In a Decree of 1637 appointed one of the four authorized typefounders in Britain, along with John Grismand, Thomas Wright, and Alexander Fifield. These four are sometimes called the "Polyglot Founders" because types cast by at least some of them must have been used for Bishop Brian Walton's 1654-1657 London Polyglot Bible.
Moseley et. al., in Founder's London A-Z (p. 10) Founder's London A-Z. observe that Nicholls' son Nicholas Nicholls (Reed also says Nichols) was "The earliest English typefounder to whom types can be attributed" and that in 1665 he issued the earliest known type specimen by an English founder.
{ Davis & Carter, in their edition of Moxon (p. 358)} observe that in 1669 the four licensed typefounders were Leigh, Head, Goring, and Nicholls, but that Nicholas Nichols died in 1671.
Nicholas Nicholls' position as a licensed typefounder was left unfilled at his death. Davis & Carter speculate that [James and?] Thomas Grover, who set up in 1674, were "probably awaiting official recognition."
Reed, Talbot Baines. A History of the Old English Letter Foundries. London: Elliot Stock, 1887.
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