Richard Grafton

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Richard Grafton (* around 1511 ; † probably April / May 1573 ) was an English printer and chronicler . Under King Henry VIII he printed some of the first Bibles in English, then became Edward VI's royal printer . with the exclusive right to print the Acts of Parliament, but fell under the rule of Queen Mary I. favor. He also appeared as a historian by publishing chronicles of English history, which, however, are historically unreliable.

Life

Lineage and Early Life

Little is known about Richard Grafton's living conditions. He was a son of Nicholas Grafton of Shrewsbury , who may have been a furrier, and a grandson of Adam Grafton, who may be the same name as the man of the same name mentioned in 1473 as Vicar of St. Alknund's in Shrewsbury. It can be concluded from Richard Grafton's literary achievements that he was brought up well. The first recorded news about him comes from the year 1526, according to which he was apprenticed to the London merchant John Blage. In 1534 he became a member of the Grocer's Company , an influential London merchants' guild that had close ties to Protestantism . Grafton had business relationships in Antwerp and was in commerce with the assistance of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer .

Early Bible prints in English

Around 1534 Grafton and Edward Whitchurch - perhaps at the suggestion of Thomas Cromwell - founded a printing press in London on the site of the Greyfriars (gray monks) monastery, which was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1538 . At that time there was no authorized vernacular translation of the Bible in England , but there was a strong desire for such an English version. Cromwell planned to translate the Scriptures into English for use as a political tool to standardize the beliefs and practices of the new Anglican Church . Grafton and Whtichurch proceeded to fund the publication of a translation of the scriptures made by William Tyndale , Miles Coverdale, and John Rogers . But because Tyndale had been condemned as a heretic by Cromwell in 1534 and it was therefore dangerous to work with him, Grafton and Whitchurch had their Bible printed in Antwerp, probably by Jacobus van Meteren . Wishing to prevent James Nicholson of Southwark from printing a cheaper translation of the Bible, Grafton asked Cromwell in a letter dated August 28, 1537 for a special royal license for his edition. Since he had spent £ 500 to print 1500 copies of the Bible, the English houses of worship should be obliged to buy them. With the permission of Henry VIII, Grafton's edition, known as the Matthew Bible , was published in 1537.

In 1538, the King gave Thomas Cromwell permission by letters patent to create an official English Bible for Grafton and Whitchurch to publish. Thanks to his business skills, Grafton was in charge of the project, while Miles Coverdale served as editor. In May 1538, Grafton went to Paris, accompanied by Coverdale and probably Whitchurch . There he oversaw the publication of Coverdale's corrected English translation of the New Testament , which was printed by François Regnault in Paris in November 1538, together with the Latin text and a dedication to Cromwell. This edition of the New Testament was only part of the planned translation of the entire Bible from Greek and Hebrew into English ( Great Bible ). Although Paris had better facilities for printing, Grafton's business was dangerous because France was a Catholic country. Cromwell had received permission from King Francis I to print the Bible, but with the severe restriction that it could not contain any unlawful opinions from a Catholic point of view. This gave the French Government, when diplomatic relations between England and France in the autumn of 1538 deteriorated to the occasion, by a decree of 13 December 1538, the already almost completed work on the Bible to stop after the Inquisition the charge of heresy raised would have. The French Grand Inquisitor summoned Regnault and his partners for the next day on December 17, 1538, but Grafton managed to escape to London.

In July 1539, Cromwell tried to convince King Francis I to return the Bibles that had not yet been destroyed by the French authorities. With the help of the English ambassador to France, Edmund Bonner , Grafton managed to ensure that the presses and types used for the Great Bible could be transported from Paris to London in November 1539. The work was completed and printed in 1539. Grafton and Whitchurch appear as printers, but no place of publication is given. The price was 10 shillings for an unbound and 12 shillings for a bound copy. According to the royal proclamation, each parish had to purchase a copy before All Saints Day 1540. A second edition of the Great Bible, printed by Grafton and Whitchurch, appeared in April 1540 and contained a foreword by Thomas Cranmer. Further editions came out in quick succession, for example the seventh edition in December 1541. Grafton lived in Greyfriars after 1539 until the end of his life.

Prints of prayer and devotional books; Imprisonments

With the execution of Thomas Cromwell on July 28, 1540, Grafton lost his patron. In the same year he printed many devotional books, such as The Gospels and Epistles of All the Sundays and Saints Days That Are Read in the Church All the Whole Year and The Primer Both in English and Latin . A New Testament based on the text of Erasmus von Rotterdam , also published in English in 1540, names Grafton and Whitchurch in the imprint.

