Developments in the English Printing Industry during the Edwardian Reformation, 1547-1553

Abstract

This thesis explores developments in the English print world in a period of turbulent religious change under Edward VI. The English reformation moved hurriedly, and printers quickly drove forward print production to unprecedented levels. Religion and the printing industry were intimately linked, and reformers and printers alike enjoyed a rapid ascendency. This disproportionate growth in printed output and the factors prompting it had yet to be fully explored. The foremost objective of this thesis is to shed light on how the English print world came to expand so rapidly and significantly between 1547 and 1553. This thesis explores three crucial areas: the role of the government, the design and technical evolution of the print world, and the increasingly sophisticated commercial networks that allowed the industry swiftly to respond to opportunities that emerged. The first chapter shows how the evangelical establishment encouraged the trade by creating a climate of evangelical freedom, and by the sponsorship of individuals and publications. Thereafter, the second chapter demonstrates that skills and resources became more evenly spread throughout the industry, allowing more printers to join the elite of English printing. Finally, the commercial construction of the Edwardian book world is investigated, where the growing role of publishers and printers-for-hire epitomises increasing commercial collaboration. Through these themes, it becomes clear that whilst the change of religious affiliation of the state was critical, other factors contributed to the spike in printed output. The dramatic increase was prompted by also fuelled by active sponsorship of certain areas of the trade, an increase in skilled printers (and thus improved workmanship and productivity), and increasingly sophisticated commercial and social networks within the trade and without. The Edwardian years were a time of facilitation and encouragement for England’s print world, and under these conditions, English printing flourished.