£ -
 
 ST. CHRISTOPHER. EARLIEST DATED WOOD-CUT. I423.
 
 THE PENTATEUCH OF PRINTING, 
 
 WITH 
 
 A CHAPTER ON |UDGES. 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM BLADES. 
 
 With a [Memoir of the tAutbor, and List of bis Works, 
 
 BY 
 
 TALBOT B. REED. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 A. C. McCWRG AND COMPANY. 
 l8Ql .
 
 'Blades, East & 'Blades, 
 
 Printers, 
 
 2}, t/lbchurch Lane, London, B.C.
 
 v,'TJ)3lCU : , )W;>r<.fr.> 
 
 I A
 
 PREFACE 
 
 THE Pentateuch of Printing is not so fanciful a title for the 
 present book as might at first sight appear. There is a self- 
 evident analogy between the Genesis of the World and the Genesis 
 of Printing. The spread of Typography is not inaptly typified by 
 an Exodus; while the laws promulgated in Leviticus have a plain 
 parallel in idea with the laws and observances necessary to be followed 
 in making a book. Numbers certainly is not so directly suggestive of 
 the many great names which figure upon the Printers' Roll of Honour; 
 but Deuteronomy at once suggests, by its very signification, the second 
 birth and reinforcement of the vital conditions of Printing introduced 
 by the steam-machine. No subject is now-a-days complete without a 
 knowledge of what specialists have previously written upon it, and the 
 public generally are certain to form their opinions upon the published 
 statements of the best Judges. We thus obtain six chapter-heads for 
 our book, and whether the information offered under these heads is 
 worth reading must now be left to the only judge, against whose 
 verdict it is useless to appeal — the Reading Public. 
 
 I A 2
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Tage 
 
 "PREFACE "'• 
 
 OAEMOIR OF WILLIAM "BLADES ix. 
 
 ■PROLOGUE **"• 
 
 GENESIS ' 
 
 EXODUS 
 
 LEVITICUS 4 ? 
 
 LUMBERS 59 
 
 ^DEUTERONOMY - s ? 
 
 «/? CHAPTER ON JUDGES 95
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 St. Christopher. Earliest dated Wood-block - Frontispiece 
 
 Assyrian Clay Tablet, Stamped 5 
 
 Letters Stamped on a Creek Lamp - 5 
 
 Letters Stamped on a Roman Lamp 5 
 
 Fifteenth Century Playing Card 6 
 
 Fac-simile, from the Biblia Pauperum. Block-book, 15th century 8 
 
 Scriptorium Monk at work 9 
 
 Bookbinder, 16th century xo 
 
 Cover of a Book, 15th century 1 1 
 
 Fragment from a Xylographic Donatus 12 
 
 Image of Pity. (Wood-block and type) 13 
 
 Statue of Coster 1 7 
 
 Coster Commemoration Medal, 1856 19 
 
 Portrait of Ulric Gering - 29 
 
 Manuscript written at Bruges, circ. 1472 34 
 
 Supposed Portrait of Caxton 36 
 Fac-simile from the Recuyell of the Histories of Troye, 1474. (Caxton's Type, 
 
 No. 1) - 37 
 
 Bas-relief from the Entablature, Jerusalem Chamber, Westminster - 39 
 
 Illustrations showing regular and irregular body of Type t' 1 
 
 Impression of a Type in 1476 48 
 
 Impression of a Type, circ. 1470 - 48 
 
 Profile tracings from M. Claudius' 15th century Types 49 
 
 Diagram of a Type 5° 
 
 Illustration of a Punch 50 
 
 Illustration of a Matrix - 5 1 
 
 The "Lay" of a pair of Type Cases 52 
 
 A Fifteenth Century Wooden Composing Stick 53
 
 viii. List of Illustrations 
 
 PACE 
 
 Old Iron Composing Stick 53 
 
 A Line of Composed Type 53 
 
 Old Wooden Press, 1508 54 
 
 Interior of a 17th century Printing Office 55 
 
 Improved Wooden Press, 1640 56 
 
 Portraits of Coster, Gutenberg, Fust, Aldus and Froben. (From Maittaire) - 63 
 
 Portrait of Aldus 65 
 
 The Medal of Aldus 67 
 
 The Plantin Museum, at Antwerp - face 75 
 
 Portrait of Christopher Plantin 76 
 
 Portrait of John Day, 1562 . 77 
 
 John Day's Trade-mark - 77 
 
 Portrait of William Spottiswoode 78 
 
 Portrait of Benjamin Franklin 79 
 
 Facsimile Letter of Benjamin Franklin 80 
 
 Stationers' Hall 81 
 
 Centenary Medal of the Walters, of the Times, 1885 87 
 
 Diagram Illustrating a Flat Impression 88 
 
 Diagram Illustrating Single Cylindrical Impression 88 
 
 Diagram Illustrating Double Cylindrical Impression of a Perfecting Machine 89 
 
 Diagram Illustrating Cylindrical Impression from Curved Stereotype 90 
 
 The "Hoe r Newspaper Printing Machine face go 
 
 Early Logotypes 92 
 
 imile Title-page of the Star Chamber Decree, 1637 - 104 
 
 Facsimile Title-page of Atkyn's Original and Grmvth of Printing, 1(1(14 105 
 
 Fac-simile Title -page and Illustration from Wolffgcr's Format Bitchlein, 1620 - 106, 107 
 
 I ai simile Title page of Moxon's Mechanick Exercises, [683 108 
 
 I 1 imile Title-page of the Elzevir Specimen Book, 1713 109 
 
 Lk simile Title-page ol Watson's History oj Printing, 1713 110 
 
 Fac-simile Title-page ol Lewis Life of ' Caxton, 1737 im 
 
 I n imile 'I11K page oi Mores' Dissertation on Founders, 1778 112 
 
 l.i, imile Titli pa 1 ol [.Thomas' History of Printing in America, 1810 113
 
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 IEIBIBIEl[3IBIE1ia[3limHIBlBIIHllEUBI13IElll3II3ri3IE]IBEllI3IH01BO^ 
 
 {MEMOIR of the late WILLIAM "BLADES, 
 
 BY 
 
 TALBOT BAINES REED. 
 
 TO the friends of the late WILLIAM Blades no apology is needed for 
 publishing in its present form the work on which he was engaged at 
 the time of his death, in April, 1890. For such as did not know him, 
 it is thought that a few biographical notes on the man and his career will 
 sufficiently explain the peculiar interest which attaches to his last and not least 
 important work. 
 
 William Blades was born at Clapham, on the 5th of December, 1824 — at 
 a period when the romantic bibliomania of DlBDlN and the Roxboro' Club was 
 in its zenith. These enthusiasts met periodically to celebrate their discoveries 
 in the field of book-lore; to keep one another in mind of the famous occasion 
 when the Marquess of BLANDFORD wrested the Valdarfar Boccaccio from the 
 Earl of Spencer for the sum of ^2,260, at Evans's; and to drink in silence to 
 the "Cause of Bibliomania all over the World." Emulated by the example of 
 these aristocratic enthusiasts, other more humble enquirers, such as TlMPERLEY, 
 HANSARD, and JOHNSON were exploring the same field, and helping one another 
 to conclusions. There was more zeal than knowledge. There was a great deal 
 of fine writing, entertaining anecdote, and expensive book-making; there were 
 sweeping generalizations, and a touching confidence in second-hand evidence. 
 But in all the school, although it included one or two practical printers, no 
 one had the courage to defy authority, and question all bibliographical dogma
 
 x. The Pentateuch, of Printing. 
 
 until he could verify it for himself. The little boy at Clapham was destined to 
 inaugurate this desirable revolution, and apply to the study of Early Printing 
 a sturdy agnosticism which would have horrified DlBDlN and scandalized the 
 choice spirits of the Roxboro' Club. 
 
 At the early age of sixteen, and after a comparatively brief educational career 
 at the Clapham Grammar School, William Blades entered the office of his father, 
 the late Joseph Blades, a respected City printer, at u, Abchurch Lane. In 
 after life he was always ready to attribute the main part of his success as a biblio- 
 grapher, as well as his own business prosperity, to the thorough grounding which, 
 during his 'prentice years, he received in all the details, practical and artistic, of 
 his profession. Nor was he wont, in dealing with questions relating to the well- 
 being and relief of the journeyman printer, in which he took so deep an interest, 
 ever to ignore the days, often severe and wearisome, when he wore the apron and 
 worked at case side by side with his father's employes. His description of himself 
 as "William BLADES, Printer," on the title-page of one or more of his books, 
 conveyed what he felt to be his chief claim to authority on matters relating to the 
 history and antiquities of his craft. Those matters it was his rule to investigate 
 as a printer first, as an antiquary next, and as a man of letters last; and it was 
 by adhering to this order that he was able to do for bibliography what Ames 
 and DlIiDIX and TlMPERLEY had failed to do. 
 
 These investigations, however, do not appear to have interested him specially 
 during the early years of his career as a printer. It was not till he had become a 
 master in his craft that he gave the first indications of a turn for the antiquities 
 of Printing. Long before 1858 the bibliomania of the DlliDIN school had died 
 down into a vague academic interest in the productions of the early presses, 
 measured chiefly by their market value at auctions, and studied wholly on the 
 unquestioned authority of the author of the Bibliographical Decameron and his 
 contemporaries. The art of exact fac-simile was as yet unknown ; and for those 
 who, without access to the originals, pretended to a knowledge of the typography 
 of the early printers, the lax copper-plates and wood engravings of the old 
 illustrators were the principal data of research. 
 
 In a few directions, however, the interest was reviving, and, in 185S, 
 Mr. BLADES undertook to write an introductory note for a re-print of Caxton's 
 edition of TJu Governable of Health. His special qualification for the task was
 
 Memoir of the Author. xi. 
 
 that he had already begun his investigation of the typography of the works of 
 the first English press, which were to result in his Life of Caxton. What it was 
 which specially turned his attention to this inquiry he has not left on record. 
 Whatever it was, looking at it from the printer's point of view, a very little study 
 sufficed to convince him of the general untrustworthiness of the old authorities, 
 and the necessity of instituting an original research. 
 
 The manner in which he went about this was characteristic of the man's 
 enthusiasm and determination. He shut up his Lewis, and Ames, and DlBDIN, 
 and ALDYS, and assumed that neither he, nor anyone else, knew anything of 
 WILLIAM CAXTON. From this clear stand-point he began first to study the 
 life, and then the books of the Mercer printer. He groped through the City 
 records till he established the clear connection between the apprentice of 
 Robert Large, and the merchant adventurer in the Burgundian Court. Then, 
 step by step, he traced the literary protege of the Duchess to Bruges, and into 
 the printing office of COLARU MANSION. As he himself confessed, it was no 
 easy task. Often he had to go back on his steps, and often the difficulties in the 
 way seemed to forbid all further progress. But the ground cleared as he went 
 on, and when once he had traced his hero to Westminster, the chief biographical 
 difficulties of his task were over. 
 
 There remained the still more important study of CAXTON'S works. Here, 
 more than ever, he resolved to take nothing at second hand. He personally 
 inspected no fewer than 450 Caxtons in different libraries, collating, comparing, 
 and classifying them as he went along. His printer's instinct at once found 
 the key to the study. It was not in the titles or colophons, in the diction or 
 the literary evidence, but in the types. He subjected each book to a searching 
 typographical examination, and classified it according to its types. He made 
 the whole work and method of the primitive little printing house at the " Red 
 Pale " live before our eyes ; we saw when type 1 came to an end, and when 
 type 2 appeared ; we found the ingenious craftsman, when type 2 was wearing 
 out, trimming it with his graver, and creating type 2* out of its ruins. We 
 watched the career of each type, from the moment it was cast in its rough 
 mould, till the day when, worn out and discarded, it passed into strange hands 
 and finally vanished. Meanwhile, each book as it came up, fell into its proper 
 class. The year of undated books was fixed by the evidence of their dated
 
 .\ii. The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 companions; and the relative order in a single year was often determined by the 
 observation of some typographical detail, visible only to the eye of the expert, 
 which clearly marked off one stage in the printers' habits from another. 
 
 In such manner was the Life of Caxton written. It marked a new epoch 
 in bibliography, and disposed finally of the lax methods of the old school. 
 With a work like the Life of Caxton on record, it would be impossible in 
 future to write with authority about the old printers and their books, without 
 approaching the study from the point of view of the typographical expert. 
 There is no doubt that the mechanical improvements in processes of fac-simile 
 added much to the success and value of the Life and Typography of William 
 Caxton. It is useless to talk about old type unless you can display it. This 
 Mr. Blades did on a lavish scale. Not only were fac-simile pages of all 
 the representative books given, but the alphabets in each class of type were 
 laboriously picked out and presented, with the combinations and variants of 
 each letter, so that the student was able to study CAXTON's works not only as 
 they appeared ready printed, but letter by letter, in the case before composition. 
 
 The first volume of the Life of Caxton appeared in 1861, and the second 
 in 1863 ; between which two dates, Mr. BLADES had married the lady who, for 
 twenty-eight years, was to be the loyal partner in his life and work. 
 
 The magnum opus was received with general approbation. It was recog- 
 nised that a right method of investigating the problems of pakeotypography 
 had been discovered. A new interest was aroused in the works of the early 
 presses, and the fortunate possessors of " Caxtons " became suddenly alive 
 to their privileges. 
 
 Not the least gratifying result of the labours connected with this work were 
 the friendships which Mr. BLADES formed with men of his own taste, engaged in 
 like pursuits. It is worth recording the pleasant account given by Mr. PROTHERO 
 of the meeting of Henry Bradshaw and William Blades, while the proofs of 
 the Caxton were still in the press. " In September, i860, Mr. BLADES paid a visit 
 "tn Cambridge, taking with him the first two sheets of his book in type, and 
 "the rest in manuscript. It was a fine, warm afternoon, and after dinner — they 
 "dined earlier in those days than now - they went down, as BRADSHAW was 
 "fond oi doing, into the college garden; a bottle of wine was ordered out, ami
 
 Memoir of the . hit '//or. xiii. 
 
 " there and then, without moving from the place, Mr. BLADES read the whole 
 "historical portion of the book to his willing listener, who frequently interposed 
 " criticisms and suggestions of the most useful kind." 
 
 The friendship thus begun continued uninterruptedly for a quarter of a cen- 
 tury. It was none the less valued because BRADSHAW, the keenest of the new- 
 scientific school of bibliographers, was an outspoken critic. " Believe me," wrote 
 Mr. Blades, when acknowledging a voluminous letter of criticism on his second 
 volume, " no review in the Athenceum or Saturday will give me half the inward 
 " satisfaction that I feel when you tell me that my book has enabled or assisted 
 "you to write such a body of sound, critical notes as now lies before me." 
 
 This was not the only friendship for which he was indebted to his Life of 
 Caxton. His work brought him into contact and friendly intercourse with 
 librarians and printers, not only in England, but in France, Holland, and 
 Germany, and made his already rich library a rallying point for students and 
 enquirers of all kinds, who came to him for advice and information, and 
 received, in addition to both, an unfailing and kindly welcome. 
 
 The publication of the Caxton by no means completed Mr. Blades' atten- 
 tion to history of the first Engish press. His bibliographical method forbade 
 him to consider any question, however exhaustively treated, as closed. He 
 was constantly collecting new material, and as constantly giving the world 
 the benefit of his studies. The Life of Caxton was supplemented by a very 
 useful hand list of the specimens of the old master's press in the British 
 Museum, by his How to tell a Caxton, as well as his introductory notes 
 and monographs to several valuable fac-simile reprints of English incunabula. 
 He became a constant and diligent contributor to the trade periodicals, and his 
 scattered articles — of which it is hoped the list appended will be found to be a 
 pretty complete catalogue — comprehend an important, and perhaps not suffi- 
 ciently well-remembered, volume of his literary work. He did as much as any 
 writer of the time to call the printer's attention to the honourable and interesting 
 traditions of his craft, and to lift him from the role of a mere tradesman into 
 that of a partner in a glorious Art. 
 
 Meanwhile, his business was prospering. The distractions of literary work 
 and of a rapidly increasing bibliomania were not allowed to interfere with the 
 careful attention demanded in the building up and maintenance of a large trade
 
 xiv. The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 connection. His interest in the methods and practice of the old press never 
 hindered him from keeping pace with all the improvements of the new. His 
 office became well known in the City for its enterprise in adopting any new 
 improvement consistent with the production of good printing ; and he was 
 looked up to as an authority on the practice of the art and craft of to-day, 
 no less than on that of four centuries ago. 
 
 In 1870, occurred an epoch in the annals of typographical controversy, when 
 Dr. Van DER Linde's destructive essay against the claims of Haarlem as the 
 birthplace of Printing appeared in the " Cologne Chronicle." Mr. BLADES was 
 sufficiently interested in the subject, and in the general tenor of Dr. VAN DER 
 LlNDE'S argument, to publish an English translation of the work by Mr. 
 HESSELS at his own cost. At the same time he maintained from the first 
 an attitude of careful reserve on the main question. In an article on Early 
 Schools of Typography, contributed, before the appearance of the English edition 
 of the Coster Legend, to Mr. Berjeau's Bookworm, he had suggested the possi- 
 bility of an independent invention of printing both in Holland and Germany, a 
 theory which has of late years gained some ground. While heartily approving 
 of the destruction of all obviously false and flimsy evidence on the side of 
 cither claimant, it was to him a source of regret when the literary duel between 
 Dr. VAN DER LlNDE and Dr. Hessels descended from the arena of forcible 
 argument into that of acrimonious dispute. To him, as to most other students of 
 the controversy, the existence of the " Costeriana " was an insuperable obstacle 
 to the admission of the German claim ; and one of his latest utterances, 
 before the Library Association, was a careful and judicial summary of the 
 case on either side, with a decided inclination of opinion in favour of Haarlem 
 as against Mentz. 
 
 During the few years which followed the publication of Dr. Van der 
 LlNDE'S book, Mr. BLADES' energies were chiefly devoted to the development 
 of his important library of books on Printing, the foundations of which had been 
 laid as far back as his apprentice days. The genuine book-hunter needs not 
 to be reminded of the insidious nature of his malady. Any excuse suffices for 
 a new relapse. The Life of Caxton was a more than common excuse. Not only 
 did it lead its author to a search after " fifteeners," (of which, however, he did not 
 acquire many) but it was the occasion for collecting every available work on the
 
 Memoir of the Author. xv. 
 
 early practice of the Art, not only in England, but abroad. From this it was 
 but a step to treatises on the multiplex craft of modern printing. His enquiry 
 into the types and typefounding of Caxton naturally opened the way for a 
 collection on that branch of the subject generally — particularly of type founders' 
 specimen books, to whose historical importance his little book on the subject, 
 published in 1875, was one of the first to call attention. His interest in 
 the Invention controversy naturally brought onto his shelves the voluminous 
 literature devoted to that question, which, when once begun, must, to be of real 
 importance, be complete. Nor was there any reason why the collector, 
 once embarked on his career, should hold his hand from any work, be it a 
 memoir, an Act of Parliament, a typographical oddity, a sober specification, a 
 specimen of fine work, or an ephemeral tract, provided it bore on his subject, 
 and added weight to his collection. And so, from small beginnings, and it ma)' 
 be to the occasional concern of himself, his library grew into one of peculiar 
 value and importance. How wisely and carefully he selected, how thoroughly 
 he explored the highways and byways of typographical literature, the catalogue 
 of his collection, when it comci to be published, will disclose. 
 
 An occasion arrived in 1877 for admitting the book-loving public to a 
 participation in some of its treasures. The Caxton Celebration of that year 
 was an event which will always be peculiarly associated with the name of 
 WILLIAM BLADES. It was due to him that the solecism of celebrating the 
 Fourth Centenary of the Introduction of Printing into England three years 
 before its time was avoided. When the true anniversary came, Mr. BLADES 
 threw himself heart and soul into the movement. What was his part in the 
 success of the Celebration is already on record. He suggested both the form 
 the festival should take, and the methods by which it might be carried out. He 
 undertook the collection and arrangement of the unique display of Caxtons and 
 early English printed books which were brought together — perhaps the most 
 complete collection ever seen at one time. He organized and superintended the 
 arrangement of the large miscellaneous collection of books, specimens, autographs, 
 portraits, medals and curiosities, to which he himself contributed the lion's share. 
 For the catalogue he wrote, of course, the prefatory note on Caxton. 
 
 The writer of these notes has good reason to remember those busy days at 
 South Kensington. It was in that long, upper gallery, crowded with packing 
 
 2 A
 
 xvi. The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 cases, noisy with the hammering of nails, dim with dust, and with the hand on 
 the dial creeping hourly towards the opening day, that he first met WILLIAM 
 BLADES. The man of letters was in his shirt sleeves, busy with the unpacking 
 of a box of Caxtons. He was the guiding spirit of the scene. While others 
 despaired of being up to time, he kept his head and worked hard. While 
 others differed and argued, he was serene and genial. It was impossible in his 
 presence to stand idle, or doubt for a moment of the success of the undertaking. 
 How complete was that success need not be told here, or how modest was the 
 share of credit which he took to himself When it was all over, he took his 
 books and pictures and medals back to the little library at Croydon, and 
 returned to the life of the printer-student as cheerfully as he had emerged from 
 it a year before. 
 
 The formation of the Library Association, in 1877, was another event which 
 commanded Mr. BLADES 1 warm sympathy. He was a Member of the Council 
 of that body from the beginning, and a frequent attendant at the pleasant yearly 
 Conferences held under its auspices in various parts of the country. His diary 
 contains notes of some of these bibliographical expeditions, that to the Glasgow 
 Meeting, in 1888, being recorded with special pleasure. He contrived on such 
 visits to sec all that was to be seen in the way of early printed books and 
 libraries, and invariably came back refreshed in mind, and often weightier in 
 baggage, from these congenial holidays. He occasionally read papers before 
 the Association, one of his latest public appearances being at the London 
 Meeting of the Association in 1889, when he read an interesting account of the 
 Chained Library at Wimborne. 
 
 His love of books tempted him, in 1881, to a literary effort in a lighter vein 
 than any he had hitherto adopted. The Enemies of Books is a dainty and 
 entertaining defence of his favourites against their sworn enemies, human, insect, 
 and elemental, and brought him into contact with many admirers whom his 
 more serious works had not interested. This championship did not hinder the 
 development of an almost romantic interest on the part of the author for the 
 real book worm. Among the treasures of his library were usually to be seen 
 one or more of these learned insects, browsing on the pages of an old magazine, 
 or, as a special delicacy, being feasted on a morsel of fifteenth century printed 
 matter. Ili-- attempts to rear them, however, were unsuccessful. As he con- 
 1 ed once to the writer, it was one of the failures of his life!
 
 Memoir of the Author. xvii. 
 
 A jeu d'esprit of another kind had been published in 1872, whimsically con- 
 necting Shakespeare with the printing profession, a jest which amused him all the 
 more that it was taken an grand serieux by some sober-minded correspondents. 
 Later, in 1885, his account and metrical paraphrase of the German morality play 
 the Depositio Cornuti Typographic^ gave him scope for the combination of a good 
 deal of special lore to illustrate a quaint old-world literary drollery. 
 
