# The Invention of Printing

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THORWALDSEN'S STATUE OF JOHN GUTENBERG.
THE
INVENTION OF PRINTING.
A Collection of Facts and Opinions
DESCRIPTIVE OF
EARLY PRINTS AND PLAYING CARDS,
THE BLOCK-BOOKS OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY,
THE LEGEND OF LOURENS JANSZOON COSTER, OF HAARLEM,
AND THE WORK OF JOHN GUTENBERG
AND HIS ASSOCIATES.
Illustrated
WITH FAC-SIMILES OF EARLY TYPES AND WOOD-CUTS.
BY
THEO. L. DE VINNE.
NEW-YORK:
FRANCIS HART & CO. 12 & 14 COLLEGE PLACE.
1876.
entered, according to act of congress, in the year 1876, by Theodore L. De Vinne, in the office of the library of congress at washington.
TO
DAVID WOLFE BRUCE,
IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT
OF INSTRUCTION ABOUT TYPES, NOT TO BE HAD BY READING, OF ASSISTANCE IN STUDIES, NOT TO BE FOUND IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES, OF COMPANIONSHIP MORE PLEASANT THAN BOOKS,
THIS WORK IS DEDICATED
BY HIS FRIEND,
THEO. L. DE VINNE.
CONTENTS.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
| Statue of John Gutenberg | Frontispiece. |
| Surface Exposed to Impression by Copper-plate method | 21 |
| Surface Inked and Exposed to Impression by Typographic method | 21 |
| Surface Exposed to Impression by Lithographic method | 21 |
| Face of a large Type, showing how the Letter is placed on the body | 24 |
| Side view of Canon body | 25 |
| Small Pica, Agate and Diamond body | 25 |
| View of body inclined to show the face | 25 |
| Stamped Brick from Babylon | 30 |
| Fac-simile of Impression on brick | 31 |
| Egyptian Stamp for impressing bricks | 32 |
| Assyrian Cylinder | 34 |
| Old Roman Stamps | 37 |
| Roman Stamps | 38 |
| Roman Scrinium and rolls of papyrus | 43 |
| Types of Irregular Body | 52 |
| Punch | 55 |
| Matrix | 55 |
| Illustrations of Type-bodies | 56 |
| Type-Mould, without matrix | 57 |
| One-half of the Mould | 57 |
| The other half of the Mould | 57 |
| Type-casting as practised in 1683 | 59 |
| Type-casting as practised in 1564 | 62 |
| Print of St. Christopher | 70 |
| Print of the Annunciation | 72 |
| Print of St. Bridget | 74 |
| Flemish Indulgence Print | 76 |
| Brussels Print | 79 |
| Berlin Print | 81 |
| Playing Card of the fifteenth century | 93 |
| Print Colorer | 94 |
| Engraver on Wood | 95 |
| Chinese Playing Cards | 99 |
| Early French Playing Cards | 103 |
| French and German Playing Cards of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries | 105 |
| Fac-simile of part of a Chinese Book | 117 |
| Chinese Types made in London | 117 |
| Mark of Jacobus Arnoldus, 1345 | 123 |
| Mark of Johannes Meynersen, 1435 | 123 |
| Mark of Adam de Walsokne, 1349 | 125 |
| Mark of Edmund Pepyr, 1483 | 125 |
| Mark of an unknown person | 125 |
| Japanese Method of Making Paper | 135 |
| Paper-Mill of the sixteenth century | 140 |
| Scriptorium of the middle ages | 149 |
| Penmanship of the ninth century | 150 |
| Manuscript of the fifteenth century | 152 |
| Medieval Bookbinding | 153 |
| Medieval Illuminator | 154 |
| Sumptuously Bound Book | 156 |
| Medieval Book with covers of oak | 157 |
| Book Cover in Ivory, Byzantine style | 158 |
| Seal of the University of Paris | 161 |
| English Horn-Book | 174 |
| English Clog | 175 |
| Holbein's Dance of Death | 183 |
| Dance of Death, as shown in the Nuremberg Chronicle | 185 |
| Last page of the Bible of the Poor | 197 |
| First page of the Bible of the Poor, as made by Walther and Hurning | 209 |
