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Second Reading

About John Playford

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PLAYFORD (JOHN), bookseller in London; Inner Temple near the church door, 1623-86? Younger son of John Playford, of Norwich. Dealt chiefly in music books. Temporarily in partnership with John Benson and Zachariah Watkins, 1664-5. His printers were Thomas Harper, 1648-52; William Godbid, 1658-78; Ann Godbid and her partner John Playford the younger, 1679-83; John Playford alone, 1684-5. He was the inventor of the "new ty'd notes." In 1672 he began engraving on copper plates. The D.N.B. records no less than seventeen collections of music books published by John Playford, who was succeeded by his son Henry.
---A Dictionary of the Booksellers and Printers ... H.R. Plomer, 1907.

About William Morden

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MORDEN (WILLIAM), bookseller in Cambridge, 1652-79. Buried March 9th, 1678/9, in St. Michael's Parish.
---A Dictionary of the Booksellers and Printers ... H.R. Plomer, 1907.

About John Martin

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MARTIN, or MARTYN (JOHN), bookseller in London; Bell in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1649-80. Partner with James Allestry, and succeeded him as publisher to the Royal Society. The last entry to him in the Term Catalogues is in May, 1680.
---A Dictionary of the Booksellers and Printers ... H.R. Plomer, 1907.

About Henry Herringman

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HERRINGMAN (HENRY), bookseller in London; Blue Anchor in the Lower Walk of the New Exchange, 1653-93. Next to Humphrey Moseley, the most important bookseller in the period covered by this dictionary. [1641-1667] He was the son of John Herringman, of Kessalton [i.e., Carshalton], in Surrey, yeoman, and was apprenticed to Abell Roper, bookseller of Fleet Street, for eight years from August 1st, 1644. His first book entry, which curiously enough follows one by his great contemporary Moseley, was Sir Kenelm Digby's "Short Treatise of Adhearing to God, written by Albert the Great," entered on September 19th, 1653, and he followed this on October 12th in the same year with Lord Broghall's "Parthenissa, a Romance." At the time of Moseley's death in 1661, Herringman possessed copyrights of books by Sir Kenelm Digby and James Howell, and many of Sir R. Davenant's pre-Restoration operas. He was Dryden's publisher, and in 1663 acquired the copyright of Cowley's poems, and in the following year the copyright of Waller's poems, which he obtained no doubt by purchase from Moseley's widow. Herringman was also an extensive publisher of plays and all the lighter literature of the Commonwealth and Restoration periods. His shop was the chief literary lounging place in London, and is frequently referred to in Pepys' Diary. Herringman also held a share in the King's Printing House, and in 1682 was defendant in a suit brought in the Court of Chancery by the trustees of Charles Bill, one of the children of John Bill II. Mr. Arber, in his reprint of the Term Catalogues, says that Herringman was apparently the first London wholesale publisher in the modern sense of the words. He turned over his retail business at the Blue Anchor to F. Saunders and J. Knight, and devoted himself to the production of the Fourth Folio Shakespeare, Chaucer's works, and other large publishing ventures. His last entry in the Term Catalogues was in Trinity, 1693, shortly after which he appears to have retired to his native place, Carshalton, in Surrey. Here he died on January 15th, 1703/4, and was buried in Carshalton Church, where a monument was erected to his memory. By his will, which was dated the day before his death, he left to his "kinsman" John Herringman all his copies and parts of copies when he attained the age of twenty-three, the profits meanwhile to go to his widow. To the Company of Stationers he left a sum of £20 to purchase a piece of plate.
---A Dictionary of the Booksellers and Printers ... H.R. Plomer, 1907.

About James Allestry

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ALLESTRY, ALLESTRYE, or ALLESTREE (JAMES), bookseller in London, (1) Bell in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1652-64; (2) Rose & Crown, St. Paul's Churchyard, 1664-66; (3) Rose & Crown, in Duck Lane, 1667-69; (4) Rose & Crown, St. Paul's Churchyard, 1669-70. Was a relative, perhaps brother, of Richard Allestry the divine (1619-81), and father of Jacob Allestry, poetical writer (1653-86). Details of his early life are wanting, and the first heard of him as a bookseller is in the year 1652, when he is found in business at the Bell in St. Paul's Churchyard, in partnership with John Martin. In 1660 they were joined by Thomas Dicas, and at one time Timothy Garthwaite seems to have been associated with them. At this time James Allestry was one of the largest capitalists in the trade, and his shop was the resort of the wealthy and the learned. ... In the Great Fire of 1666 his premises were destroyed, and he was almost ruined. During the rebuilding of St. Paul's Churchyard he moved into Duck Lane, and there, by the help of his kinsman, Dr. Richard Allestry, who gave him the publishing of some sermons, he made a new start, returning to the Churchyard and resuming business under the old sign about 1669; but he did not live long afterwards, his death taking place on November 3rd, 1670.
---A Dictionary of the Booksellers and Printers... H.R. Plomer, 1907.

