Part 2

The Clarendon Press Institute in Walton Street, close to the Press itself, provides accommodation for lectures, debates, and dramatic and other entertainments, as well as a library, a reading room, and rooms for indoor games. The building was given by the Delegates, who contribute to its maintenance, but its management is completely democratic. The members appoint their own executive and are responsible for their own finances.

The Council have since 1919 issued a quarterly illustrated Magazine, printed ‘in the house’. The _Clarendonian_ publishes valuable and entertaining records of the professional interests and social activities of the employees of the Press, as well as affording some outlet for literary aspirations.

§ 2. _The Press in the War_

The Press made to the prosecution of the War both a direct and an indirect contribution. In August 1914 about 575 adult males were employed at Oxford; of these sixty-three, being members of the Territorial Force, were mobilized at the outbreak of war; and of the remainder some 293 enlisted in 1914 or later. Considering the number of those who from age or other causes were unfit for service, the proportion of voluntary enlistment was high. The London Office and Wolvercote Mill also gave their quota to the service of the Crown.

Those who were obliged to remain behind were not idle. The Oxford historians at once engaged in the controversy upon the responsibility for the War; and in September 1914 the Press published _Why We are at War: Great Britain’s Case_, a series of essays closely and dispassionately reasoned, and illustrated by official documents including the German White Book, reproduced exactly from the English translation published in Berlin for neutral consumption and vitiated by clumsy variations from the German original. _Why We are at War_ rapidly went through twelve impressions, and at the instance of Government was translated into six languages. The profits were handed over to the Belgian Relief Fund. At the same time was initiated, under the editorship of Mr. H. W. C. Davis, the series of Oxford Pamphlets on war topics, of which in a short time more than half a million copies were sold all over the world. Later, when the public appetite for pamphlets slackened, and the world had leisure for closer study, the series of _Histories of the Belligerents_ was founded, which is noticed elsewhere.

‘The Clarendon Press,’ writes Sir Walter Raleigh in his Introduction to the _Oxford University Roll of Service_, ‘though deprived of the services of virtually all its men of military age, was active in the production of books and pamphlets, most of them written by Oxford men, setting forth the causes and issues of the War—a mine of information, and an armoury of apologetics.’

Not the least of the services rendered by the Press was the printing done for the Naval Intelligence Department of the Admiralty directed by Admiral Sir Reginald Hall. Both secrecy and speed were essential to the usefulness of this work, and to secure them the Printer to the University made special arrangements involving a severe strain upon himself and those to whom the work was entrusted. Admiral Hall, when unveiling the Press War Memorial in October 1920, declared that the work done was unique in kind, and that without the help of the Press the operations of his Department could not have been carried out with success.

As the War dragged on, the numbers employed at the Press steadily declined; the demands of Government as steadily increased; the shortage of materials of all kinds became more and more acute. None the less the Bible Press met an unprecedented demand for the New Testament by supplying within three years four and a half million of copies for use in the field. The Learned Press, too, continued to produce, though the volume of production became less and less. The machinery of the Dictionary, though its movement was retarded, never came to a standstill. The scientific journals continued to appear, and not a few learned books were published. A greater number, however, were placed in the Delegates’ safes, in expectation of the increased facilities which the end of the War has hardly brought. The manufacturing powers of the Press, indeed, have virtually reached their pre-war level; but the ever-rising cost of labour and materials has made it as yet impossible to restore to its old volume the output of books which could at no time have been remunerative. It may be added that the Delegates, like other publishers, have had to consider that the purchasing power of the public on which they rely has not kept pace with the rise in costs. The price of books has of course risen very greatly; but the ratio of increase has been substantially lower than that of commodities in general.

§ 3. _Wolvercote Paper Mill_

The first mention of paper-making in or near Oxford is a story of one Edwards, who about 1670 planned to erect a mill at Wolvercote and was encouraged by Fell. In 1718 Hearne the antiquary wrote that ‘some of the best paper in England is made at Wolvercote Mill’. It was bought by the Press in 1870.

The Mill stands on a branch of the Thames, on the edge of the quiet village of Wolvercote, and near the ruins of Godstow Nunnery. The water-wheel has long ceased to play more than a very minor part in the driving of the mill, which now has two modern paper-making machines, 72 and 80 inches wide respectively. The power used is partly steam, but a large part of the plant has quite recently been electrified.

