Part 9

Of the books printed by Smith the most notable are the editions of classical authors for which the "Great Porson Greek" type was used. This fine fount had been cut under Porson's direction by Austin, of London, with the assistance of Richard Watts and was used for various editions of the Greek tragedians by Blomfield, Monk, and Scholefield.

In 1824 the King expressed his gracious pleasure that the newly discovered MS of Milton should be printed at the University Press and a new fount of pica type (weighing 12 cwt.) was specially ordered from Messrs Millar, of Edinburgh, for the purpose[135].

In 1827 the Syndics, having again taken counsel of eminent London printers and booksellers (Charles and John Rivington, Mawman, Baldwin, Hansard, Gilbert), resolved upon the expediency of appointing "a Superintendent of the concerns of the Press in all its departments, immediately under the Vice-Chancellor and General Syndicate," and, while no charges were brought against the technical quality of Smith's printing, there seems to have been a general feeling that he was not adequate to the control of the whole business. Smith's _Observations relating to the Affairs of the Press_ (16 March, 1829) throw an interesting light on the difficulties with which he had to contend. He begs to observe, for instance,

that many of the works brought to the Press are in the most unprepared state possible ... the consequence is, that when proof-sheets are sent to the respective Authors, the work is much cut-up, and subject to continued Overrunnings and Corrections.... The Authors, for the most part being Gentlemen of the University engaged with Pupils during Term-time, furnish their Copy in detail--loosely written--and frequent suspensions of MS, which necessarily occasions great delay and inconvenience.... The Gentlemen of the Press Syndicate must be aware (tho' a London Printer cannot, unless he witnessed the operation) that the Examination-Papers which of late years have abundantly increased, must from their nature have retarded all regular work in the Composing Room. These papers could only be executed by Workmen competent and accustomed to Mathematical and Greek Composition; and my best Mathematical Compositors are those who have been brought up and trained in our own Office: London Workmen having in several instances left the Office, rather than undertake the Composition of such Works[136].

Smith also claims a development of the bible business:

I had the honour of being elected Printer at the close of 1809--at that time the number of Presses employed did not exceed eight: the number increased in 1812 and 1813 to thirteen. At this period, and on to 1815 and 17 increased and increasing Orders flowed in from the British and Foreign Bible Society and also (through Messrs Rivingtons) from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge....

The fact is, that from 1813 to 1815 the demand for Bibles etc was such, that had the same quantity of work to be executed been required to be finished in the manner in which the same books are now printed, they would not possibly have been done with the means the Press then possessed--"Send up the Books in gatherings" (i.e. divisions) was the repeated order of the Bible Society--"and we will spare you the trouble of booking off etc, etc." Many thousand copies were thus supplied which were never properly dried....

Finally, a statement is presented showing an average annual profit of £3191 from 1809 to 1827.

The Syndics, however, adhered to their view and invited Mr Clowes, of London, to examine the Press; Clowes sent his overseer, John William Parker, and in February, 1829, was appointed Superintendent of the Press at a salary of £400 a year on the understanding that, while he himself should execute the London business which the appointment involved, the actual superintendence at Cambridge should be deputed to Parker.

Parker infused new life into the business: he introduced improved methods of book-keeping, bought new types and hydraulic presses, installed an apparatus "for warming the Press buildings by means of heated air," and in 1832 established a depository for the sale of Cambridge bibles and prayer-books at his house in the Strand.

When John Smith retired with a pension in 1836, Parker was appointed printer in his place, visiting Cambridge for two days every fortnight; the bible business continued to expand and in 1838 Parker could offer fifty-six different editions of the bible and prayer-book. One bible calls for special comment: on 10 January, 1835, King William IV wrote to the Marquess Camden from the Pavilion, Brighton, suggesting that there should be printed at Cambridge, as at Oxford, a certain number of bibles for presentation to sovereigns visiting the country. The Chancellor conveyed the suggestion to the Syndics who unanimously agreed "that in obedience to His Majesty's command a quarto Bible with marginal references be immediately put to press"; 250 copies, printed on Imperial paper, were to be reserved for purposes of presentation and one copy was to be struck off on vellum for the King himself; larger editions were to be printed on ordinary paper for general sale and Parker was instructed to order a special fount of English type.

Reductions in the cost of bibles were also effected and the Royal Commission of 1850-52 remarked upon the great reduction of price between 1830 and 1850 "attributable to improved machinery and to better arrangements in the establishment." One of the most important of these improvements was the introduction of steam-power for printing, the Syndics resolving on 13 June, 1838, "that it appears expedient to introduce machinery into the Pitt Press."

For many years, however, the Bible Society stoutly refused to purchase books printed by steam presses.

Apart from the great advances made in the actual processes of printing during this period, Parker's work is also of great importance in the development of Cambridge publishing.

