University of Virginia Library

I am grateful for assistance particularly to Mr Peter Foden, Archivist of Oxford University Press, for guidance in finding and interpreting these Bible patent papers, and to Professor David Vander Meulen for advice about organizing the essay.

See "Images of the Word: Separately Published English Bible Illustrations 1539-1830", Studies in Bibliography, 47 (1994), 103-128.

On 24 Jan 1797, the Clarendon Bible Press Committee Minute Book (in the Oxford University Press archives) records discussion of "the best means of giving some embellishment to Editions of the Bible and Common Prayer by the addition of Plates, vignettes &c.", and six years later, on 25 Jan 1803, it records that "The Delegates are inclin[e]d to accede" to the "proposal . . . to publish a splendid Bible, imperial 4°, with plates . . . the proprietors of the plates . . . being allow[e]d a share of the Edition to be settled afterwards . . . provided the Artists are content to engrave either from old prints or from accurate pictures of establish[e]d credit including such as may be found in Oxford fit for the purpose, the choice to be approv'd by the Delegates ...." This sounds like a speculation the costs of which were to be shared by the Press and the engravers, but the engravers changed their minds, perhaps because of the artistic control demanded by the Delegates. The Committee minutes for 13 June 1803 record: "Messrs Thomson & Slann[?], the Artists who proposed to engrave Plates for a splendid Edition of the Bible, having now other Engagements incompatible with this Employment, find it necessary to decline all further proceedings in the Business--"

The Holy Bible (London: John Reeves, George & William Nichol, 1802), Vol. I, pp. ix-x. There are a few notes in this edition, both at the feet of the pages and at the back, and other editions printed by the patentees are similar.

MS "Case of the University of Oxford upon their Right of printing Bibles and common prayer &c" (with a legal opinion dated 13 April 1797) in the archive of Oxford University Press. Note that Thomas Bensley was both the printer of the Macklin Bible and one of Oxford University's two London Bible agents.

The Holy Bible (1802), Vol. I, p. x fn.

"Account of our [i.e., Oxford University Press] hearing before the King and Council 16 January 1679/80 upon a Complaint of the King's printers of Bibles against the University of Oxford and their printer for printing Bibles and Testaments in small volumes [i.e., in formats smaller than quarto, to which the King's Printer claimed the exclusive right]" (MS in Oxford University Press archives). The practice, apparently not denied by Oxford, implies Oxford's recognition at the time that their copyright was only for large-format (i.e., learned) Bibles. However, in later years Oxford printed small-format Bibles without challenge. The King's printer, at least in the view of Oxford, sold Bibles in 1680 below cost in order to drive Oxford (and Cambridge) out of the Bible business.

The following tables derive from T. H. Darlow & H. F. Moule, Historical Catalogue of Printed Editions of the English Bible 1525-1961, rev. A. S. Herbert (1968).

Abbreviations

BFBS British and Foreign Bible Society

D&M T.H. Darlow & H.F. Moule, Historical Catalogue of Printed Editions of the English Bible 1525-1961, rev. A. S. Herbert (1968)

SPCK Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge

A fuller record for the period 1790-1800 may be found in the Eighteenth Century Short Title Catalogue, while the Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue provides an account for the subsequent decades. Note that I report only works consisting of at least the Old and New Testaments and that Darlow & Moule record copies with titlepages of different dates only under the later date.

D&M seem to make little distinction between re-printing, re-publishing, and re-issuing, between new issues and new editions with newly-set type. For instance, they note that the text of the edition published in 1798 in Cambridge by J. Archdeacon & J. Burges (Printers to the University) (D&M # 1424) is identical with the edition printed by the University Press (D&M #1428). The problem is further complicated by stereotype editions which have identical texts (in the same format by the same publisher), though the titlepages may differ. Even for the works listed here, therefore, some entries represent a new issue of old sheets and some probably represent sheets for more than one edition.

