University of Virginia Library

The Compositors of the Cambridge Platform
by
John H. Dorenkamp

An examination of A Platform of Church Discipline or, as it is better known, the Cambridge Platform reveals the hands of two compositors each of whom shared not only in the setting of the body of the text but also in the setting of the marginal notations accompanying it. The collational formula for this book, the first printed by Samuel Green after he had assumed the operation of the Cambridge Press following the death of Matthew Day in May 1649, is as follows:

The title-page is πA1 (verso blank). A preface occupies πA2-6v. The seventeen chapters of the text begin on A1 and end on D3. D3v is blank. On D4 is a table of contents and a list of errata. D4v is blank.

The evidence for two compositors rests primarily on the presence or absence of three discernible characteristics: 1) the use of ~ to indicate the omission of an m or an n either within or at the end of a word; 2) the variant spelling of compound words containing there-; and 3) the pointing of scriptural references printed in the margins. The appearance of these characteristics is shown on the following chart.

It can be observed from the chart that the ~ appears at least once on all signatures with the following exceptions: πA6v (which has only 14 lines of text); the entire A gathering; those signatures (B1v, B2, B3v, B4) which constitute the inner forme of the B gathering; and signature C1. The appearance of the ~ 169 times in the πA gathering, the outer forme of B, and in C and D, and its absence from the A gathering and the inner forme

of B suggests a possible division of labor in the composing of the book. On the basis of this evidence, we may tentatively assign gathering A and the inner forme of B to one compositor, whom we shall designate as Compositor X, and the remainder of the book to a second compositor, Compositor Y.

The occurrence of the variant spelling there- and ther- in compound words such as therefore, therein, thereupon, thereof, etc., provides further evidence for distinguishing two compositors. From the 87 occurrences of such words, it can be observed that in gathering A and the inner forme of B, tentatively attributed to Compositor X, there- occurs 14 times and ther- 9 times. In πA, the outer forme of B, and in C and D, tentatively attributed to Compositor Y, there- occurs 9 times and ther- 55 times. This distribution suggests a preference on the part of Compositor Y for ther- and further supports the division of labor suggested above.

In addition, scriptural citations placed in the margin of the text appear to have been set by two different hands. In all, 433 such marginal references occur; 173 in gathering A and 260 in gatherings B, C, and D (Note: No such references occur in πA). In gathering A, pointing is generally absent (e.g., 2 Tim 3 16), but sometimes occurs at the end of a reference, especially when two or more references are listed successively (e.g., 1 Chron 15 13. Ex 20 4), and after the abbreviation of the biblical book (e.g., 1 Cor. 1 2). Occasional internal pointing is also found (e.g., Colos 2, 5). If we consider only this internal pointing, that is pointing within the individual reference, we find that in gathering A only 57 of the 173 references contain such pointing, and of these 57, 23 are pointed only after an abbreviation of the biblical book. On the other hand, of the 260 marginal references in gatherings B, C, and D only 6 contain no internal pointing; and in 2 of these 6 there is no pointing possible (Acts 17 and Ezra 7). The contrast between the pointing in gatherings B, C, and D and that in gathering A is evidence for two compositors, one of whom regularly points such notations and one who sometimes does but usually does not. Once again the division of labor seems clear — one compositor set the marginal references for gathering A, another for the remainder of the book.

Further, it seems reasonable to attribute the marginal notations in A to Compositor Y, working on both inner and outer formes as Compositor X finished work on the body of the text and proceeded to set inner B; and the marginal notations in the rest of the gatherings to Compositor X who having completed the text of inner B proceeded to the notes on that same forme while Compositor Y began work on the body of the text of outer B. The only alternative seems to be that Compositor X set the entire gathering A, including the notes, and inner B excluding the notes, at which point Compositor Y took over, setting the notes for inner B and the rest of the book. This procedure seems too unwieldy and time consuming in light of

the "widespread public interest [which] would have urged speedy publication."[1]

In summary, then, we can attribute to Compositor X the text of gathering A and inner B and the marginal notations in gatherings B, C, and D; and to Compositor Y the text of gatherings πA, outer B, C, and D and the marginal notations in A.

Notes