Licensing Act

Historical Context Essay

Robert Clark (The Literary Encyclopedia)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Domains

Censorship of expression
Legislation (Bills, Acts, Laws ...)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1662

Places

United Kingdom (Location)

The Licensing of the Press Act (13 & 14 Car. II. c. 33), or to give its long title “An Act for preventing the frequent Abuses in printing seditious treasonable and unlicensed Bookes and Pamphlets and for regulating of Printing and Printing Presses”, re-imposed principles that had been promulgated by Star Chamber decree in 1637 and thus restored state control over printing that had lapsed during the Civil War. It required that all printing presses be registered with the Stationer‘s Company and set out severe penalties of fine and imprisonment for offenders. All publications had to carry the name of the author and of the printer and had to be submitted to the licenser. Sir Roger L‘Estrange acted as the first “chief licenser …

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570 words

Citation: Clark, Robert. "Licensing Act". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 April 2004; last revised 12 August 2008. [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1407, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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Licensing Act

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