Barrow's Final Answer to Gifford— Marginalia [1591/1592]

In December, 1591, Gifford’s work, A Short Reply unto the Last Printed Books of Henry Barrow and John Greenwood, the Chiefe Ringleaders of Our Donatists in England, was entered in the Stationers’ Register. Gifford was replying to A Brief Discoverie of the False Church (1590) and to A Plaine Refutation (1591). To this A Short Reply Barrow responded about January or February, 1591/1592, with his general answer in “A Few Observations to the Reader of Mr. Giffard His Last Replie.” But shortly thereafter, he began work on a detailed reply to specific points in Gifford’s A Short Reply. Somehow, possibly through the help of Andrew Smyth or Daniel Studley, he had obtained a copy of Gifford’s book, and though he was denied paper, he managed to write his replies on the margin of Gifford’s work. When and how long he worked we do not know for sure, but it is clear that he had completed his “A Few Observations” about January or February, 1591/1592. Very likely he then spent the next month writing his marginal replies. There are ninety-eight pages in this book, and all but four of them are filled with replies, written in such a fine albeit clear hand that it is best to read them with a magnifying glass. Whereas Gifford’s printed type line is inches wide, Barrow has only a 1-inch margin at the side. Nevertheless, in a not untypical page, Gifford has 374 printed words and Barrow has squeezed in 370 written words on one margin and on the bottom of the page.