Most varieties of high-class printing paper are made at Wolvercote, which besides feeding the Press does a considerable trade with other printers. The paper made for the Oxford Dictionary and some other books is of the finest rag and is probably as durable as the best hand-made paper of former times. But the Mill is best known for its ‘Bible’ papers, exceptionally thin, tough, and opaque, with a fine printing surface. Paper of this kind reaches its acme in the famous Oxford India Paper, the invention of which made revolutionary changes in the printing of Bibles. A great many Oxford books are now printed in two editions, an ordinary and an India paper. If the saving of space is an important consideration, the convenience of the thinner editions of such books as the _Concise Oxford Dictionary_, the _Concise Dictionary of National Biography_, or the _Oxford Survey of the British Empire_ is obvious; and many people like to read the Poets and the Classics in thin and light volumes. The _Oxford Homer_ will go into a pocket, though it has 1,374 pages; and the India paper _Shakespeare_ and _Oxford Book of English Verse_ are delightfully easy to carry and handle.

The Controller of the Mill is Mr. Douglas Clapperton (a name well known in the paper trade), who succeeded Mr. Joseph Castle in 1916.

§ 4. _The Press in London_

The association of the Oxford Press with London booksellers—the publishers of former days—goes back to early times. Apart from the negative agreement with the Stationers’ Company, _not_ to print Bibles and Almanacks, we find, at the end of the seventeenth century, Oxford Bibles bearing the imprint of various London booksellers. In 1776 Dr. Johnson wrote to the Master of University College a letter, printed by Boswell, in which he sets forth with knowledge and perspicacity the philosophy of bookselling; the moral of the discourse is that the University must offer more attractive discounts to the book trade—a doctrine which has been adopted in modern times, though in 1776 it perhaps fell upon deaf ears.

Not later than 1770 a Bible Warehouse was established in Paternoster Row. But it was not until a century later that the Press undertook the distribution in London of its secular books. In 1884 these books, formerly sold by Messrs. Macmillan, were taken over by the Manager of the Bible Warehouse, Mr. Henry Frowde, who thus became sole publisher to the University; an office which he continued to hold with great skill, devotion, and success until on his retirement in 1913 he was succeeded by Mr. Humphrey Milford.

To-day the activities of the Press in or near Amen Corner, London, E.C. 4, are multifarious. From his bound stocks Mr. Milford is ready at short notice to supply to the booksellers or booksellers’ agents any Clarendon Press book, any Bible or Prayer Book, any of the books published by himself as publisher to the University, such as Oxford Poets, World’s Classics, Oxford Elementary Books, or by himself and Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton—the Oxford Medical Publications—or for the numerous learned bodies and American Universities for whom he is agent whether in the United Kingdom or universally.

In the premises at Amen Corner alone it is estimated that upwards of three quarters of a million books are at any one time in stock. Packing and distribution is carried on in the basement and also at Falcon Square, where the large export department operates. Mr. Milford also maintains at Old Street a ‘quire’ department from which books in sheets are given out to his own or other binderies, and in Aldersgate Street a bindery from which many of the finest Bibles and other leather books are turned out.

The offices at Amen Corner are the centre of the selling activities of the Press; from them is directed the policy of the branches of the business at home and abroad. An institution so far-flung naturally causes some confusion in the public mind. Inquiries from India have sometimes been addressed to New York, and Mr. Horace Hart treasured an envelope addressed to _The Controller of the Universe_. In general, however, it is now widely understood that inquiries for books should be addressed (by booksellers, or by the public, if the usual trade channels fail) to _Oxford University Press_ in London or at the nearest Branch (New York, Toronto, Melbourne, Cape Town, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Shanghai, Copenhagen); questions about printing to _Controller, Clarendon Press, Oxford_, and proposals for publication either to the nearest Branch or direct to the _Secretary, Clarendon Press, Oxford_.

§ 5. _The Administration of the Press_

All the activities of the Press may be described as a function of the corporation known as the _Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars_ of the University of Oxford, acting through the Delegates of the Press. The constitution of this Delegacy is in some respects peculiar. So long ago as 1757 the statute promoted by Sir William Blackstone for the better management of the Press established the principles of continuity and of expert knowledge by the constitution of _Perpetual Delegates_; and these principles have been maintained.

The Delegacy is now composed of the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors for the time being _ex officio_, and (normally) of ten others, of whom five are Perpetual. Delegates are appointed for a term of years by the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors, by whom they may be re-elected; but when a vacancy occurs among the perpetual Delegates, the Delegates as a whole are enjoined by statute to ‘subrogate’ one of the junior Delegates to be perpetual, _ad supplendum perpetuo numerum quinque Perpetuorum Delegatorum_.

