PARTONE

THE SCRIBE AT WORKRepresenting a secretary to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy and patron of learning, copying manuscript books at the Hague about the time typography was invented

WHEN BOOKS WERE WRITTEN

To many persons the words “Printing” and “Typography” are synonymous. The Standard dictionary, in its leading definition of the word “Printer,” says: “One engaged in the trade of typographical printing; one who sets type or runs a printing press; specifically a compositor.”

But in these days there are so many kinds of printers (lithographic printers, steel- and copper-plate printers, linotype printers, textile printers, etc.) that to define the sort of printer who does his work with type the use of the adjective “typographic” is necessary.

The word “typography” is derived from the Greektypos, or type; andgraphe, or writing—type-writing. Typography, then, as I shall use it, means printing from movable, or separate, types.

The origin of typography may be open to dispute, but it is an undeniable fact that the art of printing with separate types was practiced at Mainz, Germany, during the years 1450–1455, and from there spread over Europe.

Before that period books were written by hand or printed from crudely engraved blocks of wood.

The thousand years preceding the invention of printing (the fifth to the fifteenth century) are known in history as the Middle Ages, and the first six centuries of this period (the fifth to the eleventh) are called the Dark Ages, because during those years civilization in Europe relapsed into semi-barbarism, and scientific, artistic and literary pursuits were almost entirely abandoned.

Latin had been the language of intellectual Europe up to the time of the fall of Rome (476A.D.) and one of the influences that led up to this benighted period was that Southern Europe was overrun by so-called barbarians from Germania in the north—the Angles and Saxons, who settled in Britain; the Franks, Burgundians and Goths, who settled in Gaul (now France) and Germany; the Vandals who settled in Spain, and the Lombards, who settled in Italy.

In Italy, Spain and Gaul the Latin-speaking natives far outnumbered the invaders, and the Germanic conquerors were forced to learn something of Latin. The present languages of those countries are the result of that attempt. The language of the Germanic Angles and Saxons was used in Britain after their invasion of that country, but was modified by the French-speaking Normans who conquered England in the eleventh century. Thus Latin as a common language died.

Altho dead to most of the population of Europe, Latin was made the official language of the Christian church, and, during that period of the Middle Ages when French, Spanish, Italian and English were in a state of evolution, it afforded a means of keeping alive in written books the knowledge the world had gained before the dark curtain of ignorance was rung down.

Manuscript books are so-called from the Latin wordsmanu scripti, meaning “written by hand,” and the initials of these two Latin words are frequently used for the word manuscript, i.e., “MS.”

The materials upon which books were written have at various times been clay, stone, wood, lead, skin, papyrus and paper.

ASSYRIAN CLAY TABLETShowing the cuneiform (arrow-shaped) writing

Looking back six thousand years to the beginning of recorded time we find the Chaldeans (Babylonians and Assyrians) writing arrow-shaped characters with a sharp tri-pointed instrument upon damp clay, which was then made permanent by baking. In 1845 a library of baked clay tablets was discovered among the ruins of Nineveh. Thousands of these tablets have been collected in the British Museum, the most interesting of which is one which had been broken in eighteen pieces, containing an account of the Flood.

Twenty-five hundred years before the Christian era, when the great pyramids were being built, the Egyptians wrote upon papyrus, a plant growing on the banks of the Nile. The inner portion of the plant was stripped, the strips laid across each other, pressed and dried. The squares of material thus made were then joined together to form a long strip which was rolled around a rod.

Upon papyrus is written one of the oldest “books” in the world, “The Book of the Dead,” now in the British Museum. This is a literary work of a semi-sacred character, and copies were placed in the tombs with deceasedEgyptians, whence its name. A reproduction of a portion of this book is given on page three.

Supposedly under the patronage of the Egyptian ruler, Rameses II., about thirteen hundred years before Christ, many books on religion, law, medicine and other subjects were written, and a great library was accumulated.

The Chinese wrote with a stylus or brush upon tablets of bamboo fiber. It is impossible accurately to determine the antiquity of Chinese methods, as the extravagant and often unsubstantiated claims of historians antedate those of modern discovery. Ink, paper, and printing from blocks were all supposedly invented by the Chinese early in the Christian era, and even the first use of separate types is credited to Pi-Shing, a Chinese blacksmith. It may be relevant to suggest that the old-time “blacksmith” joke and the printing-term “pi” are derived from this source.

Dressed skins and palm leaves were used by the Hindoos, and writings in Sanscrit were probably done in the temples by the Brahmins, the priests and philosophers of early India. The Vedas, sacred writings as old as 2000B.C., formed a big portion of the Hindoo literature.

The Hebrews wrote upon stones and animal skins. In this manner they preserved the Old Testament portion of the Bible, and gave to posterity one of the most wonderful books ever written.

The ancient Phœnicians were commercial people, and being such did very little in producing literature; yet it is to them that we owe the present Roman alphabet. The illustration on a following page shows how this transition probably came about. There is a slight resemblance between some of the twenty-one characters in the Phœnician alphabet and certain picture writings of the Egyptians, whose hieroglyphic alphabet consisted of several hundred characters and was as cumbersome as is the Chinese alphabet with its several thousand characters.

