The Stationers' Company
The City of London Livery Company for the Communications and Content Industries

ARCHIVE NEWS

March 2024

'Steal not this book for fear of shame': a hidden gem in the Stationers' collections

'Steal not this book for fear of shame': a hidden gem in the Stationers' collections

20 MARCH 2024

Postgraduate researcher and archive intern Beth DeBold uncovers one of the treasures of the Stationers' library, an eighteenth century children's book which found its way to the Hall all the way from Cumbria.

The collections at Stationers’ Hall are well known for preserving the historical footprints of the Company, and with them, much of the history of the book trade in early modern England. In addition to Company records, the collection also includes some early printed books; this may be in itself unsurprising for an organisation which has been dedicated to printing and bookselling for over four hundred and fifty years, but there are still surprises to be had.

In this case, the surprise is the presence of a small, shabby book printed not in London but in Scotland, with a north-western English provenance, meant for children to read. The book is Thomas Boreman’s A Description of above Three Hundred Animals, printed and sold by the Edinburgh bookseller William Darling around 1782. First appearing in 1730, Boreman’s compendium of animals is famously and fantastically unlimited by reality, including animals such as unicorns, manticores, and dragons. Massively popular, it was printed throughout the century, furnishing thousands of children with educational material filled with pictures.

In a brief introduction to the reader, Boreman writes that his purpose is to engage children by delighting and entertaining them with these pictures and descriptions. In particular, he notes that he has been careful to include “those animals which almost every child is acquainted with.” He might have been pleased to know that the children who owned this copy of his book certainly found it a source for learning, education, and entertainment.

The book has been bound in plain calfskin, likely around the same time it was printed. It has clearly been roughly handled; with the front cover detached, the leather peeling away from the boards, and deep, regular scratching and scribbling on the front and back. The pages inside have also been subject to a litany of abuses: torn, ripped out, dog-eared, softened from many turnings and absorbing the oils from many sticky little hands. Perhaps most interestingly, the book is filled with the names and writing practice of children. Mostly from the Armstrong family of High Rutter in Drybeck, Cumbria (then Westmorland), they have often obligingly included their ages and the dates of their writing, revealing that several generations from this family used and delighted in the blank pages as much as the pictures.

The earliest dated inscription is that of John Armstrong, who wrote his name in 1789, cautioning the reader to “steal not this book for fear of shame, for here you see ye Owners Name.”

Other names include Peter, William, Mary, Nancy, and Joseph Armstrong, with Joseph and Mary’s contributions being most numerous. Joseph’s entries are often dated in the 1840s, and identify Rutter as his “dwelling place,” while Mary simply gives her age at different points (11 years old). It is telling that the names of both young women and young men appear here, showing that children of all genders were reading and practicing their handwriting in this little book.

Signatures of Joseph and Mary Armstrong. In the final image here, fine pinpricks in the page facing Mary's signature are evidence of 'pouncing'.

In addition to signing their names, the children were clearly (as Boreman had hoped) engaged with the pictures. Many of the animals show evidence of “pouncing,” where their outlines were pricked with a pin so they could be seen more easily from the other side of the page, to aid in copying the design out or even using it for embroidery patterns. They have often attempted to copy some of the drawings, tracing out cows, dogs, birds, and even a donkey near where the illustrations of these animals appear.

 

Early census records from the 1840s and 1850s place a family with the last name of Armstrong at High Rutter farm in Drybeck in the county of Westmorland, headed at the time the census was first taken in 1841 by a sixty year old man named John, his wife Mary, and their two grandchildren, Mary and Joseph. It seems likely that these are some of the Armstrongs who set their names to the pages. Perhaps the grandfather was the John who signed his name in 1789, then a sprightly ten year old. It is tempting to imagine John’s parents purchasing the book for him, which then passed down through the family, ultimately to his grandchildren Mary and Joseph who set their names to it in the mid-nineteenth century. Although the Armstrongs, and High Rutter, have long since passed away, the long life of this little, tattered book still speaks of their youthful enthusiasms, which still feel familiar today: a love for the natural world, and a fascination with setting pen to paper.

Beth DeBold is a postgraduate researcher in early modern British social history and culture, currently completing an internship placement at the Stationers' Company Archive as part of a Collaborative Doctoral Award project shared between Newcastle University and the Stationers' Company. After a first career in libraries, including curatorial work at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Beth now focuses on the human labour of the book and print trades during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Her doctoral project examines the lives and social networks of Stationers' apprentices who came to London to learn how to make their living at the press or in the bookshop.

February 2024

A History of Cakes and Ale

A History of Cakes and Ale

9 FEBRUARY 2024

February 13th is Shrove Tuesday - which for Stationers means celebrating the centuries' old tradition of Cakes and Ale, established by bookseller John Norton in 1613. Here archive intern Beth Debold explores the history of this tradition.

Main image:  Delivery note for baker Thomas Averley's 'penny cakes' in preparation for Cakes and Ale, 1685. Stationers' Company Archive, TSC/D/11/05

 

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December 2023

Cambridge Bookbinding 1450-1770

Cambridge Bookbinding 1450-1770

15 DECEMBER 2023

A fascinating new book by Liveryman Dr David Pearson, accompanied by a series of lectures, explores the history of book-binding in Cambridge.