About Joshua Kirton

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KIRTON (JOSHUA), bookseller in London, (1) Foster Lane, next to Goldsmith's Hall, 1644; (2) White Horse in Paul's Churchyard, 1638-46; (3) Golden-Spread-Eagle, St. Paul's Churchyard, 1649 (1638-59). Took up his freedom November 7th, 1636. Originally in partnership with Thomas Warren. Shared with Humphrey Robinson, Richard Thrale and Samuel Thompson the copyrights of T. Whitaker, consisting of 109 copies. Was one of the six stationers who in 1652 published a list of Popish books under the title of A Beacon set on Fire.
---A dictionary of the Booksellers and Printers... H.R. Plomer, 1907.

About Miles Mitchell

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MITCHEL, or MICHAEL (MILES), bookseller in London, (1) Within the Gate [i.e., Westminster Hall Gate]; (2) At the first shop in Westminster Hall, 1656-63. He was London agent for T. Jordan, of Gloucester.
---A dictionary of the Booksellers and Printers... H.R. Plomer, 1906

About Sunday 3 February 1660/61

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"At least it is now quite in order to propose that on 3 February 1661 Samuel Pepys heard a French-style trumpet ensemble consisting of two high-sounding trumpets, one bass-functioning trumpet playing a bourdon on the pitches c, g, and c#, and a timpanist more or less doubling the third trumpet part at the lower octave."
---Peter Downey, "What Samuel Pepys Heard on 3 February 1661: English Trumpet Style under the Later Stuart Monarchs,"
Early Music, 18(3), 417-428, 1990.

This not what Pepys heard but is a little closer: Concerto di Trombe a tre Trombette by Nicola Matteis
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk…

About George Goring (1st Baron Goring and Earl of Norwich)

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GORING, GEORGE, Earl Of Norwich (1583?-1663), royalist; educated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge; gentleman of the privy chamber to Henry, prince of Wales, 1610: one of James I's three 'chief and master fools'; accompanied Prince Charles to Spain, 1623; negotiated his marriage with Henrietta Maria of France; became her master of the horse and Baron Goring, 1628; received numerous offices and grants; 'the leader of the monopolists' ; privy councillor, 1639; spent money freely for Charles I during the civil war; accompanied the queen to and from Holland, 1642-3; as envoy to France obtained from Mazarin promise of arms and money, 1643; impeached for high treason by parliament, 1644; created Earl of Norwich, 1644; subsequently commanded in Kent and Essex; after capitulation at Colchester (1648) sentenced to death, but respited by casting vote of Speaker Lenthall; with Charles II on the continent, 1649; employed in negotiations with Sexby and the Levellers; captain of the guard and pensioned, 1661.
---Dictionary of National Biography: Index and Epitome. S. Lee, 1906.

About Thomas Fuller (b, author)

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FULLER, THOMАS (1608-1661), divine; M.A. Queens' College Cambridge, 1628; perpetual curate of St. Benet's, Cambridge, 1630; prebendary of Salisbury 1631; rector of Broadwindsor, Dorset, 1634; as curate of the Savoy preached sermons from 1642 in favour of peace between king and parliament; retired to Oxford, 1643; followed the war as chaplain to Sir Ralph Hopton 1644-6; at Exeter as chaplain to the infant Princess Henrietta, 1644-6; returned to London after surrender of Exeter; chaplain to Lord Carlisle; preached in London on sufferance; rector of Cranford and chaplain to Earl Berkeley, 1658; accompanied Berkeley to meet Charles II at the Hague, 1660; after Restoration resumed his canonry and Savoy lectureship and became 'chaplain in extraordinary' to the king; published 'History of the Holy Warre,' viz. the crusades, 1643, 'The Holy State and the Profane State,' 1642; 'A Pisgah-sight of Palestine,' 1650; 'Church History of Britain,' 'History of Cambridge University,' 1655; and 'Worthies of England,' 1662.
---Dictionary of National Biography: Index and Epitome. S. Lee, 1906.

About Friday 1 February 1660/61

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To FURBISH [fourbir, F.] to polish or make bright.
---An Universal Etymological English Dictionary. N. Bailey, 1675

About Holborn

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Holborn, a main thoroughfare of London from New Oxford Street by Drury Lane end to the Holborn Viaduct by Hatton Garden. From Drury Lane to Brook Street it is called "High Holborn;" from Brook Street to Fetter Lane and Hatton Garden "Holborn;" and from Fetter Lane to Farringdon Street was "Holborn Hill," but the hill and the name were got rid of when Holborn Viaduct was constructed. "Holborn Bars" marks the termination of the City Liberties to the west. At Farringdon Street stood a stone bridge over the Fleet.
---London, Past and Present. H.B. Wheatley, 1891.

