Education and early life

Atkyns was descended from an old Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

 family that for upwards of a century leased from the dean and chapter of Gloucester the manor of Tuffley

Tuffley

Tuffley is one of the 15 wards associated with the City of Gloucester.The ward in non-parished and situated near Robinswood Hill toward the South of the City.The ward has many services, including schools, shops, and parks.-Origins:...

, two miles south-south-east from the cathedral city. After receiving a home education at the hands of two inefficient clerical tutors, he was sent to the Free (Crypt) Grammar School

The Crypt School, Gloucester

The Crypt School is a grammar school for boys with a mixed Sixth Form, located in the city of Gloucester, England, founded in 1539 by Joan Cooke with money inherited from her husband John....

 in Gloucester

Gloucester

Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

. Thence, at the age of fourteen, he proceeded to Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College, Oxford

Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....

, as a gentleman commoner, where he remained two years, probably without taking a degree, as he afterwards informs us "that he was not so well grounded as he ought to have been to read a Greek or Latin author with pleasure." Several members of his family on his father's side having already distinguished themselves in the study of the law, it was resolved to send him to Lincoln's Inn

Lincoln's Inn

The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...

, where several of them "had anciently been and some of them there; but receiving some disgust at his entrance" he was recalled thence and sent to travel abroad with the only son of Lord Arundel of Wardour

Baron Arundell of Wardour

Baron Arundell of Wardour, in the County of Wiltshire, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1605 for Thomas Arundell, known as "Thomas the Valiant". He was the grandson of Sir Thomas Arundell and Margaret Howard, sister of Queen Catherine Howard. Arundell had already been...

, who was about his own age. The Arundels being staunch Roman Catholics, while Atkyns was a protestant, each youth was accompanied by a tutor of his own faith. The party left Dover

Dover

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

 in October 1636 or 1637, and travelled, by way of Calais

Calais

Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

, to Douay

Douay

Douay can refer to:* Abel Douay , French general* Félix Douay , French general and brother of Abel Douay* Douay–Rheims Bible, an English translation of the Bible, c.1600* Douai, a commune in northern France...

, where they stayed some time at the English College

English College, Douai

The English College, Douai was a Catholic seminary associated with the University of Douai . It was established in about 1561, and was suppressed in 1793...

; thence they set out, by way of Cambray

Cambrai

Cambrai is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Cambrai is the seat of an archdiocese whose jurisdiction was immense during the Middle Ages. The territory of the Bishopric of Cambrai, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, included...

 and St. Quentin

Saint-Quentin

Places called Saint-Quentin include:*Saint-Quentin, Aisne, Aisne, Picardie, France*Saint-Quentin, New Brunswick, Canada*Saint-Quentin Parish, New Brunswick, CanadaSaint-Quentin is part of the name of several places, including:...

, to Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. Before the winter was ended the three years' travel was abruptly terminated by the death of young Arundel, who, "getting a heat and cold at tennis," probably in Paris, died from fever at Orleans

Orléans

-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...

. Soon afterwards Atkyns returned to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 and betook himself to country affairs. On the death of his father, in 1636, he succeeded to the family estates at the age of twenty-one. After the days of mourning for his father were ended, "he put off his hounds," came to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, "and kept his coach," and made his bow at court, where he was invited by the queen to assist at masques. He does not appear to have shone as a courtier, having, as he informs us, "found himself guilty of three imperfections, a blushing modesty, a flexible disposition, and no great diligence." These festive scenes at the court of Henrietta Maria

Henrietta Maria of France

Henrietta Maria of France ; was the Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the wife of King Charles I...

 were, however, soon to terminate in the turmoil of the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

.

Civil war

In 1642 we find Atkyns engaged in raising a troop of horse for the king at his own expense. His first skirmish appears to have taken place with Sir William Waller

William Waller

Sir William Waller was an English soldier during the English Civil War. He received his education at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and served in the Venetian army and in the Thirty Years' War...

 at Little Dean near Newnham on Severn

Newnham on Severn

Newnham on Severn is a village in west Gloucestershire, England. It lies near the Royal Forest of Dean, on the west bank of the River Severn, approximately 10 miles south-west of Gloucester and three miles southeast of Cinderford, at . It is on the A48 road between Gloucester and Chepstow,...

