Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1851-06-03
The Ar /! Of Printing.
TIE obIaIs

AS it is proposed to confne this
1 hlstd ric;ll account of the ART OF
PRINHN 6, as now practised in EU-
ROPE; to letters cast id metal. we
shall wa We that of Printing on pages
cut in blocks Of wood, and what is
gene rally supposed to /! i've been in
use among be Chinese, many ages
beforP the pr esent method was intro
dpceQ into E llrope
| THe He present Art, is Blu about four
bundled years old. and it long re-
nalned an undetermined point be-
T. VFeen the City of Mentk, in Ger
many, and the City Of Il taerlem, in
Holland, conc erning the 4 lace where,
and the person by whom, this divine.
ant was first invented and ,practiced;
but, at this time, the majority Of
voices have determined t be dispute
in favor Of Mentz; howey4 4r, we Shall
give both their pleas.
1t is said to be first attempted at
Mentz, between the years l44O and
l450, by John Fust or Fd lust, John
Meydenbuch, and John G Genesteisch
surnamed Gutenberg. l ! was long
IA cOutroyerted olleStiOnI by many
LEI rned antiquarians, whether Gut
teInberg or Faust was the Inventor
of that Art, till happily Il le original
Instrument was found; whel eby it ap-
pears, that the latter only associated
the others with him for the sake of
their purses, he not being able to
proceed without, Oh accouh bit of the
great expenses attending tile cutting
| Of the blocks of wood; WI Aich after
they were once printed from i, became
entirely useless fSr any other work.
This instrument, which is da ted Nov,
fG, l455, is decisive in favor of Gut
ten hberg; but the honor pf single
types, made of metal, is asd dribed to
Faust, wherein he received treat as
Isistance from his servant an D son-in-
Law, Peter Schoei1er, who detised the
puhchcons, matrices, and mbulds for
casting them, on which accbunt he
was taken into partnership by his
father-in-law, who, in 1455l had a
quarrel with, and separateh from,
Gu uttemburg. Those who h hve as
ser ted that Faust was the frs inven-
tor of printing, have givenl for b
lea son, that they have new 4er seen
any book with Guttemburg'$ name e
to it; without considering thdt their
first essays in printing, both bH block S
and movable types, being sold for
manuscripts, we're anonymo h$, the
Invention being by them inten ded to
be kept secret; nor was it livulged
TIL their disagreement, by which
time Faust had made himsel If mas
ter Of the art, and Guttembar g was
not able to proceed in it alone, owing
to his circumstances.
The inhabitants of IIaerlcm assert
That Laurensz Jansz Roster Of that
city, was the inventor Of Pr Inting,
about thelyear 1880; but that, I'm the
infancy of the invention, he used
wooden blocks, yet after some time,
he left off that method, and Gu t let
ters nstecl, which he sunk in dopper
matfi fices, and fitting them in iron
moulds, he castsingle letters of met
al in those matrices. They dssert,.
also, that his companion and dssist-
ant, John Guttemberg, stele awdyhis
tools while he was in church, and with
them went to Mentz, where he set
up and practiced the art. They say
much OF book entitled De Spiegel,
printed at IIaerlem, in Dutch and
Latin, which is there yet to be seen,
and insist on that book tohave been
the first that ever was printed, but
yet, rs it has no date, there ar no
positive proofs to ground their a kser-
ton On.
The learned Dr. Willis, Of Ok ford,
made a studious inquisition into the
origin Of this invention, and in the
following oncisemanner, delivered his
opinion: about the year 1850, the
art of Printing was invented and
practiced in Germany, but whe ther
first at Mentz or Haerlem, is not de-
terniined; for It appears, upon an i'm
partial inquiry, that those who ha b it
in consideration before it was broug ght
to perfection, disagreeing am Png
erhselyes, separated company, And
II TT,o,.1o,,~ ,,l l+b