The Greeks received their alphabet directly from the Phœnicians, there being a tradition that one Cadmus introduced it into Greece. Some writers claim that “Cadmus” merely signifies “the East” and does not refer to an individual. The names of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and Beta, are similar to those of many other languages, and the word “alphabet” is derived from these two words.

In Greece, especially at Athens, before manuscripts became numerous, lectures and public readings were important features of intellectual life.

The poems of Homer, supposed to have been composed about 880B.C., were not put into writing until 560B.C., and during this period of more than three hundred years they were retained in the memory of bards, by whom they were sung or recited.

“Plutarch’s Lives,” one of the best known Greek literary works, was written in the second century,A.D.

The Greek nation is generally acknowledged to have been one of the most intellectual of ancient times, yet it is a peculiar fact that only the boys were given an education, the intellectual development of women being considered unnecessary.

Copying of manuscripts was often a labor of love. Demosthenes, the great philosopher, is said to have transcribed with his own hands the eight books of Thucydides on the history of the Peloponnesian War.

Many of the Greek manuscripts were written by scribes and copyists who were slaves, and some of these slaves developed much talent of a literary kind.

The Greeks imported papyrus as a writing material, until one of the Ptolemies, in the interests of the Alexandrian library, decreed that no papyrus should go out of Egypt. This led to the development of parchment, so named from the city of Pergamus, where it was first made. Parchment is the skin of calves, goats or sheep, cleaned and smoothed.

In the days of militant Greece, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, and in the year 332B.C.founded Alexandria. When at his death Alexander’s empire was divided among his generals, Egypt fell to the lot of Ptolemy, surnamed Soter. Thus began a dynasty of Egyptian kings known as Ptolemies, ending in 30B.C.with the death of Cleopatra, the last of the line. The second Ptolemy, surnamed Philadelphus, founded the great Alexandrian library, which accumulated over five hundred thousand rolls of manuscript, mostly brought from Greece. The length of the rolls varied from small ones of two hundred lines to massive scrolls of one hundred and fifty feet when unwound.

There is a legend that Ptolemy Philadelphus was so impressed with the appearance of a roll of parchment containing in gold letters the sacred scriptures of the Hebrews, that, about 270B.C., he caused their translation to be made into Greek. This, it is said, was done in Alexandria in seventy-two days by seventy-two learned Jews from Jerusalem. Hence the name “Septuagint,” which has always been applied to that Greek version of the Old Testament.

ANCIENT ROMAN READING A MANUSCRIPT ROLLFrom a painting found at Pompeii

Julius Cæsar, the Roman conqueror, whom Shakespeare designated “the foremost man of all this world,” about the year 30B.C.visited the city of Alexandria and became interested in Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen. This led to a war with King Ptolemy, and during a fierce battle Cæsar set fire to the Egyptian fleet. Unfortunately the flames extended to the Alexandrian library and destroyed the greater part of its magnificent collection of manuscripts.

Gradually after that, Rome superseded Alexandria as an intellectual center, as Alexandria had previously superseded Athens. The conquest of Greece, over a hundred years before, had been the cause of many Greek scholars and philosophers taking up their abode in Rome. This, with the fact that a great number of scribes and copyists had involuntarily come to the Eternal City because of the fortunes of war, helped to develop in the Romans an interest in literature.

During the period of Roman history identified with Julius Cæsar there were customs in manuscript making that are interesting in their suggestion of modern newspaper methods. In fact, Cæsar is credited with having been the founder of the newspaper.

He introduced the daily publication of the news of the Roman Senate and People, a radical change from the previous custom of issuing yearly news-letters known as the Annals. The acts of the senate were reported by trained writers known astabularii, or inscribers of tablets, and were revised and edited before publication by a senator appointed to that duty. Abbreviated forms of writing were used in “reporting,” a sort of short-hand which enabled the scribe to write as rapidly as a man could speak. Cæsar himself wrote his letters in characters which prevented them being read by his enemies.

ROMAN WAXED TABLETThe present method of binding flat books might have originated with these old tablets

The “Acts of the Senate” grew into a diary of general news, known as the “Acts of the City,” and it is likely that the educated slaves in the families of public men were called into service to duplicate copies for circulation.

Altho the Emperor Augustus, who reigned in Rome at the beginning of the Christian era, discontinued publishing the Acts of the Senate, he encouraged the writing and copying of books to such extent that the period is a memorable one in literature. The classic authors, Virgil and Horace, wrote at that time, and many other important manuscripts were produced.

Slave labor was utilized for copying, and large editions of manuscript rolls were produced with an ease that rivaled the later method of the printing press. In such instances it was the custom for a reader to read aloud, to, say, one hundred trained writers. The possibilities of this process may be imagined. Horace allowed his slaves rations which were so meager that the entire cost of production, including papyrus and binding, of a small book was equivalent to about twelve cents in United States coin.

Thus it will be seen that in the days of the Roman Empire books were plentiful and cheap because of slave labor, just as they are cheap in modern times because of machinery.

For most of their books the Romans, as had the Egyptians and Greeks before them, used rolls of papyrus wound about rods.

Ordinarily these rods were made of wood, but for highly-prized manuscripts, rods made of ivory with gold balls at the ends were used, and the writing in such cases was on purple-colored parchment, elaborately decorated with gold or red ink.

The present style of flat sheet books might have originated with the use by the Romans of tablets of wood or metal, wax-coated, on which memoranda were scratched with the stylus. Several tablets were hinged together and the wax surface was protected by raised edges in the manner of the modern school slates (see illustration). This led to the use of several leaves of vellum fastened together and enclosed by richly carved ivory covers, a form that came into use about 300A.D., shortly before Constantine removed the Roman capital to Constantinople. Constantinople naturally became the center of civilization, and the work of transcribing manuscripts was taken up in that city. In the eighth century the reigning emperor, in order to punish the transcribers for insubordination, caused the library at Constantinople to be “surrounded by vast piles of fagots, which being fired at a given signal, the whole building was totally destroyed, along with its twelve scribes and chief librarian and more than thirty thousand volumes of precious manuscripts.” It seems to have been a favorite method of punishment during the Middle Ages for those in authority to destroy valuable manuscripts.

While, as we have seen, with the fall of the Western Empire of Rome, the drift of literature was toward the East, there remained in the West a dim light that was kept burning thru the six hundred years so fittingly called the Dark Ages. This light came from the monasteries of Europe, in which little bands of devoted men were transcribing and decorating the holy writings used by the Christian church.

THE FAMOUS “BOOK OF THE DEAD”Part of the seventeenth chapter of the “Book of the Dead,” showing hieroglyphics and illustrations. This book was written upon papyrus, and copies were placed by ancient Egyptians in tombs with their dead

The Christian church as an organization became powerful after the Roman Empire declined, and the monopoly of learning which the church possessed during the Dark Ages gave it such a superior knowledge and power that the Church of Rome granted authority to kings, and took it away, at its pleasure. A memorable instance of this power took place in the eleventh century, when Hildebrand, who as head of the church was known as Pope Gregory VII., forced Henry IV. of Germany, who hadoffended him, to seek pardon in a most humiliating manner. Henry stood barefoot in the snow for three days, before Hildebrand would pardon him.

On one occasion previous to the event mentioned above, Charlemagne (Charles the Great), king of the Franks, who was crowned by Pope Leo III. and saluted as Emperor of the West, was so mistakenly zealous in extending along with his own kingdom that of the Lowly Nazarene, that he ordered the hanging of more than four thousand prisoners before the Saxons would consent to be baptized and conquered.

EVOLUTION OF THE ALPHABETThis table shows how the present-day Roman alphabet came to us from the ancient Phœnicians

Latin as a language is dead, so far as the secular world is concerned, but since the seventh century it has been the official language of the Church of Rome. All manuscripts produced by monks after that time, whether written in Britain, Germany or Italy, are in Latin, and the services of the Roman Catholic Church are conducted in that language even today. In the year 1080, the King of Bohemia asked Hildebrand, the Papal head of the church, for permission to have the services performed in the language of the people. This request Hildebrand refused, saying: “It is the will of God that his word should be hidden, lest it should be despised if read by every one.”

In 1229 a council of the church published a decree which not only strictly forbade the translation of the Bible into a “vulgar tongue,” but also forbade all but the clergy to have copies in their possession.

In spite of these mandates, translations of various portions of the Bible were made into common tongues, but at great risk. William Tyndale set about to translate the Bible into English, vowing that ere many years he would cause the plough-boy to know more of the Scriptures than did the priests. By 1526 he had completed the New Testament, but his books were burned in the public squares as soon as completed. Ten years later Tyndale was burned, as had been his books.

In 1534 Martin Luther completed his wonderful translation into German of the entire Bible, and gave to the people what had previously been denied them.

We will now consider the making of manuscript books in the Middle Ages. In the early days of the Christian church, persecution was so severe that Christians lived in hiding, or secluded themselves from the outer world to worship. This condition led to the existence of a class of men known as monks (from a Greek wordmonos, meaning “alone”). At the beginning of the sixth century, an earnest, conscientious Christian, now called Saint Benedict, set out to reform the evils then prevalent in monastic life. One of his theories was that the monks should spend their time, not in idleness, but in manual labor, in teaching the youth, and in copying manuscripts. The Benedictine monks, as the followers of Benedict are known, were the main agents in spreading Christianity and keeping learning alive during the Dark Ages. Their mode of living became so popular that, it is said, there were at one time thirty-seven thousand monasteries or cloisters in existence.

CAPITAL LETTERS OF THE ANCIENT ROMANSFrom inscriptions carved in stone

One of the occupations of the Benedictine monks was that of copying manuscripts, and in some monasteries a room known as the scriptorium was set apart for such work. The office of scribe or copyist was one of great importance, and stringent rules governed the work. No writing was done by artificial light, talking was prohibited, and none but the scribes was allowed in the room. The tools were quill pens, knives to cut the quills, pumice stone to smooth the surface of the parchment, awls and rulers with which to make guide-lines, and weights to keep down the pages. Parchment and vellum, the former made of the skins of calves, goats or sheep, thelatter of the skins of unborn lambs and kids, were the materials written upon. Black ink was commonly used for the text of books; and vermilion, an orange-red ink made of red clay, was used for titles and important parts of the text. The portions in red were known as rubrics, fromrubrica(red earth.)

Illuminating was done to some extent in the monasteries, but illuminators other than monks were often called upon to assist in this work. This practice led to queer combinations, as sacred writings were frequently decorated with monkeys and other animals and birds, which might have afforded appropriate decoration for an account of the Flood.

UNCIAL LETTERS OF THE SIXTH CENTURYThese letters show the Roman capitals assuming the shape of the later Gothic, or text, letters

After the parchment was prepared and before beginning to write the scribe would scratch his guide-lines upon it with an awl. The position of the page and the lines of lettering were thus indicated, the page guide-lines extending to the edge of the parchment. The scribe’s work was principally that of copying (setting reprint, printers would say) from a book on the reading desk at his side. He was supposed strictly to “follow copy,” and his work was compared occasionally by a person known as a corrector. The black writing finished, the skins were passed to the rubricator or illuminator, if the manuscript was to be elaborately treated.

The colored plate shown as a frontispiece is from an old print and pictures a scribe at work. He is writing the text on a sheet of parchment held in place by a weight. The book from which he is copying is in front of him, above his writing desk, and his copy is indicated by a guide such as printers still use. Ink pots and pens are in place and an elaborate library is evidently at his disposal. The picture is defective in perspective but is withal rather interesting.

HALF-UNCIAL LETTERSDemonstrating the transition of Roman capitals into small, or lower-case, letters

The most beautiful and elaborate specimen of the illuminator’s art now in existence is the famous “Book of Kells,” a copy of the Gospels written about the seventh century. It is notable because of the excellence of its decoration, the endless variety of initial letters it contains, and the careful lettering. The scribes and illuminators of Ireland have a lasting monument in this book, as it is supposed to have been produced in the monastery of Kells, founded by St. Colombo.

Gold, red and blue were favorites with the illuminators, the burnished gold leaf adding richness to the brilliancy of the effect.

Manuscript books were ordinarily bound in thick wooden boards, covered with leather, but there are books yet preserved the boards of which are of carved ivory, and others that are inlaid with precious stones.

The books associated with the Middle Ages most familiar to us are the Missal (mass-book), containing the services of the celebration of the mass; the Psalter (book of psalms), containing the psalms used in church services; the Book of Hours, containing prayers and offices for the several hours of the day, and the Donatus, a short Latin grammar, the work of Ælius Donatus, a Roman grammarian of the fourth century.

GOTHIC LETTERS OF THE FIFTH CENTURYAlso showing the decorative uncial-like initials used on manuscript Missals

When printing was invented the first types used were imitations of the current Gothic lettering, known to us as Black Letter, Old English, etc. A few years later, when typography was introduced into Italy, the typeswere cut in imitation of the lettering selected for use by the scribes of the Italian Renaissance, which lettering is familiarly known in our time as Roman. The capitals of this Roman lettering are fashioned after those used in ancient Rome, and the small or lower-case letters are after the Roman writing known as minuscule, of the twelfth century.

The ancient Roman writing was all capitals, and as found on stamps and coins was of the character of the modern so-called “gothic” (plain strokes, without the small cross strokes known as serifs). The more carefully made Roman capitals, as carved on monuments and buildings, are not unlike the present type-faces known as Caslon and French old style.

The evolution of Roman capitals into the small or lower-case letters of the present day is traced in the writing calleduncial, in which the letters A, D, E, H, M, Q are rounded and altered in appearance. More changes developed the writing known ashalf-uncial, in which only the N and F retain the appearance of Roman capitals. The small (lower-case) letters became known asminuscule, as contrasted withmajuscule, or capital letters. (See reproductions on preceding pages.)

From this point book writing developed in two directions: one toward the heavy pointed stroke of the churchly Gothic style, and the other, guided by Charlemagne in the eighth century, to the style of Roman letter used by Jenson and other printers of Venice, Italy, in their classic printing of the fifteenth century. Our old-style Roman types are from this source.

Another style, calledcursive, was the carelessly executed handwriting used for ordinary purposes, and in that respect may be likened to our own business script.

Thus as the fifteenth century dawned upon Europe we find literature and learning locked in the cells of the monks, while outside, the hosts of people who for ten centuries wandered in semi-darkness had reached an elevation which showed them a new existence coming with the intellectual awakening that was then already upon them.

LETTERED PAGE FROM THE “BOOK OF KELLS”Showing the beautiful writing of the Irish scribes of the seventh century

Portion of a page (full size) from Fust and Schœffer’s Psalter of 1457The first book with a printed date: showing initials and decoration cut in wood

THE ORIGIN OF TYPOGRAPHY

The invention of typography in the fifteenth century marked the beginning of a new civilization and the end of the medieval thousand years. The Middle Ages may be said to have begun with the capture of Rome by the Vandals in 455A.D., and to have ended with the production of what is considered the first printed book in 1455.

FRENCH PLAYING CARDA block print of the fifteenth century

As has been shown, during most of the thousand years preceding the invention of typography, ignorance and superstition reigned thruout Europe, despite the efforts of Charlemagne and others to revive learning and encourage interest in books. The popular mind had become so perverted that ability to read and write and love for art were considered proofs of effeminacy.

As the medieval period neared its close, the brain of man became more active; he began to reason and to understand much that before had been mystery. Interest was manifested in the problems of science and religion, and notable things were accomplished by artists and craftsmen. It seemed as if the intellect of mankind was awakening from a long sleep, and civilization was being born again.

As the light of the new intelligence shone upon the earth and Europe rubbed its dazzled eyes,Typography, the star that was to light the way to modern knowledge and achievement, appeared.