About Charles Stuart (II, King)

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Charles II though a genius, acted in direct opposition to every principle of sound policy; and, even without propensity to tyranny, made no scruple of embracing such measures as were destructive to the civil and religious liberties of his people. He chose rather to be a pensioner to France, than the arbiter of Europe; and to sacrifice the independence of his kingdom, and the happiness of his subjects, than to remit his attachment to indolence and pleasure. He was gay, affable, and polite; and knew how to win the hearts, when he could no longer gain the esteem of mankind. He was so accustomed, for his own ease, to divest himself of his grandeur, that he seemed to have forgot what belonged to his dignity as a king.
---A Biographical History of England. J. Granger, 1769.

About Praisegod Barebones

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Barebone, who was by occupation a leather-feller, was one of the most active, if not the most able members of the parliament assembled by Cromwell, which took its denomination from his name. When Monck came to London, with a view of restoring the king, and was intent upon the re-admission of the secluded members, this man appeared at the head of a numerous rabble of fanatics, which was alarming even to that intrepid general. A petition was presented by their leader to the parliament, for the exclusion of the king and the royal family. Monck, who knew the popularity of Barebone, was obliged to make a general muster of his army, and wrote a letter to the parliament, in which he expostulated with them for giving too much countenance to that furious zealot and his adherents.
---A Biographical History of England. J. Granger, 1769.

About William Prynne (MP Bath, Somerset)

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WILLIAM PRYNNE, the voluminous writer, was, to use the epithet of lord Clarendon, no less voluminous as a speaker. Clement Walker mentions, with due commendation, a speech of his addressed to the house of commons, a little before the death of Charles I. in which he proves his concessions to the parliament to be sufficient ground for a peace. He has, in this speech, recapitulated the arguments on both sides with great freedom and propriety. He continued to speak roundly of abuses, when others thought it prudent to be silent; and though he had lost his ears for his patriotism, he was determined to be a patriot still, though at the hazard of his head.
---A Biographical History of England. J. Granger, 1769.

About Sir Edward Nicholas

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Sir Edward Nicholas was born the 4th of April, in the year 1593, and entered of the Middle-Temple in 1611. In 1622 he married Jane, daughter of Henry Jay, of Holston in Norfolk. Between the year 1611 and 1642, when he was made secretary of state; he was one of the six clerks in chancery, and successively secretary to lord Zouch, and the duke of Buckingham, in the office of high-admiral. It is remarkable that the latter was speaking to him when he was stabbed by Felton. He was afterwards clerk of the council, and continued in that employment till the seals were given him by the King. He attended his majesty to Oxford, and resided with him there till he went to the Scots army. On the surrender of Oxford to Fairfax, he retired to the prince of Wales in Jersey. From that time to the Restoration, he lived for the most part with Sir Edward Hyde, afterwards earl of Clarendon, at Caen in Normandy.
---A Biographical History of England. J. Granger, 1769.

About George Digby (2nd Earl of Bristol)

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The earl of Bristol, well known for his fine parts, his levity, and extravagant passions, was secretary of state and privy-counsellor to Charles II. at the time of the Interregnum. But he forfeited both these offices, by reconciling himself to the church of Rome, against which he had written several pieces of controversy. He imputed his removal to the influence of his friend the lord-chancellor Hyde, whose ruin he afterwards sought with all that vehemence which was natural to him. It is pity that the romantic history of this nobleman's life was never written. Dr. Swift, in one of his letters, styles him "the Prototype of Lord Bolingbroke." Ob. 15 March, 1672-3. Æt. 64.
---A Biographical History of England. J. Granger, 1769.

About Sir George Carteret (Treasurer of the Navy 1660-7, Vice-Chamberlain of the Household 1660-70)

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CARTERET, Sir GEORGE (d. 1680), governor of Jersey; of an old Jersey family; lieutenant in the navy, 1632; captain, 1633; second in command against the Sallee pirates, 1637: controller of the navy, 1639; offered a command by parliament, 1642; from St. Malo, Brittany, sent supplies and arms to the royalists in the west and in the Channel islands; sent by Charles I to Jersey, 1643; reduced the island; sent out privateers against English ships; gave a refuge to royalists, 1646; created baronet, 1646; granted estates in Jersey and America, 1649; surrendered to the Commonwealth forces, December 1651; vice-admiral in the French navy; imprisoned, August 1657; banished from France, December 1657; withdrew to Venice; treasurer of the navy, 1660-7; vice-chamberlain of the household, 1660-70; M.P., Portsmouth, 1661-9; a proprietor of Carolina, 1663; deputy-treasurer of Ireland, 1667-73; board of trade commissioner. 1668-72; naval commissioner, 1673-9.
---Dictionary of National Biography: Index and Epitome. S. Lee, 1906.