1 2 E. R. McDix on 



Lover." These particulars shortly condensed are as follows : — 

 The Patent for the office of State Printer was granted or promised 

 by the Privy Council of England, in reversion on Franckton's 

 death, to two men, Andrew Verdon, an Englishman, and Wright, 

 a Scotchman, but Franckton had assignsd his rights as State 

 Printer to two members of the London Company of Stationers, 

 namely, Felix Kingston and Thomas Downes. The London 

 Company of Stationers petitioned the Privy Council to remove 

 Franckton. The Petition sought that the Patent be granted to 

 three printers, Felix Kingston, Bart. Downes and Mathew 

 Lownes, who were all members of the Society. This Petition 

 was dated 12th March, 1618, and alleged that Franckton had 

 become insufficient to discharge the office of State Printer in 

 respect of his poor ability and many infirmities, and in a letter 

 which was written to the Lord Deputy of Ireland they allege 

 that Franckton in respect of weak estate and insufficiency other- 

 wise ought to be discharged from his office. They felt the 

 difficulty of the reversion having been already granted, or 

 promised, to two other people, both of whom were then dwelling 

 in Ireland, and the Petitioners also alleged that these two men 

 were both persons of mean sort and insufficient and they begged 

 that the grant of the reversion might be stayed. The matter 

 was finally settled as is detailed in Appendix A, and the reversion 

 was not given to Verdon and Wright but was given to two 

 members of the London Company of Stationers, the very two to 

 whom Franckton assigned his patent. 



Franckton, I might here mention, printed a considerable 

 variety of books and documents, mostly of course for the State^ 

 such as Proclamations and Acts of Parliament, also two law 

 books, an almanack, two or three miscellaneous works, and, in 

 particular, the Book of Common Prayer, and the New Testament, 

 in Irish. This last was begun by Wm. Kearney as already 

 mentioned. Franckton's press turned out some excellent work, 

 including the first book of Law Reports of Cases decided in 

 Ireland, which appeared in 1615. The specimens of his work 