Printing with separate metal types, while involving a new principle, was to some extent a development of other methods. The evolution from manuscript books to block books, and from block books to books printed from types occurred quietly in the natural course of events; so quietly, indeed, that there is mystery surrounding each change of method.

In the early part of the fifteenth century, when writing was the only agency used for making books, the demand for playing cards and sacred pictures necessitated a method of reproduction more rapid than the old; and thus engraved wood blocks were introduced.

IMAGE PRINT OF 1423The first block print with a date

As the desire for knowledge outgrew the productive resources of the russet-gowned scribes, men with a mechanical turn of mind began to engrave pages of books on wooden blocks, a process which, tho extremely tedious, afforded a means of partly satisfying the need, and which became the stepping stone to the invention of printing with separate types. The block books, as they werecalled, sometimes contained whole pages of reading matter, each letter cut in relief on the face of the wood, and frequently the page included a large illustration carelessly drawn and crudely engraved. The early method of printing block books was by placing the paper on the inked surface and rubbing the back. Only one side was printed and a brown distemper ink (a kind of watercolor) was used. Simply constructed presses, prototypes of the modern hand press, were employed by block-book makers in later years. Playing cards and image prints were popular products of the block-book period, and after being printed were colored by means of stencils. A French playing card of the fifteenth century is reproduced on the preceding page, as well as a print illustrating the old legend of St. Christopher carrying the infant Jesus across a river. This last-mentioned print is dated 1423, is 8⅛ × 11¼ inches in size, and is the oldest dated specimen of printing.

The invention ofprintingreally dates from the time books were printed from wooden blocks, altho the more important invention, that oftypography(printing with separate types), is also known by the general word “printing.” The first block books, probably Donatuses, may have been printed in Holland. The “Donatus” is a Latin grammar, and received its name from its author, Ælius Donatus, a Roman grammarian of the fourth century. It is a small book of not more than thirty-four pages printed on parchment, and had a large sale.

BIBLE OF THE POORFamous block book of the fifteenth century

There is a morbid side to human nature, and it has been with us since the beginning. Today it finds delight in perusing in the sensational newspapers detailed descriptions of murders, train wrecks, and other happenings in which blood is spilled. During the Middle Ages it prevailed, and is reflected in the pictures that have come down to us in the block books. A doleful atmosphere is present in the block book, “Ars Moriendi” (Art of Dying), whose illustrations show weeping angels and leering demons, weird settings that are magnified by the crudeness of the engravings.

TEXT PAGE FROM A BLOCK BOOK“Ars Moriendi,” printed in the fifteenth century

The “Biblia Pauperum” ( Bible of the Poor) is another block book very popular in the days preceding the invention of typography. It is a book of about forty pages, consisting principally of illustrations of the important happenings as told in the Scriptures. The book was for the use of illiterate monks and those that did not have access to the elaborate manuscript Bibles.

A book of similar purpose, but more complete than the Bible of the Poor, is called “Speculum Humanæ Salvationis” (Mirror of Human Salvation). This book literally presents the transition from block books to type-printed books, for of the sixty-three pages in one edition twenty are printed from wood blocks and forty-three from separate types (see reproductions herewith). The printed page of the “Mirror” is a trifle larger than the page that is now being read. Almost every monastery in Europe contained copies of the “Speculum.”

When, where and by whom was typography invented? It is surprising that there should be any real uncertainty about the facts connected with the invention of typography, but some uncertainty does exist, and various opinions and conclusions are set forth in books on the subject. The new method of printing was invented in the midst of indifference and ignorance, and for many years but few cared that it had come among them.

The inventor of typography, whether Coster or Gutenberg, was too modest to claim the credit in a substantial way, as he failed to print his name on the first books done by the new method.

This modesty, or whatever else it may have been, opened the way for almost every European country to claim the honor of having been the home of the invention. However, all claims have been disproved excepting those of Germany and Holland, and as the argument now stands the weight of the evidence is with Germany.

C. H. Timperley, in his “Dictionary of Printing” (1839) says that of those who had written on the subject up to his time, one hundred and nine favored Mainz and twenty-four favored Haarlem as the birthplace of typography.

There is indisputable evidence to prove that typography was practiced by Gutenberg at Mainz, Germany, from 1450 to 1455, and that the art spread from that city to all parts of Europe. There is no doubt about that. The only thing which can lose to Gutenberg and Germany the credit of the invention is proof that another man printed from separate types in another country previous to 1450. Certain investigators have attempted to supply this proof, as we shall see.

PAGE PRINTED FROM AN ENGRAVED WOOD BLOCKFrom the “Mirror of Human Salvation”By an unknown Dutch printer

PAGE PRINTED FROM SEPARATE METAL TYPESFrom the “Mirror of Human Salvation”By an unknown Dutch printer

The pretensions of Holland are that one Laurens Janszoon Coster (Lawrence, son of John, the sexton or sheriff) printed with separate types about the year 1430 at Haarlem.

The earliest testimony on the subject is a chapter in the “Chronicle of Cologne” (1499) wherein the author speaks of information about the invention of typography received by him from Ulrich Zell, who printed books at Cologne, Germany, as early as 1464. He states that the “art was discovered first of all in Germany, at Mainz on the Rhine,” and that the “first inventor of printing was a citizen . . . named Junker Johann Gutenberg.” This statement is added to by the assertion that the new art “found its first prefiguration in Holland in the Donatuses which were printed there before that time.” It has been argued that the last assertion refers to block books.

