Folios Fit for a King: James I, John Bill, and the King's Printers, 1616-1620

Abstract

In the short period 1616–20, the King’s Printers, the preeminent printing office in Jacobean London, produced nine editions of a special kind. As Maria Wakely and Graham Rees observe in this article, all appeared in folio format; all, save one, were by living authors; all were very expensive to print; and the King’s Printers produced nothing like them at any other time in James’s reign. These editions comprised James’s works in English and Latin; the first two parts of de Dominis’s De republica ecclesiatica; the first editions in English, Italian, and Latin of Sarpi’s Historia del Concilio Tridentino; Savile’s edition of Bradwardines De causa Dei; and Bacon’s Instauratio magna. These editions were printed using production routines unique to the King’s Printing House. They testify to James I’s faith in the political efficacy of the printed word, and they shed new light on the close and complicated relations between the king and his printers, Bonham Norton, and that Figaro of the London book trade, John Bill. james i, john bill, and the king’s printers 495 122. Over 120 proclamations were printed by the King’s Printers in the period 1616–21. 123. For instance, in connection with the execution of Raleigh; see n. 124, below. 124. We know that late in Elizabeth’s reign they had six, and we know from State Papers that they had six in 1668—along with eight compositors and ten pressmen; see Cambridge History of the Book, 4:794. We do not know how many presses were in operation in 1620. However, in November 1618 Sir Robert Naunton (1563–1635) reported that the King’s Printers had produced A Declaration of the Demeanor and Cariage of Sir W. Raleigh (STC 20652.5). He added that the printers “were fain to watch two nights, and set 20 presses to work at once”; see Letters and Life of Francis Bacon, 6:382. Naunton may have exaggerated but he leaves open the possibility that the King’s Printers had many presses at their disposal, and/or farmed some of the printing to other shops. Bacon (incidentally) may well have helped to write A Declaration. 125. The very grand Northumberland House was pictured in 1752 by Canaletto; the painting is in the Duke of Northumberland’s collection. The house was demolished in the nineteenth century. 03HLQ6803_467-496 12/15/05 12:13 PM Page 495 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.58 on Fri, 24 Jun 2016 05:09:37 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms