STATIONERS' HALL
The first royal grant of incorporation was issued on 4 May 1557. This was revoked by Charles II and substituted by another charter in 1684, which bound members to take the Oath of Allegiance. The original charter was reinstated by William and Mary in 1697.
See TSC/A/01/01/02 for context.
Sent to NCS on 21.11.2016 for pre-scanning treatment.
A microfilm copy is on reel 71, 'Records of the Stationers' Company 1554-1920: 115 Reels of Microfilm with Printed Guide', published by Chadwyck-Healy Ltd (1989)
A microfilm copy is on reel 71, 'Records of the Stationers' Company 1554-1920: 115 Reels of Microfilm with Printed Guide', published by Chadwyck-Healy Ltd (1989)
Sent to NCS on 21.11.2016 for pre-scanning treatment.
Sent from NCS to Auto Docs on 13.10.2016 for scanning; unpacked and checked by RG on 18.01.2017.
The term 'letters patent' refers to an open letter or document issued by a monarch or government to record a contract, authorize or command an action, or confer a privilege, right, office, title, or property. This document was issued by Charles II in relation to his Act of the same date.
Sent to NCS on 21.11.2016 for pre-scanning treatment.
In 1403 the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London approved the formation of a fraternity or Guild of Stationers. This Guild was incorporated as the Stationers' Company by Royal Charter in 1557, and was granted the right to have a livery in 1561. Since then it has had full status as a Livery Company of the City of London, numbered 47 in precedence. The original Royal Charter was lost during the Civil War and was replaced by a new Charter in 1684. In 1937 a letters patent changed the Company's name to the Stationers' and Newspaper Makers' Company. This followed an influx of members of the Company of Newspaper Makers (incorporated 1933) into the Stationers' Company and their relinquishment of their own Royal Charter in 1935.\r\nThe Royal Charter of 1557 gave the Company powers to make ordinances for its governance, and accordingly ordinances were approved by the Lord Treasurer and Chief Justices in 1562. These ordinances were added to occasionally, but were lost during the Civil War. New ordinances were issued in 1678, with a supplement approved in 1681 and an additional ordinance in 1683. Further ordinances were issued in 1694. The Company's ordinances, or by-laws, have been revised periodically in modern times.\r\nThe Stationers' Company was granted its coat of arms in 1557, but this is thought to have been destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. The Company's crest and supporters had been adopted and used without authority from at least the 18th century, but were not regularised until formally granted to the Stationers' and Newspaper Makers' Company in 1951. The history and use of the motto, 'Verbum Domini manet in aeternum', are unknown, but the motto is included in the heraldic achievement depicted in the grant of crest and supporters, 1951.