An extract from the Cologne-Chronicle account may be of interest:

This highly valuable art was discovered first of all in Germany, at Mainz on the Rhine. And it is a great honor to the German nation that such ingenious men are found among them. And it took place about the year of our Lord 1440, and from this time until the year 1450, the art, and what is connected with it, was being investigated. And in the year of our Lord 1450, it was a golden year, they began to print, and the first book they printed was the Bible in Latin; it was printed in a large letter resembling the letter with which at present missals are printed. Altho the art was discovered at Mainz, in the manner as it is now generally used, yet the prefiguration was found in Holland, in the Donatuses, which were printed there before that time. And from these, the beginning of the said art was taken, and it was invented in a manner much more masterly and subtle than this, and became more and more ingenious.... But the first inventor of printing was a citizen of Mainz, born at Strassburg, and named Junker Johann Gutenberg. From Mainz the art was introduced first of all into Cologne, then into Strassburg, and afterwards into Venice. The origin and progress of the art was told me verbally by the honorable master Ulrich Zell, of Hanan, still printer at Cologne,anno1499, by whom the said art came to Cologne.

There was printed in the year 1561 an address to the town officers at Haarlem by Dierick Coornhert, an engraver, in which he stated that he was

often told in good faith that the useful art of printing books was invented, first of all, here in Haarlem, altho in a crude way, as it is easier to improve on an invention than to invent; which art having been brought to Mainz by an unfaithful servant, was very much improved there, whereby this town, on account of its first having spread it, gained such a reputation for the invention of the art, that our fellow-citizens find very little credence when they ascribe this honor to the true inventor. . . . And because I implicitly believe what I have said before, on account of the trustworthy evidence of very old, dignified and gray heads, who often told me not only the family of the inventor, but also his name and surname, and explained the first crude way of printing, and pointed with their finger the house of the first printer out to me.

It will be noticed that Coornhert fails to mention the name of the alleged inventor, the location of his house, or the date of the invention. The claim that “the useful art of printing books was invented, first of all, here at Haarlem, altho in a crude way,” may refer to the printing of block books and not to typography.

The claims of Holland were first presented definitely about 1566 in a history of the Netherlands called “Batavia,” the author of which was known in his own tongue as Adrian de Jonghe; in English as Adrian the Younger, and in Latin as Hadrian Junius. The story as written by Junius has been dubbed the “Coster Legend” and it reads in part as follows:

About one hundred and twenty-eight years ago there dwelt in a house of some magnificence (as may be verified by inspection, for it stands intact to this day) in Haarlem, near to the market, and opposite the royal palace, Laurentius Joannes, surnamed Æditus, or Custos, by reason of this lucrative and honorable office, which by hereditary right appertained to the distinguished family of that name. . . . When strolling in the woods near the city, as citizens who enjoyed ease were accustomed to do after dinner and on holidays, it happened that he undertook as an experiment to fashion the bark of a beech tree in the form of letters. The letters so made, he impressed the reverse way, consecutively, upon a leaf of paper, in little lines of one kind and another.... Thereupon he made, by the addition of letters, explanations for pictures on engraved wood. Of this kind of printing, I myself have seen some stamped block books, the first essays of the art, printed on one side only, with the printed pages facing each other, and not upon both sides of the leaf. Among them was a book in the vernacular written by an unknown author, bearing the title “Spieghel onzer Behoudenis” [Dutch edition of the “Mirror of Salvation,” two pages of the Latin edition of which are here shown].... He subsequently changed the beech-wood letters for those of lead, and these again for letters of tin, because tin was a less flexible material, harder and more durable. To this day may be seen in the very house itself ... some very old wine flagons, which were made from the melting down of the remnants of these very types. The new invention met with favor from the public and ... attracted purchasers from every direction.... He added assistants to his band of workmen, and here may be found the cause of his troubles. Among these workmen was a certain John. Whether or not, as suspicion alleges, he was Faust ... or another of the same name I shall not trouble myself to ascertain. This man, altho bound by oath to the typographic art, when he knew himself to be perfectly skilled in the operation of type setting, in the knowledge of type founding, and in every other detail appertaining to the work, seized the first favorable opportunity ... and flew into the closet of the types, and packed up the instruments used in making them that belonged to his master, and ... immediately after slunk away from the house with the thief. He went first to Amsterdam, thence to Cologne and finally regained Mainz.... Within the space of a year, or about 1442, it is well known that he published, by the aid of the same types which Laurentius had used in Haarlem, the “Doctrinal” of Alexander Gallus ... and also the “Treatises” of Peter, of Spain.... I remember that Nicholas Gallius, the preceptor of my boyhood, a man of tenacious memory, and venerable with gray hairs, narrated these circumstances to me. He, when a boy, had more than once heard Cornelis, an old bookbinder and an underworkman in the same printing office when not an octogenarian and bowed down with years, recite all these details as he had received them from his master.

This is the strongest proof the friends of Coster can present, and it has been thoroughly dissected by investigators representing both sides of the controversy. The weak points of the document appear to be:

(1) The date of the experiment with wood letters in the garden (about 1440) does not leave enough time for completion of the invention of separate metal types and the equipment of a large printing office until the theft which Junius says occurred in 1441.

