John Day (printer) - Elizabethan Period

Elizabethan Period

With the death of Mary and the accession of Elizabeth I 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 (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's Cosmographical Glasse. He produced the first edition in 1559 using a new italic font of the highest quality (probably cut by François Guyot) and a large number of impressive woodcuts. 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, compiled mostly by Thomas Sternhold 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 £200 and £500 per year.