 The closing years of his life witnessed no diminution of his energies, either 
 in business or literary pursuits, although both were occasionally hindered by 
 what proved to be premonitory symptoms of the heart affection to which he 
 was to succumb. 
 
 In 1884 he took up the cudgels on behalf of the English inventor of the 
 Steam Press, against his old friend Herr GOEBEL of Stuttgart, who claimed 
 the honour for his countryman K(ENIG. In the controversy which ensued, 
 Mr. BLADES was careful to keep the discussion free from the faults which 
 had marred the dispute between Dr. Van DER LlNDE and Dr. HESSELS. It 
 was a trial to him that his temperate statement of the claims of NICHOLSON 
 should, after all, cost him a valued friendship, for the loss of which, however, he 
 felt had not himself to reproach. 
 
 His widening interest in early books of every kind led him, among his latest 
 efforts, to undertake what promised to be a novel and highly scientific natural- 
 history study of the incunabula. His careful note on Water-marks, contributed 
 to the Athentzum, and the equally valuable note on Signatures, with which he 
 inaugurated his projected series of Bibliographical Miscellanies, promised, had the 
 author lived to complete his scheme, to place the study of early printed books on 
 a clearer and still more precise footing than it had yet attained. 
 
 But the project was cut short at an early stage. His investigations on 
 these questions had been carried on with all his old enthusiasm and deter- 
 mination, but with increasing difficulty, and at increasing physical cost. For the 
 same reason, the Pentateuch of Printing had lain on his study table many months 
 incomplete. The idea of giving to book lovers, not professionally conversant 
 with Printing, a clear and simple account of the origin and development of the 
 Art by which books are produced, was one which he had long cherished. To 
 the lay mind the question is full of confusion and intricacy. It is obscured by 
 much that is irrelevant, and distorted by much that is incorrect. His object 
 was to clear away the irrelevant, to reduce fiction to fact, and technicality to
 
 xviii. The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 plain English. Intended originally for a short treatise, the idea had expanded, 
 and took form in the quaint conceit which the title of the work implies. Nor, 
 when it was more than half complete in that shape, did it stop growing. He 
 determined to add to its attractiveness by illustration on a lavish scale, and had 
 already began to collect and prepare the wood-cuts for the purpose, and 
 further enlarge the treatment of his subject in other directions. 
 
 At this stage it was that the abrupt summons came to lay down the busy 
 pen and rest from work. 
 
 His own jubilee as a printer was about to be celebrated, and his friends and 
 workmen were invited to the gathering, when it was known that he was unwell, 
 and that the occasion must be postponed. The next thing we heard was that he 
 was dead, on April 28, 1890. 
 
 In these brief notes nothing more has been attempted than a sketch of 
 Mr. BLADES as a printer and a bibliographer. Yet the picture would be incom- 
 plete without a word as to his private life. Those who had the privilege of 
 knowing him at home will not readily forget the atmosphere of gentleness and 
 kindness in which he lived. His family life was one of simple harmony — no one 
 who was with him for an hour could fail to discover that behind his learning and 
 enthusiasm and industry there was the background of an unaffected goodness. 
 With those especially who, in that well-remembered library, surrounded by his 
 precious books, sought his assistance or counsel, the memory of him will linger 
 long as of one whose pleasure it was to be kind, whose sympathy was always 
 ready, and whose shrewd sense and wide knowledge and cheery helpfulness 
 were always at the service of a friend. 
 
 In preparing the Pentateuch of Printing for publication in the form in 
 which it now appears, the present writer has been careful to refrain from any- 
 thing like "editing" on a large scale. In a few cases additional matter was 
 necessary to the clear meaning of the narrative. In other cases, where frag- 
 mentary notes had been left to indicate topics which the author intended to 
 deal with mure full)-, some little expansion has been ventured upon. Otherwise, 
 the object has been to present the book, although not professedly complete in 
 every respect, as nearly as possible, both as regards the text and the illustrations, 
 as it was left by the author at the time of his death. 
 
 Talbot Baines Reed.
 
 List of Published Works by William Blades. xix. 
 
 List of Tublisbed Works by William ''Blades. 
 
 The Governayle of Helthe ; by John de Bordeaux (?), or by Bartholomeus Montagnassa ; 
 with the Medecyne of y c Stomache, in verse ; by John Lydgate (?). Reprinted from 
 Caxton's edition, with introductory remarks and notes by William 1 Hades. 
 
 S" London 1858. 
 [Printed in imitation Caxton types, cast in pewter. \ 
 
 Morale Prouerbes ; C. Du Castel ; with introductory remarks by William Blades; 
 
 facsimile. 4" 1859. 
 
 {Printed in imitation Caxton types, cast in pewter.] 
 
 The Life and Typography of W. Caxton, England's first Printer, with evidence of his 
 typographical connection with Cohrd Mansion, the printer at Bruges ; with numerous 
 plates. 2 vols. 4"' London, 1861-63. 
 
 A Catalogue of Books printed by, or ascribed to the Press of W. Caxton, in which is 
 included the press mark of every copy contained in the British Museum. 
 
 sm. 4" London, 1865. 
 
 A List of Medals, Jettons, Tokens, etc., in connection with Printers and the Art of 
 
 Printing. 8 0, London, 1869. 
 
 [Only 25 copies printed.'] 
 
 A List of Medals struck by order of the Corporation of London, with an appendix of 
 other Medals struck privately or for sale, having reference to the same corporate 
 body, or the Members thereof. 8"- London, 1870. 
 
 [Privately Printed.] 
 
 How to tell a Caxton, with some hints where and how the same might be found : plates. 
 
 8°- London, 1870. 
 [A handbook for the use of the amateur and collector.] 
 
 Typographical Notes : The Early Schools of Typography, from the Bookworm, March, 
 1870; The Enschede Type Eoundry at Haarlem. S" London, 1870, 
 
 [Privately Printed.] 
 
 Shakespere and Typography ; being an attempt to show Shakespere's personal connection 
 with, and technical knowledge of the Art of Printing ; also remarks upon some 
 common typographical errors, with special reference to the text of Shakespere ; plates. 
 
 8" London, 1872.
 
 xx. The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 Some early Type-specimen Books of England, Holland, France, Italy, and Germany, 
 with explanatory remarks. 8°- London, 1875. 
 
 [ With historical nates on the aid English and Foreign Type Foundries."] 
 
 Earl of Rivers. The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers ; a facsimile reproduction 
 of the first book printed in England ; with a preface by William Blades. 
 
 4"' 1S77. 
 
 The Biography and Typography of William Caxton, England's first Printer ; plates. 
 
 8°- London, 1877. 
 \_A new edition, issued in connection with the Caxton Celebration, l8yj.~\ 
 
 The Boke of Saint Albans, by Dame Juliana Berners ; a facsimile ; with an introduction 
 by William Blades. 4°- 1881. 
 
 The Enemies of Books ; Illustrated ; Trubner & Co., London. 8"- 1881. 
 
 Do. Do. 8" 2nd Edition. 1S81. 
 
 Do. Do. S°- 3rd Edition. 1882. 
 
 The Biography and Typography of William Caxton, England's first Printer ; plates. 
 2nd Edition. 8° 1S82. 
 
 Les livres et leurs Enemis. 8° Paris (Claudin) 1883. 
 
 Numismata Typographica ; or the Medallic History of Printing ; being an account of 
 the Medals, Jettons and Tokens struck in commemoration of Printers and the Ait 
 of Printing. Illustrated. 4°- 1883. 
 
 An Account of the German Morality Play, entitled " Depositio Cornuti Typographic! " ; 
 as performed in the 1 7th and 1 8th centuries. Illustrated. 4"' 1885. 
 
 [ With a metrical translation 0/ the text of the />lui:~\ 
 
 The Enemies of Books. Revised and enlarged by the Author. (The Book-Lover's 
 Library.) Elliot Stock. 8' J - 1887. 
 
 Do. Do. 2nd Edition. 1888. 
 
 Bibliographical Miscellanies, No. 1 — Signatures. 8" 1890. 
 
 Do. Do. No. 2 — The Chained Library at Wimbome Minster. 
 
 8"- 1890. 
 
 I in. Do. Nos. 3, 4, 5— Books in Chains. 8°- 1890. 
 
 The Pentateuch ol Printing. Illustrated. Elliot Stock, London. 4"' 1891.
 
 List of Fugitive Pieces and Contributions to Periodicals. xxi. 
 
 List of Fugitive Pieces and Contributions to Periodicals. 
 
 Some Account of the Typography at St. Albans in the 15th century. i860. 
 
 [Privately Printed.] 
 [" This went no further than half-a-dozen proofs. — W.B."] 
 
 Numismata Typographica. Numismatic Chronicle, July, 1S67. 
 
 The Early Types of the Royal Printing Office, Paris, and the Chancellor of the 
 University of Cambridge. Bookivorm {Berfeau) January, 1869. 
 
 The First Printing Press in England. Do., October, 1869. 
 
 [Calls attention to the technical errors and anachronisms oj the pictorial 
 
 representations of Ca.x ton's first printing office. ~\ 
 
 The Early Schools of Typography. Bookworm {Berfeau) March, 1870. 
 
 [Suggests the probability of an independent discovery of printing, both, in 
 Holland and Germany.] 
 
 Specimens des Caracteres Typographiques. Printers' /Register, April, 1870. 
 
 (A Review ) 
 
 The Enschedc Type Foundry at Haarlem. Bookworm (Berfeau) April, 1870. 
 
 Pala;otypography — a series of articles in Notes and Queries. 1870. 
 
 [A plea for a scientific study of early printed books. ] 
 
 Review of Munsell's Chronology of Paper and Paper Making. Printers'' Register. 
 
 March and April, 1871. 
 
 Common Typographical Errors, with especial reference to the Text of Shakespere. 
 
 Atheineum, January 27th, 1872. 
 [Dealing with corruptions in the text attributable to errors in composition.'] 
 
 List of Medals connected with Printers and the Art of Printing, exhibited at the 
 opening of the New Library and Museum, Guildhall, London. 1872. 
 
 [Privately Printed.'] 
 
 Timperley and his Works. Printers Register, December, 1S73. 
 
 A Strike in 1798. Do., January, 1874. 
 
 A notice of Caslonl. Caslon Circular, January, 1875. 
 
 Early Type Specimen Books. Do., April, 1875. 
 
 3 a
 
 xxii. The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 Early Type Specimen Books. A series of articles. Printers' Register, June, 1875. 
 
 [Subsequently reprinted in a volume."] 
 
 The Literary Almanack ; included in Southward's Dictionary of Typography. 
 
 8" 1875. 
 [Gives notes of the principal dates and events connected with Printing and 
 
 Publishing.] 
 
 Bibliotheca Typographica. Printers' 1 Register, 1875-6. 
 
 [A list of publications in the English language, treating of Printers and 
 
 Printing, with annotations. The completion of this Bibliography was 
 
 suspended, and the material placed by Mr. Blades at the disposal of the 
 
 compiler of the " Bibliography of Printing.''] 
 
 Typographical Jeux de Mots. Printers' Register, October, 1876. 
 
 William Caxton and the Development of the Art of Printing in England and Scotland. 
 
 Cax/on Celebration Catalogue, 1877. 
 
 List of Medals connected with Printers and the Art of Printing. Do., 1877. 
 
 [ With historical and biographical notes.] 
 
 Portraits and Autographs of Printers and Publishers. Do., 1877. 
 
 [With historical and biographical notes.] 
 
 A Guide to the objects of chief interest in the loan collection of the Caxton Exhibition. 
 
 1877. 
 
 Numismata Typographica. Begun Printers' Register, July, 1878. 
 
 [Reprinted as a volume in iSSj.] 
 An Enterprising Erench Printing Finn. Printers' Register, Nov. and Dec, 1S78. 
 
 The Plantin Museum. Macmil/an's, September, 1878. 
 
 [This was also translated into h'reuch.] 
 
 William (lye, Printer, of Bath. Printers Register, January, 1879. 
 
 Books and their Enemies. Begun Do., June, 1879. 
 
 [Subsequently expanded into " The Enemies of Books," 1SS1.] 
 
 Mr. Hoe's Typographical Library. Printers' Register, June, 1879. 
 
 Franklin-ana. Caslon Circular, April, 1879. 
 
 Development of Books and their Size-Notations. Library Notes, January, 1SS0. 
 
 A Day in Paris. Caslon Circular, July, 1S80. 
 
 Almshouses or Pensions? Printers Register, October, 1S80.
 
 List of Fugitive Pieces and Contributions to Periodicals. xxiii. 
 
 A Lad of Mettle. Caslon Circular, April, 1881 . 
 
 The First Printing Press at Oxford. Antiquary, July, 1881. 
 
 \_]\'ith an account of the ' Exposicio' of " 1468" and a list of early Oxford 
 
 types.'] 
 Who was Bercula ? Bibliographer, December, 1881. 
 
 On Caxton's "Four Sons of Amyon." Athenceun, April 14th, 1882. 
 
 Vulgaria Whittintoni, 1520. Bibliographer, 1882. 
 
 Messrs. Blades' New Printing Works. Printers Register, April, 1882. 
 
 Literary Ghosts. Caslon Circular. January, 1883 
 
 How to Correct Printers' Proofs. 8pp. 1883. 
 
 [Privately Printed.] 
 
 The Invention of the Steam Press. A series of Articles in the Printers' Register, 
 
 October, 1883, to June, 1S84. 
 [The object of these Articles was to defend the claims of Nicholson to the honour 
 of the invention, against those put forward by Herr Goebel on behalf of the 
 German, Kihiig. Herr Goebel's reply was published in the same periodical in 
 March to fune, iSSj ; Air. Blades' rejoinder in July, 1885, and Herr 
 Goebel's last word in August, f88j.] 
 
 Memoir of Henry Bradshaw. A review. Printers' Register, March, 1SS6. 
 
 The Auchinlech Press. Caslon Circular, April, 18S6. 
 
 Old English Letter Foundries. Leeds Mercury, March 9th, 18S7. 
 
 [_A review of Mr. T. B. Reed's book — Article re-printed in Caslon Circular.] 
 
 On the Present Aspect of the Question, Who was the Inventor of Printing? 1S87. 
 
 [Privately Printed.] 
 
 [ Tin's was a paper read before the Library Association at their Birmingham 
 
 Congress, in September, 188/.] 
 
 Type Composing and Matrix Machines. Printers' Register, September, 1887. 
 
 The Hagermann Matrix Stamping Machine. Printers' Register, January, 188S. 
 
 The Library of the French Protestant Church. Antiquary, July, 1SS8. 
 
 ' Form,' or ' Forme ' ? Printers' Register, August, 188S. 
 
 Old Taverns in Candlewick Ward. City Press, October, 1888. 
 
 De Ortu Typograhia;. Book-worm (E. Stock) 188S. 
 
 [Notes on the Invention of Printing controversy.]
 
 XXIV. 
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 A New French Grammar. Printers' Register, December, 1S88. 
 
 [Article unsigned.'] 
 
 An Account of Proposals made nearly Two Centuries ago to found Public Libraries. 
 
 Library, 1889. 
 
 Cos/on Circular, January, 1S89. 
 
 Printers' Register, February, 1889. 
 
 AtlieiuTiim, March 16th, March 30th, May 18th, 1889. 
 
 Printers' Register, July, 18S9. 
 
 Do., August, 1889. 
 
 On Trade Unionism. 
 
 Bibliography. 
 
 Watermarks. 
 
 A New Zealand Caxton. 
 
 MM. Madden and Alkan 
 
 [Article unsigned. ] 
 
 On Signatures in Old Books. 
 On Paper and Paper-marks. 
 On Chained Libraries. 
 Two " Old Style " Type Founders. 
 
 Library, 18S9. 
 
 Do., 1S89. 
 
 Library Association, October, 1889. 
 
 Caslon Circular, July, 1890.
 
 PROLOGUE 
 
 THE following Chapters, being intended as a popular 
 summary of a very large and interesting subject, 
 only profess to deal with the most important aspects of 
 that subject, both on its historical and practical side. 
 
 Of late years the question, Who invented Printing? has 
 assumed more than ever a prominent place in bibliographical 
 criticism, and many books, large and small, have been pub- 
 lished by opposing authors; notably by Dr. Van der Linde, 
 in support of the claims of Gutenberg, of Mayence, and by 
 Mr. Hessels on the side of Laurence Coster, of Haarlem. 
 
 The unrestrained abuse and the attribution of base 
 motives in which both these writers indulge demands the 
 strongest protest from all who wish to see the evidence
 
 xxvi. The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 treated with calmness and without prejudice. The question 
 is not at all whether Dr. Van der Linde can or cannot read 
 Dutch fifteenth century MSS., or whether Mr. Hessels, as a 
 Costerian, is incapacitated from writing a true word : these 
 mutual recriminations only raise a feeling of repulsion to the 
 whole subject. We really want a fair and impartial criticism, 
 based on acknowledged facts and historical evidence. 
 
 As to the various forged documents, we now know them, 
 so let us treat them as incumbrances and throw them on one 
 side. This has been the object aimed at by 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 fuly, iSSS.
 
 THE PENTATEUCH OF PRINTING 
 
 THE TLAN. 
 
 GUTENBERG / % 
 
 Creation 
 
 Propagation 
 
 Law - 
 
 Famous Printers 
 
 Second "Birth 
 
 Engraved Stamps. 
 Parchment and Paper. 
 Playing Cards. 
 Engraved Block-Books. 
 Cast Types. 
 
 1 
 
 Europe. 
 
 2 
 
 Asia. 
 
 3- 
 
 Africa. 
 
 4- 
 
 America. 
 
 5- 
 
 Australia. 
 
 Typefounder. 
 
 Compositor. 
 
 Pressman. 
 
 Paper. 
 
 Ink. 
 
 Before A.D. 1500. 
 
 A.D. 1501 to A.I). 1600. 
 
 A.D. 1601 to A.D. 1700. 
 
 A.D. 1 701 to A.I). 1S00. 
 
 A.D. 1801 to A.D. 1890. 
 
 Machine-made Types. 
 Printing Machines. 
 Composition Rollers. 
 Stereotype. 
 Composing Machines.
 
 GENESIS 
 
 Let Lygbt be."
 
 
 GENESIS 
 
 N the beginning!" What a whirlpool of disputations and 
 theories have these three words created! Our grandfathers 
 attributed the creation of the world with amusing accuracy to 
 the year B.C. 4004; and just as geology and astronomy have 
 pushed back this old-fashioned "beginning" to indefinite mil- 
 lions of years, during which Evolution, with slow but certain 
 progress, was working out this world's destiny in obedience to 
 the fiat of the Almighty, so modern research and criticism 
 have demonstrated that the same law of evolution applies to 
 mental as well as physical phenomena, and that in both cases 
 what is follows bv fixed law on what was. Looked at in this 
 light, the Art of Printing, as indeed all arts, never had a 
 definite beginning, but was the necessary development of a previous 
 process, as sure to come in the due course of events as harvest is to 
 follow seed-time. 
 
 No acorn, no oak ; and the idea that Printing, Minerva-like, 
 started up, perfect from its birth, in the form of the Mazarin Bible 
 or the Mayence Psalter, will not bear the test of criticism, although 
 long current in typographical histories. The steam engine, the gaso- 
 meter, the railway, the telegraph, the telephone, and all the great 
 
 IS 2
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 discoveries of modern science, had to pass through an imperfect infancy 
 and gradual development; why, then, imagine that Invention in the one 
 instance of typography reached perfection by a sudden leap ? 
 
 Typography, or the art of combining separate letters and taking 
 from them an impression, was a growth of the fifteenth century. At 
 that time progress of any kind was much more slow and difficult than 
 now ; and we hardly realise the immense advantage all modern inven- 
 tors have derived from the Printing-press. Every step forward in art 
 or science is now chronicled, and we can watch the infancy and growth 
 of each great discovery through all its stages. But just imagine the 
 Printing-press to be non-existent, and not only would invention be a 
 slow and tedious process, through the absence of that previous know- 
 ledge which leads up to it, but of those tardy advances which were 
 made posterity would learn but little and profit less. 
 
 In this respect the art which is "omnium artium servatrix " 
 has been at a great disadvantage. Slowly born, just as the nations 
 were emerging from centuries of torpor, its promoters realised to a 
 very limited extent its future greatness, and omitted to register, with 
 any attempt at accuracy, either the date of its birth or even its 
 parentage. The chroniclers of those days, mostly ecclesiastics, who 
 noted carefully the occurrence of an unusually high flood or the death 
 of some obscure abbot, had the barest recognition for the young 
 Hercules whose infancy gave no intimation of his future prowess, 
 and whose only mission seemed to be the manufacture of cheap school 
 books or poor imitations of the picturesque old manuscripts. 
 
 But here the question arises, Was Printing, strictly speaking, a 
 development of the fifteenth century ? The word Printing in its broad 
 sense means "making an impression"; and if this be accepted as a 
 definition, we can trace its footsteps to a period long before man
 
 Genesis. 5 
 
 stood upon this earth. All over the world we find, in the various 
 strata of the earth's crust, Nature herself printing on the pliant 
 rocks representations of animals and trees ; a life history entombed 
 ages before language was born or man possessed the power of 
 observation. 
 
 Language itself was of necessity a slow development, and equally 
 slow was the next step ; for speech existed long before man discovered 
 that the human voice, which informed the brain through the ear, could 
 be represented by figures or a combination of signs which produced 
 the same result through the eye. 
 
 LETTERS STAMPED ON 
 GREEK LAMP. 
 
 ASSYRIAN I LAV TABLET, 
 
 LETTERS STAMPED ON 
 ROMAN LAMP. 
 
 This wonderful development — the art of writing — was progress 
 sufficient for many centuries, during which all kinds of materials were 
 used to perpetuate the deeds and ideas of various nations. Leaves of 
 trees and pieces of wood were written upon ; clays, slabs and cylinders 
 were stamped ; seals, even signatures, by which personal authority was 
 transferred, were engraved on wood or metal ; vases preserved the
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 name of the artist who formed them, and even the common clay lamps 
 of the Greeks and Romans showed the names of their makers, printed 
 with a stamp in bold relief upon the under surface. 
 
 The style, which marked the waxen tablets, the pen or brush, with 
 which words were formed on the papyrus sheet, and the pointed reed 
 or quill which was used on parchment or paper were simply improve- 
 ments, all leading on to still further developments. 
 
 As ages rolled on and learning in- 
 creased, book-writing and book-bindino- 
 became important trades, and were sub- 
 divided into special branches, such as the 
 caligraphers, who wrote luxuriously for 
 the libraries of the rich, and the scri- 
 veners, who supplied the wants of poor 
 scholars and priests. 
 