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'New directions in the study of the Book Trades '- call for papers

'New directions in the study of the Book Trades '- call for papers

4 DECEMBER 2023

Interested in exploring new research avenues in the history of print? Want to contribute to the discussion? Then check out the call for papers for 2024's annual Print Networks/Centre for Printing History Conference, Unfinished Business: Progress, Stasis and New Directions in the study of the Book Trade since Peter Isaac, Newcastle University, 9-10 July 2024.

All images on this page: ‘Print taken from an original Joseph Crawhall II woodblock’, Crawhall (Joseph II) Archive, Special Collections, Robinson Library, Newcastle University, UK
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June 2023

A special visit to the Archive...

A special visit to the Archive...

28 JUNE 2023

A very special visit from stars of the stage and screen Claire Bloom, Joseph Mydell and Bruce Alexander was the highlight of the week for the Stationers’ Company Archive.

Main photograph: Clustered around the Stationers' Register entry for Shakespeare's Folio are (l-r) Liverman Margaret Willes, Bruce Alexander, Claire Bloom, Joseph Mydell, Master Moira Sleight, and archivist Ruth Frendo
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A visit to the Royal College of Music Museum

A visit to the Royal College of Music Museum

20 JUNE 2023

On June 13th, Court Assistant Carol Tullo and I visited the Royal College of Music Museum. Carol, who is the current Chair of the Library and Archive Committee, organised the meeting through the Musicians’ Company Junior Warden The Hon Richard Lyttelton, after last February's joint event The Shape of Music Copyright re-established closer working links between our two Companies. On the day, we were hosted by Stephen Johns, Artistic Director of the RCM, and Gabriele Rossi Rognoni, Museum Curator and Chair of Music & Material Culture. 

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May 2023

Queen's College First Folio comes to Stationers' Hall

Queen's College First Folio comes to Stationers' Hall

25 MAY 2023

On Thursday 18th May, Stationers’ Hall was host to a very special guest: an edition of Shakespeare’s First Folio which once belonged to the great eighteenth-century actor and theatre manager David Garrick.

Main image shows Queen's College Librarian Dr Matthew Shaw and Court Assistant Professor Tim Connell with the First Folio. Photograph © Ben Broomfield for Queen's College Oxford
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May events at St Bride Foundation

May events at St Bride Foundation

9 MAY 2023

Stationers and anyone with an interest in print history will be excited to learn of two upcoming events at St Bride's Foundation. On Thursay 11th May, at 7-8.30pm, designer and author Marcin Wichary will give a talk on the history and creative potential of typing keyboards. And on Thursday 25th May, 7-8.30pm, representatives of five printing institutions from across Britain and Ireland get together to discuss their histories and collections. For full details, see below.

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A tribute to Robin Myers

A tribute to Robin Myers

4 MAY 2023

The death of our Honorary Archivist Emeritus, Robin Myers MBE, on Monday, 1 May 2023, was a huge blow to the loyal community of Stationers, historians, archivists and friends which grew up around her during her long and active life. It’s fair to say that, without her tireless promotion of the Stationers’ Company Archive, this blog wouldn’t exist, so today we’re taking a moment to remember her remarkable contribution.

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April 2023

The Stanhope Stereotypes

The Stanhope Stereotypes

20 APRIL 2023

One of the joys of working with archives is the fact that there's always more to learn. While sorting through unacatalogued material in the Stationers' Company Archive this week, I was excited to uncover a few buried gems. Researching them, I found out about the printing technique of stereotyping; about the third Earl Stanhope, one of the nineteenth-century innovators who developed the technique; and about Herbert Smart, the Liveryman who brought them into the Company in the 1980s.

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March 2023

Women's histories in the Stationers' Company Archive

Women's histories in the Stationers' Company Archive

8 MARCH 2023

International Women's Day is the perfect occasion to think about the many women, both celebrated and unseen, who have contributed to the history of the Stationers. This year, we seized an early opportunity to reflect on these women at our Gender, Archives and Inclusion study day, held on the 24th of February at Stationers’ Hall.

Main image: some of the participants on the 24th of February.  Left to right: Clarissa Angus (National Archives), Ryan Prince (Young Stationer), Abira Hussein (UCL), Lizzy Baker (Tyne and Wear Archives), Caroline Duroselle-Mellish (Folger Shakespeare Library), Katie Aske (Northumbria University), Ellie Sheppard (Stationers’ Bursary recipient), Ruth Frendo (Stationers’ Company Archive), Aislinn O’Connell (Young Stationer), Beth Debold (PhD student, University of Newcastle/Stationers’ Company CDA)
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February 2023

Romeo and Juliet: A Stationers' Company production

Romeo and Juliet: A Stationers' Company production

14 FEBRUARY 2023

This Valentine’s Day, we look at the Stationers behind the publication of one of the greatest love stories of all time: Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Main image: Frontispiece of Giulietta e Romeo by Luigi da Porto, 1530. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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