Richard Grafton (c. 1506/7 or 1511 – 1573) was

King's Printer The King's Printer (known as the Queen's Printer during the reign of a female monarch) is typically a bureau of the national, state, or provincial government responsible for producing official documents issued by the King-in-Council, Ministers o ...

under

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

and

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

. He was a member of the

Grocers' Company The Worshipful Company of Grocers is one of the 110 Livery Company, Livery Companies of the City of London and ranks second in order of precedence. The Grocers' Company was established in 1345 for merchants occupied in the trade of grocer and is ...

and MP for

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

elected 1562-63.

Under Henry VIII

With

Edward Whitchurch Edward Whitchurch (died 1561) was a London printer and publisher of Protestant works. Whitchurch jointly published the first complete version of the Bible in English in 1539. Other published works included the 1547 ', by William Baldwin, and the ...

, a member of the

Haberdashers' Company The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, one of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, is an ancient merchant guild of London, England associated with the silk and velvet trades. History and functions The Haberdashers' Company follows the M ...

, Grafton was interested in the printing of the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

in English, and eventually they became printers and publishers, more by chance than by design. They published the

Matthew Bible ''The Matthew Bible'', also known as ''Matthew's Version'', was first published in 1537 by John Rogers, under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew". It combined the New Testament of William Tyndale, and as much of the Old Testament as he had been able ...

in 1537, though it was printed abroad. In 1538 they brought presses and printers from Paris to print the first edition of the Great Bible. Whitchurch printed for a time in partnership with Grafton, who set up his press in the recently surrendered house of the

Grey Friars , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

, and in 1541 they obtained a joint exclusive privilege for printing the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

's new

liturgical book A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of the Catholic ...

s, including the first ''Book of Common Prayer'' and the Edwardine Ordinals. Later, they were granted a privilege for printing primers in Latin and English. Also 1541 Grafton was committed to Fleet Prison for printing a "sedicious epistle of Melanctons" and was also accused by the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

of printing

ballads A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

defending the late

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...

. In April 1543, he and seven other printers, among them Whitchurch, were sent to prison "for printing such books as were thought to be unlawful." In Grafton's case it was for having printed the

Great Bible The Great Bible of 1539 was the first authorised edition of the Bible in English, authorised by King Henry VIII of England to be read aloud in the church services of the Church of England. The Great Bible was prepared by Myles Coverdale, working ...

. He spent six weeks in prison and was bound in £300 neither to sell nor to print any more Bibles until the King and clergy should agree upon a translation.

Under Edward VI and later life

On the accession of Edward VI, Grafton was appointed King's Printer and this gave him the sole right to print all Acts and Statutes. He had held the appointment for six years, when on the King's death, he printed a proclamation of the accession of

Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey ( 1537 – 12 February 1554), later known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage) and as the "Nine Days' Queen", was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553. Jane was ...

, in which he signed himself "Printer to the Queen." For this he was cast into prison by

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

. John Cawood became Queen's Printer, and Grafton's career as a printer ended. In prison Grafton compiled an ''Abridgement of the Chronicles of England'', which he published in 1563. It includes the first published English version of the verse "

Thirty Days Hath September "Thirty Days Hath September", or "Thirty Days Has September", is a traditional verse mnemonic used to remember the number of days in the months of the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It arose as an oral tradition and exists in many variants. It ...

...", although manuscript versions have been found from the 15th century. To this he added in 1568–9 ''A Chronicle at Large''. Neither holds a high place as authorities, as they lack original material.

John Stow John Stow (''also'' Stowe; 1524/25 – 5 April 1605) was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as ''The Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles'', ''The C ...

and Grafton had a running battle over their rival chronicles after Stow justifiably accused Grafton of copying his own work. In the ''Chronicle at Large'', he is the earliest writer known to refer in print to

Edward of Woodstock Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the List of heirs to the English throne, heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his fat ...

(Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine) as the "Black Prince". The origins of the name remain uncertain: Grafton said he had found it in other writers, and gives no further explanation.Grafton, Richard, ''Chronicle at Large'', vol. 1, London (1809), 332, 388, 403. Grafton was instrumental in the establishment and maintenance of the London hospitals. He died in 1573, probably in late April or early May, and was buried on 14 May in

Christ Church Greyfriars Christ Church Greyfriars, also known as Christ Church Newgate Street, was a church in Newgate Street, opposite St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. Established as a monastic church in the thirteenth century, it became a parish church afte ...

in London, leaving four sons and one daughter, Joan, who married the printer

Richard Tottel Richard Tottel (died 1594) was an English publisher and influential member of the legal community. He ran his business from a shop located at Temple Bar on Fleet Street in London. The majority of his printing was centered on legal documents, but ...

. Grafton's device was a tree bearing

grafts Grafting refers to a surgical procedure to move tissue from one site to another on the body, or from another creature, without bringing its own blood supply with it. Instead, a new blood supply grows in after it is placed. A similar technique ...

issuing from a

tun TUN or tun may refer to: Biology * Tun shells, large sea snails of the family ''Tonnidae'' * Tun, a tardigrade in its cryptobiotic state * Tun or Toon, common name for trees of the genus '' Toona'' Places * Tun, Sweden, a locality in Västra G ...

or barrel of the kind in which books were packed for transport – hence "graft-tun", an example of a

rebus A rebus () is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases. For example: the word "been" might be depicted by a rebus showing an illustrated bumblebee next to a plus sign (+) ...

References

External links

* Grafton, Richard
''A chronicle at large: and meere history of the affayres of Englande, and kinges of the same, deduced from the creation of the worlde, vnto the first habitation of thys islande: and so by contynuance vnto the first yere of the reigne of our most deere and souereigne lady Queene Elizabeth: collected out of sundry aucthors, whose names are expressed in the next page of this leafe''
vol. 1, London (1809). * Grafton, Richard
''A chronicle at Large''
vol. 2, London (1809). {{DEFAULTSORT:Grafton, Richard 1573 deaths English printers Year of birth uncertain 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers 16th-century English historians Members of Parliament for Coventry

Under Henry VIII

Under Edward VI and later life

See also

References

Further reading

External links