Education and its system are no doubt fundamental for the growth of our society. Over the years the educational system has evolved and fallen several times, with the educational lead exchanging hands from the Greeks to the Caliphate to France and Germany. The higher education system finally seemed to settle with a system of colleges which form Universities. One of the best known universities is Oxford University, which rose from the dark ages in the town of Oxford in what is now Great Britain. The learning process and known knowledge, however, cannot continue to grow and develop without, the writing of this known knowledge. This became easier with the invention of the printing press. One printing press in particular was established just for the purpose of publishing and spreading knowledge to further education. This press did so and continues to do so today. The press at Oxford University is the oldest running printing press significantly affecting the spread of information by not only speeding up the process of interchanging information, but also by making knowledge greatly accessible to people of all classes throughout the world, with mass printings of the bible and publishing of such works as the New English Dictionary. It’s no wonder that the OUP (Oxford University Press) is considered the best Oxford University had and still has to offer.

To truly understand the significance of the Oxford’s printing press it’s fundamental to consider the history of the University first. The beginnings of Oxford University are still unclear as it doesn’t have a definite date of establishment. Instead the university grew and developed over time. It’s believed this was between c. 1100 to 1400 as it was a developed by-product of the expanding culture and influential society which was concerned with educating their children. The location of the university at Oxford was most likely chosen because of its easy accessibility and because it was a junction of many trade routes. The first teachers here were individual scholars which attracted pupils by their reputations. These small private schools began forming around St. Mary’s Church, and it isn’t until 1201 when we start learning of a master of the schools. His name was John Grim.

The town of Oxford experienced many riots due to the university and the conduct of its students between 1298 and 1355. It was even considered at one point in 1334 to move the university to Stamford where they had been promised patronage by the earl of Warenne. The King, however, did not allow the move and instead strengthened the rights the university held over the town. The years preceding were filled with the expansion of the different colleges with Canterbury Hall, Gloucester College, St. Bernard’s College, St. Mary’s College, Magdalen, All Souls, and New College all built before the sixteenth century. Oxford’s prestige in high scholarship was already established around the world by the end of the fourteenth century. Some of the notable Oxford pupils from this time were Duns Scotus and William of Ockham which created Ockham’s Razor theory (Green 1-16).

The Oxford University Printing Press slowly began to become established at the end of
this time period with the very 1st book printed in 1478. This book was titled Commentary on the Apostles’ Creed, which was by Theodoric Rood, but was attributed to St. Jerome. The press is considered to be one of the oldest due to the fact that this printing was done only two years after the first printing press was set up in England by Caxton. The University did not actually obtain a decree to confirm its printing privileges from the Star Chamber, the English court, until 1586, but their rights were enhanced by Archbishop Laud from King Charles I in the Great Charter. This allowed the University the power to print all types of books as long as they were legal material. That same year the University hired Joseph Barnes, a local bookseller, to set up a press, and they lent him out a small fortune for this project. Barnes was able to produce many books including the first Oxford books printed in Greek (1586) and Hebrew (1596). He also printed Captain John Smith’s Map of the Virginia in 1612. The University first appointed Delegates to oversee the works of the press in 1633 due to its rapid expansion. To this day the Press’s activities are overseen by Delegates worldwide, including the operations of Oxford University Press UK, which also includes the Vice Chancellor of the University. In the seventeenth century the University established its right to print what was perhaps its most important work, the King James Authorized Version of the Bible. This privilege to print the Bible formed the base for their successful publishing business for the next two centuries. Their warehouse set up in London quickly grew to a major publisher of educational books as they were aimed for the general reader. Today OUP publishing company operates world-wide and publishes more than 6,000 new titles each year (“About OUP (USA)” n.p.).

