† 1. An inferior master. Obs.
1382. Wyclif, Gal. iii. 25. Now we ben not vndir the litil maistir [1388 vndurmaistir, Vulg. sub pædagogo].
2. pl. A group of German engravers of the sixteenth century, followers of Dürer, so called from the smallness of their prints. [G. die kleinen meister, die Kleinmeister; F. les petits maîtres.]
1837. Penny Cycl., IX. 440/1.
1879. W. B. Scott, Little Masters, iii. 16. Dürer, the reputed teacher of the Little Masters.
3. (See quots.)
1870. L. Brentano, Introd. to Toulmin Smith’s Eng. Gilds, 178. In this [viz. the hat-] trade prevailed, early in the eighteenth century, the system of carrying on industry by means of sub-contractors (alias sweaters), who were called Little Masters.
1888. Sheffield Gloss., Little master, a manufacturer in a small way of business, who works as a journeyman.