(2) The date of the theft of 1441 does not reconcile itself with the fact that Gutenberg in 1436 was probably experimenting with his invention at Strassburg.

(3) The claim that a Dutch edition of the “Mirror of Salvation” was printed with separate types cut from wood seems doubtful, because even the best modern machinery has not demonstrated that wood type can be made as accurately as is necessary for arrangement of small types in a massed page. When it is considered that the size of types used on the edition mentioned was about fourteen point, and the lines were printed in alignment, the modern printer is sure to question the accuracy of the assertion.

Four editions, two in Latin and two in Dutch, of the “Mirror of Salvation,” are known to exist, all printed from types except twenty pages of the second edition, which are printed from engraved blocks. They are the work of some early printer of Holland; whether his name was Coster or whether the books were printed before or after 1450 will probably never be ascertained.

One Peter Scriverius in 1628 wrote a new version of the invention in which he says that “In the year 1428, Laurens Coster, then a sheriff of Haarlem, strolled into the Haarlem woods. He took up the branch of an oak-tree, cut a few letters in relief on the wood, and after a while wrapped them up in paper. He then fell asleep, but while he slept, rain descended and soaked the paper.Awakened by a clap of thunder, he took up the sheet, and to his astonishment discovered that the rain had transferred to it the impress of the letters,” etc.

Junius had placed the date of Coster’s invention at about 1440; Scriverius put it at 1428. The date was again changed, this time to 1420, by Marcus Boxhorn, who wrote on the subject in 1640.

In 1722 a statue of Coster was erected in Haarlem, but no date was placed upon it.

A “true and rational account of the invention” was published at Haarlem by one Leiz in 1742, which gives in detail the supposed events of Coster’s life as a printer, from the cutting of the wood letters on the tree bark in 1428 to his death in 1467, but does not reveal the source of information.

Gerard Meerman, a learned but impractical writer of Rotterdam, in 1765 published a book, “Origines Typographical,” and comes to the conclusion that typography was invented by Louwerijs Janszoon, known as Laurens Coster, who was sheriff at various times between 1422 and 1434, and who died between 1434 and 1440; he used separate wooden types about 1428 or 1430, and did not (as Junius had claimed) use lead or tin types; he was robbed on Christmas night 1440 by Johann Gensfleisch (elder brother of Johann Gutenberg), who carried the art to Mainz; he printed one edition of the “Mirror” from wooden types.

In the early part of the nineteenth century a scientific society of Holland offered a prize for the best treatise on the subject of the invention and in 1816 Jacob Koning was given the award for his essay, “The Origin, Invention and Development of Printing.” Koning was the first writer on the subject to make researches in the Haarlem archives and in his book he claimed to have carefully collected from the registers, account books, and other official data all the entries that could throw light on the subject, and to have got together all the documentary evidence to be found.

The investigations of Koning, as reported by himself, corroborated some of the details of the stories of those who preceded him, and he found that Louwerijs Janszoon lived at Haarlem from 1370 to 1439, when he died.

For many years the discussion stood as Koning had left it and Coster was universally given equal honors with Gutenberg as the inventor of typography; but for several years previous to 1869 rumors of errors and defects in the Haarlem claim were in circulation in Holland.

Dr. Anton Van der Linde took up the task of investigating these rumors and the results of his labors were given in a series of articles in theDutch Spectatorduring 1870. These articles were revised and issued in book form under the title, “The Haarlem Legend of the Invention of Printing.”

Van der Linde showed how Coster’s cause had been bolstered by Koning and others with misrepresentations, evasions and even forgeries, and Holland practically surrendered its claims and altered its school books to meet the new conditions.

The town records revealed no mention of printing in connection with Louwerijs Janszoon, the sheriff, who died in 1439, or with Laurens Janszoon Coster.

Van der Linde went to Germany as librarian of the royal library at Wiesbaden, becameVonder Linde and in 1878 published an enlarged edition of his former book under the title “Gutenberg,” in which he argued that Gutenberg was the inventor of typography.

In 1879 J. H. Hessels, who had translated into English Van der Linde’s first book, was asked to write a review of the new book, “Gutenberg,” and in doing this he became so interested in the subject that he began a careful investigation into the question. He afterward declared in the preface of his book, “Gutenberg” (1882). “Had I myself been able to realize beforehand the time, the trouble, and the expense that this Gutenberg study would cost me, I should have abandoned the subject at the outset.” But the work was so infatuating that in 1887 he published another book: “Haarlem, the Birthplace of Printing; not Mentz.”

To demonstrate the fickle workings of the human mind it may be interesting to note that in his book of 1882 Mr. Hessels wrote, “I have never made any thoro examination of the Haarlem question, but such inquiries as I have made have led me to believe that the Haarlem claim cannot be maintained.” Contrast this with the title of his book of 1887: “Haarlem, not Mentz,” and notice his change of base.

While Mr. Hessels had come to believe in Haarlem, Van der Linde’s faith in the cause of Gutenberg was so strong he forsook his native land, and in America Theodore L. De Vinne in his book “The Invention of Printing” (1876) had reasoned out the tangle in a way to satisfy himself and many others that Gutenberg, and not Coster, was the inventor of typography.

