Typography and Bibliography. 19 



the printer, or he would never have eftablifhed himfelf. His imprints 

 all mention the town of St. Albans, but never the Abbey, and his pofi- 

 tion was probably fimilar to that of Caxton, who was fimply a tenant 

 of the Abbot of Weftminfter, but, fo far as is known, nothing more. 



Was he connected with Caxton and the Weftminfter prefs ? With- 

 out a fhadow of doubt I fay, No! Mr. E. Scott, of the MS. depart- 

 ment in the Britifh Mufeum, has indeed ftrung together a number 

 of furmifes to fhow that the Schoolmafter was employed by Caxton, 

 and that all the books without date or place hitherto attributed to 

 Weftminfter were really printed at St. Albans. But internal evidence 

 is againft any fuch gratuitous affumption. There is nothing in common 

 between the two printers in any of their habits or cuftoms except the 

 poffeffion of Caxton's No. 3 type. This is the only one of Caxton's 

 types ufed outfide his own office (for W. de Worde, his succeffor 

 in houfe and bufmefs, muft not be regarded as a feparate printer). 

 Caxton employed it from his arrival in England in 1477 till 1484, 

 when it makes its laft appearance in the headings of "j;Efop,"the 

 "Order of Chivalry," and " The Golden Legend." In 1485 Caxton 

 obtained a new fount, fimilar in fhape and chara6ler, and from that 

 time the old No. 3 difappears to make way for the new and fmaller 

 type No. 5. This being more fuited to the tafte of the day, we 

 find the larger and worn fount paffing over to the country prefs of 

 St. Albans, where the Schoolmafter firft ufes it in i486, being the 

 identical year in which its fucceffor appears in Caxton's "Royal 

 Book." We may here obferve that after the ftoppage of the St. 

 Albans' Prefs the fame fount finds its way back again and is feen 

 in W. de Worde's reprint, in 1496-97, of the two Englifti St. Albans 

 books. But the difcovery of a copy of Caxton's Boethius in the 

 old Grammar School at St. Albans, and the numerous fragments of 

 old books extracted from its covers, are quoted as confirming the idea. 

 Yet the book itfelf and all thefe fragments were from Weftminfter, 

 not a fingle one being from a known St. Albans book, and they 

 included the Caxton " Chronicles," 1480, the " Dictes," 1477, and the 



