Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Richard Grafton (c.1511–73) was the pioneering printer of the Great Bible under Henry VIII, who went on to become king's printer to Edward VI, producing the Book of Common Prayer and other key texts in the reformation of religious practice. He was also the publisher of chronicles, including those of Edward Hall, and later compiled a successful range of chronicle histories which capitalized on the growing popularity of this form of historical writing. Born around 1511, Grafton was apprenticed to a master grocer, whose clients included archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer and Henry VIII's minister Thomas Cromwell, who would be an influential patron in his future career. As a London citizen Grafton was well connected and later in life held office as warden of the Grocers' Company and governor of the city's hospitals, also sitting as member of parliament for both London and Coventry, although financial mismanagement led to severe debts in the years before his death in 1573 ( Ferguson 2004 ). When Thomas Cromwell obtained licence from Henry VIII for the publication of an authorized vernacular Bible in 1538, it was Grafton who oversaw the project. The volume was originally printed in Paris, but when that operation ran into difficulties, Grafton set up his own London printing business with Edward Whitchurch to complete production. A copy of ‘the Great Bible’ was required for every church ... log in or subscribe to read full text