[ aWlUjStvattbe Boeuwenij&i.

154X—1360 ^M.

1511—1543.    Thomas Berthelet's account with King Henry YIII.

That distinguished royal printer Thomas Berthelet died shortly before the estabhshment of the
Company, and his name only occurs at I. 35 and 41 ; yet he must have held a position among the
members of the Craft of Stationers of equal prominence to that which we find John Cawood holding in the
earlier years of the incorporated Guild.

Mr Bridger having drawn our attention to the following recent acquisition to the Manuscript
Department of the British Museum, Add. MS. 28,198 ; we have given it here at length as a valuable and
interesting record of the sort of works that were supplied to the king by his printer who was also his
bookbinder, as giving prices of books in that day, as showing what a busy time the royal printer had
of it when the Parliament was sitting, and as throwing incidental light upon our Reformation literature.
All the works were of a serious nature. The king evidently obtained his supply of the lighter literature
frona some other source. The amount of this account, fully equal to £1,200 of present money, certainly
justifies'C. Barker's description of the printers of Henry's reign, that they were of 'good credit and com¬
petent wealth,' I. 114.

The three editions of the New Testament in English and Latin were probably those printed in 1538 by
Bobert Redman and Henry Nicholson.

This book of accounts, which is also suggestive in many other ways, was purchased for the British
Museum on the 8th January 1870.                                                                                         ^

Bi> tlie %\xi%
Henry. Rex^

E woUe and commaunde you that of suche our Treausour as in your handes
remayneth ye Doe ymedyatly vpon the Sighte herof pay or doe to be
paide vnto our trustie Seruante Thomas Berthelett our  Prynter the
Somme of one hundreth Seventene poundes sixe pence and one halfepeny
sterlyng The whiche is due and owyng by vs vnto hym for certeyne
parcelles delyuered by the seid Thomas vnto vs and other at our com¬
maundement as in this booke whereunto this our present warraunte is
annexed particularly dothe appere / And these our letters Signed with
our hande shalbe vnto you a sufFycient Warraunte and Discharge  for the  same /
yoven [^iven] vnder our Signemanuell at our Manour of Wo[o]dstooke / the xxiiij*^ of
Septemb[er], [1544^], the sxxv yere of our Eeigne / / /

To our Eight trustie and Eight welbeloved sir Edward jN'orthb knyghte
Treausourer of th[e]augmentacons of the Eevenues of our Crowne /

Receyued of sir edward JVorth knight Treasourer of the
Augmentations the sayd summe of one hundred seuentene poundes
vj.d oh according to the tenour of this warrant, the. 29. day
September anno regni regis   henrici.   vHj  xxog€ /

Per me Thomam Bertheletum

il. 50