deep, is used for the first chapter; all the others begin with a plain capital of the depth of FKOM NEWCASTLE TO GATESHEAD. 13 two lines only. Throughout the book italics are used freely ; capitals but sparingly. The printing is inferior to that of Barker, the type being apparently worn, and "choked" in places, while the "long pull" of the pressman has made a deeper indentation on the sheet. The " Chorographia," which we may safely term the sixth book printed in Newcastle, was accompanied the same year by a theological treatise from the pen of the learned Puritan Vicar of the town — Dr. Robert Jenison. It was entitled — The FaithfuU Depositary of Sovnd Doctrine and Antient Trvths. Main- tained against all Oppositions of Science falsely so-oalled, and against the prophane and Vaine JSablings of unsound Teachers. Or a Treatise oq, the 1. Tim. 6, 20. By E. J., Dr. D. With the Authors Farewell to his Hearers, Eeaders, if not to the World. Newcastle, Printed by S. B. 1649. [Small quarto, ii— 54 pp.] The eighth, ninth, and tenth books that issued from the printing press in Newcastle were these : — A Declaration of the Army of England Vpon their March into Scotland. Signed in the Name and by the Appointment of His Excellency the Lord Generall Cromwell, and his Councell of Officers. John Rushworth, secretary. Newcastle, Printed- by S, B. 1650. [Small quarto, 18 pp.] Musgrave Muzzled, or the Traduoer gagged. Being a Just Vindication of the Et. Honble. Sir Arthur Haslerigg. Newcastle, Printed by S. B. 1650. [Small quarto.] The Povrtraictvre of the Primitive Saints in their Actings and Sufferings. According to Saint Paul's Canon and Catalogue. Heb. 11. By J. S. Presb. Angl. [John Shaw, curate of St. John's, Newcastle.] Newcastle, Printed by S. B. 1652. [Small quarto, 160 pp.] After printing Mr. Shaw's "Portraiture," Bulkley removed to Gates- head, and from his house in Hillgate, between the years 1652 and 1654, sent out the following books and pamphlets : — The Doctrine And Practice of Eenovation. Wherein is discovered What the New Nature, and New Creature is; Its Parts, Causes; The Manner and Meanes also how it may be attained. Necessary for every Christian to Know and Practice. By Thomas Wolfall Mr. of Arts, and late Preacher of the Word of God in New-Castle upon Tyne. Gateside Printed by S. B. 1652. [16mo. xxxii — •247 pp.] The Quakers Shaken : Or a Fire-brand snatoh'd out of the Fire. Being a briefe Eelation of Gods wonderfull Mercy extended to John Gilpin of Kendale in Westmoreland. Who (as will appearo by the sequel) was not onely deluded by the 14 EARLY PRINTING IN NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. Quakers, but also possessed by the Devill. If any question the Truth of this Story, the Relator himselfe is ready to avouch it, and much more. Gateside, Printed by S. B. and are to Sould [sic] by Will: London, Book-seller in Newcastle, 1653. [Small quarto, 16 pp.] The Perfect Pharisee, under Monkish Holinesse, Opposing the Fundameutall Principles of the Doctrine of the Gospel, and Scripture-Practices of Gospel- Worship manifesting himselfe in the Generation of men called Qvakers. Or, a, Preservative against the Grosse Blasphemies and horrid delusions of those who under pretence of perfection and an immediate Call from God, Make it their Businesse to Bevile and Disturbe the Ministers of the Gospel. Published for the establishing of the People of God in the Faith once delivered to the Saints. And in a speciall manner directed to Beleevers in Newcastle and Gateside. Gateside, Printed by S. B. and are to be sould by Will : London, Bookseller in Newcastle, 10.53. [Small quarto, 51 pp.] The Converted Jew: or, the Substance of the Declaration and Confession which was made in the Publique Meeting House at Hexham, the 4 Moneth, the 5 Day, 1653. By Joseph Ben Israel. Printed at Gateside by S. B. [Small quarto, 14 pp.] A false Jew, or a wonderfuU Discovery of a Soot Baptized at London for a Christian, Circumcised at Eome to act a Jew, rebaptized at Hexham for a Believer, but found out at Newcastle to be a cheat. Being a true Relation of the detecting of one Thomas Ramsey, born of Scotch Parents at London, sent lately from Eome by a speciall Unction and Benediction of the Pope, who landed at Newcastle under the Name of Thomas Horsley, but immediately gave himselfe out for a Jew, by the name of Rabbi Joseph Ben Israel Mant. Hebr. soon after baptized at Hexham by Mr. Tillam, and by a speciall providence of God found out by the Magistrates and Ministers of Newcastle-upon-Tine to be an impostour and Emissary of Eome, and since sent up to the