farfel_n01_020_013

The term Vulgate normally
means the Latin Bible that
has been in common use in
the Western Church since the
7th C. It is a collection
of translations which differ
both in origin + in character.
The only justification for
calling it Jerome's Vulgate
(as we often do) is that
there is more of his
work in it than there
is of anyone else's.

A HISTORY OF PRINTING IN BRITAIN
Robert Barker's most important undertaking was the printing of
the Bible of 1611, the so-called 'Authorized Version'. There is no
extant authority for the phrase, or for the words 'Appointed to be
read in Churches' which appear on the title-page, but it is hardly
probable that the King's Printer would have made the assertion if it
were not true. The text of the 1611 Bible is a great primer black-
letter, with chapter headings and marginal references in roman and
the alternative readings in italic. There are three issues assigned to the
year 1611. The first quarto edition was printed in roman in 1612.
The King's Printers in the XVIIth Century
We have seen that on the death of Christopher Barker in 1599 his
son Robert succeeded to the patent, becoming King's Printer under
James I, and he soon came into prominence by printing the Authorized
Version of the Bible in 1611. As his father had pointed out in his report
of 1582, the printing of the whole Bible calls for the expenditure of a
vast sum of money, and to finance the printing of the 1611 Bible
Robert Barker received help from three other stationers -- the cousins
John and Bonham Norton, and John Bill -- who put up the money in
return for sharing in the profits of the patent. John Norton, a book-
seller, died the year after the Bible was published. Bonham Norton
was a wealthy bookseller and printer described by McKerrow as 'a
hard, calculating and grasping man, who was continually in the law
courts prosecuting his brother stationers'. 124 John Bill, who had been
apprenticed to John Norton, was a well-known bookseller who had
been Sir Thomas Bodley's agent in the buying of books for the
Bodleian.
Robert Barker did not possess his father's business acumen, and in
1617 to raise money he assigned his interest in the patent to Bonham
Norton and John Bill. This started litigation, for Barker claimed that
the term was for one year, while Norton contended that no reserva-
tion had been made. In 1619 Barker's claim was upheld and for a while
John Bill and Robert Barker were considered joint holders of the
patent. The following year, however, the tenacious Norton managed
to win his case, Barker's name disappeared, and Norton's name ap-
peared together with that of Bill.
On the accession of Charles I Norton and Bill were confirmed in
their appointment as joint King's Printers, and soon afterwards they
moved the King's Printing House from Aldersgate to Hunsdon House,
Blackfriars. Meanwhile Bonham Norton had been imprisoned on a
charge of bribing the Lord Keeper and his share in the patent had once
again been awarded to Robert Barker, who died in 1645 after having
passed ten years in the King's Bench Prison for debt. John Bill had died
in 1630, although his name remained for some time later on the im-
print of Bibles, and Bonham Norton died in 1635. Robert Barker's
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