A History of Cambridge University Press: Volume 1, Printing and the Book Trade in Cambridge, 1534–1698 (A History of Cambridge University Press, Series Number 1)

This is the first volume in a new three-volume history of the University Press, which will eventually bring the story as far as modern times: the next volume (on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries) is in preparation. The history is not only about University printers and their work--especially scholarly, schoolbook, Bible, prayer book and almanac publishing (the University Printers were England's largest suppliers of almanacs in the late seventeenth century)--but also about the rest of the seventeenth century book trade in Cambridge, London, continental Europe and North America. This is the first of three volumes concerning the history of the oldest press in the world, a history that extends from the sixteenth century to the present day. Although there was, briefly, a press at Cambridge in the early 1520s, the origins of the modern University Press spring from a charter granted to the University by Henry VIII in 1534, to provide for printers who would be able to work outside London and serve the University. In the event no book was printed until fifty years later, but from 1583 to the present the line of University Printers stretches in unbroken succession. Covering the period from the Reformation to the end of the seventeenth century, and drawing on a wealth of unpublished or unfamiliar materials, this volume explores the University's attitude to its Printers, the books they chose to print, and the circumstances in which they worked. For the first time, the early history of the Press is set in its context - of authors, University authorities, and readers, and its activities are fully related to the wider issues of the book trade in Britain and overseas. This book will be of interest to all involved in the history of politics, literature, the Church, education and social life in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Britain. This is a history of Cambridge University Press, the oldest press in the world. These volumes chart the history from 1534 to 1972. 1534 saw the University being granted a charter by Henry VIII to print in Cambridge. By the 1970's the Press had become an international organisation with authors and customers worldwide V. 1. Printing And The Book Trade In Cambridge, 1534-1698 -- V. 2. Scholarship And Commerce, 1698-1872 -- V. 3. New Worlds For Learning, 1873-1972. David Mckitterick. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.