 The Chinese were probably the 
 nation who first used vegetable fibre to 
 make sheets of paper. In Europe, our 
 oldest MSS. are upon prepared skins; 
 I ^ and paper, the manufacture of which 
 
 FIFTEENTH CENTURY PLAYKNG CARD. WHS 110t COmmOtl Until the twelfth alld 
 
 Engraved on wood. ( From sing er.) thirteenth centuries, was seldom used, 
 
 although specimens derived from the Arabs are found as early as 
 the sixth century. 
 
 Printing from engraved blocks of wood or soft metal was practised 
 in the fourteenth century, when rude fiq-ures of the Virgin and other 
 saints, often coarsely coloured by hand, made their appearance.* About 
 the same time ornamental patterns were printed on stuffs from engraved 
 blocks. Cardboard was developed from paper, and playing-cards. 
 
 See Frontispiece.
 
 Genesis. / 
 
 printed from blocks, were common in the fourteenth and fifteenth 
 centuries. All these methods of Printing were so many decided 
 advances towards Typography ; but two new processes were still neces- 
 sary to success, viz. : a thicker ink than previously used, and some kind 
 of press with which to make a regular and even impression. 
 
 The next step was the making of that interesting class of books 
 called " Block-books." These consisted for the most part of a series 
 of rude woodcuts the full size of the page, representing various parts 
 of Scripture History, Heaven, Hell, Death, and the Judgment. The 
 earliest known specimens of these works are printed in a brown ink 
 similar to distemper drawings. Lampblack was already well known 
 to the ancients as a basis for writing ink, and, mixed with gum 
 water, formed that deep glossy hue so much admired in many old 
 MSS. ; but how to thicken the ink so as to make it suitable for 
 printing from a raised surface was a discovery of great importance, 
 made long before typography was invented. This object was at- 
 tained by prolonged boiling of oil and then grinding it with carbon 
 or lampblack. 
 
 After experience in printing small wood blocks, the production of 
 larger ones, such as are seen in the Block-books was an easy progres- 
 sion. Most of these were representations of Bible History, and a 
 considerable variety of opinion is still held concerning their use. They 
 were called " Biblia Pauperum," and have therefore been supposed to 
 be books for poor people. This idea is evidently erroneous if we think 
 for a moment how uncommon in those days was the ability to read, 
 particularly among the great mass of the people. It is more probable 
 that these pictorial sermons were used by the poor friars, many of 
 whom could scarcely read, and in preaching trusted to memory and 
 imagination. To such, the numerous suggestions of these pictures 
 would be invaluable.
 
 Genesis. 
 
 In the later Block-books, engraved sentences and even half-pages of 
 explanation are seen. The dislike of wood engravers to cut letters is the 
 same now as it was four centuries and a-half ago, the mechanical nature of 
 such work being distasteful to any one with artistic feeling. The idea, 
 therefore, of using a second time sentences, already engraved and printed, 
 simply by cutting them away from the old block, was very natural and 
 
 scriptorium MONK AT WORK. (From Lacroix.) 
 
 would easily lead to the attempt to utilise the letters separately. Thus 
 we float along the stream of gradual development, until we reach movable 
 types, properly termed Typography. This was never an invention pure 
 and simple which suddenly enlightened the mind of Gutenberg (as stated 
 by Van der Linde, and echoed by Theo. De Vinne), but an end success- 
 fully accomplished, after numerous efforts and gradual advances.* 
 
 * The reader who has any real interest in these "firstlings" of the Printing-press should carefully 
 examine the glass cases in the Grenville Library at the British Museum, where specimens of Block 
 Printing, from the earliest to the latest, are displayed in chronological order.
 
 IO 
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 The full meaning of the discovery of typography will be better 
 understood if we call to mind the intellectual state of Europe in the 
 middle of the fifteenth century, 
 
 With the eclipse of literature during the Middle Ages, the Church 
 alone, and that in a sluggish manner, kept up the manufacture of 
 manuscript books, principally for ecclesiastical use. But when, in the 
 fourteenth century, the brain of Europe began to show unwonted 
 activity — when the Lollard doctrines set men thinking and doubting — • 
 when in the fifteenth century all Europe became excited over the 
 
 discovery of new worlds — when military 
 tactics were revolutionised through the 
 invention of gunpowder — when education 
 became general, and colleges and schools 
 were multiplied — then the minds of men 
 everywhere began to long for books, more 
 books ; for Cicero and Boethius, for Bibles, 
 Psalters and Legends, for Chronicles, Tales 
 of Travel and Romances, for Donatuses, 
 School books and Absies — at such a time 
 the need was urgent, the demand imperative, 
 and the Printing-press came. 
 
 The change, however, was by no means 
 sudden. The first effect of the increased demand was to create a great 
 division of labour in the manufacture of Manuscripts, so that whereas 
 two or three Scribes had, in former times, been sufficient to complete 
 a Manuscript, as many as fifteen different trades were now employed 
 in Paris, Bruges and other centres to produce a single book. Long 
 before the invention of typography, the book-makers of Holland had 
 their Guilds, which included a variety of the trades concerned in the pro- 
 duction, viz. : parchment-makers, boss-makers, binders, etc. Amongst 
 them we now and then tmd enumerated " prenters," that is, the printers 
 
 HOOK BINDER. — I DTI I CENTURY.
 
 Genesis. 
 
 i i 
 
 from engraved blocks, who had already discovered the use of the 
 press and a thick ink. The most numerous craft, however, was that of 
 
 COVER OF A T.noK. 1 5'1'H CENTURY. 
 
 the Scribes, who wrote only the running text ; and in this portion of 
 the work it was, where speed and accuracy were most wanted, that the 
 Printing-press was destined to make its earliest triumphs. 
 
 c 2
 
 1 2 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 The foundation of many colleges and schools in the fifteenth 
 century led to an extensive demand for school books and grammars, 
 the most popular of which were the " Donatus," a grammar so called 
 from the name of its author, and " Catho," a kind of delectus in Latin. 
 These were sold at a cheap price, and, to lessen the cost of their 
 production, were often engraved on blocks of wood, from which the 
 pages were printed. These and the Block-books already described 
 were contemporary, and the immediate forerunners of separate types. 
 
 Think of the numerous editions of the Eton and Valpy Latin 
 Grammar, which, two generations ago, were used throughout the 
 kingdom, and you may well wonder how it is that there is extreme 
 
 K>t^«*M<**44*n~*&*4Zix^ difficult y in s ettin g a sin g le c °py 
 
 XV%$m?W$^\®^^Um n ow. rhey have nearly all perished. 
 l^ftggto^Tfip^l^b^WI? It is the same with the school books 
 iwJtf^l^SJlX^tfiWtf^g, of al] a S es; and we can ' therefore - 
 
 Qu^i$®^ytmfo hard, y woncler that the fifteenth 
 
 ^t^dtt^ft^tjdtt^ century school books, manuscript, 
 or printed from engraved blocks, 
 are now amongst the most scarce 
 
 FRAGMENT OF A XYLOGRAPHIC DONATUS. _ _ 
 
 (From jfoiirop.) of bibliographical rarities. 
 
 The process of cutting letters and sentences on wood is much 
 more trying work than engraving figures ; the Block-books generally 
 show some approach to artistic feeling in the pose and drapery of 
 the figures, hut the engraver was very careless over the letters. 
 Doubtless the tedium <>f the operation would suggest the idea of 
 separating the letters, so as to use them again in a different com- 
 bination for other sentences. We have indeed direct evidence of 
 such attempts having been made; ; for (as noticed by Mr. Bradshaw 
 in his " Memoranda No. 3," pp. 5 and 6) a Rlock-book edition of 
 the " Biblia Pauperum," printed at Zwolle, was cut up, and the pieces 
 used afterwards in a different combination. The same operation 
 
 w^^&i%m'?tem#
 
 Genesis. 
 
 took place with the blocks of the " Speculum nostrae Salvationis," 
 which were cut up, and the pieces used again for an edition printed 
 at Utrecht in 1481. This could not be successfully accomplished 
 with separate letters, on account of their small size, but the attempt 
 would be most natural. There is no known instance of separate 
 wooden types having been used by any early printers, but in certain 
 
 editions of the "Speculum" we dis- 
 tinctly find metal movable types, 
 with the woodcuts printed in one 
 coloured ink, and the text in another. 
 The types bear plain evidence that 
 they were cast, but in an extremely 
 rude way, showing a much more 
 imperfect method of casting than 
 appears in the German Indulgence 
 of 1454 (which is the earliest known 
 date of any printed piece), or the 
 first books of the Mayence printers. 
 There are also numerous fragments 
 of the Donatus, of the Doctrinale, 
 and of Catho, in various editions, 
 and in cast types. The language of 
 some, as well as the shape of the 
 letters in all, show that these were, 
 
 &0 
 
 
 ;i^:.T 
 
 Etna 
 
 "IMAGE OF PITY." (WOOD BLOCK AND TYl'E.) 
 
 without doubt, produced in the Low Countries, although they are all, 
 as was natural for such unimportant books, without any printer's name 
 and without the year of production, thus rendering it difficult to assign 
 to them an unimpeachable date. 
 
 After much study I cannot help thinking that Holland was not 
 only the birthplace of these Donatuses, etc., but that they gave the 
 starting idea to the Mayence school of printers. The notice of the
 
 14 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 invention of Printing written at Cologne from the mouth of the earliest 
 printer in that city, one who had learnt his art from the first printers 
 at Mayence, seems decisive. The Chronicler, who wrote in 1499, 
 states that Ulric Zell told him as follows: — 
 
 (1) "Item: This most revered Art was discovered first of all at Mentz in Germany, 
 and it is a great honour to the German nation that men so ingenious were there found. 
 This was in the year of our Lord 1440. From that time until the year 1450 the Art and 
 the things pertaining to it were greatly improved, and in this year men began to print, 
 and the first book so printed was the Bible in Latin, the character of which was larger 
 than that now in use for mass-books. 
 
 (2) "Item: Although this Art was discovered at Mentz in the manner now com- 
 monly used, yet its first prefiguration was found in Holland, in the Donatuses which had 
 been already printed there. From these Donatuses was derived the origin of this Art, 
 
 which is now more masterly and clever than before, and far more ingenious 
 
 The first inventor of Printing was a citizen of Mentz, born in Strasbourg, and called 
 John Gutenberg. 
 
 (3) "Item: From Mentz the Art was first taken to Cologne, thence to Strasbourg, 
 and thence to Venice. This beginning and progress of the Art was told me by that 
 worthy man, Master Ulric Zell, of Hainault, Printer, of Cologne, in this present year, 
 1499, by whom indeed the Art was first brought into that city." 
 
 Similar evidence is given by Mariangelus Accursius, an Italian 
 writer of the fifteenth century, who, while attributing the invention of 
 types as then used to Fust and Schceffer at Mayence, says that the 
 idea was certainly taken originally from the Donatuses printed in 
 Holland. 
 
 Now these " Items" are quite distinct in idea. The first tells us 
 that Printing was invented at Mayence, and goes on to particularise 
 what the writer means by Printing, viz.: a Latin Bible in large type. 
 The second qualifies the first by saying that " this Art," which, of 
 course, means the same art as was used for the Bible, was prefigured 
 by Donatuses printed in Holland, but that |ohn Gutenberg's invention 
 was more masterly and skilful than the Dutch method. The third tells
 
 Genesis. 1 5 
 
 us how the Art spread, and the writer's authority tor his statements. 
 We are here face to face with a plain statement which, to my mind, 
 settles the point. The Dutch had already types cast in that rough and 
 ready manner familiar to all of us who have studied the wonderful 
 fac-simile plates in Holtrop's " Monuments Typographiques," or the 
 " Principia Typographica " of Sotheby. Gutenberg, according to this 
 account, commenced his study of typography in 1440, but it was 1450 
 before he had so far improved in his method of casting letters that he- 
 could venture to begin upon his great Bible. 
 
 How these ten years were spent, and how near to 1450 it was 
 before the sight of Dutch Donatuses gave the final impulse to his 
 genius, we shall probably never know. 
 
 Dr. Van cler Linde and other writers who agree with him main- 
 tain that the Cologne Chronicler must have referred to xylographic, 
 i.e., block-book, Donatuses, and that the sight of such works developed 
 in the mind of Gutenberg the idea of movable types. Unfortunately 
 for this argument there is not a single Dutch block-book Donatus 
 known, while there are nineteen different editions of early type-printed 
 Dutch Donatuses already catalogued — a number which is being increased 
 every year. Why, too, if Gutenburg derived his inspiration from the 
 sight of a Donatus cut in wood, did he ignore those of his own 
 country, which were before his eyes, in order to gain his impulse from 
 non-existent Dutch ones ? 
 
 It is an important bibliographical fact that forty-seven different 
 books, or fragments of books, exist, printed with eight different founts 
 of type, all Dutch in origin, all without any name, date, or place, 
 nearly all discovered in the bindings of fifteenth century manuscript or 
 printed books, thirty-three of them on vellum, and four of them printed 
 on one side only. What can we do with this interesting regiment of 
 incunabula ? To make them later than, or even contemporaneous with,
 
 1 6 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 the earliest dated Dutch books seems impossible : we might as well 
 attribute the language of the Canterbury Tales to the reign of good 
 Queen Bess ; but place them about 1450 and onwards, and they take 
 rank naturally. 
 
 We will here notice one of the chief causes of the many and 
 contradictory accounts of the origin of printing. It is the natural 
 tendency of all writers to Hero-worship. The value of a central figure 
 around which may be grouped the features of a story is fully appreciated 
 by all authors : it strengthens the weak and adds vigour to the strong. 
 This bias is recognised in the world's earliest records. Honour and 
 glory, often semi-divine, are attributed to the inventor. For the dis- 
 covery of letters we must have a Cadmus ; Apollo first made harmony ; 
 Moses, according to Vergil, originated trumpets ; Vulcan, iron weapons ; 
 Noah, ships — and so on. And so, Dutchmen who claimed the invention 
 of printing for Holland found the embodiment of it in Coster; Germans, 
 for a similar reason, revere Gutenberg ; and Italians, their countryman 
 Castaldi. The Hero obtained, definite records and historical particulars 
 group themselves around him, and thus with a few personal details an 
 impression of truthfulness is given to the story which carries conviction 
 to the reader's mind, while at the same time artistic requirements are 
 satisfied. 
 
 The duty of the historian and critic is to separate judiciously the 
 kernel of truth from the husk, by which in the course of time it is sure 
 to be surrounded — to preserve carefully the one and reject the other. 
 
 Although I think we must look to Holland for the earliest 
 specimens of typography, it does not follow that we must believe all 
 the story as given by Junius. There is no reason to doubt he gave 
 the account of Coster as he received and believed it ; and his was 
 not an age in which criticism was expected, or was able to separate 
 husk from kernel.
 
 (iciicsis. 
 
 '7 
 
 STATUE of coster. (From Zeis.)
 
 1 8 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 If we suppose the Cologne Chronicler of 1499 to have misunder- 
 stood his informant as to the Dutch " prefigu ration " ; or if the Laurenz 
 Janszoon Coster of Junius and the Haarlem Archives was perfectly 
 innocent of any typographical proclivities, it still leaves the Costeriana 
 to be accounted for ; and it is these silent witnesses, dug out from the 
 earliest strata of typographical deposits, which by their evidence should 
 determine the vexed question. 
 
 It is, however, necessary to know the story which was current 
 when Junius wrote, and we therefore give it as the accepted truth in 
 his time : — 
 
 "There lived, about 1440, at Haarlem, in the market-place opposite the Town 
 Hall, in a respectable house, still in existence, a man named Laurens Janszoon Coster, i.e., 
 Laurence, son of John Coster. The family name was derived from the hereditary office 
 of Sacristan or Coster of the Church — a post both honourable and lucrative. The town 
 archives give evidence of this, his name appearing therein many times, and in the Town 
 Hall are preserved his seal and signature to various documents. To this man belongs the 
 honour of inventing Printing — an honour of which he was unjustly robbed, and which 
 afterwards was ascribed to another. The said Laurence Coster, one day after dinner, 
 took a walk in the wood near Haarlem. While there, to amuse himself, he began to cut 
 letters out of some beech-bark. The idea struck him to ink some of these letters and 
 use them as stamps. This he did to amuse his grand-children, cutting them in reverse. 
 He thus formed two or three sentences on paper. The idea germinated, and soon, with 
 the assistance of his son-in-law, and by using a thick ink, he began to print whole pages, 
 and to add lines of print to the Block-books, the text of which was the most difficult part 
 to engrave. Junius had such a book, called ' Spieghel onzer Behoudenisse.' It should 
 have been said that Coster was descended from the noble house of Brederode, and that 
 his son-in-law was also of noble descent. Coster's first efforts were of course very rude, 
 and to hide the impressions of the letters on the back, they pasted the leaves, which had 
 one side not printed, together. His letters at first were made of lead, which he afterwards 
 changed for tin. Upon his death these letters were melted down and made into wine- 
 pots, which at the time when Junius wrote were still preserved in the house of 
 Gerrit Thomaszoon, the grandson of Coster. Public curiosity was greatly excited by 
 Coster's discovery, and he gained much profit from his new process. His trade, indeed, 
 so increased that he was obliged to employ several workmen, one of whom was named
 
 Genesis. 
 
 19 
 
 John. Some say this was John Faust, afterwards a partner with Gutenberg, and others 
 say he was Gutenberg's brother. This man when he had learnt the Art in all its 
 branches, took the opportunity one Christmas eve, when all good people are accustomed 
 to attend Church, to break into the rooms used for printing, and to pack up and steal all 
 the tools and appliances which his master, with so much care and ingenuity, had made, 
 lie went off by Amsterdam and Cologne to Mayence, where he at once opened a 
 workshop and reaped rich fruit from this theft, producing several printed books. The 
 accuracy of this story was attested by a respectable bookbinder, of great age but clear 
 
 COSTER COMMEMORATION MEDAL, 1856. ( From a Medal ill the Author's Collection. ) 
 
 memory, named Cornelis, who had been a fellow servant with the culprit in the 
 house of Coster, and indeed had occupied the same bed for several months, and 
 who could never talk of such baseness without shedding tears and cursing the 
 thief." 
 
 While giving Junius all credit for recounting this story as he found 
 it handed down by tradition, we must be careful not to take it too 
 literally. Stories of this kind although founded on fact, always grow by 
 
 11 2
 
 20 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 repetition. The central truths illuminated by the Cologne Chronicle seem 
 to be : ( i . ) The discovery of movable letters was a growth from small 
 beginnings. (2.) The country was Holland and the place probably 
 Haarlem. (3.) Gutenberg derived his ideas of printing from Holland. 
 
 Let us now expound the claims of Gutenberg as gathered from 
 undoubted evidence and facts. 
 
 John Gutenberg is a real man in history. He was born at Mentz 
 in 1399, and some members of his family are known. Several docu- 
 ments testify to his existence, but the first which by possibility connects 
 him with printing is an action at law brought against him by a man 
 named Dritzehen in 1439 to recover a loan of money. The original 
 text of this document, unfortunately, cannot be verified, having been 
 destroyed at the siege of Strasbourg. 
 
 Numerous witnesses gave evidence which showed Gutenberg as 
 practising several arts by which he made money, one of which was a 
 great secret carried on by him in a ruined convent near Strasbourg. 
 Here he was surprised at his work by his creditors, to whom at last he 
 divulged his secret, making partners of them. Some curious particulars 
 of tools and four pieces of wood to form a press are given in the 
 depositions, and apparently refer to experiments connected with print- 
 ing. The want of capital to carry on his experiments is also very 
 evident. Andrew Dritzehen had helped him for some time, but died 
 before success crowned their efforts. Gutenberg then tried to obtain 
 possession of all the materials which Andrew Dritzehen had left, but 
 his partners stepped in and took them, although they were not 
 sufficiently instructed to make any use of them. This action went 
 against Gutenberg, who, now much impoverished, sold the last remain- 
 ing portion of his paternal estate. Again and again he had to borrow 
 money, and in 1450 entered into a five-years' partnership with John 
 Fust, each to have half the profits of the business.
 
 Genesis. 2 1 
 
 As time rolled on and nothing satisfactory resulted, Fust took 
 advantage of his legal powers, and by a lawsuit to recover his loan 
 compelled Gutenberg, in November, 1455, to give up all the printing 
 plant, which he conveyed away, and with the assistance of Peter 
 Schceffer, who married Fust's daughter, started a printing-office on 
 his own account. Gutenberg, deprived of all his material and without 
 money, but not disheartened, now found a new friend in Conrad 
 Homery, Syndic of Mentz, with whose help new types and presses 
 were made. Misfortune and debt still pursued him, and had not the 
 materials been the property of Homery, he would have been again 
 deprived of them. In 1460 the book known as the "Catholicon" was 
 printed, and several other small books. The city of Mentz was sacked 
 in 1462 and its trade entirely destroyed. The next we hear of 
 Gutenberg is his appointment in 1465 to be one of the gentlemen 
 of the Court to Adolphus II, in whose service he remained till his 
 death, about 1468. Gutenberg's types were removed to Eltville, 
 where his relatives, Henry and Nicholas Bechtermunze, printed with 
 them in 1467. 
 
 The weak part of Gutenberg's case is that only in the year 1462 
 do we first meet with any mention of him as a printer, and that mention 
 not in Germany but in Paris. This interesting reference was dis- 
 covered by the Librarian of the Basle City Library, who examining a 
 copy of " Gasparini Pergamensis Orthographia " preserved in the 
 Heylin collection found a unique Prologue from the pen of Heylin 
 the donor. The book, as is well known, was printed at the Sorbonne 
 Press, Paris, in 1470, and the portion of the Prologue which is of 
 most interest to us reads thus : — 
 
 " .... I imagine that the friends of literature will receive great benefit from 
 the Art invented by the new sort of Printers, who in these our days have (like the warriors 
 from the Trojan Horse) issued from the womb of Germany and scattered themselves 
 abroad.
 
 22 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 " In this country (France) the story is, that a certain John Gutenberg, not far from 
 Mayence, was the first inventor of the printing art, by means of which books are made, 
 not with a reed as of old, nor with a pen, as in our days, but with metal letters, and that 
 rapidly, evenly, and elegantly." 
 
 Then after noticing the divine honours bestowed upon Bacchus 
 and Ceres for endowing mankind with the kindly fruits of the earth, 
 he adds : — 
 
 " Gutenberg has made a discovery still more fruitful and more divine for he has 
 discovered a way by which letters may be engraved and by their means all that can be 
 thought and spoken is at once reproduced and so passed on to posterity." 
 
 The remainder, though in praise of the new art, adds nothing to 
 this testimony. 
 
 Here then we may leave the vexed problem of the Genesis of 
 Printing. 
 
 It requires but a slight examination of the early Donatuses, 
 whether Dutch or German, to be convinced that whatever the means 
 adopted to make the types, they were quite dissimilar to those adopted 
 at a later date. We shall probably never know the slow degrees by 
 which the punch, matrix and type-mould were brought to perfection. 
 The old types, apparently 15th century, described later in our chapter 
 on " Leviticus," prove that in a most essential particular, viz., the 
 regular height of each letter, there was great inferiority. But, although 
 the crude method of casting in the 15th century was undoubtedly 
 perfected by later generations, one thing is certain that the whole 
 dispute concerning the invention of Typography as a development of, 
 though distinct from, Printing, would be settled by a reply to the simple 
 question: When' and by whom were the first movable types cast? 
 