It is impossible here to go into detailed discussion of the points at issue, and only because the burden of proof is upon the Holland advocates has so much space been given to Coster.

While there may be some truth in the Coster story, the proofs are weak, and Haarlem claimants do not seem able to agree as to the identity of the man Coster.

Gutenberg, on the contrary, is shown by records too numerous to here mention separately, to have been a real, tangible human being, one who printed with separate metal types, and the probable inventor of the art.

It is believed that Gutenberg was born at Mainz, Germany, about the year 1399. His parents were Frielo Gensfleisch (goose-flesh) and Else Gutenberg (good-hill). The boy Johann took the last name of his mother, in accordance with the German custom of perpetuating a name.

Because of civil strife in Mainz, the Gensfleisch family left that city about 1420 and took up residence presumably at Strassburg.

There is a possibility that typography spent its infant days at Strassburg. Gutenberg lived there in 1439 and was practicing a secret art, which resulted in a lawsuit. The records of the case had lain, with other records of the time, in an old tower, and were not found until about 1740. They were removed to the Library of Strassburg, remaining there until the Franco-Prussian War (1870), when they were destroyed by soldiers.

This suit against Gutenberg was brought by the relatives of Andrew Dritzehen, one of his workmen, whom Gutenberg had agreed to teach certain things connected with the business in which he was engaged. The testimony of the several witnesses includes references to secrets which Gutenberg would not impart to his associates: four pieces lying in a press (which De Vinne claims was a type-mould); lead, melted forms, work connected with printing, etc.

It is argued that Gutenberg could not have printed in such a perfect manner at Mainz in 1455 if he had not devoted many of the years before to perfecting the new art, and for this reason Strassburg may reasonably claim to be the birthplace of typography.

Gutenberg’s greatest misfortune, the seizure by Fust of his printing office and the just completed edition of the famous Forty-Two-Line Bible, furnishes a strong link in the chain of evidence that goes to prove him the inventor of printing.

The story has been often told how Johann Gutenberg, in need of cash to finance his invention, went to Johann Fust, a citizen of Mainz, and obtained a sum of money for which he mortgaged his printing office. This was in1450. Five years later we find Fust appearing before a public notary in the convent of the Bare-Footed Friars to enforce his claim. Fust evidently caught Gutenberg unawares, for the courts decided against the inventor, and all types, presses and books in the possession of Gutenberg were taken to the house of Johann Fust.

The records of the agreement and lawsuit just mentioned are proof that Johann Gutenberg printed with separate metal types at Mainz, Germany, during the years 1450–1455. While he did not print his name on any of the products of his printing office, there are specimens of Mainz printing such as Indulgences, Donatuses, etc., which corroborative evidence shows to have been done before 1455.

The greatest achievement of Gutenberg, the culmination of his efforts in the new art, was the famous Forty-Two-Line Bible. There are a number of copies of this book in existence, some printed on vellum, some on paper. It consists of almost thirteen hundred pages, about twelve by sixteen inches, two columns to the page, the columns containing for the most part forty-two lines, whence the name by which the book is known. The types in size are equivalent to the present-day twenty-point, and in style are a copy of the book-Gothic letters of the fifteenth century.

The reproduction of an illuminated page of the Bible herewith is less than one-half the size of the original, which is in the British Museum, but will give an idea of the style of treatment accorded what is probably the first type-printed book. The text portion was printed in black ink only. The illuminators put a dab of red on the initial beginning each sentence, and filled all blank spaces with decoration, with which the initials I and P are cleverly blended. The smaller reproduction shows two pages from the copy that was sold for fifty thousand dollars in 1911.

Johann Gutenberg, after his printing outfit was taken by Fust, did not entirely lose heart, but again established himself as a printer, altho he never afterward produced the equal of his great work, the Forty-Two-Line Bible. In 1465 he was appointed a gentleman of the court of the Bishop of Mainz, as a reward either for his invention or for political activity.

Gutenberg died about 1468 and his printing material and equipment went to one Conrad Humery, who had some rights of ownership in them.

Among Gutenberg’s workmen in 1455 was a young man about twenty-five years of age named Peter Schœffer, who previously had copied books while a student at the University of Paris. He was a valued assistant to Gutenberg, and when Fust took over the equipment forfeited by the inventor, Schœffer assumed charge, married Fust’s daughter and became a partner in the business.

Two years later the new firm published a Psalter, which has become, along with Gutenberg’s Bible, one of the great books of historic printerdom. Seven copies are known to exist. The Psalter consists of one hundred and seventy-five vellum leaves nearly square. The Psalms are in types of about forty-point body, twice the size of those used on Gutenberg’s Bible and of a similar style. The features of the Psalter are the large printed two-color initials, generally credited to Schœffer, altho some authorities have declared that they originated with Gutenberg.

This Psalter was the first book with a printed date, the colophon at the end containing “August 14, 1457.”

The portion of a page shown in this connection, being full size and in colors, should convey an idea of the appearance of the Psalter. The four cross lines are for the music notes, which were inserted by hand.

Fust died about 1466 from the plague while at Paris arranging for the sale of books. Schœffer continued to print, and many books came from his presses. The last book he printed, just before his death (about 1502), was, a fourth edition of his Psalter.

Back to Index Next