John Charlewood facts for kids
John Charlewood (died 1593) was an English printer. He lived during a time when printing books was a new and exciting business.
About John Charlewood
John Charlewood started his printing business early in the reign of Queen Mary I. He worked with a partner named John Tisdale in an area of London called Holborn.
Charlewood was important because he was one of the first printers in England to print books written in Italian. Another printer, John Wolfe, also printed Italian books around the same time. This shows how popular the Italian language was becoming in England back then.
He was part of a group called the Grocers' Company until about 1574. Even though he was a grocer, he also got special permits, called licences, to print books. From 1562 until he died in 1593, he printed many, many books.
His printing shop was located at a place called the Half-Eagle and Key in the Barbican area of London. It was also said that he had another printing press in the Charterhouse because he was the printer for the Earl of Arundel.
John Charlewood was known for sometimes printing copies of texts even if he didn't have the official permission to do so. After he passed away, his wife married another printer named James Roberts, who then took over the printing business.
Sometimes, to help sell books written in a foreign language, Charlewood would print a fake location on the book, like "Venice." He hoped this trick would make it easier to sell more copies and allow him to print even larger editions. However, it seems his plan didn't quite work out, as these Italian books weren't reprinted in Great Britain until much later.
Books John Charlewood Printed
John Charlewood printed several books by famous Italian writers. This really showed how much people in England were interested in the Italian language and culture.
Some of the books he printed were by a writer named Giordano Bruno. These include:
- De la causa, principio, et uno (printed in 1584)
- De l'infinito universo et mondi (printed in 1584)
- De gli heroici furori (printed in 1585)
- Cabala del cauallo Pegaseo (printed in 1585)
These four books, along with two others, were all published when or right after Bruno visited Oxford University. It seems these were books he had written over many years while traveling and living away from his home country.
Charlewood also printed a book called Amorous Fiammetta (1587) by Giovanni Boccaccio. This book is very rare today, with only four copies known to still exist!