In January 1541, Grafton was arrested on charges of having published ballads defending the executed Cromwell, as well as a translation of Philip Melanchthon's attack on the six articles adopted in 1539 establishing the principles of the Church of England. He had also published the ballads under the name of a business rival, Richard Bankes. As a result, he was incarcerated in Fleet Prison for six weeks . In the course of 1541, according to the John Foxes Acts and Monuments , Grafton and Whitchurch were also answerable to the authorities for misconduct in the exercise of religious practice, but no verdict is known.

In 1542, Grafton also printed secular works, such as an account of Charles V's campaign in the barracks , The Order of the Great Turckes Court and Erasmus' von Rotterdam Apophthegms . The next year, 1543, his printing house published the Precepts of Plutarch for the Preservation of Good Health, translated by John Hales , and Erasmus' A Very Pleasant and Fruitful Dialogue Called the Epicure in 1545 .

On January 28, 1543, the King gave Grafton and Whitchurch the sole privilege of publishing prayer books for seven years. Nevertheless, they had to be careful that the works they published did not exceed the limits of accepted church doctrine. In early April 1543, according to Charles C. Butterworth, Grafton was briefly imprisoned again for printing books that were deemed illegal, probably translations of "heretical" texts by forbidden authors such as Tyndale. In May 1545, Grafton was given the right to edit the primer authorized by Henry VIII in English and Latin. This book was to be read throughout Britain and, in the King's opinion, it would facilitate the use of the English language in church services and teach the youth of the Anglican religion, their duties and obedience. In 1545, Grafton and Whitchurch also became the printing presses of Crown Prince Edward VI. appointed.

Marriage and offspring

Around 1546 Grafton married Anne Crome, a relative of Dr. Edward Crome, and with her had at least four sons, Robert, Edward, Richard (who became a successful lawyer and received confirmation of his coat of arms in 1584 ) and Gregory, and a daughter, Joan, who later married the bookseller Richard Tottel. The latter published the famous Tottel's Miscellany in 1557 . After the death of his first wife in 1560, who was buried with great solemnity, Grafton married Alice Aylyffe in January 1562, who bore him two sons.

Edward VI printer; Loss of influence under Maria I.

When Henry VIII died in January 1547 and Edward VI. succeeded him to the throne, Grafton was the first printer of the new king during his entire term of office and thus received the exclusive right to print parliamentary acts and royal proclamations. He also retained his privilege of being authorized to publish prayer books only. He published secular books in 1547 a. a. James Harrisons Exhortation to the Scots and Arthur Keltons Chronicle With a Genealogy Declaring that the Britons and Welshmen Are Descended from Brute . After he had published John Hardyng's chronicle earlier out of increasing historical interest , he published Edward Hall's chronicle in 1548 (see below ).

1547–1548, the City of London largely acquired the buildings of Greyfriars Convent, which now formed Christ's Hospital, and confirmed Grafton in his possession located on their premises. In 1551 Grafton became one of the chairmen and deputy treasurer of St Thomas' Hospital, which had been acquired from London . At that time he printed a. a. William Pattens Expedicion into Scotlade (1548), the first edition of the Book of Common Prayer from 1549 and its edition from 1552, John Marbeck's Concordance of the Bible (1550) and Thomas Wilson's The Rule of Reason (1551) and The Arte of Rhetorique ( 1553).

After Edward VI. on July 6, 1553 at the age of only 15, Grafton sided with Lady Jane Gray and printed her proclamation to Queen. But when shortly afterwards the Catholic-minded Maria I Tudor prevailed in the power struggle for the English crown, Grafton switched sides and printed Mary's proclamation as queen. Nevertheless, Maria removed him from his position as royal printer and appointed John Cawood on December 29, 1553 as his successor. Grafton and Whitchurch were jailed in Fleet Prison for a few weeks. Since then, Grafton's career as a printer was over. Even so, he managed to be elected Member of Parliament for London in 1554 and 1557. He was also one of the co-organizers of the entry of Queen Mary and her husband Philip II of Spain into London on August 18, 1554 . 1555–1556 he served as head of the Grocer's Company.