| First page of the Apocalypse | 213 |
| First page of the Canticles | 217 |
| Story of the Blessed Virgin | 221 |
| Exercise on the Lord's Prayer | 223 |
| Illustration from the Book of Kings | 225 |
| Letter K of Grotesque Alphabet | 227 |
| Page from the Apostles' Creed | 228 ​ |
| Page from the Eight Rogueries | 229 |
| Page from the Antichrist | 232 |
| Page from the Ars Memorandi | 234 |
| Page from the Ars Moriendi | 237 |
| Chiromancy of Doctor Hartlieb | 240 |
| Calendar of John of Gamundia | 242 |
| Page from the Wonders of Rome | 243 |
| Pomerium Spirituale | 244 |
| Temptations of the Devil | 245 |
| Life of St. Meinrat | 246 |
| Heidelberg Dance of Death | 247 |
| German Donatus, from a block in the National Library at Paris | 258 |
| Fragment of an early Donatus | 259 |
| Early Dutch Horarium | 260 |
| Imprint of Conrad Dinckmut | 262 |
| First page of Speculum Salutis | 266 |
| Last page of Speculum Salutis | 268 |
| Types of Speculum Salutis | 277 |
| Types in third edition of Speculum | 285 |
| Types of Fables of Lorenzo Valla | 286 |
| Types of Peculiarities of Criminal Law | 287 |
| Types of Epitaphs of Pope Pius II | 288 |
| The Enschedé Abecedarium | 290 |
| Experimental Letters drawn on wood | 294 |
| Types from Experimental Letters | 295 |
| Frisket, Tympan and Bed of an early European Printing Press | 307 |
| Paper-marks: seven illustrations | 309, 310 |
| Types of Jacob Bellaert | 319 |
| Types of John Brito | 321 |
| Map of the Netherlands | 323 |
| Scriverius' Portrait of Coster | 333 |
| Statue of Coster in Doctors' Garden | 351 |
| Medals in honor of Coster | 353, 354 |
| Statue of Coster on the monument | 359 |
| Autograph of Laurens Janszoon | 361 |
| House of Coster | 370 |
| Portrait of Laurens Janszoon Coster | 371 |
| Spurious Portrait by Van den Berg | 372 |
| Portrait attributed to Van Oudewater | 372 |
| The Laurens Janszoon of Meerman | 373 |
| Medieval Press | 395 |
| Type-mould of Claude Garamond | 399 |
| Types of the Donatus attributed to Gutenberg at Strasburg | 401 |
| Types of Donatus of 1451 | 405 |
| De la Borde's Illustration of Types | 406 |
| Holbein's Satire on the Indulgences | 407 |
| Letter of Indulgence dated 1454 | 409 |
| Types of Bible of 36 Lines | 413 |
| Abbreviations of Bible of 36 Lines | 414 |
| Portrait of John Fust | 417 |
| Types of Bible of 42 Lines | 423 |
| Portrait of John Gutenberg | 429 |
| Types of Letter of Indulgence of 1461 | 433 |
| Types of Catholicon of 1460 | 435 |
| Types of Celebration of the Mass | 437 |
| Types of Mirror of the Clergy | 438 |
| Colophon written by Peter Schœffer | 450 |
| Types of the Psalter of 1457 | 453 |
| Colophon of the Psalter of 1457 | 455 |
| Types of the Rationale Durandi | 461 |
| Types of the Bible of 1462 | 462 |
| Trade-mark of Fust and Schœffer | 462 |
| Types of Constitutions of Clement V | 463 |
| Portrait of Peter Schœffer | 469 |
| Types of the Grammar of 1468 | 470 |
| Illustration from the Book of Fables | 483 |
| Arms of the Typothetæ | 489 |
| Part of Koburger's Map of Europe | 496 |
| The Birth of Eve, Zainer's | 497 |
| Statue of Gutenberg at Strasburg | 509 |
| Type of the fifteenth century | 520 |
| Printing Office of sixteenth century | 523 |
| Hand Press of Jodocus Badius | 528 |
| Inking Balls of sixteenth century | 530 |
| Large wood-cut of fifteenth century | 535 |
| The Fall of Lucifer, Zainer's | 537 |
| A Print of 1475 | 539 |
This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.
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