 This question has become very involved, and has evoked so much 
 bad feeling, been darkened by so many forgeries on all sides, and has 
 roused such fierce national jealousy, that the necessary labour of 
 sifting the true from the untrue is a thankless and wearisome task.
 
 EXODUS. 
 
 Tbeii sound is gone out into all lands.
 
 EXODUS 
 
 IN these days of rapid inter-communication every good invention 
 becomes public property in a very short time. Not so in the 
 fifteenth century. Typography did not spread rapidly for many 
 years after its birth. The workmen were probably bound to secrecy, 
 and the Press itself had to create work for itself by educating a 
 public up to the reading point. Indeed, so restricted was the sale 
 of books at first, that in a commercial sense the profits were very poor. 
 In October, 1462, one printing-house at Mayence was at work, 
 under Fust and Schceffer, who are supposed to have had many 
 workmen in their service. It is not known for certain that Gutenberg, 
 who a little later was printing at Eltville, had at that time a press 
 in the same city : probably he had. Pfister at the same time was 
 printing in Bamberg, and Mentelin and Eggestein at Strasbourg. 
 Besides these we know no other presses then existing, and not much 
 had yet been issued from these four put together. Bernard, indeed, 
 says that several neighbouring towns had established printing-presses, 
 although of this there is really no proof. But the captivity of the 
 young giant was soon to end, for, in the month and year just stated, 
 the famous city of Mayence, which had become the battlefield for 
 two opposing archbishops, was captured by Adolphus of Nassau and
 
 26 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 given up to pillage. From a flourishing city it became a half-burnt, 
 forsaken ruin, and all who could, deserted it. Schaab gives a fearful 
 account of the devastation and fire which befel this once populous 
 city. Fust and Schceffer's printing-office was burnt down, masters 
 and workmen were driven away. This Exodus of practical Printers 
 formed an epoch in the history of the Art. Presses were soon 
 established by the fugitives in Cologne, Rome, Augsburg, Nurem- 
 berg, and other places. In Cologne, especially, typography took 
 deep root and flourished. Here Ulric Zell, who had learnt the 
 art under Peter Schceffer, established a press, which proved very 
 prolific. It was one of Z ell's workmen who, in 1499, penned the 
 remarkable statement about Germany having taken the first idea of 
 printing from the Donatuses of Holland. Zell's first dated book bears 
 the year 1466 ; but as nearly all his books were issued without any 
 date, it is more than probable he began two or three years earlier. 
 His types are bold and easily recognised; they are of three sizes, 
 and all of the same style. A few years later several other printers 
 were at work in the same city, which, by the end of the century, 
 boasted of a considerable number of presses, that of Arnold Ther 
 Hoernen being the best known. 
 
 In 1469 printing found its way to Nuremberg, where Henri 
 Keffer, one of the original Mentz printers, joined in partnership 
 with Jean Sensenschmidt, and published many books. Frederich 
 Creussner was another Nuremberg printer of whose works many 
 have survived ; but the most celebrated was Anthony Coburger, one 
 of the greatest and most artistic printers of the fifteenth century, who 
 kept twenty-four presses going in this city, besides branch establish- 
 ments at Basle and Lyons. In this town, too, was produced, in 1 5 1 7, 
 a piece of work, the technical peculiarities of which it has puzzled even 
 printers and type-founders to understand. This was the celebrated 
 " Theurdanck," a beautifully illustrated book printed for the Emperor
 
 Exodus. 2 7 
 
 Maximilian, by Melchior Pfinzig, in which the flourishes and orna- 
 mentation rise or fall from one line to another in a manner apparently 
 irreconcilable with types which must be cast in a mould. The typo- 
 graphical curiosities of this book are indeed most interesting, and 
 afford evidence of skill in typefounding, which could only have been 
 developed where Imperial funds were used for the education of both 
 punch-cutters and typefounders. From that time until lately, no such 
 work has issued from any printing-office. In Germany, however, 
 and in America, the modern typefounders have in the last few years 
 shown capabilities of combination in well devised types, which prove 
 that were the " Theurdanck " to be placed in their hands to-day for 
 reproduction, they could not only equal, but even excel that wonderful 
 effort of the sixteenth century. 
 
 Berthold Rot, of Hanau, one of Gutenberg's workmen, carried 
 the art to Basle, and set up his press before 146S; and six years later 
 there were three printing-houses at work in that city. 
 
 A press was established in Augsburg, about 1469, by Gunther 
 Zainer, who came from Strasbourg, and had the credit of being among 
 the first to introduce the Roman character into Germany. 
 
 The City of Spire received printing in 1471, and speedily became 
 famous, sending out in her turn several pioneer printers. 
 
 In Italy the first press was erected in the monastery of Subiaco, 
 a few miles from Rome, by two workmen, Sweynheym and Pannartz, 
 whose earliest work bears the date 1465. In 1467 the same printers 
 moved to Rome, where they soon became famous for their editions of 
 the classics, which were published with remarkable speed one after 
 another. Here, of course, the types used were Roman ; that shape 
 being as natural to Italy as the Gothic types to other countries. Had 
 the sale of their books been at all commensurate with the rapidity of 
 
 e 2
 
 28 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 their production, all would have been well, but at the end of five years 
 the two printers found themselves burdened with heavy stocks of unsold 
 books, and with empty purses, while several rival printers had erected 
 presses in the same city. They appealed to the Pope for assistance, 
 but with what success is unknown. Neither of them battled much 
 longer with the ills of this life, Death claiming both printers in 1477, 
 just as our Caxton was starting in his typographical career. 
 
 After Rome, the Printing-press travelled to Venice, where Jean de 
 Spire introduced the new art in 1469. His name, however, was soon 
 overshadowed by the renown of two celebrated typographers, Nicholas 
 Jenson and Christopher Valdarfer, whose beautiful Roman types were 
 much admired. Vindelin of Spire, brother of Jean, also was a famous 
 printer in the same city. 
 
 Lucca, Foligno, Milan, and Florence received printing early, but 
 there is no space to add particulars. 
 
 Considering the pre-eminent position held by Paris and its 
 celebrated University in the fifteenth century, it is somewhat remark- 
 able that printing did not take root in France until the year 1 47 1 . 
 Printed books from other cities, however, were not uncommon, having 
 been sold there continuously for nine years from the time that Fust 
 brought the first printed Bible to Paris in 1462, and when Schceffer 
 in 1468 sold there an edition of Cicero. 
 
 At last Guillaume Fichet, who was Rector of the Sorbonne, and, 
 although by birth a German, was anxious to see some of his own 
 writings printed by the new method, joining with Jean Heynlin, a 
 Swiss, and professor at the same University, sent to Switzerland for 
 workmen to start a printing-office in Paris. Three men, Ulric Gering, 
 Michael Friburger, and Martin Cranz, all of Basle, answered to the call, 
 and after occupying a year in preparation, completed the first book ever
 
 Exodus. 
 
 29 
 
 printed on French soil, in the precincts of the famous Sorbonne. It 
 was entitled " Gasparini Pergamensis Epistola;," a work celebrated 
 
 Portrait qv Ulric Gering. (From Philippe.') 
 
 for the classical beauty of its style, to which Fichet added an intro- 
 ductory chapter. After an edition of " Sallust " and the " Orationes
 
 30 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 Bessarionis" came Fichet's own work, " Rhetorical Ficheti." Of this 
 he appears to have been very proud. He took great pains to have 
 several copies carefully printed on vellum for presents, which were 
 splendidly illuminated, and to each he added a specially printed preface 
 written by himself, and suited to some particular recipient, so that in 
 this respect each copy was unique. These copies were presented to the 
 French King, to the Pope, to Edward IV of England, and a few other 
 distinguished personages, whose names are all detailed in the interesting 
 history of Parisian printing lately issued by M. J. Philippe. 
 
 After nearly three years' work, and when thirty books had been 
 published, half in quarto and half in folio, with an average of seventy- 
 two pages to each, the expense was found too heavy, and in December, 
 1472, the Sorbonne Press was relinquished. 
 
 It is curious to notice with reference to the earliest press of France, 
 that the first Printers there were not Frenchmen, and that they printed 
 their earliest books in Roman type ; that the first twelve books printed 
 in France were not in the French tongue ; and the very first book 
 issued in the French tongue was not printed in France. The first 
 book, indeed, printed in English, and the first book printed in French, 
 issued from the same press, that of Colard Mansion of Bruges. 
 The English book was "The Recuyell of the Histories of Troye" and 
 the French, " Le Recueil des Histoires de Troye." Both are undated, 
 but were probably printed in 1474. 
 
 The Sorbonne Press having ceased work in 1472, Gering 
 with his associates, started a fresh printing-house on their own 
 account, two of their workmen doing the same. These men, 
 by adapting themselves to the times, and printing, not classics 
 in Roman type for a few scholars, but works popular with all who 
 could read, succeeded well. These books were printed in a 
 picturesque Gothic type made in imitation of the manuscript books to
 
 Exodus. 3 1 
 
 which French readers were accustomed. About 1477 Gering's associates 
 retired, and he was joined by a printer named Maynyal. To Englishmen 
 this is a fact of some interest, as it was to this same Maynyal that 
 William Caxton applied when he wanted help to print a Sarum Missal 
 in 1484. In this missal Caxton's trade mark appeared for the first time. 
 
 The Netherlands did not receive the new art until 1473 ; and, as 
 if to make up for lost time, presses were erected at Alost, Utrecht, and 
 Louvain, all in the same year. There is a beautiful statue in the city 
 of Alost to Thierry Martens, who first printed there. In Louvain the 
 well-known typefounder and printer, John Veldener, began work in 
 1473, and in consequence of the great similarity of his types to those 
 of Caxton he is supposed by some bibliographers to have supplied 
 England with the first printing materials used there. Veldener left 
 Louvain in 1478 to print at Utrecht. 
 
 In Brussels the press was erected in a monastery, where " The 
 Brothers of Common Life" printed from 1476 to 1487. The city of 
 Bruges has a special interest for English bibliographers, as it was there 
 that for thirty years William Caxton resided. Here Colard Mansion 
 started a press about 1473, although the earliest date in any of his 
 books is 1475. More particulars of this printer and his connection 
 with the first English press will be given when narrating the story of 
 Caxton's life. In Gouda, Gerard Leeu, also a friend of William 
 Caxton, began to print in 1477. Antwerp did not see a printing-press 
 until 1482, while Leyden and Ghent waited until 1483. Haarlem itself 
 cannot show a book with a printed date earlier than 14S3, but, as 
 shown in the previous chapter, the probability is that printing was 
 practised there much earlier. 
 
 In forming opinions upon debatable points in early printed books, 
 much caution is necessary, and the more one studies the earliest 
 specimens the greater becomes the conviction that all dogmatic
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 assertion not founded on positive dates should be avoided. Yet, before 
 leaving the Netherlands, it may be well to draw attention to some points 
 which ought to receive consideration with reference to the source from 
 which the Netherland printers obtained their typographical knowledge. 
 In a book intended for popular reading, technical peculiarities would be 
 tedious ; but to anyone practically acquainted with type-printing it is 
 very difficult to believe that the early Netherland books, say the Colard 
 Mansions and the Veldeners, could have been produced by men who 
 had learnt to print from disciples of the Gutenberg School. 
 
 The books of Ulric Zell of Cologne show, typographically 
 speaking, ways of working superior to and differing from the books 
 of Caxton and Mansion ; and it is against all probability that the 
 Netherland printers, after learning their art in such a school would, 
 upon returning to their own country, have adopted customs and habits 
 of printing belonging to an early and imperfect state of the art, which 
 they could never have seen in the workshops of their instructors. 
 That the early specimens of Dutch printing shown with such wonderful 
 accuracy in Holtrop's " Monuments Typographiques " could have been 
 true descendants of the Mayence Psalter and Gutenberg Bible, is 
 more difficult to believe than the origination of a Dutch school of 
 typography which was improved by and merged into the German 
 school. 
 
 The Exodus of the Press and its journeyings through the principal 
 cities of Europe having been thus recorded, we have now especially 
 to narrate the circumstances in which it took root and ilourished in 
 Great Britain. 
 
 Although some of the older writers throw doubt upon the priority 
 of William Caxton's press in England, there is now a general consensus 
 of opinion that the claims of Oxford to have had a Press in 1468
 
 Exodus. 3 3 
 
 cannot be sustained. To state and refute these claims, which are 
 founded entirely on a typographical blunder in the printing of a date, 
 would occupy too much space. It will therefore be better at once to 
 trace the career of the Westminster Press. 
 
 William Caxton was not born in 141 2, as nearly all his biographers 
 assert, but about ten or twelve years later, as we learn from the records 
 preserved at Mercers' Hall, Cheapside. His name is there inscribed as 
 having been apprenticed in the year 1438. His birthplace was some- 
 where in the Weald of Kent, perhaps at a place called Caustons, near 
 Hadlow. His father sent him to school — by no means a usual experience 
 for lads in the fifteenth century — for which in his after-age he was deeply 
 grateful. He was apprenticed at the age of twelve or fourteen to a 
 wealthy mercer, a fact which, at a time when class prejudices were very 
 strong, shows that his family were connected with the merchant princes 
 of London. After a few years his master, Robert Large, died, and as 
 Caxton's name, when he issued from his apprenticeship, does not 
 appear in the Mercers' books, there is little doubt that he went abroad. 
 In 1446 we find his name mentioned in the town records preserved at 
 Bruges, where he was considered sufficient security for a sum equal to 
 £1 io. In 1453 he paid a visit to London, and took up his livery in the 
 Mercers' Company. Ten years later he had raised himself to the highest 
 honour an English merchant could attain abroad — that of Governor of 
 the Merchant Adventurers in the Low Countries. Here he had great 
 responsibilities, and was consulted and employed by the English 
 Government in various matters connected with trade in those parts. 
 In 1468 the Princess Margaret, sister of our Edward IV, was married 
 to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, at Bruges. Here Caxton 
 would be brought into friendly intercourse with the nobles of the 
 English Court, many of whom took refuge there when King Edward, 
 in 1470, was driven from his kingdom. Several treaties about trade 
 between England and the Burgundian dominions were ratified about
 
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 MANUSCRIPT, WRITTEN AT BRUGES, CIRC. I472.
 
 Exodus. 3 5 
 
 this time, in which Caxton took a leading part. In Bruges at this 
 period there were magnificent libraries, consisting almost entirely of 
 illuminated manuscripts ; and no doubt a few books from the German 
 presses, which we know were selling at Paris, were to be had at Bruges 
 also. In these literary treasure-houses Caxton would be able to indulge 
 that taste for books which was a prominent feature in his character. 
 He became known to the Duchess, and from some cause which at 
 present has not been discovered, resigned his post of Governor, and 
 entered into her service. Whatever were the duties he undertook for 
 the Duchess, his position was one of honour and trust, requiring his 
 personal attendance upon her. Two causes may have influenced 
 Caxton in retiring from his post of Governor. Reckoning from a 
 lawsuit in which his married daughter was engaged in 1496, she would 
 then have been twenty-six years of age, had her father married in 1469. 
 As a married man he could not be a merchant in a foreign city, 
 foreigners abroad as well as in England living a monastic life. Thus 
 marriage may have been the moving cause. Added to this, the duties 
 of Governor compelled him to make frequent journeys to other cities, 
 and the occupation of so arduous a post for many years would naturally 
 make him wish for relief and quietude. 
 
 Whatever the cause, his retirement gave him leisure to indulge his 
 literary tastes, and he set to work to translate into English a French 
 novel, which was then (1469) much admired in the Burgundian Court. It 
 was a medley of Roman mythology mixed with Gothic knight-errantry 
 and love adventures. Its title was " The Recuyell (collection) of the 
 Histories of Troy," and the fact that it held its place in the popular 
 esteem for at least two centuries later, shows us that it stood high in 
 public opinion. After translating a few sheets, Caxton put it on one 
 side, but "on a time," when conversing with the Duchess, he showed 
 his attempt to her. This was in 1469. She commanded him at once 
 to finish the translation, which he appears to have taken two years to 
 
 F 2
 
 36 
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 accomplish, continuing it, as he himself tells us, in Ghent, and finishing 
 it at Cologne. And here it is important to notice that in both those 
 
 supposed portrait of caxton. (From Lewis 
 
 cities there is no question of his learning printing. All he mentions 
 about himself refers to the translation alone. This brings us to
 
 Exodus. 3 7 
 
 1472-3. The new book, patronised by the Duchess and the Court, 
 was soon in greater demand among the courtiers than Caxton could 
 possibly supply by manuscript. He was tired of so much writing, and 
 naturally his mind turned to the new Art of Printing, specimens oi 
 which he had probably examined. Just at this time Colard Mansion, a 
 
 ~$)at) t£)epof ifcteixfyibtfyvbttfyt tefolunon of 
 
 fatume t§ep oxuvc &xt(p aBaJYfyb? . ffoz tyiy 
 
 finctue Tb «£P ifyat faiurnc to$< tfyie maitv jjtcf 
 
 Ip to §ie fctrft , attb? ifyat fjz itoae a isvt^Blk matj to of/ 
 
 (tnte. 2inb2 fo t^«p 6ne*lK ityat a&ronjdffuCIp fy -XJopb 
 
 tofye CbzbfBtp Bp fji* yroVotflft * variance i S^Atx? 
 t^crimtttfjafcx&cntrtjfoan ot^crftpntfchonj &<nu/e 
 tf)cp OfcoCoj not & Ofcri^ t§« fnber ap«n(? t§« fon« no.' 
 Itoittfttyifont apen/ftfj* fubec/Bw^cr it>40 nomaij 
 t£)af bur(?c fie fo fctbp to wpBc ncjap) fafurnc n«r fat* 
 t§at Op bifcc cu^ff/fcu tf)«p bwbo? moic §i<5 ptc t^an fo 
 offatix faffyce . Ob#it ($aff ^ f a V * fl f feL ' *9 C comanbe^ 
 mint of fatuvnt/tcfymat) smt^btsXtu %tn vnto §te 
 #>utf fuff of cftcfe *wty Bttfcr fozolfce tt; $#te. %nty tf)cc 
 Itta* not ooi) mat) Butffc ^ab2 §10 fbcc c^ar^ti? atntf^ 
 £vcfe £rt<f anb? p«faunt anoyance %tf ::. 
 
 FROM "THE RECUYEI.L OF THE HISTORIES OK TROYE," I474. (CaxtOll's Type. No. I.) 
 
 citizen of Bruges, had erected a printing-press in a large room over 
 the church porch of St. Donatus, and to him went Caxton. Colard 
 Mansion set to work, Caxton helping him with money, and learning 
 at the same time the new art and mystery. So it was that about 
 1474-5 the book was completed and a copy presented to the Duchess.
 
 38 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 This was the turning point in Caxton's career ; for although he 
 did not immediately leave his Royal mistress's service, he spent some 
 time in mastering the new art, and then, with a quantity of newly-cast 
 types, made his way to England. There seems to have been no special 
 reason why Caxton should choose Westminster as the locality of his 
 printing-office. There was no Scriptorium in the Abbey, and the 
 Abbot does not seem to have held towards him any other relationship 
 than that of landlord, leasing to him a tenement in the Almonry, just 
 where the Guards' Memorial now stands. Here Caxton settled down 
 and worked for at least fifteen years. His first book which bears a 
 date is "The Dictes and Sayinges of the Philosophers," finished in 
 November, 1477. Upon the strength of this date the Caxton Ouar- 
 centenary Festival was held in 1877; but there can be no doubt that 
 he printed many books of which no copies remain, some of which were 
 doubtless earlier than the " Dictes." 
 
 Unlike some of the French and Italian printers who ruined them- 
 selves by printing classical books, Caxton began with small pamphlets, 
 and short pieces of poetry by Lydgate and Chaucer. These were soon 
 followed by books of greater pretence, historical, poetical, and religious. 
 The most imposing book from Caxton's press was " The Golden 
 Legend," a thick and large folio volume, full of rude woodcuts, and 
 narrating the lives of all the Saints in the English calendar. In trans- 
 lating, editing, and printing, Caxton spent the remaining years of his 
 life, and at a ripe old age was buried in St. Margaret's, Westminster, 
 in the year 149 1. 
 
 His character was that of a pious, diligent, and educated man, 
 who, without aiming very high, led the life of an honest and useful 
 merchant. He never foresaw, any more than his contemporaries, the 
 wonderful capabilities and future strength of that printing-press which 
 was to bring so many blessings to his native country. His successor
 
 X 
 
 o 
 
 w 
 
 D 
 
 Pi 
 
 w 
 
 a! 
 D 
 H 
 
 J 
 
 < 
 H 
 
 w 
 
 w
 
 40 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 was Wynken de Worde, one of the founders of the Stationers' 
 Company, a workman who, while quite young, came over with Caxton, 
 and was a prolific printer for years after his master's death. The 
 well-known printers, Pynson and Machlinia, had also worked under 
 Caxton. 
 
 The city of Oxford was the next after Westminster in which 
 the printing-press was erected in England. The first book printed 
 there, the " Exposicio sancti Hieronymi," is, indeed, dated 1468, but 
 it is not worth while producing the reasons which have led all 
 modern bibliographers to agree that an "x" has been omitted in the 
 date, and that the real year was 1478. Rood and Hunte, who were 
 the first Oxford printers, were Germans, and their books are very 
 different from those of the Bruges and Westminster presses. 
 
 Cambridge, the sister University, had no press until 152 1, when 
 John Siberch printed there. 
 
 The only other press in England to be noticed in the fifteenth 
 century is that of St. Albans, where a schoolmaster turned typo- 
 grapher in 1480, and printed for a few years. His most noted work 
 was "The Boke of Hawking and Huntyng, and Cote armor." 
 
 Considering the close connection of Scotland with France, it 
 is rather surprising that printing did not reach that country earlier 
 than 1504. In that year Androw Millar began to print some ballads. 
 
 Ireland did not receive printing until the year 1 55 1 , when 
 Humphrey Powell printed a prayer book. 
 
 In the New World the first City to receive a Printing-press 
 was Mexico, where Cromberger worked in 1540. In the North, 
 Stephen Daye erected a Press at Cambridge, Mass., in 1638.
 
 Exodus. 
 
 4' 
 
 The Latin names of towns are frequently seen on the title-pages 
 of early books ; and as these are extremely puzzling to young biblio- 
 graphers, the following short list of those most likely to be met with 
 may be found useful : — 
 
 Alta Villa 
 
 Etville 
 
 Amstelaedamum 
 
 Amsterdam 
 
 Antverpia 
 
 Antwerp 
 
 Argentina \ 
 Argentoratum 1 
 
 Strasburg 
 
 Athense Rauracse 
 
 Basle 
 
 Augusta Vindelicorum 
 
 Augsburg 
 
 Bononia 
 
 Bologna 
 
 Brixia 
 
 Breschia 
 
 Bruxellaa 
 
 Brussels 
 
 Cantabrigia ... 
 