Last years in debt under Elizabeth I and death

After Maria's half-sister Elizabeth I ascended to the throne in 1558, Grafton took part in the preparations for the procession on the occasion of Elizabeth's coronation celebrations held on January 14, 1559. He also devoted himself to charitable activities and served 1559-1560 as one of the boards of the Bridewell Hospital . In June 1561 he was one of those prominent Londoners who oversaw the restoration of the lightning-damaged spire of St Paul's Cathedral . 1562-1563 he was again a member of parliament, this time as a representative for Coventry . 1563–1564 he was again in charge of the Grocer's Company. However, by this time he was already in financial difficulties and admitted in early 1565 that he owed the Grocer's Company more than £ 40. In September 1566 the decision was made to buy Grafton's house in Greyfriars to cover part of his debts. In the 1560s Grafton wrote several separate chronicles of English history (see below). Grafton's death, of which there is no authentic portrait, probably took place in late April or early May 1573, and on the following May 14th he was buried in Christ Church Greyfriars in London.

Historical works

Editing and continuation of the Chronicles of John Hardying and Edward Hall

In January 1544, Grafton published his first historical work, a version of the rhymed chronicle written by John Hardyng in the 15th century , which told English history from its mythical beginnings to the reign of King Edward IV . Grafton added a versed dedication written by him to Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk , whose campaign of 1542 against the Scots he extolled in it. He hoped to win the Duke as a new patron. Furthermore, he continued Hardyng's chronicle in a detailed prose until the 30th year of Henry VIII's reign, for which he referred to Polydor Virgil and probably also Thomas More 's History of King Richard III. based. The English historian and archaeologist John Stow , who later harshly criticized Grafton's historical writings, stated in an edition of his Summarie of the Englyshe Chronicles in 1570 that Grafton's Hardyng edition was very different from a manuscript in his possession of Hardying's work. Grafton replied in a later edition of his Abridgement of the Chronicles of England that Hardyng undoubtedly wrote more than one chronicle.

After the death of his friend Edward Hall in 1547, Grafton proceeded to publish his handwritten chronicle from the accession of Henry IV to the throne in 1399 to 1532. According to the author's notes, he continued this until the death of Henry VIII in early 1547 and published it under the title The Union of the Two Noble and Illustrious Families of Lancastre and Yorke (London 1548). He published a new edition in 1550. Since these editions were rare even in England, the antiquarian Sir Henry Ellis thought a new edition (London 1809) was necessary. Stow accused Grafton of mutilating Hall's work, and Grafton replied that he had only brought Hall's vague phrases into clearer language. He claims he had completed Hall's work without any ingredients of his own. The continuation of Grafton is less detailed than the depiction of Hall in the earlier parts of the Chronicle. But he retained Hall's view that the divine salvation of England lies in the Tudor government. Accordingly, the work is monarchically oriented and hardly goes to the bottom of the deeper causes of historical developments.

Independent chronicles

In the early 1560s, Grafton wrote a shorter English chronicle that he had compiled, the first edition of which was printed by his son-in-law Richard Tottel under the title Abridgement of the Chronicles of England (London 1563). This work was dedicated to Lord Robert Dudley . Later editions appeared in 1564, 1570 and 1572 in London. In the preface Grafton made a damning judgment on similar earlier short English chronicles published by bookseller and printer Thomas March, for example. That is why he was moved to write his own better chronicle. However, this is neither accurate nor reliable; and for modern research the historical value is to be assessed as low. Still, the book was widely read by Grafton's contemporaries. The sources used include a. Latin and Anglo-Saxon histories, the Domesday Book and the chronicles of Geoffrey von Monmouth , Jean Froissart and Robert Fabyan .

Thomas Marsh - probably in response to Grafton's criticism of his earlier edited chronicles and its production of an economically threatening competing work - prompted John Stow, already known as an antiquarian, to also write an outline of English history. Stow then published A Summarie of the Englyshe Chronicles (London 1565), visited Grafton and showed him a copy of his Abridgement of the Chronicles of England , in which Stow had marked numerous errors. In the preface to the second edition of his Abridgement , Grafton admitted some of the errors that Stow identified. A literary controversy ensued, recorded in the prologues of Grafton's and Stow's chronicles.

Shortly after the appearance of Stows Summarie, John Kingston published Grafton's Manuell of the Chronicles of Englande: From the Creacion of the Worlde to This Yere of Our Lorde, 1565 (London 1565). This work was dedicated to the Stationers 'Company booksellers ' guild. Grafton offered the guild the rights to his book as a gift on the condition that they republish it repeatedly, with updated additions, and not license similar works. He attacked Stow directly and tried, albeit in vain, to prevent him from publishing further historical writings. In his foreword, Grafton stated that his writing was an excerpt from his earlier chronicle, which had been outrageously plagiarized. Stow and March, in turn, had a short chronicle appear again as the Summary of English Chronicles Abridged in 1566–1567 , went hard with Grafton in court and asked the London Mayor and City Council for protection.

