John Day (printer) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

For the soul singer, see Johnny Daye
Johnny Daye
Johnny Daye is an American soul music singer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who released six singles between 1965 and 1968. In 2007 he came out of retirement to sing on two tracks on Robert Peckman's first solo CD, Stirrin’ Up Bees....

John Day (or Daye) (c.

Circa

Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...

1522 – 23 July 1584) was an English Protestant

Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

printer

Printer (publisher)

In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. With the invention of the moveable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, printing—and printers—proliferated throughout Europe.Today, printers are found...

. He specialised in printing and distributing Protestant literature and pamphlets, and produced many small-format religious books, such as ABCs

Alphabet book

An Alphabet book is a book primarily designed for young children. It presents letters of the alphabet with corresponding words and/or images. Some alphabet books feature capitals and lower case letter forms, keywords beginning with specific letters, or illustrations of keywords...

, sermon

Sermon

A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...

s, and translations of psalms

Psalms

The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...

. He found fame, however, as the publisher of John Foxe

John Foxe

John Foxe was an English historian and martyrologist, the author of what is popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, , an account of Christian martyrs throughout Western history but emphasizing the sufferings of English Protestants and proto-Protestants from the fourteenth century through the...

's Actes and Monuments, also known as the Book of Martyrs

Foxe's Book of Martyrs

The Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe, more accurately Acts and Monuments, is an account from a Protestant point of view of Christian church history and martyrology...

, the largest and most technologically accomplished book printed in sixteenth-century England.

Day rose to the top of his profession during the reign of Edward VI

Edward VI of England

Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...

(1547–1553). At this time, restrictions on publishers were relaxed, and a wave of propaganda on behalf of the English Reformation

English Reformation

The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....

was encouraged by the government of the Lord Protector

Lord Protector

Lord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of state at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church...

, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....

. During the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary I

Mary I of England

Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...

, many Protestant printers fled to the continent, but Day stayed in England and continued to print Protestant literature. In 1554, he was arrested and imprisoned, presumably for these illicit printing activities. Under Queen Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

, Day returned to his premises at Aldersgate

Aldersgate

Aldersgate was a gate in the London Wall in the City of London, which has given its name to a ward and Aldersgate Street, a road leading north from the site of the gate, towards Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington.-History:...

in London, where he enjoyed the patronage of high-ranking officials and nobles, including William Cecil

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...

, Robert Dudley

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...

, and Matthew Parker

Matthew Parker

Matthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of Anglican theological thought....

. With their support, he published the Book of Martyrs and was awarded monopolies for some of the most popular English books, such as The ABC with Little Catechism and The Whole Booke of Psalmes. Day, whose technical skill matched his business acumen, has been called "the master printer of the English Reformation".

Early career

Day's origins and the events of his early life remain obscure. Scholars have assumed that Day was born and raised in Dunwich

Dunwich

Dunwich is a small town in Suffolk, England, within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths AONB.Dunwich was the capital of East Anglia 1500 years ago but the harbour and most of the town have since disappeared due to coastal erosion. Its decline began in 1286 when a sea surge hit the East Anglian coast, and...

, but there is no direct evidence that proves this claim. He may have been in London by 1540, as his name is mentioned in a city deposition as being a former servant of the printer and physician Thomas Raynalde

Thomas Raynalde

Thomas Raynalde , was a physician and translator. He translated Eucharius Roesslin's De Partu Hominis.-References:...

. In 1546, he was probably one of twenty men who were granted the freedom of the city

Freedom of the City

Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...

by redemption to work for the Stringers' Company

Worshipful Company of Bowyers

The Worshipful Company of Bowyers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London, England.- History :Originally, the Bowyers and Fletchers formed one organisation. However, in 1371, the Fletchers petitioned the Lord Mayor of the City of London to divide into their own Company.The actual...

of London.

The next year, he began printing with a partner, William Seres

William Seres

William Seres was an English Protestant printer, starting work in about 1546, and working in partnership with John Day for a few years. Day and Seres specialized in religious works, such as those by Robert Crowley, which were largely related to theological controversies of the time...

; the two based their operations at the parish of St Sepulchre

St Sepulchre-without-Newgate

St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, also known as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre , is an Anglican church in the City of London. It is located on Holborn Viaduct, almost opposite the Old Bailey...

in London. Day and Seres specialised in religious works, such as those by Robert Crowley

Robert Crowley (printer)

Robert Crowley also Robertus Croleus, Roberto Croleo, Robart Crowleye, Robarte Crole, and Crule , was a stationer, poet, polemicist and Protestant clergyman who was among the Marian exiles at Frankfurt...