 Cambridge 
 
 Colonia Agrippina ... 
 
 Cologne 
 
 Daventria 
 
 Deventer 
 
 Delphi 
 
 Delft 
 
 Duacum 
 
 Douay 
 
 Eblana 
 
 Dublin 
 
 Erfordia 
 
 Erfuhrt 
 
 Florentia j 
 Firenze i 
 
 Florence 
 
 Francofurtum 
 
 Frankfort 
 
 Gandavuni j 
 Gand ) " 
 
 Ghent 
 
 Hafnia 
 
 Copenhagen 
 
 Haga Comitum 
 
 The Hague 
 
 Hispalis 
 
 Seville 
 
 Holmia 
 
 Stockholm 
 
 Leida ... 
 
 Leyden 
 
 Lipsia... 
 
 Leipzig 
 
 Lovanium 
 
 Louvain 
 
 Lugdunum 
 
 Lyons 
 
 Lugdunum Batavorum.. 
 
 I >eyden 
 
 Lutetia 
 
 Paris 
 
 Mediolanum ... 
 
 Milan 
 
 Moguntia 
 
 Mayence 
 
 Moscua 
 
 Moscow 
 
 Nannetes 
 
 Nantes 
 
 Neapolis 
 
 Naples 
 
 Norimberga 
 
 Nuremberg 
 
 Oxonia 
 
 Oxford 
 
 Patavium 
 
 Padua 
 
 Rostochium 
 
 Rostock 
 
 Roterodamum 
 
 Rotterdam 
 
 Rothomagum ... 
 
 Rouen 
 
 Sublacense Monasterium 
 
 Subiaco 
 
 Taurinum 
 
 Turin 
 
 Toletum 
 
 Toledo 
 
 Trajectum ad Rhenum .. 
 
 Utrecht 
 
 Treviri 
 
 Treves 
 
 Tridentum 
 
 Trent 
 
 Turones 
 
 Tours 
 
 Venetian 
 
 Venice 
 
 Vlma 
 
 Ulm 
 
 Vlyssipo 
 
 Lisbon 
 
 Vratislavia 
 
 Breslau 
 
 The cities and towns the names of which are the same, or 
 nearly the same, in the Latin and native spelling have been omitted 
 purposely.
 
 TYPO J&lGRAPH 
 !A 
 
 LEVITICUS 
 
 • Here order in variety we see, 
 *A)id here, though all things differ, all agree.' 
 
 Pope. 
 
 g 2
 
 j^fctflftl^afcl^eA^fcl^tet^felgJ^Bid^ffl&faBifl&faBfaEjgatodtflfetofetofclafetflBtefaelg 
 
 m0L t 
 
 U>*l*'l*'l*-l*--l*->l>'-lJ'l*''[^W-.'<^t-!'^iJ.^iJ-i*-i^~ , .IJ'l^ 
 
 LEVITICUS. 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 3^A ' 
 
 
 1 
 
 i0«HM 
 
 | 
 
 ; 1 
 
 Hi 
 
 ! 
 
 ft 
 
 I p| 'mas 
 
 ' 
 
 ^* 
 
 H "i fvV- 
 
 _& 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 1 r" 
 
 ^s 
 
 
 ~ - . 
 
 . 
 
 •1 
 
 
 
 ^-p 
 
 HE Laws of Printing, that is, the 
 rules by which artisans in the various 
 branches of this Art do their work, 
 are the theme of this chapter. 
 
 In the first place, the laws by which the 
 Typefounder is governed in making good and 
 true types, are explained. Then, the laws by 
 knowledge of which the Compositor combines 
 those types ready for printing. And lastly, 
 the rules by which the Pressman is guided in 
 obtaining impressions from the types. 
 
 From the extensive scope of this chapter 
 it will be seen at once that it is only possible to describe the bare 
 principles of each section, without attempting explanatory details. 
 
 THE TYPEFOUNDER. 
 
 Of the processes by which the first printers made their types very 
 little is known. In none of the early colophons* is any allusion made 
 to them ; we are therefore confined to the internal evidence of manu- 
 facture discoverable in the types themselves. 
 
 * Bibliographers call the final sentence, which in many old books contains the printer's name, 
 place, and date, the "colophon." It answered to the modern imprint, but was more full, and frequently 
 contained important information.
 
 46 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 The page of any early book shows a number of lines of type, all 
 of them running from left to right beneath each other in straight lines. 
 
 It will be seen from the following diagram that each stamp stands 
 on its own particular piece of metal, and the fact here to be noted is 
 
 3n 
 1b|e 
 
 Ea 
 
 tib|e| |bie|G|t|n|nii|n!Q| 
 aiv|e|ni»i |ainib| |tjb|Ci 
 
 |(B|o!M |c|r|c|a|tie^| |f|b|e 
 " £.a|r[t|b|;i iainiM itlbic 
 
 ntjbl jwiajsi jw|i|t|b|oiu;ti |t]o(rim| |a 
 
 n|b| |v|oli|&|. 
 
 the exact regularity of all the letters: for although a capital "E" seems 
 to the eye much taller than a small letter "a," it will be at once seen by 
 looking at the illustration, that in one direction, viz., from top to bottom, 
 these and all the other letters are identical as to size. Each of the 
 divisions here marked shows the size of the shank upon which every 
 separate letter is cast, measuring this way | , and that measurement, 
 which by printers is called the "body," must be identical for each and 
 every letter, or else unevenness would be the result. 
 
 In the following specimen, a single letter in each line is made 
 slightly larger in body than its fellows, the uneven effect being very 
 apparent. 
 
 3n tbc beginning <Soe> create^ tbc 
 1foc a vcns anb t ,)c JSartb; a n b tbc 
 j£a r tb was without term anj> t>oib'. 
 
 To obtain exact regularity was the great difficulty of the early 
 printers. Letters of wood soon became unmanageable from warping 
 or shrinkage, being affected even by change of weather. No doubt 
 the experiment was made of cutting a quantity ol letters upon metal 
 shanks, suited to their width. 
 
 Concerning the Mayence Psalter of 1454, the first printed book 
 with a plain date, we find opinions, even of experts, very various 
 and contradictory. Some writers, devoid of practical knowledge,
 
 Leviticus. 47 
 
 declare all the letters to be separately cut in wood ; others, whose 
 opinions deserve respect, imagine the types to have been (as already- 
 suggested) cut separately, each on a cube of metal. Others, again, 
 while admitting that these early types were cast in metal, consider 
 that the original punches, or models, may have been cut in wood, and 
 that matrices were produced by dabbing these into metal while in a 
 semi-congealed state. 
 
 No writers in the infancy of printing deign to notice typetounding, 
 although in 1508 we meet with the representation of a typefounder 
 at work, which, however, is far too rude to teach us anything. 
 Whichever way we turn, perplexity accompanies us, and the wisest 
 course, perhaps, is to acknowledge that in reality we know very little 
 about the methods of the first typefounders. 
 
 By careful examination of the types themselves, however, a 
 few facts are ascertained, which, without revealing method, are full 
 of significance. For instance, Colard Mansion, of Bruges, began to 
 print with a fine, bold letter, called " batarde," shaped like that known 
 in England as "German text." But when his first fount was worn 
 he made another, every letter of which is slightly thinner in face than 
 that used in the first printing, owing evidently to the fact that a 
 single type of each sort had been chosen out, and, after being trimmed 
 carefully by a graving tool, had been used as a punch to form a matrix 
 of some sort for the second fount. The same thing exactly appears 
 in the second casting of Caxton's No. 2 Type ; and here, in many 
 instances, the matrix has actually reproduced some slight slips made by 
 the graver in trimming his pattern letters. These facts are interesting, 
 and as yet indications of no similar process have been observed among 
 the German printers. But we are as far off as ever from the knowledge 
 of how the types were cast. From what has been said it is evident 
 that the early printers had some method of casting types from a mould
 
 48 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 which was adjustable as to width ; so that while the same mould 
 would cast a letter as thick as an " M," or as thin as an "i," it 
 would make the "body" of each letter identical. This is the whole 
 secret of typefounding ; that this result was obtained we know, but 
 how, we know not. 
 
 While in all probability we shall never know for certain the 
 processes used to produce the earliest types, we have nevertheless some 
 few data from which we may learn something. Mr. Madden in 1875 
 
 mfequentito: fcdhutepatauttnticotyir *ac 
 
 jxJtiffitnurmBqniiliumtwciozemnoiat \@" 
 p?04tusmba ftaftm fequnnl\ccba bt 
 tfic«$ipfc ornne^ vitctuu teitcfcttigtpi \ 
 #Umvbte$ jffetmi|S^#owm agioi* 
 
 IMPRESSION OF A TYPE in' 1476. (From Madden.) 
 
 gave a fac-simile of a curious accident which he had noticed in a book 
 printed by Conrad Hamborch, at Cologne, in 1476. A single letter 
 
 fiS gmntucnitlg&q'd jj&tbit *l'"ue>ri>- :ut :-iarn scpirb? b (c Cu 
 pm gracu grrmis r QM* "* " 'p^.citinAjijii tgmitafis 
 
 <&ui&erg>ii:n:£qj r ~ ,_- T 77^3 i*gsifci3pttie3ito?STi* 
 
 11102 nSc pbibiur.il 
 
 n5pu"3oti8»<&iub trnuv ..* .~.. .3, capita* que tim£tq timcrc 
 omnia. <$hin a:nct tui iutep ctatifa'afTetcpe rntpgtitse'tcftis in* 
 nocicia - tyc ergo dmcaa marianec miteua c ; 6 angel? at tew 
 
 IMPRESSION 01 A TYPE, CIRC. 1470, DISCOVERED UY BRADSHAW, 
 
 (From Reed's "Old English tetter Foundries.") 
 
 had by some means been left lying sideways on the face of a page of 
 type, and when the sheet of paper was pulled, an extensive "batter" 
 took place by the truant letter being squeezed into the face of the type,
 
 Leviticus. 
 
 -\<> 
 
 01 
 
 >er 
 
 the whole shape of the shank showing very accurately in the impression. 
 Curiously enough, an identical occurrence was noticed about the same 
 time by Mr. Bradshaw, in another early printed German book 
 about the same date. Again, M. Claudinof Paris possesses a mini 
 of actual 15th century types, which were found during a very dry 
 summer in the bed of the Saone, opposite to where an old Printing 
 office is known to have existed. 
 
 We give fac-simile representations of these three instances, and 
 from them draw several conclusions. 
 
 1. We see that there was no standard height for the types. In 
 the types of M. Claudin hardly any two agree, nor do the types of 
 the two German books. It would be a necessity that the types of one 
 
 
 U-J 1 — 1 
 
 A 
 
 VJ 
 
 PROFILE ['RACINGS FROM M. CLAUDIN'S TYPES. OCTOBER, 1SS3. 
 (From /feed's "Old English Letter Foundries.") 
 
 fount should all be of one height, and if no other founts were used for 
 the work there would be no difficulty. This indeed seems the reason 
 why, in the earliest books, we find little or no mixture of types. 
 
 2. We see that none of the types have any feet, and that there- 
 fore the "mould" as invented shortly after was then unknown. The 
 great improvement by which, in a sliding mould, every letter must be 
 of the same height has often been attributed to Schceffer — an improve- 
 ment of which he now appears to have been utterly ignorant. Unless 
 every separate letter is made exactly the same height, the result would 
 be that some would be battered because they stood too high, while 
 others would not print at all, because they stood too low. To obtain an
 
 50 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 even measure for all, the mould was made to give the height in a very 
 ingenious manner. The diagram shows a type as it appears when 
 thrown from the mould, a is the top containing the letter which 
 prints in relief; bb are the "feet" of the type, and c is the 
 superfluous metal. Now when the piece c is broken off, it will 
 leave b b untouched ; these are the feet upon which the perfect 
 type will stand. 
 
 To look at a type it does not at first strike one as so very 
 difficult to make, and yet a good punch cutter must be a born 
 artist, and a good mould-maker a model of skilfulness. Without 
 attempting to describe the modern improvements in casting type by 
 machinery, whereby the molten lead is pumped up into the moulds, and 
 types ready for use come streaming out by thousands, we will try to 
 explain the method used in 1689 by Moxon, who was the first English 
 writer to describe the process with any exactitude. The same methods 
 have been in all probability used by Caxton's successors in the sixteenth, 
 seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, and are still resorted to now 
 when any letters have to be cast by hand. 
 
 The four principal requisites in a type foundry are: 1. The Punch. 
 2. The Matrix. 3. The Mould. 4. Good Type-metal. 
 
 1. The Punch. The punch-cutter, with the help of several tools, 
 engraves each letter upon the end of a short piece of steel. 
 Upon the beauty, congruity, and accuracy of this operation 
 depends the success of the type. The art of engraving, 
 reverse-way, a series of punches, all varying in shape, and yet 
 all agreeing in the thickness and curves of the various down 
 and up strokes — called by the Dutch " fats " and "leans" — is 
 very difficult, and when successfully accomplished, the engraver a punch 
 may truly lay claim to that greatly misused word "artist." If in the 
 humour, he can cut two single or one double letter per diem.
 
 Leviticus. 5 1 
 
 2. The Matrix. The steel punch being engraved and hardened, 
 it is held face downwards upon a small cube of copper, and 
 then with a steady, an even, and a strong blow from a 
 mallet, the punch is driven some distance into the softer 
 metal, leaving a sunken impression. This, after due trim- 
 ming and adjusting — called "justifying," — is a matrix ready 
 for use in the mould. A MATRIX- 
 
 3. The Mould is a complicated instrument made in two distinct 
 halves, which fit accurately, or rather lock into each other, leaving an 
 opening between, into which the melted type-metal is poured. The 
 matrix which only gives the "face" to a type, is kept close to the 
 bottom of this cavity in the mould by a spring. The mould, which is 
 imbedded in wood to prevent the heat reaching the workman's hand, is 
 held in the left hand. A small ladleful of melted metal is then poured 
 in, the workman at the same time giving his hand a jerk upwards, a 
 movement which drives the metal into the finest parts of the matrix. 
 The workman then slides the mould open, and the type falls out, only 
 requiring the superfluous metal to be broken off, and the burr on the 
 edges rubbed down, to become fit for use. About 5,000 types can be 
 cast in this manner per day by a skilful workman. 
 
 4. The Metal of which type is made consists of Lead, Tin, and 
 Antimony, in various proportions. The alloy, however, varies consider- 
 ably in different foundries. We will only mention in conclusion that the 
 Antimony is used not so much for the hardness it imparts to the alloy, 
 as for the anomaly, which belongs also to freezing water, that it 
 expands in the act of solidifying. 
 
 THE COMPOSITOR. 
 
 The work of a Compositor in the fifteenth century did not differ 
 in any essential particular from that performed at present. He received 
 the types from the founder, placed each sort in its own assigned place 
 
 h 2
 
 52 
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 in the "case," ready for use, and within easy reach. The "case" was 
 an arrangement of small wooden boxes placed on the slant tor con- 
 venience of reaching, each box being appropriated to its own letter. 
 Standing in front of the case, the compositor held in his left hand a 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 C 
 
 D 
 
 E 
 
 F 
 
 G 
 
 A 
 
 B 
 
 c 
 
 D 
 
 E 
 
 F 
 
 G 
 
 H 
 
 I 
 
 K 
 
 L 
 
 M 
 
 N 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 I 
 
 K 
 
 L 
 
 M 
 
 N 
 
 
 
 P 
 
 Q 
 
 "R 
 
 S 
 
 T 
 
 V 
 
 W 
 
 p 
 
 Q 
 
 R 
 
 s 
 
 T 
 
 V 
 
 w 
 
 X 
 
 Y 
 
 Z 
 
 M 
 
 (E 
 
 u 
 
 J 
 
 X 
 
 Y 
 
 Z 
 
 & 
 
 CE 
 
 u 
 
 J 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 a 
 
 e 
 
 i 
 
 6 
 
 U 
 
 § 
 
 t 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 £ 
 
 9 
 
 
 CS* 
 
 a 
 
 e 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 tl 
 
 li 
 
 t 
 
 a 
 
 e 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 
 k 
 
 a 
 
 e 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 If 
 
 
 
 [ 
 
 H' 
 
 .(£' 
 
 ( 
 
 J 
 
 e 
 
 Thm and 
 MddJp space 
 
 
 ! 
 
 9 
 
 ; 
 
 1 
 
 tl 
 
 & 
 
 b 
 
 C 
 
 d 
 
 1 
 
 & 
 
 f 
 
 g 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 ff 
 
 ft] 
 
 n 
 
 fi 
 
 ffi 
 
 1 
 
 m 
 
 n 
 
 h 
 
 
 
 y 
 
 P 
 
 - 
 
 w 
 
 5 
 
 
 Han 
 ^pace 
 
 Z 
 
 V 
 
 
 
 Thick 
 ypace 
 
 a 
 
 
 ( i 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 *^ua 
 
 1mts. 
 
 Till' MAY OF A PAIR OK TYPE ("ASKS. 
 
 wooden "composing-stick," in which a rectangular trench had been cut 
 to receive the letters. Reading and keeping in his mind a few words ol 
 his manuscript, he picked up the types letter by letter and placed them 
 side by side until first words, and then sentences, were composed. 
 When the end of a line was reached, and there: was no room for more
 
 Leviticus. 
 
 3 j 
 
 words and yet some space left, the compositor by placing a little extra 
 space between the words made the line fill out the stick. This was 
 
 OLD IKON 
 
 COMPOSING 
 
 STICK. 
 
 A FIFTEENTH CENTURY WOODEN COMPOSING STICK. 
 
 called "justifying " the line. Each line was lifted out of the stick and 
 placed on a wooden board ; thus line after line was added until there 
 were enough for a page. 
 
 ■J'llliBMI 
 
 illH3iIHII.imiBJiftllfflll.HI 
 
 ImiiailiriBiiiiiiilBii 
 
 \ I INE OF COMPOSED 'I Yl'h. 
 
 When two or four pages were ready, they were placed upon a 
 flat surface within an iron frame called a "chase," the proper distance 
 between each page being regulated by small blocks of wood suited to 
 the size of the paper on which they were to be printed. The pages 
 being properly arranged, were all bound together tightly by means of 
 screws, or by small wedges of wood called "quoins." When all was
 
 54 
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 secure, the whole, now styled a " form," was lifted up in one piece, and 
 taken to the press, where a first proof was pulled for the " Reader." 
 The necessary corrections having been made by the Compositor, the 
 "form " was ready for the Pressman. 
 
 THE PRESSMAN. 
 The first printers had but small presses made entirely of wood. 
 Their power was also slight, and they printed, as a rule, but one page 
 
 at a time. The screw was of wood, 
 and worked by a "bar," much the 
 same as a modern napkin press. 
 The chief thing was to obtain an 
 even surface on the "bed" upon 
 which the page of type rested ; 
 and, secondly, an even surface for 
 the "platen," which was lowered as 
 the "bar" turned the "screw," and 
 thus pressed the paper upon the 
 face of the type. The evenness of 
 impression, as well as of colour, in 
 many old books, shows that this 
 object was accomplished with great 
 success, and proves what good 
 mechanicians they were four hun- 
 
 01. 1) WOODEN PRESS 
 
 igc 
 
 iSoS. 
 
 dred years ago. It is a task which we could not now accomplish so 
 successfully were our modern tools and appliances withdrawn. 
 
 The ink was doubtless a sore trial to the early fathers of the 
 press. It was only by long experience upon block-books and wood 
 engravings that the working together of boiled oil and lampblack 
 was found to give that consistency which would be stilt enough not 
 to spue over the sides ot the letters when pressed, and yet not SO 
 thin as to run away into unevenness of surface or want ol colour.
 
 Leviticus. 
 
 55 
 
 There were nearly always two workmen to one press. One "beat" 
 the "form," that is, he dabbed two big, soft balls covered with ink over 
 all the type; the other placed the white paper on the "tympan," and 
 ran the whole, by means of a winch, beneath the "platen," and then 
 made a strong pull at the bar. 
 
 Modern pressmen know nothing of the skill and experience 
 requisite in olden times to beat a "form" properly. First the balls, 
 which were made of prepared skins padded with wool, and fastened on 
 
 INTERIOR OF A 17111 CENTURY PRINTING office. (From Mallinkrot.) 
 
 to a " stock," had to undergo peculiar treatment requiring both 
 experience and sagacity. Extremes of heat and cold, of dampness and 
 dryness, called out all the resources of the pressman in order to keep 
 the skins of his balls in the proper state to receive and distribute the 
 ink evenly. The distribution was effected by taking a small portion 
 of the ink upon one ball ; then began a series of twists and twirls, 
 and punching of the balls together, worthy of an acrobat, until the 
 ink, by an elaborate manipulation of one ball against the other, was
 
 56 
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 evenly spread over the surface of the "form." Whilst the "man at the 
 bar" was placing the sheet of paper in such a position that it should 
 be printed with the proper amount of margin all round, his fellow or 
 "partner" was dabbing the ink over the face of the pages. In this 
 he had to be very careful not to miss any part : if missed, the impression 
 appeared very pale, and the blunder was called a ''friar"; but if blotched 
 with too much ink, and the face of the type filled up, it was a "monk." 
 This race of antiquated pressmen is now almost extinct. One of the 
 last worked in jacket and hose at an old wooden press at the " Caxton 
 
 Celebration" in London, in 1877, 
 where he attracted great notice. 
 
 As a matter of convenience 
 many of the early printers made 
 their pages just of the size to agree 
 with one page of the MS. The ad- 
 vantage of this plan was that they 
 had no occasion to compose straight 
 on, but might print page 8 with 
 page 1, and page 7 with page 2, 
 without noticing the intermediate 
 pages, thus getting the first sheet 
 [mproveh wooden press 1640. of a quaternion out of the way. 
 
 Signatures, which are of o-reat use to the binder, were letters 
 and figures at the foot of certain pages, which served as signs to show 
 the sequence of the various sheets. They are by no means peculiar to 
 printed hooks, nor were they, as some writers assume, invented by the 
 early printers. The manuscript-writers knew their use long before 
 Gutenberg, and where a MS. is still intact, nothing having been cut off 
 the bottom edges, the manuscript signatures may often be recognised 
 at the extreme edge of the sheet. Sometimes the signature was put in 
 the hack, and so, when bound, became invisible,
 
 Leviticus. 57 
 
 Catchwords were the first word from the top of a page repeated 
 below the bottom line of the previous page, thus assuring the correct- 
 ness of the collation. 
 
 After a time the pages, especially if small, were arranged so 
 that four or eight might be printed at a time. A sheet of quarto 
 required four pages on one side, and four pages on the other side 
 of the sheet. Octavo had eight pages on one side and eight pages 
 on the other ; and these had so to be placed that when the sheet 
 was folded the pages came in proper order. 
 
 Some of the earliest books were issued without any Title page, 
 in this respect agreeing with MS. books. 
 
 The omission of head lines to the pages was common among the 
 first Printers. 
 