General and Councell of State to be further enquired into. Printed for William London, Bookseller in New- castle, 1653. [Small quarto, viii— 14 pp. Imprint of " S. B." omitted, but evidently Bulkley's printing.] A further Discovery of that Generation of men called Quakers : By Way of Reply to an Answer of James Nayler to the Perfect Pharisee. Wherein is more fully layd open their Blasphemies, notorious Equivocations, Lyings, wrestings of the Scripture, Eaylings, and other detestable Principles , and Practises. And the Booke called The Perfect Pharisee is convincingly cleared from James Nayler's false Aspersions; with many difficult Scriptures (by him wrested) opened. Published for the building up of the perseverance of the Saints, till they come to the end of their Faith, even the salvation of their soules. Gateshead, Printed by S. B., 1654. [Small quarto, 96 pp.] What Bulkley was doing during the next five years, from 1654 to 1659, does not appear. No book bearing his imprint is known to have been issued between those dates ; but by the last-named year he had BACK TO NEWCASTLE. 15 certainly re-crossed the Tyne and settled anew in Newcastle, for then we find his name attached to a continuation of Shaw's "Portraiture," as follows : — The Catalogve of the Hebrew Saints Canonized by St. Paul, Heb. 11. Further Explained and Applied. Newcastle, Printed by S. B. 1659. [Small quarto, 159 pp.] Again, in 1661 and 1662, shortly after the Restoration, we find him printing and publishing a couple of books in Newcastle, in harmony with the new order of things, one on episcopacy and another on loyalty and obedience — The Bishop's Appaale, or, an Addresse to the Brethren of the Presbyteriall Judgement in twenty Considerations, wherein among other things is manifested That the Beformed Churches, both Lutheran and Calvinist ; yea, Calvin, Beza and the Church o£ Scotland it self, have given their Suffrages for Episcopacy. Newcastle, Printed by Stephen BuMey, 1661. [Small quarto, xvi— 67 pp.] The Loyall Subject, Treating of Magistracy, Ministery, Religion, &c., chiefly set forth (in these Perilous times) to inform all those weake, unstable Spirits, and devided members of this distracted Church and State of their duty and due obedience, to God and their King. And by motives and reasons (arising from the Word of God, and learned Authors) draw them from their erronious Opinions to a holy Conformity in Christian Government. The second Edition Corrected and Enlarged Per R. Thompson, Pacts <£■ Veritatis Amatorem. Newcastle, Printed by Stephen Bulkley, 1662. [Small quarto, xiv— 120 pages, and 10 unpaged.] Bulkley may have been the printer of the following pamphlets, which appeared during his residence upon Tyneside without any proper imprint, but there is no evidence of his connection with them other than is afforded by similarity of type and composition. The first three relate to the same subject as "Musgrave Muzzled," previously quoted: — A Copy of a Letter Written the third of September, 1651, by John Hedworth of Harraton in the County of Durham, Esquire, unto John Dodgson, constable at Harraton, John Lax, a Leader of Coles there, Steven Pattason a Stathe man there, Ralph Hinderson, a Leader of Coles there, Robert Viokars, Overman there, Thomas Rutlas a Digger of Coles there, and to all other Workmen whatever that belong either to the Colepitts Staithes or Keels of Harraton Colliery. [1651. Small quarto, 8 pp.] The Oppressed Man's Outcry : Or An Epistle Writ by John Headworth of Harratton in the County of Durham, Esquire, the 11 of September, 1651, Unto the Honourable Sir Henry Vane tne Elder, a Member of the Commonwealth of England ; William Vane his Sonne ; Lieutenant CoUonell Paul Hobson, John Middleton Esquires, and Members of the Committee of the Militia in the County of Durham, by Authority of Parliament. [1651. Small quarto, 16 pp.] 16 EARLY FEINTING IN NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. The true State of the Case of Josiah Primatt, concerning the Collieries of Harraton in the County of Durham, called the Nine quartfer and Five quarter Collieries, or a true breviate of the proofs, in the Case as it now depends before the Committee of Parliament. [1651. Small quarto, 8 pp.] The Counterfeit Jew. [A tract relating to the subject of the "converted" and "false" Jew, previously quoted. No title page, but dated at the end 23rd lune, 1653. Small quarto, 8 pp.] A Conference between Two Souldiers Meeting on the Eoade, the one being of the Army in England, The other of the Army in Scotland ; As the one was coming from London, the other from