ek, and Hebrew, and John Bill, who
probably obtained his share by purchase. These three men were thus the
chief printers during the early part of this reign.

Robert Barker had been made free of the Stationers' Company in 1589,
when he joined his father's assigns, George Bishop and Ralph Newbery, in
the management of the business. He was admitted to the livery of the
Company in 1592, and upon his father's death succeeded to the office of
King's printer by reversion. In 1601-2 he was warden of the Company, and
filled the office of Master in 1605. Some time before 1618 he sold his
moiety of the business to Bonham Norton and John Bill, and this
arrangement was confirmed by Royal Charter in 1627.

Upon the death of Bonham Norton, Barker's name again appears in the
imprint of the firm, and he continued printing until about 1645. It is
said by Ames (vol. ii. p. 1091), and has been repeated by all writers
since his day, that Robert Barker was committed to the King's Bench
Prison in 1635, and that he remained a prisoner there until his death in
1645. No confirmation of this can be found in the State Papers; indeed
the fact that he accompanied Charles I. to Newcastle in 1636, and was
printing in other parts of England until 1640, proves that he could not
have been in prison the whole of the time from 1635 to 1645.

Robert Barker's work was almost entirely of an official character, the
printing of the Scriptures, Book of Common Prayer, Statutes and
Proclamations.

His work was very unequal, and his type, mostly of black letter, was not
of the best.

His most important undertaking was the so-called 'authorised version' of
the Bible in 1611. As a matter of fact it never was authorised in any
official sense. The undertaking was proposed at a conference of divines,
held at Hampton Court in 1604. The King manifested great interest in the
scheme, but did not put his hand in his pocket towards the expenses, and
the divines who undertook the translation obtained little except fame
for their labours, while the whole cost of printing was borne by Robert
Barker. Like all previous editions of the Scriptures in folio, this
Bible of 1611 was printed in great primer black letter. It was preceded
by an elaborately engraved title-page, the work of C. Boel of Richmond,
and had also an engraved map of Canaan, partly the work of John Speed.

The type and ornaments were the same as had been used to print the first
edition of the 'Bishops' Bible