636 PRINTING 



In addition to these impediments, the Crown endeavoured, in the reign of Charles 

 II., to destroy the activity of the press; 'and in this it had the example not only of 

 all former reigns (in -which nothing had been legally published without a license), but 

 of the Long Parliament itself, which had laid severe restrictions upon the printing of 

 " scandalous and unlicensed papers." At one time, indeed, it was ordered that no 

 printing should be carried on anywhere but in the City of London and the two 

 Universities ; and all London printers were to enter into a bond of 3001. not to print 

 anything against the Government, or without the name of the author (or at least of 

 the licenser) on the title-page, in addition to their own.' Eccleston's Eng. Antiquities, 

 p. 325. 



It has been ascertained, by counting, that the whole number of books printed 

 during the fourteen years from 1666 to 1680, was 3,550 ; of which 247 were divinity, 

 420 law, and 153 physic, so that two-fifths of the whole were professional books; 

 397 were school-books, and 253 on subjects of geography and navigation, including 

 maps. Taking the average of these fourteen years, the total number of works pro- 

 duced yearly was 253 ; but deducting the reprints, pamphlets, single sermons, and 

 maps, we may fairly assume that the yearly average of new books was much under 

 100. Of the number of copies constituting an edition we have no record ; we appre- 

 hend it must have been small, for the price of a book, so far as we can ascertain it, 

 was considerable. 



The period from the accession of George III. to the close of the 18th century is 

 marked by the rapid increase of the demand for popular literature, rather than by 

 any prominent features of originality in literary production. Periodical literature 

 spread on every side ; newspapers, magazines, reviews, were multiplied ; and the old 

 system of selling books by hawkers was extended to the rural districts and small 

 provincial towns. Of the number-books thus produced, the quality was indifferent, 

 with a few exceptions ; and the cost of these works was considerable. The principle, 

 however, was then first developed, of extending the market, by coming into it at 

 regular intervals with fractions of a book, so that the humblest customer might lay 

 by each week in a savings'-bank of knowledge. This was an important step, which 

 has produced great effects, but which is even now capable of a much more universal 

 application than it has ever yet received. Smollett's ' History of England ' was one of 

 the most successful number-books ; it sold to the extent of 20,000 copies. 



We may exhibit the rapid growth of the publication of new books, by examining 

 the catalogues of the latter part of the eighteenth century, passing over the earlier 

 years of the reign of George III. In the 'Modern Catalogue of Books,' from 1792 

 to the end of 1802, eleven years, we find that 4,096 new works were published, exclu- 

 sive of reprints not altered in price, and also exclusive of pamphlets : deducting 

 one-fifth for reprints, we have an average of 372 new books per year. This is a 

 prodigious stride beyond the average of 93 per year of the previous period. But 

 we are not sure that our literature was in a more healthy condition. From some 

 cause or other, the selling price of books had increased, in most cases 50 per cent., 

 in others, 100 per cent. The 2s. 6d. duodecimo had become 4s.; the 6s. octavo, 

 10s. 6d. ; and the 12s. quarto, II. Is. It would appear from this that the exclusive 

 market was principally sought for new books ; that the publishers of novelties did 

 not rely upon the increasing number of readers ; and that the periodical works 

 constituted the principal supply of the many. The aggregate increase of the com- 

 merce in books must, however, have become enormous, when compared with the 

 previous fifty years ; and the effect was highly beneficial to the literary character. 

 The age of patronage was gone. 



According to the Census of 1861, upwards of 26,000 persons are employedin printing 

 and 11,000 in bookbinding. 



Printing in Scotland. Printing was introduced into Scotland, and begun in Edin- 

 burgh, about 30 years after Caxton had brought it into England. Mr. Watson, in his 

 ' History of Printing,' says that the art was introduced into Scotland from the Low 

 Countries by the priests who. fled thither from the persecutions at home. Be this as 

 it may, we find James IV. granting a patent in 1507 to Walter Chapman, a merchant 

 of Edinburgh, and Andrew Mollar, a workman, to establish a press in that city. 

 According to bibliographers, the most ancient specimen of printing in Scotland extant 

 is a collection, entitled the ' Porteus of Nobleness,' Edinburgh. In 1609, a ' Breviary 

 of the Church of Aberdeen ' was printed at Edinburgh ; and a second part in the 

 following year. Very few works, however, appear to have issued from the Scottish 

 press for the next 30 years; but from 1541, the date from which we find James V. 

 granting licenses to print, the art has been pursued with success in the metropolis. 

 At present, and from the beginning of the present century, it is perhaps the most 

 distinguished craft in tho city, being conducted in all its departments of type-founding, 

 printing, publishing, and, we may add, paper-making at the mills in the vicinity. 