. In the following year he was engaged at Reading

Siege of Reading

The Siege of Reading refers to the English Civil War military campaign waged to besiege a Royalist garrison quartered in the town of Reading, Berkshire from 4 November 1642 to 25 April 1643.-Background:...

 and Bath

Battle of Lansdowne

The English Civil War battle of Lansdowne was fought on 5 July 1643, near Bath, southwest England. Although the Royalists under Lord Hopton forced the Parliamentarians under Sir William Waller to retreat from their hilltop position, they suffered so many casualties themselves and were left so...

, also at the taking of Bristol

Storming of Bristol

The Storming of Bristol took place on 26 July 1643, during the First English Civil War. The Cavalier army under Prince Rupert of the Rhine, King Charles's nephew and Lieutenant General, captured the important city and port of Bristol from its weakened Roundhead garrison...

 and at the raising of the siege of Gloucester

Siege of Gloucester

The Siege of Gloucester was an engagement in the First English Civil War. It took place between August 3 and September 5, 1643, between the defending Parliamentarian garrison of Gloucester and the besieging army of King Charles I. The siege ended with the arrival of a relieving Parliamentarian army...

 in September. For his loyalty to the royal cause his estate was sequestrated

Sequestration (law)

Sequestration is the act of removing, separating, or seizing anything from the possession of its owner under process of law for the benefit of creditors or the state.-Etymology:...

 by parliament. In 1646, however, both houses passed an ordinance pardoning his delinquency after imposing a fine of £140.. After the Restoration he was made Deputy Lieutenant

Deputy Lieutenant

In the United Kingdom, a Deputy Lieutenant is one of several deputies to the Lord Lieutenant of a lieutenancy area; an English ceremonial county, Welsh preserved county, Scottish lieutenancy area, or Northern Irish county borough or county....

 for Gloucestershire, and was also reappointed to an agency for the crown connected in some way with printing, a post which he appears to have held originally as early as 1631, as he had already involved himself "in several great and chargeable suites against the Company of Stationers at the cost of more than £1,000."

The "Exposicio"

About 1660 there was discovered in the public library of Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

 an early work, said to have been printed at Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 in 1468, on the Apostles' Creed

Apostles' Creed

The Apostles' Creed , sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol"...

. Its title ran Exposicio sancti Jeronimi in simbolum apostolorum ad papam Laurentium. Impressa Oxonie et finita anno Domini 1468, 4to. Shortly after its appearance Atkyns printed and published an anonymous broadside entitled The Original and Growth of Printing. This was afterwards, in 1664, enlarged, with answers to objections, and published in his own name in quarto

Quarto

Quarto could refer to:* Quarto, a size or format of a book in which four leaves of a book are created from a standard size sheet of paper* For specific information about quarto texts of William Shakespeare's works, see:...

. It is to this broadside and its reprint that Atkyns owes his fame, and by means of which, it is supposed, he hoped to repair his shattered fortunes by proving that the right and title of printing

Printing

Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....

 belonged to the crown alone, and by securing for himself the office of patentee for the printing of law books.

He first endeavoured to establish that printing in England began at Oxford; and that Stow, Sir Richard Baker

Richard Baker (chronicler)

Sir Richard Baker was the English author of the Chronicle of the Kings of England and other works.-Life:He was probably born at Sissinghurst in Kent, the grandson of Sir John Baker, the first Chancellor of the Exchequer. He entered Hart Hall, Oxford, as a commoner in 1584...

, and Howell, in asserting that the art of printing was introduced into England in 1472, "do most erroneously agree together," although their error might have arisen "through the mistake of the first writer only." His discovery of the Exposicio is his leading argument. He writes that:

"A Book came into my hands, printed at Oxford in 1468, which was three years before any of the recited authors would allow it to be in England. The same most worthy Person, who trusted me with the aforesaid Book, did also present him with a copy of a Record and MS. in Lambeth House, heretofore in his custody, belonging to the See, and not to any particular Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

, the substance wereof was (of which the following is an outline) that Thomas Bourchier

Thomas Bourchier

Thomas Bourchier was an English archbishop, Lord Chancellor and cardinal.-Life:Bourchier was a younger son of William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu , and through his mother, Anne of Gloucester, a daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, was a grandson of King Edward III of England. One of his brothers was...

, Archbishop of Canterbury, moved the then King (Henry VI

Henry VI of England

Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...

) to use all possible means for procuring a Printing Mold … to which the King readily harkened and committed the Management of the Design to Mr. R. Turnour … who took to his assistance Mr. Caxton

William Caxton

William Caxton was an English merchant, diplomat, writer and printer. As far as is known, he was the first English person to work as a printer and the first to introduce a printing press into England...

. After having spent 1,500 marks in gifts and expenses they succeeded in bringing over from Harlem

Haarlem

Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...

 one of Cuthenburg's (sic) under-workmen, whose name was Frederick Corsells, or rather Corsellis, and brought him safe to London. It not being thought prudent to set him on work there, Corsellis was carried with a guard to Oxford, which guard constantly watched, to prevent Corsellis from any possible escape till he had made good his Promise in teaching how to Print. So that at Oxford Printing was first set up in England."

Atkyns naively adds that he would not have undertaken this work were it not for a double notion that he was too much a friend to truth and a friend to himself "not to love one of my best arguments of Instituting the King to this Art [of printing] in his private capacity," for which of course Atkyns was to be one of the agents. Atkyns's story has long since been discredited. It is only by implication that Atkyns himself infers from the manuscript that the printer of the Exposicio was one Corsellis; the researches of a host of bibliographers, from the learned Dr. Conyers Middleton

Conyers Middleton

Conyers Middleton was an English clergyman.Middleton was born at Richmond in Yorkshire, and was educated at school in York and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He graduated from the University of Cambridge, took holy orders, and in 1706 obtained a fellowship, which he resigned upon entering into an...

 downwards, have proved, moreover, that the book was antedated by ten years, probably by the omission of an X by the printer by design or accident; it has also been shown that no other book was printed at Oxford until 1479. As to "the Record and MS. in Lambeth House," one fatal objection to the story of Caxton and Corsellis contained in it is, that the former has not made the slightest allusion to it even in his Polychronicon, which is brought down to the end of the reign of Henry VI. Again, Dr. Ducarel, the librarian at Lambeth, one of the greatest antiquarians of his time, and who made complete indexes to the registers and manuscripts under his care, after fruitless research for the record alluded to by Atkyns, declared its existence to be a myth, and the whole story of Corsellis "a mere fable." Whether Atkyns was the inventor of it, or a dupe of others, cannot now be determined; but one thing is clear, that he was an interested person, and had it not been from a private motive he would not have advanced such a story, which has in almost every sentence a ring of falsehood and improbability.

Death

Whatever immediate advantage Atkyns may have gained by its publication, misfortune swiftly overtook him; within three years he was committed to the Marshalsea

Marshalsea

The Marshalsea was a prison on the south bank of the River Thames in Southwark, now part of London. From the 14th century until it closed in 1842, it housed men under court martial for crimes at sea, including those accused of "unnatural crimes", political figures and intellectuals accused of...

 in Southwark for debt, brought about partly by his own imprudence, partly by the vagaries and extravagances of his wife. He died without issue on 14 September 1677, and was buried two days later by relatives in the adjoining church of St. George-the-Martyr

St George the Martyr Southwark

St George the Martyr is a church in the historic Borough district of south London. It lies within the modern day London Borough of Southwark on Borough High Street at the junction with Long Lane, Marshalsea Road, and Tabard Street....

without any religious ceremony.

Publications

The writings of Atkyns are:

• The Original and Growth of Printing, collected out of History and the Records of this Kingdom, &c., London, 1664, 4to, 24 pp.
• The King's Grant of Privilege for Sole Printing of Common Law Books Defended, &c., London, 1669, 4to, 17 pp., b.l. (anonymous, ascribed to Atkyns from internal evidence)
• Vindication of Richard Atkyns, Esq., as also a Relation of several Passages in the Western War wherein he was concerned, together with certaine Sighs or Ejaculations at the end of every chapter, London, 1669, 4to, 80 pp. This last work has been wholly misunderstood by his biographers, the three paragraphs in the title having been taken for three separate works. It is an exceedingly curious Apologia, with only one reference to his printing troubles, "dedicated to his particular Friends and intended to no other."