The very first book printed at Oxford was a Latin commentary on the Apostles’ Creed dated at 1468. This is surprising because it would be claiming that it’s older than Caxton’s printing press in Westminster, which was established first, and older than the first presses of Paris. It’s believed that the book was dated ten years too early, because of this, meaning it was actually published in 1478. It, however, does not minimize the great importance that the University’s Press had in establishing the British publishing business. Other books (which owe their existence to Theodoric Rood, a printer which came from Cologne Germany), are Aretino’s translation of Aristotle’s Ethics (1479), Pro Milone by Cicero (1480), and Alexander of Hales’ commentary on Aristotle’s De Anima (1481). However, soon after the accession of the House of Tudor, the first Oxford Press closed down. During his reign, Henry VIII had two presses brought back into working, but it was not until Elizabethan era that the printers of Oxford were established to endure (Mallet 327-328).

Even though only about seventeen books were published between 1478 and 1487, when printing stopped, when it resumed in 1585 Oxford began to experience an intellectual revolution. College libraries began to discard old manuscripts and replace them with books, a process which libraries had previously been reluctant to do. A list kept by John Dorne, an Oxford bookseller, estimated that a 2, 383 works sold with no less than 20 of those by Erasmus. Undoubtedly, the printing press stirred and the sped the circulation of educational literature (Green 35-36).It is stated that the origins of the University Press are rooted in the Elizabethan time, as this is when the press became stable. With some encouragement from the chancellor, Joseph Barnes became the licensed printer for the University in 1586.

In 1632, the University was allotted three printing presses with the right to print any book as long as it was not publically forbidden. This was possible because of Laud (Markham 79). Sadly the University failed at using its right by allowing itself to be bought off with ‘covenants of forbearance’ from different parties (Green 110). The University Press served other purposes too. Around 1643, in the midst of the Civil War while the grove of Magdalen Hall was filled with parked guns, the University Press was busily printing Royalist pamphlets (Woolley 46).

After this time period the Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Christ Church John Fell set up a very important addition to the Press: the paper mill at Wolvercote. With this addition, high quality paper no longer had to be imported. Fell was great promoter of the University Press, and aside from setting up the paper mill, he also caused Antony Wood’s History and Antiquities of the University of Oxford to be translated into Latin, and the publishing of David Loggan’s Oxonia Illustrata (1675), which provided detailed images of the buildings. Another supporter of the University Press was the Chancellor, Edward Hyde, Earl of Clarendon. If it weren’t for him the Clarendon Building (which later housed the Press) would not have been built. The building was fully paid with the profits the Press made from Hyde’s History of the Great Rebellion book (Woolley 48-49). The Sheldonian Theatre which was housing the Press could no longer accommodate it due to its increasing need for space (Markham 100). However, the University Press only remained in the Clarendon Building for a century before it needed to be transferred yet again to a larger building (Hobhouse 75).

Throughout all the various moves and changes, the Press continued with great supporters. Besides what was previously mentioned, Fell also gave a fine set of type (letters carved out to be used in the press to print) to the Press to continue using. Also, in 1758 the last Godolphin of Helston, Francis, left the University a large sum of money of which a percentage was to be applied to the sole benefit of printing to engage learning. Slowly, the number of publications began to increase up to 1520 in the 1700’s. This number dropped at the beginning of the eighteenth century to only1000 works, but the number of publications was much improved in the nineteenth century reaching up to 8,000 (Norman 71). By this time the Oxford University Press was no longer being housed in the Clarendon Building. It had already made its move in 1830 to Walton Street (Woolley 70). The branch of the Press had grown out of its London warehouse as well. Branches soon emerged in all Common wealth capitals, including what was to become their second largest publishing house in New York (Woolley 178). With its international spread, the University Press kept in mind its original purpose, “The Press belongs to the University, but has no share-holders and no endowments: it exists solely for the promotion of learning” (Woolley 178), solidifying the importance of education in the role of the Oxford Press.

The University Press’s focus on education can even be seen in its productive side. There is no press in the whole country that owns a treasure of types as extensive as the University Press. Both ancientand foreign types can be used to set up the Bible in most
languages. The Learning Press, one of the three presses, has equal educational aspects as it turns out books in languages such as Armenian, Coptic, Finnish, Tamil, Bengali, Ethiopic, Syriac, Zend, and a multitude of others (Norman 73). This allows for broad distribution of information throughout the world.