Ediubrough. The first Part. Printed at Newcastle in the year 1659. [Small quarto, 22 pp.] In no long time after he had published Thompson's "Loyal Subject," Stephen Bulkley left the Tyne valley, and his name vanishes from the title pages of Tyneside literature. We know that he went back to York and settled there, and thither it is unnecessary to follow him. To prevent misconception it may be proper to point out here that we are dealing with Newcastle-printed books only, without reference to the much wider question of local authorship. The work done by Barker and BulMey must not be understood to cover the whole range of local literature during the period when their presses were in operation here. Barker, as we have seen, printed but one purely local work; Bulkley issued about a dozen. But there were local authors before either of them came to the North. In 1619, twenty years previous to Barker's visit, Stephen Jerom, one of the preachers at St. Nicholas' Church, published a poetical work on " Origen's Repentance." During his occupation of the vicarage (from 1623 to 1630) Dr. Thomas Jackson, the most eminent of the divines who have held the Newcastle living, issued three of his famous treatises, and in 1637 one at least of Dr. Jenison's books appeared; all these were written in Newcastle and printed in London. And even when Bulkley was fairly established in the district, resort was had to London typographers just the same. In this manner were published the works of Cuthbert Sydenham — silver-tongued Sydenham— of St. Nicholas' and All Saints'; Ralph Gardiner's famous diatribe, "England's Grievance Discovered in Relation to the Coal Trade"; a "Catalogue of the most Vendible Books in England," on sale by William London, bookseller, on Tyne Bridge, and some others. After Bulkley's departure, for nearly fifty years, extending through the reigns of Charles II., James II., and William and Mary, down to the THE FIRST TYNESIDE NEWSPAPER. 17 middle of the reign of Queen Anne, Newcastle, it would seem, had no resident printer. It is not easy to understand how two communities like those which the great bridge of Tyne united could remain for so long a time deprived of the convenience of a printing press, and obliged to depend, for such official and commercial documents as required the aid of type, upon London, York, or Edinburgh. But as from 1662 till the turn of the century no specimen of local typography can be found, there is reasonable ground for believing that no local press was in operation. It is not until the year 1710 that we meet with the name of another Tyneside printer. In that year one John Saywell, residing at Gateshead, printed for Joseph Button, bookseller on Tyne Bridge, The Newcastle Gazette, or the Northern Oourant: Being an Impartial Account of BemarJcable Transactions, Foreign or Domestic. This was our first Tyneside newspaper ; issued, it is supposed, three times a week. Only a single copy of it, bearing date "from Saturday, December 23, to Monday, December 25, 1710," is known to exist, and that copy is preserved in the Advocate's Library, Edinburgh. Bound up with it, and unfortunately mutilated by the knife of the bookbinder, is a letter from bookseller Button to Daniel Defoe. There is a tradition that Defoe lived for a time in Gateshead, and Button's epistle strengthens the story. The old bookseller informs Defoe that the affairs of printer Saywell are not prospering, and, referring to some assistance which his correspondent had suggested the propriety of procuring, points out the difficulties that lie in his path. Thus ; — As to the man and boy I can't tell what to say. [No] matter, if you can get a boy p'haps now this Saywell is bad and low in pockett and in debt, wou'd be willing for the money to instruct him. But, then, who must he be bound to ? It must be to yourselfe f [or] I can neither make him free of London nor Edinburgh, and another [thing] these fellows have so disgusted and tired my wife that I don't know how I shall please her in bringing any more. I'm for haveing these two fellows out of the house as soon as possible, and in order to it have desired ... to look out Lodgings, &c. Within the compass of these few lines is comprised all that we know of John Saywell, his printing press, and his newspaper. That he was a stranger may be inferred from the slighting reference which Button makes to him — describing him, not as a friend and neighbour, but as "this Saywell," a man who, being low in pocket and in debt, might be induced to take an apprentice to please Defoe and increase the book- 18 EARLY PRINTING IN NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE. selling business on Tyne Bridge. Outside of Button's letter, and the imprint of the Nmocasth Gazette, we have no note of him. He disappears as suddenly as he comes into view, and his place is taken by John "White, of whom, fortunately, local history preserves a long remembrance. John White was the son of a printer of the same name, who, like Bulkley, had set up a press in the city of York. White, the elder, had achieved fame and honour by his courage and foresight during the Revolution of 1688. No printer in England but himself would undertake the risk of publishing the address of the Prince of Orange to the English nation. He ran that risk, and when the Revolution was accomplished the grateful monarch rewarded him with the title of Royal printer for Y"ork and the five Northern Counties. At the time, therefore, when Saywell's affairs were languishing at Gateshead, John White, printer to the king, was a flourishing citizen of York, with capital at his command, and a business connection extending over the whole of the North of England. John White, the younger, came from York to Newcastle, it is said, in 1708, when he was nineteen years old. Whether he stayed here during the remainder of his nonage, and, if so, in what manner he was employed, cannot be ascertained. It is open to conjecture that he may have had some business relationship with Saywell, but that is a mere surmise, founded on subsequent events. All that we know for certain about his early days upon Tyneside is that at the beginning of August, 1711, he commenced to print and publish on his own account in New- castle, a newspaper which had for its title the first and last words of Saywell's print — the Neircastle Courant. I need not remind you that the Neu'castle Gourant, founded by the young printer from York, one hundred and eighty-four years ago, has been published without intermission to this day. With the advent of John White the art of printing in Newcastle was established upon a sure foundation. Mr. White set up his presses in the Close, and within a year, finding the place too small for him, removed to larger premises in the Side. A month after he had started the Gourant upon its long and successful career, he printed his first book — "A Sermon Preached to the Sons of the Clergy Upon their First Solemn Meeting at St. Nicholas' Church in Newcastle upon Tine." A couple of months later, in November, 1711, he sentout another specimen PROGRESS OF THE ART. 19 of his book work — a sermon preached at All Saints' Church upon All Saints' Day. In looking through these sermons, side by side with a similar brochure of his, dated September, 1712, and a copy of Ritschell's "Charities in Tynedale Ward," which he published the following year, you will see that John White, in these his earliest days, was a printer of considerable taste and merit. If a later specimen of his workmanship be desired, you may run through the pages of Bourne's "History of Newcastle,'' and see how author's text, original documents, statistical tables, elaborate foot notes, and marginal references are conjbined, leaving nothing to be desired but an index to guide the reader through the maze. You may note also the sequence and coincidence of the facts that Bulkley, our first resident printer, published the first history of Newcastle, and that White, our second resident printer, issued the second history of the town. Of John White, I have only to add that he was a successful man of business, that he became sheriff of York, was for many years the leading typo- grapher between the Ouse and the Tweed, and that when he died, in January, 1769, at the age of eighty, he was the oldest master printer in England. Tyneside people should be proud to learn that nearly all the books I have described are to be found in the Reference Department of the Public Library of Newcastle. One great object of the late chief librarian (Mr. Haggerston) was to make the institution a receptacle for every book, pamphlet, broadside, or leaflet that was printed in or related in any way to, Newcastle or the county of Northumberland, and Mr. Haggerston's successor (Mr. Anderton) has inherited and worthily maintains his policy. To recapitulate and conclude. The chronology of early printing in Newcastle resolves itself into the following names and dates : — Robert Barker, King's Printer. A flying visit in 1639. (An interval of seven years.) Stephen Bulkley, resident (probably) from 1646 to 1665. (An interval of forty-eight years.) John Say well (Gateshead), 1710. John White, founder of the Newcastle Courant, 1711.