 The numbering of pages was a development of numbering the 
 leaves, which last custom is also a peculiarity of early printed books ; 
 as is the custom of manuscript initials at the beginning of Chapters. 
 
 Thus in a very imperfect manner the outlines of the laws upon 
 which the old printers worked have been given ; but ten minutes in a 
 printing-office would explain more than ten chapters of ear-knowledge, 
 and there is no difficulty nowadays in obtaining permission to see any 
 of the great printing-offices.
 
 C «TEKBS*- 6 
 
 NUMBERS 
 
 ■ Who. departing, left behind them 
 Footprints on the sands of time." 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 I 2
 
 NUMBERS 
 
 IT is always a pleasant task to any one who realizes the magnitude 
 of the debt under which the whole world lies to the printing-press 
 to enumerate the many great and noble men who have served 
 God and their country as printers. The biographical difficulty is in 
 the selection, for every country has its typographical roll of fame, 
 upon which are inscribed numbers of names of heroes of the Press, 
 who, instead of courting fortune, have spent laborious and self-denying 
 lives with the sole object of diffusing that knowledge by which 
 ignorance is dispelled, and man raised above the beast. Such names 
 should be household words. An account, necessarily brief, of a few 
 of them is here attempted. 
 
 HOLLAND. 
 
 1 believe this to have been the premier country in typographical 
 development. Some one printed those old Dutch fragments which 
 carry with them their own certificates of birth ; and even if it is 
 difficult to prove the printer to have been Lourens Jans/.oon Coster, 
 his works remain, and " Costeriana " is a well understood and con- 
 venient term by which to designate them.
 
 I Joannes G-utemfoeio- . T , • f, iv Aldus Matincius . 
 
 ji Joainies raultiii . v Joannes rroljcmus
 
 Number*. 63 
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 Of the celebrated trio, Gutenberg, Fust and Schoeffer, who 
 invented what Fichet, Rector of the Sorbonne (who also was their con- 
 temporary), calls " a new sort of printing," Schceffer alone was left 
 after 1468. Other Germans were however at work then or soon after. 
 Pfister and Sensenschmidt were printers at Bamberg; Zainer was 
 hard at work at Augsburg; Eggestein and Mentelin at Strasbourg; 
 and Vendelin at Spire. These are well known names ; but still better 
 known is that prolific typographer, Ulkig Zell, of Cologne, whose 
 workshops seem to have been a training college for young printers all 
 over Europe, and whose works are so numerous that no writer has yet 
 mastered their bibliography. So little cared he for worldly fame that 
 he scarcely ever put his name to a book printed by him, although the 
 individuality of his types and the "get up" of his works announce 
 their parentage as plainly as if certified in a Colophon " Per me Ulric 
 Zell." Before leaving Cologne, we will only mention P. DE Oli'E, 
 Tiierhoernen and Koeliioff, all famous printers. After the first 
 two generations, however, Germany pursued the new art in a sober 
 manner, no name appearing of surpassing merit until the middle of 
 the sixteenth century. 
 
 " Optime meritus " was the description attached by Rothscholtz to 
 the portrait of Sigismund Feyerabend (1 527-1 587), of Frankfort-on- 
 the-Maine. A learned and able man, with threat artistic taste, he 
 employed the best engravers of the day to illustrate his books, which 
 became famous throughout all Europe, and are now held in great 
 esteem by bibliographers. 
 
 John Petreijus, of Nuremberg (1 497-1 550), is a name which 
 should not pass unrecorded. He was an excellent typographer, and 
 especially noted for the correctness with which he printed in Greek 
 and Latin. He was a practical printer in a very real sense, for he
 
 64 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 made his own presses, cast his own types, and manufactured the ink 
 with which he printed. His extensive correspondence shows that the 
 most celebrated scholars of the age were in constant communication 
 with him, on terms of close friendship. When he died they wrote, as 
 was then customary among Scholars, many classical epitaphs to his 
 memory. 
 
 Ant. Koburger, too, was very famous, and perhaps the most 
 prolific of all Germany's fertile printers. He worked at Nuremberg, 
 where he kept twenty-four presses employed. All his books are of 
 great excellence, and he is specially noted for his Bibles, of which he 
 issued twelve editions. 
 
 In the same city Albert Durer erected a press, at which he 
 printed the text to his own wonderful engravings. After his death his 
 widow carried on the business for some years. 
 
 In modern times Germany has given us Emmanuel Breitkopf, 
 who, about 1750, improved greatly the hand-press, and invented a 
 new set of music types ; while H. Brockiiaus, at Leipzig, has a 
 European renown as printer and typefounder. 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 In this country the printing-press originated, as we have seen, 
 with Sweynheym and Pannartz, first at Subiaco and then at Rome, 
 who from 1465 to 1474 issued many editions of the Classics. In 
 addition to the famous names already recorded when noticing the intro- 
 duction of the art into Italy, Ulric Haiin, Philip de Lignamine, 
 SlLBER, Planck and RiESSlNGER, noted typographers of the fifteenth 
 century, deserve mention. But the lustre of all fades before the fame 
 of the celebrated Alois Pius Manutius Romanus. This great printer 
 was born at Bassanio, in the Roman States, in 1449. He studied for 
 many years in Rome, and from that fact assumed the name of
 
 Numbers. 
 
 65 
 
 Romanus. In 1482 he lived in the same house as Picus Mirandulus, 
 and afterwards abode with Prince Alberto Pio, who allowed him to 
 
 tl |l »ll||M 
 
 AlDVSPIVSMANVTIVSR: 
 
 rOKTRAIT OK ALDUS. 
 
 adopt the name " Pius." Being strongly impressed with the poten- 
 tialities latent in the printing-press, he determined, about 1489, to
 
 66 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 devote his whole attention to the publication of classical literature. 
 After organising in Venice the most complete printing-office hitherto 
 seen, he began his typographical career by the issue of the Greek 
 Grammar of Lascaris. This was in 1494. In the prologue to that 
 book Aldus declares the determination of himself and his co-workers 
 in the following noble words: — "We have determined henceforth to 
 devote all our lives to this good work. I call God to witness that my 
 sincere desire is to do good to mankind, as indeed I hope has already 
 been shown by my past life. I will indeed labour continuously to 
 make constant progress ; for although we might have chosen a tranquil 
 country life, we have preferred a life busy and full of hard work. A 
 good and learned man will not give himself up to base pleasures, but 
 to work and to do something worthy. Cato has said truly, ' Man's life 
 may be compared to a sword ; use it and it keeps bright ; neglect it 
 and rust will soon be its destruction.' Therefore if work seem some- 
 times irksome to a man, let him be sure of this — that sloth would be 
 much more detrimental to him than the hardest kind of labour." 
 
 These were words from the heart of Aldus, and in this conviction 
 he worked until his death. In 1501 he established an academy of 
 learned men and scholars. Constantinople had just fallen into the 
 hands of the Turks, and among the Christian refugees were many 
 scholars of fame and repute. To these Aldus offered a safe and quiet 
 asylum, asking from them in return that a portion of their time should 
 be devoted to the collation of manuscript copies of the classics, which 
 in the course of time had become very erroneous through the careless- 
 ness of successive copyists. He also employed them in reading his 
 printed proofs and revising them for the press. In this way many 
 good scholars lived on terms of great friendship with Aldus, and were 
 entirely supported by him. Surely modern lovers of literature owe an 
 incalculable debt of gratitude to Aldus for preserving by these means 
 an accurate text of the great classical writers of antiquity.
 
 Numbers. 
 
 67 
 
 The expense of this great undertaking was of course very great ; 
 and partly to reduce the cost of production, and partly to place copies 
 of the books he printed within the reach of poor scholars, Aldus 
 employed the artist Giovanni de Bologna to design for him a new and 
 compressed type which would enable him to print nearly two pages in 
 the same space as one. From the country of its birth this letter has 
 ever since been known as Italic. Its elegant shape has been much, 
 perhaps too much, admired. The appearance is somewhat marred by 
 the invariable use of Roman capitals, which, throughout a page of 
 Italic, is certainly not agreeable to the eye. 
 
 THE MEDAL OF ALDUS. 
 
 The fame of Aldus's printing-office soon spread throughout Europe, 
 and his little pocket editions of the Greek and Latin classics were 
 esteemed as much for the beauty of their dress as for the accuracy of 
 their text. The visits of the curious, as well as of the learned, became 
 at last so troublesome that Aldus placed the following notice over the 
 chief entrance: "Whoever you are that wish to see Aldus, be brief; 
 and when business is finished go away ; unless indeed you are able and 
 willing: to assist him as Hercules did Atlas in his need: and even then 
 remember that whoever gains here a footing must work hard and 
 with perseverance."
 
 68 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 Aldus himself took no relaxation ; scarcely would he afford himself 
 any sleep until fatigue compelled him to rest. He died in 15 15, the 
 King of Printers, with an immortal halo surrounding him. 
 
 Aldus adopted for his device an anchor, with a dolphin twisted 
 round it. This emblem is justly celebrated in the annals of typography 
 under the name of the Aldine anchor, and is very appropriate to the 
 work of a Printer. The dolphin is the emblem of swiftness, on account 
 of the rapidity with which it cleaves the waves. The anchor is the 
 emblem of stability and reliance. So the printer should be speedy 
 at his work, but consider his plans carefully and soberly. This was 
 admirably summarised in the motto adopted by Aldus — " Festina 
 lente" (Hasten slowly). On a rare contemporary medal the motto 
 appears in Greek, " snEVAE bpaaehs." 
 
 Another great Italian Printer was Giamhattista Bodoni, whose 
 name certainly stands next to that of Aldus. He was the son of a 
 Piedmontese printer, and was born in 1 740, the year when all Europe 
 celebrated the Jubilee of Printing. At the age of eighteen he was 
 working as a compositor at the Propaganda Printing-office, Rome, 
 where he did good service by studying hard to learn the Oriental 
 languages, and then restoring to a proper condition for use the fine 
 collection of Oriental types in that office, which had long been in a 
 state of confusion. It was about this time that he turned his attention 
 to the art of engraving new types, in which he soon showed great 
 talent. In 1768 he was placed by the Duke of Parma at the head of 
 his new printing-office, which he soon rendered the most famous in 
 Europe. He devoted great attention to the shape of his Greek types, 
 for which he took as a model the most beautiful manuscripts obtainable. 
 His "Homer" is perhaps the work which gained him more renown 
 among scholars than any other. In his " Manuale Tipogralico," which 
 is a specimen book of all his types, some: copies of which were
 
 Numbers. 69 
 
 printed on pure vellum, the lover of typographical excellence as pre- 
 sented by elegantly-shaped letters, glossy ink, and faultless press-work, 
 may revel to his heart's content. Bodoni died in 181 3. 
 
 As a curious freak of fickle fashion, we must notice the recent fate 
 of a most interesting collection of books, all from the press of Bodoni, 
 collected during many years by the Marquis Saporiti della Sforzesca. 
 These were sent to London and sold publicly in December, 1886. 
 The number of separate works was over 500, including, with hardly 
 an exception, specimens of the whole produce of the Parmese Press. 
 No such a collection has ever before been brought to the hammer, and 
 had it been sold in Dr. Dibdin's time, when Bodoni's fame was at its 
 height, there can be little doubt that ,£2,000 at least would have been 
 realised. Today, when "black-letter" governs the market, and senti- 
 ment rules over taste, Bodoni's master-pieces of typography are of less 
 money-value than a Seven Dials ballad. The whole of the Marquis's 
 collection realised in the gross but ^50 js., a sum far below the prime 
 cost of two or three volumes, and hardly enough to pay for printing 
 the sale catalogue. 
 
 Italy may well be proud of still another typographical son. 
 G. VlESSlEUX, of Milan, who lived 1779 to 1863, if not remarkable 
 for excellence of workmanship, was successful, notwithstanding great 
 opposition from the ruling classes, in obtaining for his native country 
 that inestimable boon — freedom of the press. 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 We have already noticed the introduction of the art to Paris, 
 where it spread with rapidity even in the lifetime of Ulric Gering. 
 Antoine Veraro is celebrated for beiutiful editions, many of them 
 with splendid illuminations ; but space would fail to speak of Simon 
 Vostre, of Pigouchet, of Dutre, of the artistic and learned Geoffrey 
 Tory, of the martyred Dolet, Moel, and many other worthy printers.
 
 ~o The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 But of all the great printers that France has produced, there are 
 none of whom their countrymen may feel more proud than the family 
 of the Estiennes, who flourished from 1 502-1664. The two most 
 celebrated were Robert I and Henri I, father and son. They both 
 printed, not for lucre, but from real love of their work and classic 
 literature. So intimately indeed is the biography of these two great 
 men associated with the mental growth of the nation that, as Feugere 
 says, "it rises to the dignity of history." 
 
 Henri I was the founder of the family. He printed and pub- 
 lished at Paris for twenty years, and laid the foundation of the family 
 fame during the period 1 502-1 522. 
 
 Robert I, his eldest son, succeeded in 1526 to his father's 
 printing-office, placing over his door a printer's mark, afterwards of 
 world-wide fame. It was an olive-tree, with the motto "Noli altuiu 
 sapor sed time" ("Be not high-minded, but fear"). He married a 
 daughter of another famous Parisian printer, Badius Ascensius, he 
 whose printer's mark — a printing-press, two pressmen, and a woman 
 composing types — is well-known to all lovers of old books.* It is 
 curious to note that all three of the daughters of Badius married 
 printers. For thirty-three years Robert Estienne worked hard as 
 author, collator, corrector, printer, and publisher, producing volumes 
 which for beauty of workmanship and accuracy of text may vie with 
 tht- productions of any other press. So important were the Greek 
 authors which he for the first time collated and printed, that the 
 publication of those classics may be almost said to have begun with 
 him. It was to some extent the same with Latin authors. Thus with 
 ( rreek, with Latin, with Bibles, with dictionaries and grammars, Robert 
 Estienne was the father of such a series of works as have never been 
 equalled before or since. Patronised and favoured by Francis I, it was 
 
 ante (p. 54).
 
 Numbers. 7 1 
 
 the high opinion of his capabilities, added to the desire to outshine the 
 efforts of other countries, which induced the King to defray out of the 
 public purse the expenses of a new series of specially cast Greek types. 
 With this view Angelo Vergecio, the most artistic penman of his time, 
 was engaged to design the models for the letters ; and the cutting of 
 the punches was entrusted to Garamoncl, one of the most skilful 
 engravers of his day, who himself was a good scholar, and had taught 
 Greek to Henri Estienne when a boy. 
 
 The production of beautiful and correct editions of the Bible 
 formed a special feature of the labours of Robert Estienne ; and this, 
 thanks to the hatred of the priests, whose stronghold was in Sorbonne, 
 brought upon him the bitterest persecution. To print the Latin 
 Vulgate for every one to read was bad enough, but when Robert 
 Estienne published his three-column Polyglot, with Hebrew on one 
 side and Greek on the other — Christ between two thieves, as they 
 called it — their rage knew no bounds. So fierce was the persecution 
 that had our printer stayed in Paris, he would probably have been, 
 like Dolet, burnt alive. So in 1551, having under various pretences 
 sent away his family, he despatched his types also, and quietly 
 followed to Geneva, where, although subjected to many annoyances, 
 chiefly due to his own ill-considered opposition to the civil government, 
 he was allowed to print without hindrance. Here he embraced the 
 Protestant faith; and in 1559, after a life of manly and unselfish labour, 
 embittered by the persecution of those who ought to have been his 
 best friends, but sweetened by the knowledge that his toils and suffer- 
 ings were for the benefit of mankind, he died. 
 
 Henri II succeeded his father at an early age, and followed 
 in his footsteps. He travelled extensively in all the chief countries 
 of Europe, returning laden with new MSS. and new ideas, which were 
 soon apparent in his books. At one time he worked for about a year
 
 72 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 in the printing-office of Paulus Manutius, after which he returned to 
 Geneva, devoting himself with fresh energy to his work. His father 
 left him the Genevan printing-office on condition of his carrying it on 
 in that city. This restriction was very irksome to him, and what with 
 quarrelling with the authorities and constant journeyings, his business 
 greatly declined, and in 1570 he was insolvent, dying some years later. 
 The work he got through in his prime was immense, and often 
 prolonged for so many hours at a time as seriously to injure both mind 
 and body. His mental attainments and general knowledge were very 
 great, but employed fitfully. 
 
 The old typographical fame of France has been well maintained 
 in more modern times by the Didot family, whose history from 1713 
 to the present time is the history of French printing for that period. 
 Pierre Didot (1761-1853) not only emulated Bodoni in the beauty 
 of his workmanship, but took extreme care — more, indeed, than the 
 great Italian Printer — to have accuracy of text. He was an excellent 
 classical scholar, and himself read for press the works of which he 
 was most proud. 
 
 Nor must we omit to mention his nephew, Ambrose Firmin 
 Didot, who, in addition to his intimate knowledge of classic literature, 
 was a good antiquarian, learned in bibliography, a first-rate connoisseur 
 of old engravings, and a weighty writer upon all subjects connected 
 with his own art. 
 
 France indeed may well be proud of her position in typographical 
 history. Other cities may boast of individual celebrities, an Aldus, or 
 the Elseviers, a Plantin, a Bodoni, or a Baskerville. But at Paris, from 
 Gering, through Verard, Badius, Ascensius, Kerver, the Estiennes, 
 Dolet, the great Didot family, and numerous others, there has been 
 such an unbroken succession of great and famous printers as must 
 always command the wonder and admiration of posterity.
 
 Numbers. j^ 
 
 It should be added that several French printers, in modern times, 
 have laboured for the mental improvement of the men and boys 
 employed by them, and with considerable success. The efforts of 
 M. A. Ciiaix, of Paris, in this direction have received emphatic 
 acknowledgment from the State and all philanthropists. 
 
 Sebastian Cramoisy, who by the order of Louis XIII founded 
 the Royal Printing-office, must not be overlooked; nor must Antoine 
 Vitre, who combined excellence of type-founding with excellence of 
 printing. He was the first in all France to print with Syriac types. 
 His famous Polyglot Bible of 1645 keeps his memory green among 
 bibliophiles. 
 
 SWITZFRLAND 
 
 May justly pride herself on being the mother of Parisian, 
 and therefore of French, typography. To one of her sons, Ulkic 
 Gering, who, with two companions left Basle, and began printing 
 at the Sorbonne, France owes her first press. At Basle, too, Jean 
 Amerbach gained great reputation in the beginning of the sixteenth 
 century, as also did Operinus. But the most famous printer was 
 John Froben, of Basle, who was justly proud of his accuracy. Com- 
 petition, and consequent reduction in price, were evils strongly felt 
 and resented by Froben. In his Preface to the Concordance of 
 1525 appears the following dialogue, which is somewhat curtailed 
 from the original : — 
 
 "Customer. — Well, Froben, what book have you there? 
 Froben. — One which is equally your interest to buy as mine to sell. 
 Customer. — Something quite new, then? 
 Froben. — Neither new nor old, for it is both. 
 Customer. — You talk in riddles. 
 
 Froben. — It is a book called 'The Concordance to the Sacred Scriptures.' 
 Customer. — Why, that has been printed ever so many times.
 
 74 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 Froben. — True ! but if I have reprinted it, it is for the good of all. The sun 
 itself does not appear every day, when it does shine it is just the same sun, while my book 
 here is a decided improvement on the usual text. 
 
 Customer. — You can assure me of its correctness. 
 
 Froben. — You know that it is almost an impossibility to ensure positive freedom 
 from error, but if the care I have bestowed upon it has not been thrown away you will 
 find it very correct. Moreover, there is more in it than in the previous edition. 
 
 Customer. — I congratulate you, but I fear you will get but little credit for all your 
 labour ; besides, do you not find so much toil hastens old age ? 
 
 Froben. — What matters it ? 'Tis my destiny. And if she does bring me old age 
 and its troubles, you have the power to ease them. 
 
 Customer. — Indeed, how ? 
 
 Froben. — By purchasing this volume at once, and thanking me for offering it to you. 
 
 Customer. — But have you no compunction in thus selling your own child ? 
 
 Froben. — Not the least. It was for you and not myself that I begot it. 
 
 Customer. — What is its price? 
 
 Froben. — Stoop, and I will whisper it in your ear. 
 
 Customer. — Oh! goodness; much too dear. 
 
 Froben. — There! take it home and look at it. If you then repent your bargain I 
 will return your money. 
 
 Customer. — You could not say fairer. 
 
 Froben. — Everyone can be prodigal of words, but Froben holds to what he promises. 
 
 Customer. — Here, then, is the purchase-money in full tale. 
 
 Froben. — And here is the book in good condition, and I hope we shall both 
 be pleased." 
 
 THE NETHERLANDS. 
 
 |. Bellaekt, of Haarlem, 1483, is the first printer whose 
 name we find in Dutch typographical annals; and of the numerous 
 other names in the fifteenth and sixteenth century, but few call for 
 special notice. 
 
 Perhaps the most celebrated printer who flourished in Holland 
 was Abraham Elsevier, who was born at Leyden in 1592. Baillet 
 calls him "the Prince of Printers, not only in Holland, but throughout 
 all Europe," and no doubt for many years that character was true.
 
 ] mi PLANUM MUSEUM, U INTWJ RP. 
 
 ^
 
 X /tin hers. 75 
 
 The family flourished for more than one hundred and thirty years as 
 printers, and to this day some of the books which issued from their 
 presses are among the chief treasures of the bibliophile. 
 
 W. J. Blaeu, in the early part of the seventeenth century, was not 
 only remarkable for the excellence and diminutive size of the books he 
 issued, but deserves honourable mention for greatly improving the old 
 wooden presses used in his day. 
 
 The " Pensioners" of Holland and the "Doges" of Venice were 
 important persons in their day ; that day has passed, and now who 
 thinks much about them? But our Elseviers and Aldines live still, 
 not in name only, but as vital realities ; and their books continue to 
 be prized not only for their beauty and rarity, but for the standard 
 accuracy of the text. 
 
 BELGIUM. 
 
 After the printers who first brought the art to Belgium we meet 
 with no one of special note until the time of Christopher Plantin,* 
 who founded a family of printers of world-wide fame. His great 
 Polyglot Bible of eight folio volumes, published in 1569-72, is a 
 wonder of erudition and good workmanship. The last descendant of 
 the family, En. Moretus, has lately disposed of the old house and 
 all its contents to the town of Antwerp, who have opened it to the 
 public as a museum, where may be seen five portraits of the family 
 painted by Rubens, and many other noteworthy objects of art and 
 typography. No one should visit Antwerp without paying a visit to 
 this most interesting museum. 
 
 SPAIN. 
 
 The only name of great repute in this country is that of Ibarra, 
 who printed some excellent books at Madrid in the Bodoni style. He 
 died in 1785. 
 
 * Portrait on page 76. 
 
 I 2
 
 7 6 
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 loartKtj 'W^rtx C^tt 
 
 < ~l'tncis dum pateris . Plantine , tuosque lavores 
 ^j/Eternum cetermim Jama hauetur anus. 
 *^Nec Qtuiiare opus Inviazct tu tunderis arsiu 
 lOijjhrs tantum. tiindlt at tjle vtros . 
 