, which were largely related to theological controversies of the time. The Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

was advancing rapidly, and the laws against the publication of heretical works were being relaxed. In 1548, ten of the twenty works that the two men published were devoted to criticizing the Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

belief of transubstantiation

Transubstantiation

In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation means the change, in the Eucharist, of the substance of wheat bread and grape wine into the substance of the Body and Blood, respectively, of Jesus, while all that is accessible to the senses remains as before.The Eastern Orthodox...

. One of those publications, a satirical poem by Luke Shepherd titled Iohn Bon and Mast Person, almost landed Day in jail. Day and Seres also translated important works of Continental

Continental Europe

Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....

Protestantism for the English market, notably Herman von Wied

Hermann of Wied

Hermann of Wied was the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne from 1515 to 1546.-Biography:The fourth son of Frederick, count of Wied , Hermann was educated for the Church, he became elector and archbishop in 1515. He supported the claims of Charles V, whom he crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle in 1520...

's A Simple and Religious Consultation in 1547.

In 1549, Day opened a new shop in Cheapside

Cheapside

Cheapside is a street in the City of London that links Newgate Street with the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Mansion House Street. To the east is Mansion House, the Bank of England, and the major road junction above Bank tube station. To the west is St. Paul's Cathedral, St...

, and the next year, he and Seres were successful enough to amicably separate their businesses. Day set up his new home and printing establishment at Aldersgate

Aldersgate

in the parish of St Anne and St Agnes

St Anne and St Agnes

St Anne and St Agnes is a church located at Gresham Street in the City of London, near the Barbican. While St Anne's is an Anglican foundation, it has been let since 1966 to a congregation of the Lutheran Church in Great Britain.-History:...

and transferred from the Stringers' to the Stationers' Company

Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers

The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Company was founded in 1403; it received a Royal Charter in 1557...

. Day found Aldersgate's foreigner-friendly attributes helpful in attracting skilled Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

workers, whom he relied on throughout his career. He soon established himself as a quality printer, and in 1551, he reprinted an elaborate edition of the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

that he had previously produced with Seres. The next year, he secured a valuable patent

Printing patent

The printing patent or printing privilege was a precursor of modern copyright. It was an exclusive right to print a work or a class work of works....

to print the works of John Ponet

John Ponet

John Ponet was the Bishop of Winchester, the Bishop of Rochester, and a controversial Protestant religious leader.In his day, Ponet was an influential Protestant theologian...

and Thomas Beccon

Thomas Beccon

Thomas Beccon was a British Protestant reformer from Norfolk. He studied under Hugh Latimer and was ordained in 1533. He was arrested for Protestant preaching and was forced to recant around 1540. He then began to write under the pen name of "Theodore Basille." When Edward VI came to the...

. This enraged one of his competitors, Reginald Wolfe

Reginald Wolfe

Reginald Wolfe was a Dutch-born English Protestant printer and one of the original members of the Royal Stationers' Company....

, who already held a patent to print Ponet's Catechism

Catechism

A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...

in Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

. Eventually, a compromise patent was issued which allowed Wolfe to continue printing the Catechism in Latin and Day to print the work in English. Day reaped more benefits from the deal than Wolfe: the English printings were used far more extensively than the Latin ones, and the ABC
Alphabet book
An Alphabet book is a book primarily designed for young children. It presents letters of the alphabet with corresponding words and/or images. Some alphabet books feature capitals and lower case letter forms, keywords beginning with specific letters, or illustrations of keywords...

was eventually appended with Ponet's Catechism.

With a reputation for Protestant godliness and connections to people like John Dudley

John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland

John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, KG was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady Jane Grey on the English throne after the King's death...

, William Cecil

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...

, and Catherine Willoughby

Catherine Willoughby

Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, suo jure 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby , was an English noblewoman living at the royal courts of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI and later, Queen Elizabeth I...

, a successful career seemed assured for Day. Unfortunately for Day, Queen Mary

Mary I of England

ascended the throne in 1553 and the entire religious climate of the country changed. For years, it was thought that at the accession of Mary, Day fled to the Continent to avoid persecution. However, typographical

Typography

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type in order to make language visible. The arrangement of type involves the selection of typefaces, point size, line length, leading , adjusting the spaces between groups of letters and adjusting the space between pairs of letters...

and other evidence has convinced scholars that Day set up a clandestine press in premises connected to William Cecil in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

, and that he continued to print Protestant polemic

Polemic

A polemic is a variety of arguments or controversies made against one opinion, doctrine, or person. Other variations of argument are debate and discussion...

al works under the pseudonym Michael Wood. The "Michael Wood" pamphlets included Protestant writings by Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane Grey

Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...

, John Hooper

John Hooper

John Hooper, Johan Hoper, was an English churchman, Anglican Bishop of Gloucester and Worcester. A Protestant Reformer, he was killed during the Marian Persecutions.-Biography:...