Another interesting attribute of the University Press is that as the years have passed the more self-containing it has become. All the type has been donated or collected over the years, and now there are so many that some types aren’t used for years. The paper used for printing is also created at the Wolvercote paper mill which was established just for the Press. The paper mill produces the best paper in England. The India paper which it produces is extra thin allowing for large books to be published in a more convenient size, as well as being some of the strongest paper surviving rough handling. The binding for the books the University Press does is also of leading quality, receiving more binding orders from other firms than it can handle (Norman 74).

The opening of the New York branch was inevitable, and after nearly a year of slow formation, it finally came to fruition in 1896, Nelson had the rights to sell the Oxford Bibles and Prayer books in the United States. Due to the reduced prices Oxford had ordered and the already fierce competition Nelson was in need of better terms for the business. These circumstances are what set the stage for the initial idea of opening a branch of the University Press in the US and the final opening of the New York branch at 91 and 93 Fifth Avenue (Sutcliffe 89).

Other progress of the Nineteenth century was the completion of the Oxford Classical Texts. This major accomplishment represented the fulfillment of the University’s purpose of both learning and education. These books were purchased in sets for schools, including the Universities, so they could be used for generations to come (Sutcliffe 91). Other educational works such as the New English Dictionary can also be traced back to 1857. A through F in the dictionary were completed by 1896 and covered 12, 800 pages. In 1901 F through K was completed. Murray, one of the people assigned to the challenge of completing the dictionary, passed away with only the T section finished. Finally in January 1928 the final volume of the dictionary was competed. The New English Dictionary is the single most important factor in establishing the English language as the lingua franca or the working language (Barker 52). Second to the New English Dictionary was Wright’s English Dialect Dictionary. This work involved many years and workers. It included a complete vocabulary of all dialect words, including customs, games, pastimes, and so on (Norman 73).

The Press’s biggest leap was made in the twentieth century with the creation of a new department in the University Press. This department was the Overseas Education department. Though it’s very first publication, Native Education in Africa, was printed in 1927, it can be said that it began in 1915 with the hiring of E. C. Parnwell. In 1926 he was told to become an expert in overseas education. Parnwell ended up traveling throughout the globe. His travels created many education-based publications such as the Oxford Progressive English, and firmly established the O. E. department at the University Press (Sutcliffe 213). Even to this day the basis upon which the Oxford University Press was created on has not been forgotten:

It sets an example of efficiency in paper-making, in printing, and in bookbinding, and renders still greater service by the encouragement it gives to research and learning (Norman 70).

Not to mention, this strive for research and learning has spread to such countries as Australia, Canada, China, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Africa, and Spain, as they all include their own branch of the University Press publishing program (“About OUP (USA)” n.p.).

The Oxford University Press no doubt has had a significant impact not only in the educational system, but in society as a whole. The unique position which the University Press holds in the publishing world, though, is not publicly held. The titles which are published by OUP are books for academics. Teaching material for English and foreign languages, bibles, dictionaries, music, textbooks, children’s books, medicine, and law are all published in encouragement of educational progress. The Oxford University Press can stand as Oxford University’s greatest accomplishment to the educational world.

Saturday, 17 March, 2012 1:55

Bibliography

"About OUP (USA)." Oup.com. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.

Barker, Nicolas. The Oxford University Press and the Spread of Learning, 1478-1978: An Illustrated History. Oxford [Eng.: Clarendon Press, 1978. Print.

Green, Vivian H. H. A History of Oxford University. London: Batsford, 1974. Print.

Hobhouse, Christopher. Oxford: As It Was and As It Is To-Day. London: Batsford, 1948. Print.

Mallet, Charles E. A History of the University of Oxford. New York: Longmans, Green, 1924. Print.

Markham, Felix M. H. Oxford. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1967. Print.

Norman, Henry, ed. The World's Work. Vol. II. (London: Heinemann), 1904. Print.

Sutcliffe, Peter H. The Oxford University Press: An Informal History. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1978. Print.

Woolley, A R. Oxford: University and City. London: Art and Technics, 1951. Print.

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