The roll of the Delegates contains the names of many famous scholars. Among those of recent times may be mentioned William Stubbs, Ingram Bywater, Frederick York Powell. Within the last few years the Press has sustained very heavy losses in the death of some of the most experienced of its Delegates. William Sanday, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, took an active part in the many works of profound learning upon New Testament criticism, by which Oxford has maintained its fame for the prosecution of Biblical learning. Henry Tresawna Gerrans, Fellow of Worcester College, was active in financial administration and in the organization of educational publications. David Henry Nagel, Fellow of Trinity College, gave invaluable advice on scientific books and on technical processes of manufacture. He was chiefly responsible for the plan of the new Bindery, recently completed, which bears his name. The services of Sir William Osler, Regius Professor of Medicine, and of Charles Cannan, of Trinity College, for over twenty years Secretary to the Delegates, are noticed elsewhere in these pages.

The composition of the board on 1 December 1921 was as follows:

The Vice-Chancellor (Dr. L. R. Farnell, Rector of Exeter College) and the Proctors; T. B. Strong, Bishop of Ripon and formerly Dean of Christ Church (_extra numerum_, by Decree of Convocation); C. R. L. Fletcher, Magdalen College; P. E. Matheson, Fellow of New College; D. G. Hogarth, Fellow of Magdalen College and Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum; N. Whatley, Fellow of Hertford College; Sir Walter Raleigh, Fellow of Merton College and Professor of English Literature—all perpetual Delegates: H. J. White, Dean of Christ Church; Sir Archibald Garrod, Student of Christ Church and Regius Professor of Medicine; Cyril Bailey, Fellow of Balliol College; H. E. D. Blakiston, President of Trinity; and N. V. Sidgwick, Fellow of Lincoln.

The principal officers are: _in Oxford_, R. W. Chapman, Oriel College, _Secretary_; J. de M. Johnson, Exeter College, _Assistant Secretary_; F. J. Hall, _Printer to the University_; _in London_, Humphrey Milford, New College, _Publisher to the University_; _in New York_, W. W. McIntosh, Vice-President of the American Branch; _in Toronto_, S. B. Gundy, Manager of the Canadian Branch; _in Bombay_, G. F. J. Cumberlege, Worcester College, Manager of the Indian Branch; _in Melbourne_, E. R. Bartholomew, Manager of the Australian Branch.

§ 6. _The Finances of the Press_

For some two centuries from the time of Fell the Press was partly controlled by private partners; since the last of these was bought out by the efforts of Bartholomew Price, the University has been completely master of all its printing and publishing business. The Press to-day has no shareholders or debenture-holders, and subserves no private interest. On the other hand it possesses virtually no endowment. The whole of its great business has been gradually built up by the thrifty utilization of profits made by the sale of its books or in a minor degree from work done for outside customers. The maintenance of the Learned Press, with its output of scholarly and educational books, many of which are in their nature unremunerative, depends and has always depended upon the profitable management of the publications of the Press as a whole. In the last century the revenue devoted to learning was supplied mainly from the sale of Bibles and Prayer Books; but changing conditions led the managers of the Press to the conclusion that if the promotion of education and research were to keep pace with the growing volume and range of the demand, it would be necessary to expand the general activities of the business in many directions.

In prudent pursuance of a far-sighted policy, the overseas Branches of the Press were established to increase the sale of Oxford books; new departments of the publishing business were created, such as the very extensive series of cheap editions of the English Classics, and, more recently, the Oxford Elementary Books and the Oxford Medical Publications; and in the course of years the publications of the Learned Press itself have gradually become more popular in character and addressed to a wider audience. In the event, the Press to-day possesses a business of such magnitude and variety as will, it may be hoped, enable it to surmount the formidable obstacles which the increased cost of manufacture opposes to the production of all works of learning.

The demands made upon the Press for the organization and publication of research are now at least as great as ever. It has again and again been pointed out by the friends of research, that organization and encouragement are idle unless the publication of valuable results is guaranteed; and in the past scholars in this country, and not in this country only, have looked to the Presses of Oxford and Cambridge to do the work which in Germany was carried out by Academies subsidized by Government for this purpose. But the fulfilment of such expectations is far more onerous than formerly. The tenth and last volume of the great English Dictionary, now more than half printed, will when it is complete have cost at least £50,000. The revised edition of Liddell and Scott’s Greek Lexicon, upon which the Delegates embarked some years before the war, is now estimated to cost £20,000. These are enterprises in the successful conclusion of which the honour of the University is concerned; and they will be concluded; but the date of completion, and therefore the initiation of other projects of learning, have inevitably been retarded by the events of the last seven years.

The endowment of research is a difficult subject, and nobody is more conscious than are the Delegates of the Press, that results of lasting value are not achieved by the mere expenditure of money. Yet they cannot but be aware that by the possession of the machinery and traditions of such works as the English Dictionary, and by their intimate association with experts in many fields, they are in a position to promote research and co-operative enterprise in the most effective and economical way. The support given to the Press in the past, whether by individuals or by other institutions devoted to learning, has been trifling in consideration of the work which it has produced. The need of such support is now far more urgent; and the record of the Press is proof that financial support would be turned to good account.

