The weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1878-1881, 1879-09-30

BY PROF. HIRAM CIRCUIT.

ta4ErMH n4 h3
From the onen;,,o IF tho ninth cant,,rv
nar.hment ronk the Mace of ,,anvr,,s Az
cianf hoclss wara rnl,ad ;ns,aad ~ ho;,n T.,
aouare form. a. IVA hoye them Abon, th;s
dime name, made frnn, cotton aud I;na, rans
heuan n ha m.da I'm, lie mannf,ctnre ,sos
50 ii,nited that the facility for conv;no wos
not m,,ch ;ncreassd All wr;t;nd ,nar;aI
MAS exceedinolv scarce in that age and had
fhe Invention of Irint,no dated earlier it
conld not have made anv snbslantiaI nrooress
On th;s accnnnt
IN many inst noes the only wav 4, ;ss,e :.
new work was IN erase The 1riu,n,, writ;r"
from = man, s,rint. and then r. trace annther
hook mon the same narchment Tins The
writinus on may valuahIa u.nuscrints wore
dest rnved and some even more vsI,abIe than
thosn yh;ch toot ,boi, n,.co yVr;tto, i,u
mao. had almost ner;shed for The want nf
material nnon which tn r.cord the hurninu
fhn,,gbts which we're ., rngol;no for eynreS-
sion. The hooks If those Savs were written
ont NV ham, anI the ,ynrE Of tho conv;sts
WAS both hnnnrable and Incrative They
were GENERALLY emnloved hv hooksellers IN .
salary The rich amnlovei favor;te slaves tn
COW works of a%ntinnitv and Of their own
times. for their avn libraries Orators 90.
cured the convino If their own discussions
and the government. of its edicts.
The princinal works of Greek. Latin and
Hebrew a%ntinmitv were conied Nv enn,chs
and finally The monks. sbnt IN in INCONSISTENCY
gave their chief attention to- the mnItinlica,
fion Of bnoks Inv the slnw nrocnss of writing
So even the monks were usrt1l m their dav
and generation. As a matter of course. The
hooks of thes,, early DAYS we're scarce and
costly. Only the rich could own them. and
even they had but few. The monasteries and
universities had libraries. and occasionally
The great cathedral. Notre Dame, already
alluded IA. had a snle,.did library of FIVE him.
drpd yolumes. The Countess Of AMEN mn.
chased a book If homilies. and Maid for tive
hundred sheen. five quarters of wheat and
FIVE oparte,s of I'VE and milleti #a}
Henry v of ENGLAND borrowed a book from
the Countess of Westmoreland. But he died
before he had returned it. Hence The conn
ess petitioned the privy council for its restora-
ton to her, by order under the PRIV seal.
which was granted with all formaiity. As
late as the year 1900, even the library of OK !
ford consisted of a few tracts kent in a chest. |
The next advance step taken was to remove |
the book from a chest, and chain it to the |
desk or pulpit, or in cages. Goodhooks were |
then, as now, more precious than cold. This |
glance at the early history of books will bet |
ter prepare us TO understand how great are the |
blessings conferred upon mankind by the art
of printing.
In a recent paper we left Gutenberg with
his s.plav-cards !" winch he had printed from
an engraved block of wood, We next find
him earnestly engaged il, forming letters and
impressing them upon vellum. He said to |
his wife, "This will be a step in advance. |
and l shall try and print thy name, my Anna. |
1 cannot fail to engrave that name on wood
which has been so long traced on my heart,
Cutting away the wood except the writing
Zines, he left the letters raised, and thus
formed q stamp. Moisteniur it with ink and