Appendix 1 - Typographical and imprint analysis of earliest English corantos

Summary

Notes: Hanson’s main contention was that many of the 1621 corantos were in London print and therefore had false imprints. STC reflects this. Unfortunately, the STC has some referencing errors.

Dahl disputed Hanson’s findings in particular the suggestion that some of the originals came from Germany rather than from Amsterdam. He demonstrated that many were translations of Broer Jansz issues (see table above). Dahl may have been unaware of how linked Dutch and Cologne sources were and that Jansz was exporting corantos to Cologne. He studied the first two disputed corantos and concluded ‘on typographical grounds and from the fact that the second one is a translation from one of (Broer Jansz’s) own Dutch originals, I do not hesitate in declaring them to have been printed by him’. Dahl does not resolve the question Hanson raised about the 9 April issue, which was almost identical to Veseler’s English coranto of that date. Hanson argued that Jansz would not have pirated work from Veseler. Hanson further argued that Jansz usually used blackletter for corantos. The English series are in a print generally available in both England and Europe at that time: five of them have roman 81 which Jansz probably didn’t possess; the other is in roman 94, but it is not like his roman 94. Hanson noted the significance of the fact that the names Amsterdam and Jansz are distinctively anglicised and misspelt as ‘Amstelradam’ and ‘Jonson’, ‘Jansen’ or ‘Johnson’. A further anomaly is that Broer Jansz is described as Currantier to the prince of Orange. This is a title that ended in 1619. Jansz himself when using it always used the word ‘formerly’ and this is omitted in these translations. Dahl did not answer Hanson’s points about the fonts used in this series, which Jansz did not possess, nor the distinctive misspellings.

A confirmation that both the Broer Jansz and the misspelt Veseler issues came from London presses is to be found in a later newsbook which was undoubtedly published in London in 1624 and part of the officially recognised continuing series running at that time. This has many of the typographical hallmarks of the disputed 1621 issues, including the distinctive misspellings ‘Joris Veseler’, ‘Broer Janson’ and was printed by Edward Allde.