To demonstrate his greater ability to do historical work, Grafton came up with a more comprehensive English chronicle, the Fool titled A Chronicle at Large, and Meere History of the Affayres of Englande and Kinges of the Same (2 vols., London 1568– 1569) printed. Grafton dedicated this work to Sir William Cecil . In the foreword he generally criticized many contemporary historical works, while his own book was detailed enough without getting tired and short enough without leaving any ambiguities; also deal with the history of England alone. However, Grafton did not limit himself in his presentation to the historical events in England, but began with the creation and led the story through the biblical and classical prehistory to his own time. The chronicle is divided into seven sections according to the seven ages, the last of which begins with the birth of Jesus Christ and will last until the end of the world.

In the first section, Grafton explains that England was originally inhabited by giants - a common notion in his time - but Brutus , a descendant of Aeneas , had conquered the giants. For this account, Grafton named the Chronicle by Fabyan , published in 1516, as the source, but often omitted the naming of his sources in other parts of his story, although he sometimes wrote them out verbatim. He also did not select his sources very carefully and reported fables such as a stone found in Bread Street Ward (London) and examined personally by him, which represents the tooth of an 8 m tall man. Because of this, Grafton et al. a. later heavily criticized by the more critical Stow. Because of the limited circulation of Grafton's Chronicle, Sir Henry Ellis obtained an improved reprint at the beginning of the 19th century ( Chronicle, or History of England; to which is added his Table of the Bailiffs, Sheriffs and Mayors of the City of London from the Year 1189 to 1558 inclusive , 2 vols., London 1809).

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Meraud Grant Ferguson: Grafton, Richard , in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Vol. 23 (2004), p.166.
  2. ^ A b c William Keith Hall: Grafton, Richard , in: Dictionary of Literary Biography , Vol. 170 (1996), p. 124.
  3. ^ William Keith Hall: Grafton, Richard , in: Dictionary of Literary Biography , Vol. 170 (1996), p. 124 f.
  4. ↑ Meraud Grant Ferguson: Grafton, Richard , in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Vol. 23 (2004), p. 166 f.
  5. ^ A b William Keith Hall: Grafton, Richard , in: Dictionary of Literary Biography , Vol. 170 (1996), p. 125.
  6. ↑ a b c d e Meraud Grant Ferguson: Grafton, Richard , in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Vol. 23 (2004), p. 167.
  7. ^ A b c Sidney Lee: Grafton, Richard , in: Dictionary of National Biography , Vol. 22 (1890), p. 311.
  8. ^ A b c d William Keith Hall: Grafton, Richard , in: Dictionary of Literary Biography , Vol. 170 (1996), p. 126.
  9. ^ A b c William Keith Hall: Grafton, Richard , in: Dictionary of Literary Biography , Vol. 170 (1996), p. 127.
  10. ^ William Keith Hall: Grafton, Richard , in: Dictionary of Literary Biography , Vol. 170 (1996), p. 128.
  11. ↑ Meraud Grant Ferguson: Grafton, Richard , in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Vol. 23 (2004), p. 167 f.
  12. ^ William Keith Hall: Grafton, Richard , in: Dictionary of Literary Biography , Vol. 170 (1996), p. 128 f.
  13. ↑ a b c d Meraud Grant Ferguson: Grafton, Richard , in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Vol. 23 (2004), p. 168.
  14. ^ A b c Sidney Lee: Grafton, Richard , in: Dictionary of National Biography , Vol. 22 (1890), p. 312.
  15. ^ Ph. H. Külb: Grafton (Richard) . In: Johann Samuelersch , Johann Gottfried Gruber (Ed.): Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste , 1st section, 78th part (1864), p. 230.
  16. ^ A b c William Keith Hall: Grafton, Richard , in: Dictionary of Literary Biography , Vol. 170 (1996), p. 129.
  17. ^ William Keith Hall: Grafton, Richard , in: Dictionary of Literary Biography , Vol. 170 (1996), p. 130.
  18. ^ William Keith Hall: Grafton, Richard , in: Dictionary of Literary Biography , Vol. 170 (1996), p. 131.
  19. ^ Ph. H. Külb: Grafton (Richard) . In: Johann Samuelersch, Johann Gottfried Gruber (Hrsg.): Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste , 1st section, 78th part (1864), p. 231.
personal data
SURNAME Grafton, Richard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English printer and chronicler
DATE OF BIRTH around 1511
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: April 1573 or May 1573