§ 7. _Oxford Imprints_

The imprints used by the Press as printers and as publishers are various, and their import is not always understood. _Oxford at the Clarendon Press_ is historically and strictly a printer’s imprint, and it is confined to books printed at Oxford; but it has come to mean more than this, and to be appropriated to such books as are not only printed at Oxford, but are also published _auctoritate Universitatis_, their contents as well as their form being certified by the University, acting through the Delegates of the Press. A book with this imprint may in general be assumed to be published at the expense of the Delegates; but the ‘Clarendon Press imprint’ has come to be so prized as carrying the Oxford ‘hall-mark’ that its use has occasionally been solicited and accorded for works of learning produced under the patronage of government or of learned societies within the Empire and the United States of America.

The Press publishes also, in the ordinary course of business, large numbers of books for which the Delegates assume a less particular responsibility; these are issued with the London imprint of the Publisher to the University (_Oxford University Press: London, Humphrey Milford_) or those of its branches abroad (_Oxford University Press American Branch_, _Oxford University Press Indian Branch_ and so on), or on behalf of the numerous universities, learned societies, or private publishers for whom the University Press publishes either universally or in certain parts of the world. Among the bodies for whom the Press acts as publisher are the British Museum, the British Academy, the Early English Text Society, the Chaucer Society, and the Philological Society; the Egypt Exploration Society, Society of Antiquaries, the Pali Text Society, the Church Music Society, and the Royal Society of Literature; the Universities of St. Andrews, Bombay, and Madras; the University Presses of Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Princeton; the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, the American Historical Association, and the American Scandinavian Foundation. _The Oxford Medical Publications_ and some other books are issued with the joint imprint of Henry Frowde (Mr. Humphrey Milford’s predecessor as Publisher to the University) and Hodder and Stoughton. The Press is publisher in Australia to many English houses.

§ 8. _Catalogues and Advertisement_

Until recent years the Press has relied on its trade catalogues and special lists, and on the skilled assistance of the bookseller, to make known to the public the great number and variety of its issues of the Bible, the New Testament, Prayer Books, Hymn Books, and kindred works, as well as of its general publications—reprints, medical books, elementary books and so on; while the Clarendon Press Catalogue of learned and educational books was a relatively modest affair of under 200 pages. The need of a single general catalogue for the information of librarians and book-lovers had long been felt, but pressure of business delayed its preparation until the late Mr. Charles Cannan addressed himself to the task, and with the devoted co-operation of his daughters (who had replaced the members of the office staff gone forth to war) and the advice of many scholars, produced in 1916 the first edition of the _General Catalogue_, comprising over 500 pages of close print and including under one comprehensive classification all the secular books sold by the Press, wheresoever printed, and whether published by the University on its own account or on behalf of other University Presses or learned bodies; together with a representative list of Bibles, &c. (useful to the inquirer though not intended as any substitute for the elaborate trade catalogues or for the indispensable guidance of the expert bookseller), and a very full alphabetical index.

The General Catalogue has in the second edition been brought up to January 1920, and a third edition is in preparation. Supplements are also from time to time issued comprehending the books published since the current edition of the Catalogue. The Supplement now current comprises all books published in 1920.

For the convenience of specialists the Catalogue is also issued in sections—History, Literature, the Classics, Natural Science, Cheap Reprints—and special lists have recently been made of books on such subjects as the British Empire, International Law and Politics, India, Modern Philosophy. Schoolmasters and University teachers are asked to apply for the _Select Educational Catalogue_ issued at frequent intervals, which by omission of the larger and more elaborate books allows of illustrative information for which there is no room in the general catalogue.

The General Catalogue has been computed to contain over 8,000 distinct books or editions of books. These vary from such works as the _New English Dictionary_ and the _Dictionary of National Biography_, with their 15,000 and 30,000 pages, to the smallest and cheapest pamphlets and school-books. The total may be guessed to comprise something like two and a half millions of printed pages of which no two are identical.

The issue of the Catalogue has secured a wide and increasing recognition of the comprehensive character of Oxford publications. ‘There are publishers and publishers, but there is only one Oxford University Press’, exclaims a writer in the _Athenaeum_; and many reviewers have noted with sympathetic admiration the value of the Catalogue, not as a mere price list but as a work of reference and as a book to read. Though it necessarily requires revision as new publications accrue, it is hoped that the Catalogue will not be treated as ‘throw-away literature’. It is a well-printed and solidly bound book, and the cost of supplying free copies to book-buyers all over the world is not inconsiderable.