Note that D&M record both size (in mm.) and format (e.g., 8°) for works printed before 1800 but that they give only size (in cm) thereafter; I have converted all post-1800 sizes to format. Further, they identify "the printer (or publisher)", but it is not always clear which is which.

According to Simon Eliot, Some Patterns and Trends in British Publishing 1800-1919 (London: The Bibliographical Society, 1994) [Bibliographical Society Occasional Papers Number 8], p. 131, Parliamentary Papers, XVIII (1831-32), 337, 342, 343 record for the decade 1821-1830:

Note that Oxford published more than half the authorized versions in each category (over 75% of the Prayer Books and Psalms), that all three presses published more copies of the separate New Testament than of the whole Bible, and that Oxford published on average some 125,000 copies of the Bible per year in 1821-30. Bibles were clearly very big business.

In successive years Oxford increased the number of Bibles it printed annually (136,000 in 1831-36, 237,000 in 1837-47, 292,000 in 1848-50), but its share of the market for Authorized Bibles diminished when the figures of the Queen's Printer in Scotland are included for 1837-50:

Except for the Bible published in 1817 by Bartlett & Co. Many of the Bibles of 1808-19 were in stereotype (D&M 1512, 1529, 1542, 1550, 1556, 1558, 1565, 1575, 1639, 1664, 1670, 1682).

J. Archdeacon & John Burges are listed on the 1795 titlepage as Printers to the University.

D & M 1580, 1582-83, 1603, 1642-43, 1657, 1660-61, 1672.

Samuel Bagster (2); Bellamy & Roberts; R. Bowyer (2); Bowyer & Fittler (2); C. Cooke; T. Cordeux; C. Corrall; J. Davis; R. Edwards; Richard Evans; W. Flint; T. Heptinstall; J. Jones; K. Kelly; T. Kelly; Lackington; W. Lewis & Co.; Longman (3); Macklin; S. A. Oddy; T. Rickaby; R. Scholey; Seeley, Hatchard, Balding; J. Seeley; L. B. Seeley; Suttaby, Evance & Co.; Walker & Edwards; A. Whellier; White, Cochrane & Co.; and J. Wright.

During this period in Scotland Bibles were published only in Edinburgh, and all Scottish Bibles were produced by the King's printers except for the Douay Bibles published by John Moir in 1796 and 1805.

Printed for Keating, Brown, & Keating (London) and W. Green (Dublin).

"Perhaps the only edition of the Bible printed in Cornwall"; it had 600 subscribers.

In the archives of Oxford University Press. Most of the manuscript evidence here comes from the Oxford University Press archives, because Oxford was the leader in the struggle to maintain the privileges of the Bible patent-holders.

The account of Bensley in the Dictionary of National Biography does not note that he performed this very important role.

This list is not now with the Bible Committee minutes, Alas!

However, the Clarendon Press printed Bibles steadily in 1798, 1799 (2), 1800 (2), and 1801 (3). In the same years, the King's Printer in Edinburgh published only four editions and none in 1800-1801.

Corrall published a duodecimo Bible in 1800.

This is James, John, and William Richardson--see below.

Printed document in the Oxford University Press archives concerning the case of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge vs Richardson and Others. The universities' costs, according to a large MS itemization of them in the Oxford archives, were £ 429.18.6, which were divided equally between Oxford and Cambridge.

The minutes of 26 October 1802 give details of how the injunctions were circumvented.

The case of the Richardsons vs The Chancellor, Master[s], and Scholars of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge (in the Oxford University Press archives, which also has a typescript transcript of the short-hand writer's notes of the Proceeding). The universities' costs were £397.15.2.

Single-page document in the Oxford University Press archives.

No "Blake" is listed in Darlow & Moule's index of Printers and Publishers of Bibles.

Perhaps this is The Holy Bible, ed. Rev. William Gurney Embellished with a Series of Engravings, from Paintings by the Great Masters (London: William Lewis & Co., 1816), 2 vols., quarto, plates dated 1816-17.