Vautrollier arrived in London as one of the many Huguenot exiles fleeing France in the late sixteenth century. He received his letters of denization in 1562 and was later admitted to the Stationers’ Company in 1564 as a ‘brother’, rather than a freeman (reflecting his status as a foreigner). Vautrollier occupied a particular niche in the English book trade, offering translations of French books, and his printing exhibiting the sophisticated French style yet to reach England. His Protestant leanings were evident in his printing work, with publications including the writings of noted theologians such as Martin Luther and Edmund Bunny. Vautrollier secured patents in 1573 and 1574 for various Latin texts, including works by Cicero, Ovid, and Beza. He fled London for Scotland briefly in the 1580s, after printing the writings of Giordano Bruno induced the wrath of the Privy Council. Here, he supplied books to the young James VI. Vautrollier returned to London in 1585 and died in 1587, leaving the printing business to his wife Jacqueline, who had managed their printing affairs in London during Thomas’s time in Scotland.
Wolfe was born and trained in the book trade in the Netherlands. He came to England around 1533, using his former European contacts to bring continental publications to the English market. Wolfe had powerful connections at court, including Thomas Cranmer and Anne Boleyn, the latter of whom intervened to have him admitted a freeman of the Stationer’s Company in 1536. His early printing exploits included schoolbooks and the writings of John Leland. In 1547, he was appointed King’s Printer in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew to the new King Edward VI and also acted as King’s bookseller and stationer. Edward’s reign saw the pinnacle of Wolfe’s business as he expanded into publishing vernacular evangelical works, particularly those of his patron Thomas Cranmer. Wolfe successfully weathered the reign of the Catholic Mary I and under Elizabeth his presses returned to constant work. His name appeared seventh in the Stationers’ Company’s letters of incorporation and he served four times as Master of the Company in 1559, 1564, 1567, and 1572.