The Fell Era 1658–1686

Abstract The appointment of Samuel Clarke as Architypographus in 1658, the establishment of a new Delegacy of the Press in 1662 and the installation of presses owned by the University in the new Sheldonian Theatre in 1668 mark the beginnings of an institutional approach to the management of scholarly printing undertaken in the University's name. In 1671 the partnership of Leoline Jenkins, Thomas Yate, John Fell, and Joseph Williamson assumed control of the Learned Press and were directly answerable to the Delegates and through them to Convocation. The differing roles of Fell and his partners, as well as that of John Wallis, Keeper of the Archives, in the management of the Press are considered, and the commercial and scholarly successes and failures of the partnership are discussed. The chapter considers how Fell and his reforms differed from Laud's vision for the Press and concludes with Fell's death in 1686.