As has been already noted, Parker established a publishing house in the Strand in 1832 and besides acting as agent for Cambridge bibles, he included in his catalogue the greater part of the educational books printed at the Press. The stock-books kept at Cambridge show that the bulk of the editions were delivered to Parker's warehouse in London or to Deighton's in Cambridge and the names of both firms frequently appear on title-pages. University publications, together with classical, mathematical, and theological text-books and treatises, predominate in the list and the names of such scholars as Blomfield, Babington, Colenso, Donaldson, Hare, Monk, Paley, Scholefield, Shilleto, Trench, and Whewell are to be found amongst the authors.

In 1844 it was proposed to reprint a number of standard works in theology and general literature "in order to provide against the loss which the want of full employment for the Workmen frequently occasions." It was hoped that by such an undertaking "the University would not only be enabled to secure regular occupation for their Printing Establishment, but would, also, acquire a copyright-interest in certain important Works which would ultimately prove a permanent source of income." Out of a long list three titles were chosen for publication: Stillingfleet's _Conferences and Tracts_, Cosin's _History of the Canon_, and Knight's _Life of Erasmus_.

Not all the books printed, of course, can be regarded as the publications of the Syndics of the Press. Some were printed to the order of an author or bookseller or society (e.g. the Parker Society); others were private ventures of Parker himself (such as his series of _Popular Literature_ including _Linnaeus and Botany_, _Smeeton on Lighthouses_, _Cuvier and Natural History_, _Sir Joseph Banks and the Royal Society_); but others were definitely the property of the university, as the following minute of the Syndics of 25 May, 1838, shows:

At a meeting of the Syndicate held this day it was agreed, that the following be the form of an imprint for the New Edition of Wilson's Illustrations etc of the New Testament and that the same be adopted as the imprint in all such editions of books as shall be retained as the property of the University

Cambridge, printed at the Pitt Press, by J. W. Parker, Printer to the University

and again in 1850 it was ordered that it should be stated on the title-page whether the book was printed for the author, editor, or publisher.

Towards the end of Parker's career in Cambridge, there was a distinct decline of business; the extension of the right of printing bibles to the Scottish printers in 1842 led to "the forced production of inferior editions which gradually lowered the prices of those of better quality produced in England." The Syndics, in a report to the Senate in 1849, while declaring the management of the previous 20 years to have been most satisfactory, found themselves faced by two alternatives for the future: either a large outlay upon new types and stereotype plates, or the placing of the establishment upon a reduced footing--and the second course was recommended.

The condition and extent of the Press in 1852 is summarised in the statement prepared by the Syndics for the Royal Commission.

There were at this time eighteen Syndics, who met once a fortnight during term; by a grace of 1752 five (of whom one must be the Vice-Chancellor or his deputy) constituted a quorum and the average attendance was 7-9/23.

The printing-office contained frames for 70 compositors, presses for 56 press men, and 8 printing machines, requiring about 50 men and boys to work them; a 10-horse steam-engine, 2 boilers, twining lathe, forge, and circular saw; one steam power milling machine, hydraulic and screw hot presses employing about 100 men and boys in all. The machinery was claimed to be "good of its kind." There was provision also for "any number of Readers, Observers, Warehousemen and Boys, necessary to carry on, get up, complete, and deliver the greatest amount of work which could at any time be done."

The two financial privileges enjoyed by the Press were the 'drawback' of 1½_d_ a lb. on the paper duty and the Government annuity of £500, less income tax[137].

The business of the Press was defined as consisting of the printing of bibles, testaments, and prayer-books; of printing work for the university and colleges; of printing books edited for the Syndics; of book and job printing for the members of the university; of printing works published by the Parker and other learned societies; and of "such Book work, as, subject to the 'Imprimatur' of the Vice-Chancellor, may be offered by Publishers and other connexions of the Press."

Finally, the Syndics declared that it did not appear to them that any change of management could produce greater profits than were at that time realised.

Parker retired in 1854 and, in spite of the serious fluctuations in the bible trade, the first half of the nineteenth century must be regarded as a period of expansion in building, in machinery, and in business. For the first time the chief servant of the Syndics was a man with an intimate knowledge of the book trade, who served the university as publisher as well as printer. The assumption by the Syndics themselves of the full responsibilities of a publishing firm was reserved for the later half of the century.

VIII

THE LATEST AGE

In spite of the statement of the Syndics quoted at the end of the preceding chapter, the University Commissioners of 1850-52 reported their opinion that

it is only by associating printers or publishers in some species of co-partnership with the University, or by leasing the Press to them, that any considerable return can hereafter be expected from the capital which has been invested in it ... we are satisfied that no Syndicate, however active and well chosen, can replace the intelligent and vigilant superintendence of those whose fortune in life is dependent upon its success.