 PORTRAIT OF CHRISTOPHER PLANTIN. 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 After the: death of Caxton, in 1491, his workmen set up for them- 
 selves. Wynken hi Wordi-:, who succeeded his master, was the most 
 celebrated, and issued many hundreds of books. Dibdin, some seventy 
 years ago, quoted over 400, and there are probably now more than 
 600 known to bibliographers, the whole sadly in want of an en- 
 thusiast who would devote a lew years to their study. PvNSON and
 
 A' a in l>crs. 
 
 77 
 
 Wolffe were prolific typographers, and John Day, the printer of the; 
 Reformation, gave to the world over 350 books. In the 1 6th century, 
 however, the Government interfered and placed the Press under severe 
 restrictions, upon pretence of stopping 
 treasonable and heretical publications. 
 A series of barbarous enactments 
 soon reduced printing to a dangerous 
 and unremunerative employment. The 
 effects were seen at once by the de- 
 graded condition to which both master 
 printers and their workmen were re- 
 duced ; ignorance and incapacity being 
 the leading characteristics of the craft, 
 instead of learning and intelligence. 
 Thus, while in France and Germany 
 
 the printer held an honourable posi- portrait of john day 1562. 
 
 tion, above that of the trader, in England he was a mere slave 
 to the Stationers, to whom Government deputed tyrannical powers 
 of oppression and sup- 
 pression. 
 
 With the restoration 
 of freedom a great im- 
 provement took place ; 
 and the names of John 
 Cave, who originated 
 
 ztne, the Woodfalls, ^^fro^ 
 
 John Nichols, Benslev, johx day ' s trade mark - 
 
 Baskerville, and others, raised the fame of English printers to 
 a great height. The SroTTiswoooE family are also celebrated in
 
 78 
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 our typographical annals, and none more so than the philosopher, 
 the antiquarian, the great man of science, the hard working printer, 
 
 WII.MAM SfOTTISU I 
 
 and the warm friend, William Spottiswoode, F.S.A., F. R.S., who 
 died in [881.
 
 Numbers. 
 
 79 
 
 AMERICA. 
 
 In the New World, the most famous name in the annals of 
 printing is that of Benjamin Franklin, who, as a lad, learned his 
 trade in the printing office of Samuel Palmer, in London, in 1724. 
 
 IENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 
 
 On his return to his native country two years later, he entered into 
 business as a printer in Philadelphia. His literary and scientific tastes 
 soon made him a man of mark, and America to this day claims few 
 more distinguished sons than the philosopher and statesman, one of
 
 So 
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 4tfjZ*£> 
 
 Cf^^J^Z^pS- Sp/^ 
 
 -/z^n-et-fi- 
 
 
 ■S~ 
 
 C^^r/^ <c/?'c^Zn<br,- . J^i^ O^-f^ Sterns *ri 
 
 €y c^rt-Ji — 
 
 «sZ-s>rz_
 
 Numbers. 
 
 Si 
 
 whose chief boasts it was that he had served his time at the press. 
 The actual press at which he worked in London is still in existence, 
 and is preserved by his countrymen, as a precious relic, in the Smith- 
 sonian Institute, at Washington.* 
 
 In our own days, America has, in the person of Tiieo. L. De Vinne, 
 of New York, a worthy type of the enlightened and artistic printer. 
 
 STATIONERS HALL. 
 
 A cut of this press is given on page 56.
 
 DEUTERONOMY. 
 
 They have sought out many inventions." — 
 
 Ecci.es. 
 
 m J
 
 DEUTERONOMY. 
 
 IN Leviticus we traced the laws which governed the earliest stage 
 of the printing-press. In Deuteronomy — which is the repetition 
 and development of the law — we see an expansion and a second 
 birth of the press, almost equal in importance to the first — viz., the 
 invention of the Steam Printing Machine. The advance then made 
 towards rapid and cheap printing has had almost as revolutionary an 
 effect on the education and opinions of the nineteenth century masses 
 as had the original invention of printing upon the sixteenth century 
 middle-class. And as at first the art of printing was developed and 
 improved both in excellence and speed for many a year after Guten- 
 berg, so the modern machine, which started in 1814, is still developing 
 its wonderful capacity for improvement and speed until the mind 
 wonders if any limit can be assigned to its powers. 
 
 In T/QO all printing was effected by hand-labour. The types were 
 hand-cast — the compositors' hands were employed in arranging them — 
 the paper was hand-made — the pressman's muscles were called into 
 play to handle the bar. Sheet by sheet he took up the paper and 
 placed it in position upon the tympan, brought down the frisket to 
 keep it in place, turned it over upon the ready-inked type, ran the 
 whole by means of a winch under the press, pulled the bar or lever
 
 86 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 which gave the impression, turned the winch again, raised the tympan 
 and frisket, and released the now-printed sheet. This series of move- 
 ments, all requisite to print one side only, took really a shorter time in 
 action than is here taken in the description ; but the strongest workman, 
 with muscles indurated by years of labour, could, with the help of a 
 "fly-boy" to take off the sheets, and a "partner" to beat the form, 
 scarcely exceed 250 pulls per hour, and that only on one side of a 
 sheet — a snail-pace at which all cheap printing was impossible. 
 
 In this same year, 1790, the shadow of a great change soon to be 
 effected in printing was thrown upon the scene. John Nicholson, a 
 clever mechanician, took out a patent for printing by machinery, in 
 which he specified those very principles of action which have been the 
 basis of every successful printing-machine since made. Nicholson, 
 although clever in many ways, had none of the qualities which ensure 
 success in life. Improvident, without tenacity of purpose or per- 
 severance, his brains benefited others but not himself, and he died in 
 1 81 5 without seeing the success of any of his numerous inventions. 
 
 Until the year 181 1, when Kcenig succeeded in the attempt, the 
 possibility of a machine being invented which could successfully 
 perform all the varied operations just described was considered by all 
 master-printers as a scheme fit only for Utopia. Thus it happened 
 that Nicholson, bankrupt and disheartened by misfortune, let his plans 
 slumber in the Patent Office neglected and unnoticed, simply because 
 no one had sufficient faith in him to advance capital for the purposes of 
 experiment. 
 
 Of a very different mould was Frederick Kcenig, a young 
 German, who about 1804, began to work out his ideas for improving 
 the mechanism of the old wooden press. Endowed with mechanical 
 genius, great perseverance, and, above all, a firm belief in himself, he 
 worked unceasingly to accomplish his aim, and to him, without doubt,
 
 Deuteronomy. 
 
 8/ 
 
 must be awarded the honour of making the first workable Printing- 
 machine. His early attempts were quite unsuccessful. Neglected in 
 his native land, and befooled in Russia, he at last came to London, 
 where, after a period of want and disappointment, his evident clever- 
 ness and perseverance interested the well-known printer, J. Bensley, 
 in his designs. Although in after years bitter feelings existed, and 
 still more bitter words passed between these two, it should never 
 be forgotten that Bensley was Kcenig's earliest and best friend in 
 London. He was the first to recognise his powers, and without his 
 assistance, Kcenig would, in all probability, have gone to his grave— 
 
 CENTENARY MEDAL OF THE WALTERS, OF "THE TIMES 
 
 as many other inventors quite as clever have done — his genius 
 unrecognised, and his whole life embittered by disappointment. 
 Mr. Walter, of T/ie Times, although more interested than any one 
 in the improvement of the press, did not see enough in Kcenig's 
 first machines to induce him to assist, until success had made assist- 
 ance safe ; but Bensley year after year supported him, and found funds 
 for costly experiments, which, although displaying great cleverness and 
 ingenuity, led to no successful result. From 1806, when he came to 
 London, to 1S11, Kcenig made two complete machines (not including 
 his first wooden trial), but both were unsuccessful, because they were 
 founded on the false principle of the old hand-presses, viz., impressions
 
 88 
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing 
 
 l: 
 
 mi innrtnm iiiiiiiini 
 
 FLAT IMPRESSION. 
 (a) Type. I/') Plate, 
 
 from a flat surface or platen. Disheartened by iailure, and, as he 
 himself confessed, at his wits' end what to do next, an accidental 
 occurrence put him on the right road. Bensley, his partner, by chance 
 visited Nicholson, to obtain from him some information concerning 
 those patent laws with which a long 
 and sad experience had rendered him 
 familiar. He found him in the debtors' 
 gaol, and then he heard for the first 
 time of Nicholson's patents. Fluttered 
 and anxious, Bensley took Kcenig straight off to read the particulars. 
 Kcenig did read them, and read them carefully, but with great con- 
 tempt for their crudeness, and immediately forgot all he had read! (at 
 least he declared so fifteen years later). However this may have been, 
 he at once set about constructing a new machine, in which all his 
 previous plans of impression were thrown aside, and (wonderful coin- 
 cidence!) Nicholson's method of 
 pressure, by means of a cylin- 
 der, beneath which the type 
 ran, was adopted. This was 
 the turn in the tide which 
 led on to fortune, at least the 
 magic word "success" crowned 
 Kcenigf's toil. 
 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 u 
 
 a 
 
 SINGLE CYLINDRICAL IMPRESSION — TYPE OR PLATES 
 
 ON HIE FLAT. 
 («f Type or Plates, i/'t Cylinder. (c t d) Direction of Cylinder. 
 
 John Walter, of "The 
 Times," now approved and 
 adopted the new machine ; and 
 from that time to the present improvements have been made by 
 a succession of clever mechanicians, until the printing-machine of 
 to-day is a surprising piece of human ingenuity, which by its sim- 
 plicity excites the wonder, and by its cleverness the admiration, of 
 every beholder.
 
 Deuteronomy. 
 
 So 
 
 It is here only fair to state that Herr Goebel, the German biogra- 
 pher of Koenig, and all who sympathise with him, ant very indignant 
 at this version of the story. They utterly deny that Koenig owed 
 anything to Nicholson, and have heaped scorn on the heads of un- 
 believers in their hero. But the plain sequence of facts is against them. 
 First, we have Kcenig unsuccessful in his trials with a platen machine; 
 secondly, we find him reading Nicholson's plans for a cylinder machine; 
 thirdly, we see Kcenig rejecting at once his first ideas, and successfully 
 adopting those of Nicholson. I adhere to my opinion that, while 
 4 
 
 a a a 
 
 DOUBLE CYLINDRICAL IMPRESSION OK A PERFECTING MACHINE — TYPE OR 
 
 PLATES ON THE FLAT. 
 (,*> Type or Plates. (01, 6a) Cylinders. (c,d) Direction oj 'Cylinders, (e) Ink Rollers. 
 
 admitting the great mechanical genius of Kcenig, as shown throughout 
 his career, he nevertheless at this critical point owed his success to the 
 undeveloped plans of William Nicholson. 
 
 To consider this as derogatory to the genius of Kcenig is to take 
 a false view of things. No one doubts Handel's genius because he 
 built some of his melodies upon the themes of previous musicians, or 
 thinks the worse of Shakspeare for adopting the old story of " Romeo 
 and Juliet," and weaving therewith his immortal tragedy. Why, then, 
 should Germans resent the statement (which is simply historical) that 
 Nicholson supplied Kcenig with an idea which his mechanical genius 
 at once made his own, and successfully developed ?
 
 go 
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 Koenig's first success was a machine which printed one side of the 
 paper only. He next constructed one which, by duplicating the parts, 
 printed both sides of the sheet. Donkin and Bacon made the great 
 advance of using a composition of glue and treacle for rollers, instead 
 of leather, which had never been satisfactory. In 1815 Cowper took 
 out a patent for placing curved stereotype plates round a cylinder, the 
 principle of which had already engaged the attention of Nicholson. 
 Cowper carried this plan to a great pitch of perfection in the machines 
 made for The Times, and from that time to the present every 
 year shows new improvements and higher efficiency. The varieties 
 
 in modern printing machines 
 are innumerable, and their 
 management requires great 
 intelligence on the part of 
 the "minder," who, if he 
 understands his duty, de- 
 serves and can command 
 high wages. 
 
 Few sights are more im- 
 pressive than the machine- 
 room of one of our daily papers in the small hours of the morning. 
 Suppose you have obtained an order to see the paper put to press, the 
 best way is to engage rooms for the night at a neighbouring hotel. If 
 the stage has attractions for you, there will be plenty of time for a 
 leisurely supper after the play is over, and then, about two o'clock, to sally 
 into Fleet Street, which, even at this hour, is anything but a neglected 
 thoroughfare. Entering the printing-office, we visit the foundry-room 
 first, where the foreman explains the use of various tools and arrange- 
 ments, ami has scarcely finished when the first page of the paper comes 
 down from the composing-room. There is no dawdling now. The page 
 of type is quickly placed beneath the platen of a press, and a thick sheet 
 
 CYLINDRICAL IMPRESSION FROM CURVED STEREOTYPE. 
 
 (/-) Cylinder. tc, d) Direction of Cylinder. 
 
 It) Ink Rollers. ( /) Cylinder on which arc mounted Curved 
 
 Stereotypes.
 
 i H) " HOI " NEWSPAPER PRIN mm. M l< iiim-. 
 
 r
 
 Deuteronomy. 91 
 
 of a soft material — a mixture of papier-mache" and plaster of Paris, 
 called the flong — is placed upon the face of the type. The platen 
 descends, and by pressure forces the type into the soft flong, and makes 
 a complete mould. The flong is then dried rapidly while still adhering 
 to the type. When taken off, it is placed in a beautifully made steel 
 mould. This mould is curved to a quarter-circle, and when the flong 
 is placed inside it, and the liquid metal poured in, the result is a 
 curved plate, with a cast from the type on its outer surface. This 
 plate is placed upon a saddle, and all excrescences rapidly removed 
 with great skill from the edges and various spaces ; it is ready then for 
 the machine-room. So soon as eight pages are fastened on the cylinder 
 of the first machine the printing begins. At one end of the machine 
 is a heavy reel of paper, sufficient to make about 6,000 complete 
 papers. It is wound round a core like that used for a garden-hose, and 
 forms a solid mass, which unwinds rapidly when the machine grips it. 
 A knife with unerring precision cuts off each paper as soon as printed, 
 and delivers it onto a collecting board. Soon after No. 1 machine 
 gets to work, No. 2 is supplied with plates and started ; so with the 
 other machines, until eight or nine are all printing at once, each 
 delivering about 12,000 complete copies an hour, so that with eight 
 machines the delivery would be 96,000 per hour. The din is something 
 awful, and entirely prevents the asking of questions. Relays of men 
 are always hurrying away from each machine loaded with printed 
 papers. These are counted into quires in the warehouse, and at once 
 delivered to the newsagents. A curious and interesting circumstance 
 attending such speedy printing is the large amount of electricity excited 
 by the friction of the paper in its passage, and the storing of this 
 electricity in the printed heaps. I have seen quite a long spark dart 
 out of a heap into a man's knee ; and occasionally much inconvenience 
 arises from electrical repulsion and attraction, interfering with the 
 
 passage of the sheets. 
 
 s 
 
 x 2
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 EARLY LOGOTYPES. 
 
 The laws of printing machinery are not the only phase of the Art 
 in which the original invention has been supplemented by a second. 
 
 The compositor's work is so specially intelligent that it was 
 thought no machinery could ever be brought to supersede it. Early 
 in the present century, however, an attempt was made to economize 
 
 labour by cementing into one piece common 
 words, or combinations of letters of frequent 
 recurrence. These "logotypes," as they were 
 styled, were introduced by Mr. John Walter, 
 of The Times, and used in the composition of 
 that paper, as well as in general bookwork, 
 for some years. But the difficulty of adapting 
 the "case" for these numerous additional "sorts" proved a bar to 
 their general adoption, and in a short time the compositor reverted 
 to the single letters. 
 
 Of late years the composing machine, formerly but a plaything, 
 has made great strides towards perfection. The help of electricity 
 has here also been called in, and as fast as the hand can move, the 
 separate types make a continuous and rapid flow into perfect lines. 
 Mure wonderful still, a distributing machine has been made, which 
 takes the pages of types after they have fulfilled their duty, and without 
 the aid of hands sends each letter down a separate channel to its 
 own particular destination, and that at a speed with which a compositor 
 could never compete. 
 
 One more marvel : Before me is a book which to the eye appears 
 printed as other books with types, and yet not a type has been used. 
 It is truly an anomaly, typography without types. The machine is 
 worked by means of keys something like a piano. Behind is a block 
 of teak wood, properly placed in its position. This block sinks and 
 adapts itself automatically to the various positions requisite lor it to
 
 Deuteronomy. 
 
 occupy. Suppose the first word of your copy is " Print," you touch the 
 right key and out darts a steel punch, on the end of which is a " P." 
 This punch is driven into the wood an exact distance, and in the exact 
 position proper for the first word of a sentence. The blow given, the 
 punch retires, and leaves a beautifully clear matrix in the wood. The 
 punch "r" follows in the same way; the "r" key is pressed, and the 
 punch is driven in just by the side of the former. The other three 
 letters follow in due course, and so on with word after word, until a 
 whole line is complete, when the block automatically shifts itself, and a 
 fresh line just beneath the other is commenced. By a clever arrange- 
 ment, the lines are all made of one even length, and when a page is 
 thus completely punched, the block of wood is used as a mould from 
 which stereotype plates are taken, which print evenly and beautifully. 
 The speed and accuracy of this wonderful machine is truly astonishing, 
 but there are too many drawbacks to the method to commend it for 
 most practical purposes. Correction, for instance, entails entire re- 
 composition ; while as regards the appearance of the matter in print, 
 it must be admitted that, excellent as the result is, considering- the 
 method and material in which it is produced, it cannot for a moment 
 compare for delicacy and regularity with the result to be obtained by 
 the old-fashioned use of types, set by the compositor's hand. The 
 great merit claimed for these machines and others of a similar kind 
 (amongst which the "Linotype" may be mentioned as mechanically 
 the most ingenious), is speed and cheapness, — qualities which do not 
 always assort with fine work, or even easy legibility. 
 
 The last invention I will mention is the method of producing 
 printing surfaces by photo-typography — a plan which to a great extent 
 supersedes stereotype plates, especially where any change of size is 
 desirable. A zinc plate is prepared photographically, and the drawing 
 or page of a book to be used is focused with a camera to the size
 
 94 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 ordered. An image is thus taken on the metal plate, which is chemi- 
 cally rendered insoluble by acids in the parts where the image has 
 impinged. The plate is then treated to an acid bath, when all the parts 
 where the image is not are eaten away, and in half an hour to an hour 
 a raised surface, sufficiently high to print from, is left. For work 
 without very fine lines this process is extremely useful.
 
 
 A CHAPTER ON JUDGES 
 
 "'77s with our judgments as with our watches; none 
 Go just alike, yet each believes bis own." —
 
 A CHAPTER ON |UDGES. 
 
 THIS work is intended to be a popular outline only of an exten- 
 sive subject; but, in order to assist any reader who wishes to 
 study the question more deeply, a list of authors, who by their 
 works are entitled to be called Judges, is here given. Several works 
 well known to bibliographers, such as those of Dr. Dibdin, have been 
 purposely omitted, because, however pleasant to read, they carry no 
 weight historically or bibliographically. The titles of English works 
 have been preferred when the author has written with care and know- 
 ledge; but as the subject in its entirety cannot be mastered without 
 consulting also the writings of French and German Judges, such of 
 their works as supply new facts or arguments unnoticed in English 
 bibliography are also admitted on the list. Full titles are not necessary 
 and occupy much room ; and as all the works quoted ought to be in 
 every good public library, short titles have been considered sufficient, 
 the name under which they should be sought in the catalogue being 
 printed in italics. 
 
 The bibliography of the Genesis of Printing may be divided into 
 two classes — external and internal. The external, or historical, aspect 
 has been of late subjected to a searching scrutiny never contemplated
 
 o8 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 a generation ago. The result has been to nullify the testimony of 
 many witnesses whose evidence was considered unimpeachable by 
 former judges. One good result has been effected: the innumerable 
 writers who have founded their theories and arguments upon what now 
 are acknowledged to be spurious documents may be swept out of our 
 path. The real judges are now few. 
 
 i. "The Haarlem Legend," by Dr. Van der Linde, was originally 
 published in Dutch, in 1870. Translated and printed in 
 English, in 1S71. This work sweeps away all the so-called 
 historical evidence upon which the claims of Coster to be 
 the Inventor of Printing were founded. 
 
 2. "Gutenberg." By Dr. Van der Linde. 1880. Here, in addi- 
 
 tion to demolishing the Coster-myth, the author narrates 
 the invention of Printing by Gutenberg, with full historical 
 references. 
 
 3. "Gutenberg: Was he the Inventor of Printing?" By Dr. Hcssels. 
 
 1882. All the original documents concerning Gutenberg, as 
 quoted by Van der Linde, are here examined critically; many 
 are shown to be false, and the residue not decisive as to 
 Gutenberg's claims to the invention. 
 
 4. "Geschichte der Erfindung der Buchdruck-kunst." By Dr. Van 
 
 der Linde. 1886. The subject is treated in three immense 
 folio volumes, padded and watered to an unlimited extent, 
 no attempt being made to uphold the genuine character of 
 the documents disallowed by Dr. Hessels. This work is 
 not likely to be translated on account of its swollen bulk 
 and uncritical character. 
 
 The internal evidences deduced from die character of the types, 
 the evidence of individual workmanship olten apparent, and what may
 
 A Chapter on Judges. 99 
 
 be called the "habits" of the early printers, are of the greatest impor- 
 tance. They are, to some extent, noticed in works 1, 2, 3, and 4, 
 but may be specially noted under the names of: — 
 
 5. Fournicr, Henri ; " Traite de la Typographic.' 
 
 6. Didot, Amb. Firmin ; " Essai sur la Typographic" 
 
 7. Bernard, Aug. ; " De l'Origine et des Debuts de rimprimerie 
 
 en Europe." 
 
 8. Dupont, Paul ; " Histoire de rimprimerie." 
 
 9. Faulman, Karl; " Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst." 
 
 10. Ottlcy, W. T. ; "Inquiry concerning the Invention of 
 
 Printing." 
 
 11. De Viuue, Tlieo ; "The Invention of Printing." 
 
 12. Skeen, W. ; " Early Typography." 
 
 Excellent fac-simile plates will be found in 
 
 13. Sotkeby, S. L. ; " Principia Typographica." 
 
 14. Berjeau, J. Ph. ; facsimiles of the " Biblia Pauperum," 
 
 " Speculum." and several other block-books, not so good. 
 
 15. Holtrop, J. W. ; " Monumens Typographiques des Pays 
 
 Bas." 
 
 16. Weigel & Zestennann; "Collectio Weigeliana," — best of all. 
 
 This list by no means exhausts the books to be consulted under this 
 head, but will furnish the student with an ample basis for further 
 research. 
 
