The account book of a Marian bookseller, 1553-4

MS. EGERTON 2974, fois. 67-8, preserves in fragmentary form accounts from the day-book of a London stationer who was active during the brief interval between the death on 6 July 1553 of Edward VI, whose regents allowed unprecedented liberty to Protestant authors, printers, publishers, and booksellers, and the reimposition of statutory restraints on publication by the government of Queen Mary. The entries for dates, titles, quantities, paper, and prices make it clear that the leaves come from a bookseller's ledger book. Their record of the articles sold each day at the stationer's shop provides a unique view of the London book trade at an unusually turbulent pointin the history of English publishing.