FAQUES, William ‹ LBT 28385 ›
Floruit 1504 (A) — 1508 (B); Male
Life Events
| Event | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Death | possibly- 1508 |
Occupations (1)
| Occupation | Comment |
|---|---|
| Printer | Duff, E.G. (1905) |
Addresses (2)
| Date | Address | Trade at Addr | Source | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1504, (1504) | Within St Helen's | Duff, E.G. (1905); STC. vol.3, (1991) | ||
| later, 1504 | Abchurch Street | Duff, E.G. (1905); STC. vol.3, (1991) |
SOURCES & TRANSCRIPTIONS
Transcriptions
Bib.Soc., Hand-lists (1913), contrib. E.G.Duff.
Duff, E.G. (1905), p.45
FAQUES (WILLIAM), printer in London, and the first to hold the official position of printer to the king. He was a Norman by birth and the only year in which he issued dated books was 1504, when he printed a proclamation about the coinage, the Statutes of An. XIX Hen. VII and a Psalter. In these books he speaks of himself as working "within St. Helen's" which was just off Bishopsgate Street. He moved later to Abchurch Lane, an address mentioned in the colophons to his Omelia Origenis and Vulgaria Terentii. He printed altogether some eight books. He probably died in the year 1508, for in that year Pynson { PYNSON, Richard ( - 1529) ‹ LBT 28537 › } begins to call himself king's printer, and it appears to have been the custom to appoint a new one immediately on the decease of the old. His device consisted of two interlaced triangles, on the one in white letters on a black ground is the text "Melior est patiens viro forti et qui dominat." On the other in black letters on a white ground "Melius est modicum justo super divitias peccatorum multas." In the centre is the monogram G L pierced by an arrow. William Faques' material passed on his death to Richard Faques { FAQUES, Richard ‹ LBT 28384 › } no doubt a relation.
MLT Note: Duff, E.G. (1905) - "the first to hold the official position of printer to the king". ---