, and Stephen Gardiner

Stephen Gardiner

Stephen Gardiner was an English Roman Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I of England.-Early life:...

, and attacks on Mary and her advisors.

On 16 October 1554, according to the diary of Henry Machyn

Henry Machyn

Henry Machyn was an English clothier and diarist in 16th century London.Machyn's Chronicle, which was written between 1550 and 1563, is primarily concerned with public events: changes on the throne, state visits, insurrections, executions and festivities...

, Day was caught and sent to the Tower of London

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

for printing "naughty books". In the Book of Martyrs, Foxe records statements made in prison to Day by the future martyr John Rogers, "spake being then in prison, to the Printer of this present booke, who then also was layd up for lyke cause of religion". Perhaps because the flight of foreign Protestant workers under Mary was causing a shortage of printers, Day was released the next year and allowed to work again, but only as a jobbing printer. He reunited with Seres (also recently released from prison) to produce works of Catholicism for Catholic printer John Wayland, a far cry from the Protestant polemics he printed prior to imprisonment. He also served as the official printer of the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

for two years.

Elizabethan period

With the death of Mary and the accession of Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I of England

in 1558, Day's business blossomed once more. Day was already close to Cecil, who had now become one of the new Queen's top advisors. Through Cecil, Day was awarded the valuable monopoly on printing ABCs. He also befriended Robert Dudley

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...

(son of John Dudley), another of Elizabeth's favorites. With the help of his connections, Day was able to obtain a lucrative patent to print William Cuningham

William Cuningham

William Cuningham was a physician who practised at Norwich about 1559, when he published his work called 'The Cosmographical Glasse,' which contained many woodcuts, as well as a bird's-eye map of Norwich, the whole engraved by himself.-Bibliography:...

's Cosmographical Glasse. He produced the first edition in 1559 using a new italic

Italic type

In typography, italic type is a cursive typeface based on a stylized form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, such typefaces often slant slightly to the right. Different glyph shapes from roman type are also usually used—another influence from calligraphy...

font

Font

In typography, a font is traditionally defined as a quantity of sorts composing a complete character set of a single size and style of a particular typeface...

of the highest quality (probably cut by François Guyot) and a large number of impressive woodcut

Woodcut

Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...

s. Day absorbed the high production costs himself, since he knew the work would solidify his reputation as a master printer. Day's patent to print Cuningham—his first under Elizabeth—gave him exclusive rights to the work for life; it also allowed him to retain a monopoly for seven years on any other original works that were not covered by other patents, were "compiled at Day's expense", and were "not repugnant to Holy Scripture or the law". This stipulation would be an important source of income for the rest of his life.

Day took advantage of the monopoly clause, reestablishing his Edwardian patent for The ABC with Little Catechism. In 1559, he obtained a patent for The Whole Booke of Psalmes, Collected into English Meter, a metrical psalter

Metrical psalter

A metrical psalter is a kind of Bible translation: a book containing a metrical translation of all or part of the Book of Psalms in vernacular poetry, meant to be sung as hymns in a church. Some metrical psalters include melodies or even harmonizations...

, compiled mostly by Thomas Sternhold

Thomas Sternhold

Thomas Sternhold was an English courtier and the principal author of the first English metrical version of the Psalms, originally attached to the Prayer-Book as augmented by John Hopkins.-Life:...

and John Hopkins, that Day first published in 1562. The Stationers' Company guaranteed Day the right to print all "psalmes in metre with note", in other words, psalms with music. Despite the fact that psalmes had usually been learned by rote, the business proved lucrative, reflecting a rise in musical literacy during the period. The Whole Booke of Psalmes became the period's best-selling book and the standard English psalter of its time. Day's monopolies on these perennially popular works would be the basis of great wealth over the years and a good deal of conflict between him and his fellow stationers. In legal proceedings towards the end of Day's life, it was estimated that these particular patents were worth between £

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

200 and £500 per year.

Actes and Monuments

In 1563, Day undertook the work for which he is best known, John Foxe

John Foxe

's Actes and Monuments (also called The Book of Martyrs). Day and Foxe probably met through Cecil, and the two became close collaborators. Foxe was among those who seized on the advances in the printing trade as a tool for the spread of the Protestant Reformation

Protestant Reformation

. There is a tradition that Foxe, who revised and added material while the book was being set in type, actually lived at Day's shop at Aldersgate

Aldersgate

during the production of the book; he certainly received correspondence there and visited regularly. Day heavily invested time and money in the production of Foxe's book, the largest publishing project undertaken in England to that time, and he took an active part in the compilation of the material. Day used changes in type sizes or font

Font

In typography, a font is traditionally defined as a quantity of sorts composing a complete character set of a single size and style of a particular typeface...

s to distinguish Foxe's editorial insertions from texts of his sources. The resulting lavish folio

Book size

The size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf, or sometimes the height and width of its cover. A series of terms is commonly used by libraries and publishers for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from "folio" , to "quarto" and "octavo"...

filled with woodcuts was an expensive luxury item, but it sold well and Day profited from his investment.

