The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1856-10-09
q is Q e u u q MHOWS
B0OK-CRAFT.

trlendless, wealth to tho poor, and, more
over, can keep the mind in action thougl
the body dies. 1t was Plato who went tt
play when lie was elected 10 the consulslip
Out the evening before lie died lie rcad.-
Mind lives by MUD as it has been devcl
oped and preserved; and man, by tli,
medium, has shown himself in action ik,
an angel, in words like n god. Take this
from him, and he is notlng."- Giles.
A book has been curiousy defined
"brain preserved in ink" and when there
is plenty of the fruit, it is Il conserve to
tempt the most capricious palate. In an
cient times, books were written on the
bark of trees. Hence the Latin word EJv,
from which we derive our English term
"library." "Book" is from the Saxon,
".boe," I: beech tree.
About the close Of the fourteenth cen
tury, the world WAS blessed witt: the iuvcn-
ton Of the art of printing. Thlcc German
citcs-1Iaarlcm, Mcntz, and Strasbur9-
claim, each one, the honor Of having been
the place Of the oriyinal discovery, Lu, the
evidence rather iucliucs 10 favor the claim
OF Mcntz; for, at this city, either by John
Gutenberg or Peter Schorflcr III the Year
l44o, were invented movable types, with
which movable types the first hook printed
was the Bible, and that i'll the year 1850,
though some authorities declare that the
Latin Bible, or Nulya!c, WAS first printed
on the continent, in l4G2. Lawrence ].
Costcr, of llaarlcm, discovered Tic art Of
lmprcssing characters OH paper, Icy means
of wooden blocks, in the year 1880; and
we may here remark that the ground of
doubt letwccH Gutenberg and Schoctlrr
seems to be an opinion prc.ty well autlicn-
tcatcd, that The types Of the former were
of wood-tllosc of the latter of meta!
and that while the invention Of the one
Happened in the year l44o, that of Tic
other was consulnn,atcl at some time du.
ring the following ten years.
When first the art of printing WAS dis
covered, only one side Of page WAS i'm
pressed: the printers had nv! YET found
out the expeIent Of imprcssing the other.
When the editions were intended to he
curious, they omitted to print the first letter
Of chapter, for whi':h they left !; blank
space, that it might l'c painted or ilumin;,-
ted, at the option Of the purchaser. Scv-
eral ancient volumes Of those early times
have been found, where these letters arc
wanting, as they neglected to have them
printed. 1t WIZ, the glory Of the learned,
when the art WAS first established, to Le
correctors Of the press TO The eminent rrin-
ters. physicians, lawyers, and bishops, as
we'll as authors, occupied this department.
Forty years ago, three men, by hand
work, could scarcely manufacture 1000
small sheets Of paper a day, willie now
they can produce GO,ooo in the same time.
1t has been calculated that if the paper
produced yearly 10y six machines could Lc
put together, the sheet would cncirclc tic
world.
Nowhere is paper SO much usel as in
the United States. In France, with 35,-
100000 Of inhabitants, only 10000 tons
are produced yearly, Of which one scnventh
is for expectation. In England, with 2s,-
100000 Of inhabitants, G6,Ooo tons are
produced; while in this country the amount
is nearly as great as in France and Eng
land together.
A large proportion Of this consumption
Of paper is directed to the 1000 newspa-
pcrs which are inccssanty springing up in
all sections of this country-somc to flour
is], but more born but to die and make
room for succession.
The invention of parchment is ascribcd
to Eumenes, who reigncd more than two
thousand years ago. lie was the founder
Of an extensive library, into wlcl, the new
manufacture was largely introduced
Parchment volumes were commonly rolled
on round stick, with ball at each end
and the composition began at the centre
These were called volumes, and the ousides
were inscribed just as we now letter books.
The Greek MSS. in Herculaneum consist of
papy,us, rolled, charred, and matted to-
gether by the fire, are about nine inches
long, and one, two, or tire inches in Diane
ter, each being volume or separate treat
ise,.
, - Cation and silk paper were in use at an
saSly period, but linen rags were not used
It'll A. D. 1900. This invention has been
placed earlier by some good authorities, but
itwould appear that they have confounded
thecotton with the linen paper. The first
pspes-spill was erected in England, towards
die end Of the sixteenth century.-Salad
5os fhs Soeial.
3ga Sal cried a girl, looking out at the
qppe sstory of d small grocery, addressing