A History of the Cambridge University Press, 1521-1921. S. C. Roberts

in divinity in Cambridge in 1506, came to live, in 1509 or 1510, in the turret-chamber of Queens'. Though it is, perhaps, as the first teacher of Greek (himself for the most part self-taught and not, as Gibbon says, the importer of Greek from Oxford) that Erasmus is most famous, the result of his first lectures was disappointing:

      So far I have lectured on the grammar of Chrysoloras, but to few hearers; perhaps I shall have a larger audience when I begin the grammar of Theodorus, perhaps I shall take up a theological lectureship.

      This last hope was fulfilled in 1511, when Erasmus was elected to the Lady Margaret's professorship of divinity. His letters are full of petulant complaints which may be taken as seriously as those of Gray in later years. He sees no hope of lecture-fees since his conscience will not let him rob 'naked men,' and only by touting does it appear possible to get pupils. The college beer is bad and the townsmen boorish. So he retires to his garret in Queens' and applies himself to his work on the New Testament (Novum Instrumentum) and his edition of St. Jerome, both of which were to play an important part in preparing the way for the Reformation in England.

      When weary of study, "for lacke of better exercise he would take his horse and ryde about the Market Hill." But he has words of praise for the Cambridge school of theology:

      In the University of Cambridge instead of sophistical arguments, their theologians debate in a sober, sensible manner and depart wiser and better men.

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      PART OF HAMOND'S PLAN OF CAMBRIDGE, 1592

      It was to this Cambridge and, probably, to this patron in Cambridge that John Siberch came. The single reference to his place of residence and to his position in the university occurs in the Annals of Dr. Caius:

      The space (he writes) between the gate of humility and the gate of Virtue was formerly occupied by a tenement called the King's Arms. This was once the residence of John Sibert, alias Siberch, the University Printer, who printed some books of John Lydgate and others, and of Erasmus when he was residing at Cambridge.

      The "tenement called the King's Arms" explains the use by Siberch of the royal arms as a printer's device; but although cum gratia et privilegio appears on the title-page of several books printed by him, there is no official confirmation of his having held the office of university printer[5].

      There are entries, however, in Grace Books and in the Audit Book of the university which show that in 1520 or 1521 the university advanced to him the sum of twenty pounds:

      Obligatur doctor Manfeld loco et vice magistri Norres pro summa pecunie quam recepit Johannes bibliopola ab universitate[6].

      Probably, Mr. Duff suggests, this sum of money—a larger amount than a university stationer's fee—may have been advanced with a view to helping Siberch in the establishment of a press.

      The debt is entered in the proctors' accounts until the year 1524–25 and in Grace Book B it is recorded under the date 1538–9 that John Law, an alien priest, with Drs. Ridley, Bulloke, Wakefield, and Maundefelde owed £20 sterling to the university, for which they had given a bond with their signature and seals; reference is made to this bond in the Audit Book under the dates 1546, 1549, and 1553. From the description of Siberch as "presbiter alienigena" Mr. Duff infers that Siberch eventually forsook printing for the Church.

      Such are the fragmentary references that have survived concerning the career of the first Cambridge printer.

      Fortunately, however, eight complete specimens of his book-printing have been preserved:

      i The first Cambridge book (of which a page is shown in facsimile) reflects the atmosphere of the time. It is the Oratio delivered by Henry Bullock, d.d., Fellow of Queens' College and afterwards Vice-Chancellor, in honour of the visit of Cardinal Wolsey to the university in the autumn of 1520. The 'frequentissimus cetus' before whom the oration was given included the imperial ambassadors and several bishops.

      The cardinal was lodged at Queens' College and both town and university delighted to honour him, as may be seen from the following items from the proctors' accounts:

      To the Vicechancellor for expences in going round the town with the mayor, to cleanse the streets against the coming of the Cardinal, 2s 2d.

      Gifts to the Cardinal: for wine £3 6s 8d; for carrying the same to Queens coll. 12d; for 2 oxen, £3 7s 8d; for 6 swans, 28s 8d; for 6 great pikes, 33s 4d; for 6 shell fish, 4s 4d; for a river fish called a breme, 6s 8d.

      For repairing the streets on the Cardinal's coming, 13d.

      To 2 scholars who carried an altar on the coming of the Cardinal, 4d.

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      A PAGE FROM HENRICI BULLOCI ORATIO, THE FIRST CAMBRIDGE BOOK

      

      The style of the oration is even more lavish than the ceremonial preparations. "Scarcely from the obsequious senates of Tiberius and Domitian did the incense of flattery rise in denser volume or in coarser fumes."[7]

      Bradshaw pointed out that the type used for the printing of the Oratio appears to be quite new. Many of the lines are wavy and irregular and there are no woodcut initials or ornaments of any kind. The second imprint, at the end of the book, runs: Impressa est haec oratiūcula Cantabrigiae, per me Ioannem Siberch, post natum saluatorem, Millesimo quingentesimo uicesimoprimo. Mense Februario. A second impression was printed a few months later and issued with Siberch's third book.

      Four libraries possess copies: the British Museum; the Bodleian Library; Lambeth Palace; and Archbishop Marsh's Library, St. Patrick's, Dublin. Cambridge unfortunately has no copy.

      ii The second Cambridge book is the rarest of all those printed by Siberch, only one copy (John Selden's, bequeathed to the Bodleian Library in 1659) having been preserved.

      It contains a letter addressed by a 'certain faithful Christian' to 'all Christians' and a sermon of Augustine De miseria ac brevitate vitae, of which the full title may be read in the facsimile. In addition to its uniqueness, the book has a further interest in that the Greek motto on the title-page was printed from the first genuine moveable Greek type used in England. Woodcuts depicting scenes from the Last Judgment and probably copied from a German Book of Hours are also used on the title-page.

i29

      TITLE-PAGE OF THE SECOND CAMBRIDGE BOOK

      

      iii The next book contains Lucian περὶ δωδιψάδων translated by Henry Bullock, together with a reissue of the Oratio. On the title-page there appears for the first time the elaborate border with the Arma Regia (the sign of the house in which Siberch lived) at the foot. No other ornament is used, but Greek type appears on the title-page, in the dedication, and at the end of the book.

      Four copies are known: two in the British Museum, one in St. John's College, Cambridge, and one at Lambeth Palace.

      iv The fourth book, Archbishop Baldwin's Sermo de altaris sacramento (1521), contains for the first time a woodcut initial and the Arma Regia in another form. The book is dedicated to Nicholas West, Bishop of Ely, and in the dedication Siberch claims to be the first printer to use Greek type in England—"Ioannes Siberch primus utriusque linguae in Anglia impressor."

      Nine copies have survived: two in the Bodleian, two in the University Library, Cambridge, one in Trinity College, Cambridge, one in Magdalene College, Cambridge, one in All Souls' College, Oxford,