Franklin called the printing house "the chapel" but a foot-note explained it:
Note 1. “A printing-house is always called a chapel by the workmen, the origin of which appears to have been that printing was first carried on in England in an ancient chapel converted into a printing-house, and the title has been preserved by tradition. "
Franklin got a job with a business man who brought him back to Philadelphia. But they both had an illness, which the older man did not survive.
"He left me a small legacy in a nuncupative will, as a token of his kindness for me, and he left me once more to the wide world; for the store was taken into the care of his executors, and my employment under him ended."
nuncupative
adj.
5LL nuncupativus, so-called, nominal < L nuncupare, to name before witnesses as one‘s heir < nomen, NAME + capere, to take: see HAVE6 oral, not written: said esp. of wills
Our printing-house often wanted sorts, and there was no letter-founder in America; I had seen types cast at James’s in London, but without much attention to the manner; however, I now contrived a mould, made use of the letters we had as puncheons, struck the matrices in lead, and thus supply’d in a pretty tolerable way all deficiencies. I also engrav’d several things on occasion; I made the ink; I was warehouseman, and everything, and, in short, quite a factotum.
I tried to find noncupative, but could not find any dictionary entry. Lots of noncupative wills referenced when I Googled the word, but the only helpful entry was under the Law of Succession of The People's Republic of China:
"A testator may, in an emergency situation, make a noncupative will, which shall be witnessed by two or more witnesses. When the situation is over and if the testator is able to make a will in writing or in the form of a sound-recording, the noncupative will he has made shall be invalidated."
I tried to find noncupative, but could not find any dictionary entry. Lots of noncupative wills referenced when I Googled the word..
the word is nuncupative (try OneLook)
nuncupative <> 2990
noncupative <> 548
Thanks, tsuwm for correcting my goof.
This entire thread was worth reading just to learn that the printing house was referred to as 'the chapel.' The first book printed with movable print was the Gutenberg Bible, wasn't it? There's something softly spiritual in considering all this...
I thought you might be interested to know that the term ‘chapel’ is still used in the newspaper industry here. The following extract not only illustrates this but shows that “press barons” don’t change their spots.
Ciar Byrne
Friday January 24, 2003:
…journalists were "disappointed to hear that, for the first time in many years, the company feels unable to support the fund despite the great profits enjoyed by Northern & Shell". At a National Union of Journalists chapel meeting this week, union members on the Daily Express, Sunday Express and Daily Star passed a motion promising a £500 donation to the church (St Bride's) and calling on Mr Desmond to change his mind.
St Bride's, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, was one of the first churches to be built in the aftermath of the great fire of London. For the past 500 years the church has been the spiritual heart of Fleet Street, the home of the national press until the ‘80s, and retains its strong links to the newspaper industry.
A spokesman for St Bride's confirmed that Express Newspapers had not made a donation to the church since Mr Desmond bought (the group) in November 2000.
When St Bride's approached Express Newspapers for a donation in 2001 it was turned down. Before the takeover, when the Express group was still owned by Lord Hollick, the company paid £3,000 a year to sponsor a St Bride's chorister. All the other major national newspaper groups make substantial donations to the church.
Mr Desmond paid himself nearly £9m in 2001 after the Express titles helped quadruple his publishing empire's profits. The holding company for his businesses, RCD1 Ltd, made pre-tax profits of £20.8m in 2001 compared with £5m for the previous year.