Day continued to take on challenging and difficult projects. He had already printed the first English book of church music in 1560. In 1567, Matthew Parker

Matthew Parker

Matthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of Anglican theological thought....

, the Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

, commissioned Day to print a collection of writings attributed to the tenth-century Aelfric of Eynsham. For this work, Day, known for his fine and varied fonts, had the first-ever font of Anglo-Saxon

Old English language

Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...

type cut. The cost was borne by Parker, perhaps Day's most important patron. The font may have been designed by François Guyot, a French type-founder known to have worked for Day and lived in his household. Day used the same font

Font

In typography, a font is traditionally defined as a quantity of sorts composing a complete character set of a single size and style of a particular typeface...

to print Lambarde's

William Lambarde

William Lambarde was an antiquarian and writer on legal subjects.-Life:Lambarde was born in London. His father was a draper , an alderman and a sheriff of London. In 1556, he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn...

Archaionomia (a collection of Anglo-Saxon laws) in 1568. In 1570, he printed Billingsley

Henry Billingsley

Sir Henry Billingsley was Lord Mayor of London and the first translator of Euclid into English.-Early Life:He was a son of William Billingsley, haberdasher and assaymaster of London, and his wife, Elizabeth Harlowe. He entered St...

and Dee's

John Dee (mathematician)

John Dee was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy....

English Euclid, which included folding and movable diagrams—one of the first printed books ever to do so. In the same year, he printed Ascham's

Roger Ascham

Roger Ascham was an English scholar and didactic writer, famous for his prose style, his promotion of the vernacular, and his theories of education...

Scholemaster.

Day and Foxe completed a second edition of the Book of Martyrs in 1570. It was even larger than the first—a total of 2,300 pages in two enormous folio volumes—and at one point, Day ran out of paper (which he imported) and had to paste smaller sheets together to make do. This edition received official recognition: William Cecil and the Privy Council directed the church to ensure that copies were available to parishioners, and in 1571, the Convocation

Convocation

A Convocation is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose.- University use :....

ordered that every cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

church and the household of every senior member of the clergy should own a copy. The edition has been recorded as costing sixteen shillings, roughly equivalent to two months' wages for a skilled London clothworker at the time.

Final years

By the late 1570s, there was open discontent among the less wealthy members of the Stationers' Company about Day's extensive patents. He was compelled to go to court against printers who pirated works to which he owned the rights. Among those brought to trial was Roger Ward, who admitted to pirating 10,000 copies of ABC with Catechisms in a font which imitated Day's. Day's former apprentice and sub-contractor John Wolfe admitted in court that he had pirated The Whole Booke of Psalmes but justified his actions on the grounds that Day's monopolies were a restraint of trade. It was Wolfe who led a group of "poor printers", as they called themselves, in a campaign against the patents in the late 1570s. As a result of an official investigation, Day was eventually obliged to concede certain titles to the Company for the benefit of the poorer printers, but he kept the titles he printed most.

In 1580, Day became Master of the Stationers' Company, and focused vigorously on defending the industry against piracy

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...

. His official powers included the right of "search and seizure", which he did not hesitate to exercise on behalf of the trade or to further his own interests. In 1584, he sent men to break into Wolfe's premises and destroy any materials relating to suspected piracy. Four years before, he had even destroyed his son Richard

Richard Day (printer)

Richard Day was an English printer, Church of England clergyman, and the son of printer John Day. He was born in Aldersgate, London, where his father maintained a home and a newly established printing press. He studied at Eton College and enrolled at King's College, Cambridge in 1572, where he was...

's printing equipment after Richard had printed the ABC and the Psalmes without his permission. Though Richard was technically co-patentee of these titles, John Day pursued him into the courts and all but destroyed his printing career.

In 1582, Day's health began to deteriorate quickly. Though weakening, he raced to complete another edition of Actes and Monuments in 1583, printing it on at least four presses. It was unusual for books of this size and ambition to go beyond one or two printings. Holinshed's

Raphael Holinshed

Raphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....

Chronicles, the only book of the time to rival the Book of Martyrs in scope and reputation, never went into a third edition.

Day died in 1584 at Walden

Saffron Walden

Saffron Walden is a medium-sized market town in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. It is located north of Bishop's Stortford, south of Cambridge and approx north of London...

in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

. He married twice and fathered thirteen children in each marriage. Day's printer's device showed a sleeper awakening, with the motto "Arise for it is Day," both a play on his name and an allusion to the new era of religious reform, in which he was a significant figure.

Early career

Elizabethan period

Actes and Monuments

Final years

Further reading