To the left, a little farther on, is the office of 'THE TIMES', a large building of red brick, with an allegorical device on the tympanum. The printing office is behind, in Printing House Square, so named from an old office of the king's printers. Over the door is a tablet (originally at Lloyd's), recognizing the public service rendered by 'The Times' in exposing a huge financial conspiracy in 1841. A tablet on the west side of the square commemorates the Blackfriars Theatre.
The first number of 'The Times' under that name appeared on January 1st, 1788, but the newspaper was really founded in 1785 as the 'London Daily Universal Register.' Its price (now 2d.) has varied from 7d. to 1d. Its evolution has been mainly associated with the Walter family, four generations of which have been proprietors. In 1908 'The Times' was converted into a company, and after the death of Lord Northcliffe in 1922 the financial control passed into the hands of Major the Hon. John Jacob Astor and Mr. John Walter, of the fifth generation. The most famous editor of 'The Times' was John Thaddeus Delane. A special edition is printed daily with indelible ink on indestructible paper for preservation in libraries.
In a prominent situation just beyond 'The Times' office, and on the same side, is the church of St. Andrew by the Wardrobe, rebuilt by Wren in 1692. This took its name from the proximity of the King's Great Wardrobe, used as an office for the keepers of the king's state apparel. In the interior (open 7.30-7, Saturday 7.30-2) are a fine ceiling and the monument of that eloquent divine, the Reverend William Romaine (died 1795).
Close to St. Andrew's, on the same side, is the house of the BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY (No. 146), founded in 1804 'to encourage a wider circulation of the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment.' Visitors are admitted daily (except Saturday), 10-4.
The society issues every year about 9 million Bibles, New Testaments, or parts of the Bible (many at almost nominal prices). Since its foundation it has circulated over 345,000,000 copies, in 566 different languages and dialects. Every six weeks it issues the Gospel in some new tongue. The society's annual revenue from sales and subscriptions exceeds �380,000. It has about 9500 auxiliaries and branches at home and; abroad, besides employing 1000 colporteurs in foreign lands.