 The Exodus, or spread, of Printing is treated generally in the 
 works 1 to 9. To these must be added the following useful books : — 
 
 17. Cotton, Rev. H. ; "Typographical Gazetteer," series 1 and 2. 
 
 18. Panzer, G. IF.; "Annales Typographici." 
 
 19. Hain, L. ; " Repertorium Bibliographicum." 
 
 o 2
 
 roo The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 The special works on the first Presses of the various countries 
 are so numerous that only a few can be noted : — 
 
 For England : 
 
 20. Herbert's Edition of Ames' " Typographical Antiquities." 
 
 This edition is preferable to Dibdin's. 
 For Caxton and Westminster : 
 
 21. Blades, Wm. ; "Biography and Typography of William 
 
 Caxton. - ' 
 For Cambridge : 
 
 22. Bradskaw, Henry; Introduction to reprint of "Bullocks' 
 
 Oratio." 
 F"or St. Albans : 
 
 23. Blades, Wm. ; Introduction to reprint of the " Boke of 
 
 St. Albans." 
 For York : 
 
 24. Davis, Rob. ; " Memoir of the York Press." 
 For Oxford : 
 
 25. Latham, H. ; "Oxford Bibles and Printing in Oxford." 
 
 26. Reed, Talbot B. ; "Old English Letter Foundries," Chapter 6. 
 
 For Scotland : 
 
 27. Watson, Jas. ; " History of the Art of Printing." 
 
 2cS. Dickson, Robert ; "Introduction of the Art of Printing into 
 Scotland." * 
 For Aberdeen : 
 
 29. Edmund, /. P.; "The Aberdeen Printers." 
 For America : 
 
 30. Thomas. Isaiah; "History of Printing in America."t The 
 
 reprint of this work, in its omissions and careless inaccurate 
 extracts, is a disgrace to the Society which issued it. 
 
 hi oi the Author, Mt Di >m Edmund's "Annals of Scottish Printing" has appeared. 
 
 i See page 1 13.
 
 A Chapter on Judges. 101 
 
 Numerous monographs exist, describing the first Presses in 
 most of the large Cities of Europe ; but our space prohibits their 
 enumeration here. 
 
 The Leviticus is treated of in a large number of books on the 
 Mechanics and Practice of Printing ; amongst others— 
 
 31. Smith [no.; "The Printers' Grammar" is the oldest 
 
 instructor. 
 
 32. Moxon, /os. ; " Mechanic Exercises"* is the oldest mechani- 
 
 cal handbook. 
 33- Johnson, /. ; " Typographia." 
 
 34. Hansard, T. C. ; "Typographia." 
 
 35. Luckom.be, P. ; " History and Art of Printing." 
 
 36. Savage, TV. : " Dictionary of the Art of Printing." 
 
 For Typefounding : 
 
 I,"]. Mores, E. Rowe ; " Dissertation upon English Typographical 
 Founders and Foundries."! 
 
 38. Reed, Talbot B. ; " History of the Old English Letter 
 
 Foundries." 
 
 39. Hansard, T. C. ; "Treatises on Printing and Typefounding." 
 
 For an account of the early mechanics of Typefounding, see Moxon, 
 
 (No. 32 ante). 
 
 The Numbers of Printers whose biographies exist have not been 
 very numerous. The best known are : — 
 
 For the first German Printers : 
 
 40. Gessner, C. F. ; " Die so nothig . . . Buchdruckerkunst." 
 
 For the earlv Printers o-enerallv : 
 
 41. Madden, J. P. A. ; " Lettres d'un Bibliographe." 
 
 ' See pat;e 10S. f See page 1 12.
 
 102 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 For the Aldine family : 
 
 42. Renouard, A. A. ; " Annales de l'lmprimerie des Aide.'' 
 
 43. Didot, A. F. : "Aide Manuce et l'Hellenisme a Venice." 
 
 For Jenson : 
 
 44. Sardini, G. ; " Storia Critica de Nic. Jenson." 
 
 For the Junta : 
 
 45. Bandini, A. M. ; " De Florentina Juntarum Typographic." 
 
 For Bodoni : 
 
 46. Bernardi, Jetc. ; " Vita di Giambattista Bodoni." 
 
 For the first Parisian Printers : 
 
 47. Philippe, J. : " Origine de l'lmprimerie a Paris." 
 
 For Geofroy Tory : 
 
 48. Bernard, Aug. ; " Geofroy Tory, Peintre et Graveur." 
 
 For the Stephens : 
 
 49. Bernard, A. J . ; " Les Estienne." 
 
 For the Dutch Printers : 
 
 50. Ledeboer, A. M. ; " Alfabetische Lijst der Boekdrukkers 
 
 in Noord-Nederland." 
 
 For Colard Mansion : 
 
 51. Van Praet, J. B. B. ; " Notice sur Colard Mansion." 
 
 52. Carton. C. ; Colard Mansion." 
 
 For Martens of Alost : 
 
 53. Gand, M. J. ; " Recherches Historiques sur . . Thierry 
 
 Martens." 
 
 For Plantin : 
 
 54. Booses, Max; " Christophe Plantin, Imprimeur Anversois." 
 
 For the Elzevirs : 
 
 55. Pielers, Ch. ; "Annales de l'lmprimerie Flsevirienne." 
 
 56. Willems, A.; " Les Elzevier."
 
 A Chapter on fudges. 103 
 
 For English Printers before 1600, consult Herbert (No. 20, ante). 
 
 For English Printers generally : 
 
 57. Timperlcy, Chas. H, ; " Encyclopaedia of Literary and Typo- 
 
 graphical Anecdotes." 
 For Day : 
 
 58. Strype, J.; " Life of Parker." 
 
 For Bowyer : 
 
 59. Nichols, J. ; " Life of William Bowyer." 
 
 For English Printers in the 18th century : 
 
 60. Nichols, J. ; " Literary Anecdotes." 
 
 For Baskerville, consult Reed (No. 38 ante, Chapter 13). 
 
 For Scotch Printers : 
 
 61. Dickson & Edmund ; "Annals of Scottish Printing." 
 
 The Deuteronomy, and modern developments of Printing, are 
 dealt with in numerous current hand-books, of which the following 
 may be named : — 
 
 62. Wilson, F. J. F. ; "Stereotyping and Electrotyping" ; also 
 
 " Printing Machines and Machine Printing." 
 
 63. Southward, Jno. ; " Practical Printing." 
 
 Facsimile Title pages of a few curious works, not included in the 
 above list, but worthy to rank among the Judges, are appended.
 
 io4 
 
 The Pentateuch 0/ Printing. 
 
 DECREE 
 
 OF 
 
 Starre -Chamber, 
 CONCERNING 
 
 Printing, 
 
 £[dade tbeeleuentb day o/fuly 
 la/lpaft. 1 6 3 7. 
 
 Imprinted at London by Robert Barker, 
 Printer to the Kings mofl Excellent 
 Maieftie: And by the Aflignes 
 oflobnBill. i6^j.
 
 THE 
 
 Original and Growth 
 
 PRINTING 
 
 Co LLECTED 
 
 Out of HIS TO%T, and the "Records 
 of this J^lfrtqVO^KfE. 
 
 Wherein is alio Demonflrated, 
 
 That Printing appertained to the 
 
 ^Prerogative %oyal ; and is a Flower 
 
 of the QroV^n of England 
 
 By Richard Atkyns,. £fq; 
 
 COfjlte -^>all, April the 25 th I 664. 
 By iDaUer and appointment of the Right HONOURABLE, 
 
 Mr. Secretary M o R 1 C E, Let this be itymteo. 
 
 7 HO; RTCHAliT. 
 
 LONDON: 
 Printed by JOHN ST re ate * v for the AUTHOR 
 
 MDCLX1V.
 
 io6 
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 
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 107 
 
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 P 2
 
 io8 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 MECHANICS EXERCISES: 
 
 Or, the Doclirine of 
 
 Applied to the Art of 
 
 The Second. VOLUMNE. 
 
 By Jofeph Moxon, Member of the Royal 
 Society, and Hydrographer to the King's 
 Aloft Excellent Majefty. 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 Printed for Jofeph Moxon on the Weft- 
 fide of Fleet-ditch, at the Sign of 
 Atla6. i 6 8 Z*
 
 A Chapter on fudges. 109 
 
 P R O E V E 
 
 DRUKKERYE 
 
 VAN 
 
 M r ABRAHAM ELZEVIER. 
 
 In fijn Leven Drukker van de Uriiverfiteyt tot 
 
 Leyden. 
 
 Beftaande in vier fchoone 
 
 DRUK-PARSSEN. 
 
 Wflar ondcr dric met kopere Dcgels zijn , 
 Als mede 
 
 Verfchcyde foorteruvan Arabifchc, Sirifche, Samaritaanfche, 
 
 /Ethiopifche, Griekfchc, Hcbrecuwfche, Rabbynfche, 
 
 Latijnfche, Curfijffche, Hoog-en Neerduytiche, 
 
 en mcer andere 
 
 LETTEREN 
 
 Nog verfchcyde Arabifchc , Sirifche, Hebreeuwfche, La- 
 tijnfchc en Curfijffche Matryfen, wyders Arabifche, Si- 
 rifche, Hebreeuwfche Pongons, ofStempcls, 
 en verfchcyde Vormen ora in te gieten. 
 
 Een fchoone groote Kagchcl , curieufe Houte en Loode 
 
 Letteren , Finaaltjes , Yfere Ramen , Lctterkaflen Nat- 
 
 cnSpoelborden, vijf Korngeer fteencn, enverder 
 
 Geiectfchap tot deDrukkery bchorende. 
 
 Welke verkocht fal werden tot Leyden in de Academy , 
 
 op Maandag den 2,0. February 17 15.'^ morgem ten 
 
 9. uttren precjs. 
 
 Alles fal daags re vooren van deGcgadingde konnen gefien 
 
 werden, en deCatalogus is tc bekomen by, Francoys 
 
 Heencman, op de Haarlcm-ftraat inde Vcrguldc Son.
 
 I IO 
 
 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 &rt oflpjrttttfng, 
 
 Containing an Account of It's 
 
 Invention and Progrefs 
 
 EUROPE. 
 
 WITH 
 
 The NAMEsof the Famous Printers, 
 
 The Places of Their Birth, 
 And the Wojiks printed by Them. 
 
 AND 
 
 A Preface by the Vublijh'er 
 t o 
 
 The PRINTERS in Scotland. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 Printed by J a m e s Watson. Sold at his Shop, op- 
 pofite to the Luchen-Boothi ; and at the Shops of D a- 
 vidScot in the Parliament-Clofe, and George 
 Stewart a little above the Crofs. M. DCC. XIII.
 
 A Chapter on Judges. 1 1 1 
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 Of Mavster 
 
 OTptipam Canton. 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Weald of KENT; 
 
 THE 
 
 Firft Printer in England. 
 
 In which is given 
 
 An Account of the Rife and Progrefs of 
 the A R T of pryntyng; in England, during his 
 Time, till 1493. 
 
 Ccdlefted by J O H N LEWIS, 
 
 iMinifler of g^etgatC in Kent. 
 
 4%&> 
 
 LONDON. 
 Printed in the Year M.DCC.XXXVIL.
 
 112 The Pentateuch of Printing. 
 
 A DISSERTATION UPON ENGLISH 
 
 TYPOGRAPHICAL FOUNDERS 
 
 AND FOUNDERIES. 
 
 By Edward Rowe Mores, A. M. & A. S. S. 
 
 M, DCC, LXXVIII.
 
 / Chapter on fudges. i i 
 
 HISTORY OF PRINTING 
 
 IN 
 
 AMERICA. 
 
 WITH A 
 
 BIOGRAPHY OF PRINTERS, 
 
 AND AN 
 
 ACCOUNT OF NEWSPAPERS. 
 
 XO WHICH IS PREFIXED A CONCISE VIEW OF 
 
 THE DISCOVERY AND PROGRESS OF THE ART 
 
 IN 
 
 OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 BY ISAIAH THOMAS, 
 
 PRINTER, WORCESTER. MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 Volume I. 
 
 PRINTING dispels (he gloom of mental night— 
 Hail ! pleasing fountain of all cheering light ! 
 How like the. radiant orb which gives the day, 
 .And o'er the earth sends forth th' enlight'nins rjyl 
 
 WORCESTER : 
 
 FROM THE PRESS OF ISAIAH THOMAS, JUN. 
 ISAAC STURTEVANT, PRINTER 
 
 1810.
 
 NDEX 
 
 Accursius, M. 
 
 14 
 
 Aldine Anchor ■ 
 
 6S 
 
 Aldus ■ 
 
 64-6S. 102 
 
 Amerbach 
 
 73 
 
 America, Printing in 
 
 40, 70, too. 113 
 
 Bacon's Rollers 
 
 90 
 
 Badins Ascensius 
 
 54. 7° 
 
 Baskerville, J. - 
 
 77. 103 
 
 Bellaert, J. 
 
 74 
 
 Belgium, Printing in 
 
 75 
 
 Bensley, J. 
 
 77. 87, 88 
 
 Biblia Pauperum 
 
 7 
 
 Blaeu, W. J. • 
 
 75 
 
 Block Books 
 
 7, 12, 13. 99 
 
 Block Printing - 
 
 6- 9 
 
 Bodoni, G. 
 
 - 68, 102 
 
 Bologna, ('.. da 
 
 67 
 
 Book-making. Early 
 
 10 
 
 Bowyer. Win. - 
 
 103 
 
 Breitkopf 
 
 64 
 
 Brockhaus 
 
 64 
 
 Brothers of Common I 
 
 ife 31 
 
 Cardboard 
 
 6 
 
 Case for Type - 
 
 52 
 
 Catchwords 
 
 57 
 
 Cave, Jno. 
 
 57 
 
 Caxton, Win. 
 
 ■ 31, 32-40. 100 
 
 Chaix, A. 
 
 73 
 
 Chinese Printing 
 
 6 
 
 Coburger 
 
 • 26, 64 
 
 Cologne Chronicle 
 
 - >4. 15 
 
 Colophons 
 
 45 
 
 Composing Machines 
 
 92 
 
 Composing Sticks 
 
 53 
 
 Compositors 
 
 5i 
 
 Correction 
 
 • 93- "8 
 
 
 .. 1 
 
 Coster, L. J. • iC 
 
 . [8, 10. 61, 98 
 
 Costeriana 
 
 Is, 01 
 
 Cowper's Machine 
 
 90 
 
 Cramoisy 
 
 73 
 
 Cranz, M. 
 
 28 
 
 Creussner 
 
 26 
 
 Cromberger 
 
 40 
 
 Cylindrical Impression 
 
 SS 
 
 Day, Jno. 
 
 ■ 77, 103 
 
 Daye, Stephen 
 
 40 
 
 Dibdin, T. F. ■ 
 
 98 
 
 Dictes and Sayingei 
 
 3S 
 
 Didot Family - 
 
 72 
 
 Distributing Machines 
 
 92 
 
 Dolet, E. 
 
 69 
 
 Donatiis 
 
 12 
 
 Donkiivs Roller? 
 
 90 
 
 Dupre - 
 
 69 
 
 Diirer, Alb. 
 
 64 
 
 Eggestein 
 
 25, 63 
 
 Elzevirs, Family of 
 
 • 74- 102 
 
 England, Printing in - 
 
 32, 76, 100, 102 
 
 Engraving 
 
 6, 12 
 
 Estiennes, Family of - 
 
 - 7i, 102 
 
 Europe in the 151I1 century 
 
 10 
 
 " Feet " of Type 
 
 49 
 
 Feyerabend 
 
 »3 
 
 Picket, G. 
 
 • 28, 29 
 
 " Forms" of Type 
 
 56 
 
 France, Printing in 
 
 2S, 69, 102 
 
 Franklin, Benj. 
 
 79 
 
 Friburger, M. • 
 
 2S 
 
 Froben, Jno. 
 
 73 
 
 Fust, Jno. 
 
 20, 21, 25 
 
 Garamond, CI. 
 
 71 
 
 Gering, U. 
 
 28, 30, 73 
 
 Q 2
 
 n6 
 
 Inde 
 
 x. 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Germany, Printing in • 
 
 25, 32, 63, IOI 
 
 Mayence Psalter 
 
 46 
 
 Goebel, Th. 
 
 89 
 
 Maynyal 
 
 31 
 
 Golden Legend ■ 
 
 38 
 
 Mentelin 
 
 25, 63 
 
 Gothic Type 
 
 3° 
 
 Millar, And. 
 
 40 
 
 Greek Types 
 
 71 
 
 Moel - 
 
 69 
 
 Guilds, Trade - 
 
 10 
 
 Moretus, Ed. 
 
 75 
 
 Gutenburg, Jno. 
 
 - 15, 20, 21, 98 
 
 Mould - 
 
 51 
 
 
 
 Moxon, Jos. 
 
 - 50, IOI 
 
 Haerlem 
 
 ■ 13, 20, 63, 98 
 
 
 
 Hahn, Ulric - 
 
 64 
 
 Nature-printing 
 
 5 
 
 Hamborch, Conrad 
 
 48 
 
 Netherlands, Printing in 
 
 31, 32, 74 
 
 Hero-worship, Perils of 
 
 16 
 
 Newspaper, Printing of a 
 
 90 
 
 Hessels, J. H. - 
 
 98 
 
 Nichols, Jno. 
 
 77 
 
 Heylin, J. 
 
 21. JS 
 
 Nicholson, Jno. 
 
 - S6-89 
 
 Holland, Claims of 
 
 13, 20, 63 
 
 Numbering of Pages 
 
 57 
 
 Ibarra - 
 
 75 
 
 Olpe, P. de 
 
 63 
 
 Impression, Modes of - 
 
 5, S8 
 
 Operinus 
 
 73 
 
 Indulgences 
 
 13 
 
 Oxford, Printing at 
 
 - 32, 100 
 
 Ink 
 
 • 7- 54 
 
 Pannartz, A. - 
 
 • 27, 64 
 
 Inking Balls 
 
 55 
 
 Paper on Reels 
 
 91 
 
 Invention Controversy 
 
 • 22, 98 
 
 Petrejus 
 
 63 
 
 Ireland, Printing in 
 
 40 
 
 Pfister - - - - 
 
 25, 63 
 
 Italic Type 
 
 67 
 
 Photo-typography 
 
 93 
 
 Italy, Printing in 
 
 • 27, 64 
 
 i'igouchet 
 
 69 
 
 Jenson, Nic. 
 
 102 
 
 Planck - 
 
 64 
 
 Junius, Had. 
 
 - 16, iS 
 
 Plantin, Christopher 
 
 - 75, I02 
 
 
 
 Playing Cards - 
 
 6 
 
 Keffer, II. 
 
 26 
 
 Powell, Humphrey 
 
 40 
 
 Koelhoff 
 
 63 
 
 Pn >es, Early - - 54, 
 
 56, 81, S3 
 
 Koenig, Fredk. 
 
 - 86-90 
 
 Printing, Definition of - 
 
 1 1 
 
 Lamps, Printing on 
 
 5 
 
 Printing by hand 
 
 S5 
 
 Language 
 
 5 
 
 Printing, Laws affecting 
 
 77 
 
 Latin Names of Towns 
 
 41 
 
 Printing, Spread of 
 
 ■ 25, 99 
 
 Leeu, Ger. 
 
 •-,< 
 
 Punch Cutting - 
 
 50 
 
 Lignamine, 1'. de 
 
 64 
 
 Pynson 
 
 • 40, 76 
 
 Linde, Dr. Van der 
 
 '5, 9« 
 
 Re ueil des Histoires de Troye 
 
 3° 
 
 I., igotj |" 
 
 02 
 
 Re uyell of ///<• Histories of Troye 
 
 3°. 35, 37 
 
 Machlinia 
 
 40 
 
 Rei isinger 
 
 64 
 
 Mansi ' 'olarcl 
 
 • 3°, 3', 37, >o2 
 
 R 1 and 1 [unte 
 
 40 
 
 Martens. Thierry 
 
 ;i. 102 
 
 Roman Type 
 
 27 
 
 Matrix - 
 
 5' 
 
 Rome, Printing at 
 
 26 
 
 M:i). ncc 
 
 • 20, 25 
 
 Rot, Bert, 
 
 27
 
 Index. 
 
 i i 
 
 
 
 'AGE 
 
 St. Albans, Schoolmaster "f 
 
 
 40 
 
 Schoeffer, P. 
 
 • 21, 25, 49 
 
 63 
 
 Scotland, Printing in 
 
 40, too, 
 
 "°3 
 
 Scribes - 
 
 
 IO 
 
 Seals, Early 
 
 - 
 
 5 
 
 Sensenschmidt - 
 
 - 26 
 
 63 
 
 Siberch 
 
 
 40 
 
 Signatures 
 
 - 
 
 56 
 
 Silber - 
 
 - 
 
 64 
 
 Spain, Printing in 
 
 
 75 
 
 Speculum 
 
 
 13 
 
 Spire, J. de 
 
 - 
 
 28 
 
 Spottiswoodes, The 
 
 
 77 
 
 Stationers' Company 
 
 40, 
 
 77 
 
 Steam Power and Printing 
 
 ■ 85, 
 
 9i 
 
 Steam Press invented • 
 
 - 
 
 88 
 
 Stereotyping 
 
 - 9°, 
 
 i°3 
 
 Stephani. (Sec Eslicnnes. ) 
 
 
 
 Strasburg 
 
 - 20, 
 
 25 
 
 Switzerland, Printing in 
 
 - 
 
 73 
 
 Therhoernen 
 
 
 63 
 
 Theurdanck 
 
 - 
 
 26 
 
 Times, The 
 
 - 
 
 90 
 
 Title-pages 
 
 - 
 
 57 
 
 Tory, G. 
 
 • 69, 
 
 102 
 
 I j pes, Early 
 
 '3 
 
 22, 98 
 
 Types on \\ ood 
 
 
 47 
 
 Types, Early Specimens of 
 
 
 48, 49 
 
 Type-Metal ' - 
 
 - 
 
 5' 
 
 Typefounding, Marly Practice of 
 
 45. 
 
 51, IOI 
 
 Typography 
 
 - 
 
 3-9 
 
 Typography, Early Schools of - 
 
 - 
 
 32 
 
 Typography without Types 
 
 • 
 
 93 
 
 Valdarfar 
 
 . 
 
 27 
 
 Veldener 
 
 - 
 
 3' 
 
 Venice • 
 
 
 27, 64 
 
 Verard, Ant. 
 
 - 
 
 69 
 
 Viessieux, (i. 
 
 - 
 
 69 
 
 Vinne, Then. L. de 
 
 - 
 
 81 
 
 Vitre, Ant. 
 
 
 73 
 
 Vostre, Simon - 
 
 - 
 
 69 
 
 Walter, Jno. 
 
 87, 
 
 89, 92 
 
 Wolffe - 
 
 - 
 
 77 
 
 Woodfalls 
 
 - 
 
 77 
 
 Worde, Wynlcyn de 
 
 - 
 
 40, 76 
 
 Writing Material 
 
 
 5. 6 
 
 Zainer, G. 
 
 . 
 
 27, 63 
 
 Zell, Ulric 
 
 14. 26, 
 
 $2, 63
 
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