After William Caxton started his press in Westminster came Wynkyn de Worde, his student, who set up shop in Fleet Street in the City of London in around 1500.
By doing so he started the tradition of printing in the area and has a plaque dedicated to him on the wall of my Livery company, Stationers’ Hall. He could be said to be the father of the British Press.
One of his most popular English books is, “The Golden Legend” and told the lives of famous Saints.
Last year I managed to buy a single leaf – shown below.
This page, from his print of 1527, widely accepted as the highest quality edition of the books, tells the story of a Saint Urban.
“There foloweth the lyf of Saynt Urban and fyrst y interpretatyon of his name”
What I had not realised is that the leaf contained a hidden symbol -an Ox Head!
I took this leaf to my near neighbour Peter Bower, who is a renowned paper conservator, and he showed me the amazing watermark in it.
The leaf is from the English press of Wynkyn de Worde in 1527, but he told me the paper is German – the ox-head on it is a sly commentary by the paper makers that they weren’t being paid enough apparently, the ox was a symbol of unpaid labour.
Here it is in all its beauty.