Accordingly, on the resignation of Parker, the Syndicate recommended that the university should enter into partnership with "Mr George Seeley of Fleet Street, London, Bookseller, and Mr Charles John Clay, M.A. of Trinity College and of Bread Street Hill, London, Printer," and the grace for the deed of partnership was passed on 3 July, 1854.

The control of the printing thus came into the hands of Mr Clay, whilst Mr Seeley received the sole agency for the sale of Cambridge bibles and prayer-books; Mr Seeley, however, retired two years later and Mr Clay entered into a fresh agreement with the university.

The period of Mr Clay's management was one of great expansion. At the end of his first ten years of office it was estimated that the Press produced about four or five times as much as when he first undertook the management; in 1876, and again in 1886, the Syndics reported to the Senate that the business had attained a considerable magnitude and that large additions had been made to the machinery and plant.

Increase of business naturally demanded increased accommodation and in 1863 a foundry was built upon the site of some old cottages in Black Lion Yard. Eight years later new machine-rooms and warehouses were built on the site of Diamond Court, leading out of Silver Street, and a still larger addition was made in 1877-78, when a three-storied building was erected in the south-west corner of the quadrangle. The most recent additions are the extensions of the warehouse and machine-room on the Silver Street side and the red brick building (containing the syndicate room and secretarial offices), which forms the south side of the quadrangle[138].

In 1882 Mr John Clay, son of Mr C. J. Clay, was admitted into the partnership with the university and from 1886 to 1904 Mr C. F. Clay was also associated with it. Mr John Clay became university printer on his father's retirement in 1895 and held the office until his death in 1916, when the partnership was dissolved and the present printer, Mr J. B. Peace, Fellow of Emmanuel College, was appointed. From 1917 to 1919 the Syndics also employed the services of Mr Bruce Rogers, whose distinguished work as a printer is well known on both sides of the Atlantic. One of the best known figures in the Press in the later half of the nineteenth century was that of Alfred Mason. His remarkable personality dominated the counting-house for a long period and when he died in 1919 he had been for 65 years in the service of the Press.

The present buildings of the Press include machine-rooms, containing large quad royal and quad demy perfectors, revolution presses, and single cylinder machines; a foundry comprising a stereotyping department, an electro-moulding room, an electro-battery room, and two finishing rooms; type storerooms, composing-rooms, and monotype-rooms; an art department for lithographic, half-tone, and other process work; and the warehouse, where the finished sheets are stored ready to be sent away for binding. Every month an average of 40 tons of printed matter leaves the Press to be delivered to London binders.

Printing is done in a wide variety of languages, including Hebrew, Arabic, Pali, Coptic, Sanskrit, Hausa, Syriac and Amharic, and the type catalogue makes a volume of about 200 pages.

Perhaps the greatest fame of the Cambridge Press rests upon its mathematical typography. To glance at a page, say, of _Principia Mathematica_ is to realise a little--but only a little--of the minute care and skill required of the compositor, the press-reader, and the machine-minder in the production of such a book. It may be permissible here, perhaps, to quote one recent tribute from the preface to Professor E. W. Brown's _Tables of the Motion of the Moon_, printed in 1918 for the Yale University Press:

The reading of the proof has been almost entirely directed to the detection of errors in the manuscript. That this has been possible is due to the remarkable record of the Cambridge University Press which in setting up over five hundred quarto pages of numerical tables has allowed less than a dozen printer's errors to pass its proof-readers and has, in addition, frequently queried our own mistakes. Few sheets have required a second proof and in the actual use of the Tables, as finally printed, for the calculation of the ephemeris for two years, no error of any kind has been detected.

On the retirement of Mr George Seeley in 1856, Messrs Hamilton, Adams & Co., of Paternoster Row, were appointed as agents for the Syndics' books[139]. This arrangement, however, does not seem to have been satisfactory, as the name of a new agent--George Cox--appears in the following year; a further change was made in 1862 when the firm of Rivingtons became agents for Cambridge books; finally, when this agreement came to an end, ten years later, the Syndics reported to the Senate that "acting on the advice of Mr Clay" they had decided "not to appoint other Agents, but to conduct their London business in an office of their own, under the superintendence of a paid Manager" and that they had agreed "to take a Lease of convenient premises in Paternoster Row."

The beginning of the Syndics' career as London publishers--in the strict sense of the term--must therefore be assigned to the year 1872. At that time the number of books published by the Syndics--apart from bibles and prayer-books--was very small. Among them, however, may be noted the first volume of Mullinger's _The University of Cambridge_, published in 1873, the first instalment of a monumental work which remained uncompleted at the author's death in 1917.

In 1874 an important step was taken, the Syndics deciding to publish a series of editions of Greek, Latin, French, and German authors designed for use in schools and especially for candidates for the Local Examinations. This was the beginning of the Pitt Press Series, which now includes over 300 volumes, and such editions as Sidgwick's _Virgil_ and Mr Verity's _Shakespeare_--to name but two out of many--have become familiar to many generations of schoolboys.

The Syndics' catalogue for 1875 (a pamphlet of 16 tiny pages) reflects the beginnings of schoolbook publishing: it opens with some nine volumes in the Pitt Press Series; then follow Scrivener's _Paragraph Bible_, Scholefield's _Greek Testament_ and several theological works including Isaac Barrow's _Works_ in nine volumes; there are five editions of Greek and Latin authors, among them being Paley and Sandys's _Private Orations of Demosthenes_ and Heitland's _Cicero pro Murena_; mathematics and physics claim nine books, including Kelvin and Tait's _Elements of Natural Philosophy_; history is represented by Mullinger's first volume, already referred to, and Mayor's edition of Baker's _History of St John's College_; of law books there are three, including Whewell's edition of _Grotius de Iure Belli ac Pacis_; and the list ends with a few catalogues and university examination papers.

In 1877 the publication of another important series was begun--_The Cambridge Bible for Schools_. The general editor was Dr J. J. S. Perowne, afterwards Bishop of Worcester, and the first volume to appear was Maclear's _St Mark_.

Originally designed for school use, the series soon attained a wider public. It was begun before the publication of the Revised Version and at the very time when the controversy was raging in Scotland which resulted in the suspension of Robertson Smith from his professorship at Aberdeen; when the series was finally completed by Sir George Adam Smith's _Deuteronomy_ in 1918, many of the older volumes had already been replaced or revised. On the death of Bishop Perowne in 1904 _The Times_ referred to the series as one which had "done more to spread accurate Biblical knowledge among English-speaking people than any book except the Revised Version."

The agreements between the university presses and the two companies of revisers for the publication of the Revised Version had been completed, "after much careful consideration as well as protracted negotiation," in 1873.

Three years earlier the New Testament company had held the first of its 407 meetings in the Jerusalem Chamber of Westminster Abbey. The company included the most distinguished theologians of the time--Hort, Westcott, Lightfoot, Ellicott, Scrivener, W. F. Moulton--and at first an average of only seventeen verses was revised in the daily session. Later, however, progress became a little more rapid and the revision was completed on 11 November, 1880. The Revised New Testament was published jointly by the university presses in 1881 and the Old Testament three years later. The secretary of the Old Testament company was W. Aldis Wright, for more than 30 years a Syndic of the Cambridge Press.

By 1890 the catalogue of the Syndics' publications had grown considerably, not only by additions to the Pitt Press and other Series, but by the publication of larger works on literary and scientific subjects, such as Robertson Smith's _Kinship and Marriage in early Arabia_, Willis and Clark's _Architectural History of the University of Cambridge_, Maitland's edition of _Bracton's Note Book_, and Jebb's _Sophocles_.

Cayley's _Collected Mathematical Papers_, in thirteen volumes, were published between 1889 and 1897, and have since been followed by similar collections of the mathematical and scientific work of Kelvin, Rayleigh, Reynolds, Stokes, Sylvester, Tait, and other scholars. Meanwhile, larger publishing premises were found to be necessary, and in 1884 the London office was moved to Ave Maria Lane; with the growth of business these premises similarly became inadequate and the lease of the present offices in Fetter Lane was bought by the university in 1904.

One of the most important of the Syndics' undertakings towards the end of the last century was _The Cambridge Modern History_. Lord Acton had been elected Regius Professor of Modern History in 1895 and early in 1896 the Syndics approached him with a view to the compilation of a great English universal history. In his report of 15 July, 1896 Lord Acton wrote:

Universal history is not the sum of all particular histories, and ought to be contemplated, first, in its distinctive essence, as Renaissance, Reformation, Religious Wars, Absolute Monarchy, Revolution, etc. The several countries may or may not contribute to feed the main stream, and the distribution of matter must be made accordingly. The history of nations that are off the line must not suffer; it must be told as accurately as if the whole was divided into annals....

and later in a more detailed report:

It will be necessary to prescribe exact limits and conditions, and to explain clearly what we desire to obtain, and to avoid. We shall avoid the needless utterance of opinion, and the service of a cause. Contributors will understand that we are established not under the meridian of Greenwich, but in longitude 30 West; that our Waterloo must be one that satisfies French and English, Germans and Dutch alike.... Ultimate history we cannot have in this generation; but we can dispose of conventional history and show the point we have reached on the road from the one to the other.... If History is often called the teacher and the guide that regulates public life, which, to individuals as to societies, is as important as private, this is the time and the place to prove the title....

The essential elements of the plan I propose for consideration are these:

Division of subjects among many specially qualified writers.

Highest pitch of knowledge without the display.

Distinction between the organic unity of general history and the sum of national histories, as the principle for selecting and distributing matter.

Proportion between historic thought and historic fact.

Chart and compass for the coming century.