Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-12-10
1.-THE ART PRESERVATIyE OF
ARTS,
Come Interesting Facts Connected with
the History of Printing.
Written for THE EVENING STAR.

Written for THE EVENING STAR.
II is difficult to say at what period of the
worlds history people did not have ideas upon
this subject. which were the Germs of what was
to come i'm after ages. The impression of the
hand or foot or of some other object. made in
soft mud or clay and then hardened by time or
baked by the heat of the sun, must have sug-
gested = simple and intelligent mode of convey
ina an idea before the invention of any kind of
writing. Accordingly these and other signs
found to compose the chief characters of the
earliest writings of which we have any knowl-
edge. and which are called symbolic.
We fad certain evidence that
MORE THAN TWO THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE OUR
ERA,
method of multiplying Impressions or in other
words, printing existed: and if We come down
to the time of the great city Babylon, which
owed its chief greatness tONebuchadnezzar,w who
died five hundred and sixty-one years before
Christ, that on the brick with which
every important structure was composed the
name Of that wicked king is stamped; and the
stamping must have been done with q die or
type on which was raised characters capable of
producing an impression. The ruins OF Babylon
at this day consist mainly of three mOuDds:-1.
Babil. probably the temple of BelOs. 2. The
Kasr. or palace of NebuchadneZzar. This is an
irregular square, about 700 yards each way sur
mounted with the remains of square structure,
the walls Of which are composed of burnt brick
of q pale yellow color of excellent quality.
bound together with lime cement. and stamped
with the name of NebuchadnezZar. 3. mound
now called Amran. of irregular triangular
shape and supposed to be the ruins of - palace
older than NebuchadncZZaTS, for bricks have
been found there inscribed with the names of
more ancient kings than he. That it should
have been thought worth while to
print Inscriptions upon material des-
tined to be built into their dwellings,
hat no W. nOf an
uncommon one, but also that there probably
existed at the same time more advanced and
more elegant mode of imprinting in their do
nestle and ornamental arts In fact. We have
specimens existing OF articles of different form
and sizes. from foot high to the size of a sig
net-tO which purpose the latter were probably
applied. as their shape indicated they had been
worn as finger rings, or hung about the neck
like charm or amulet-and all stamped with
some characters.
After this long time elapsed before the prac-
tiee of transferring characters from die to any
substance. or, in other words. printing. was
known to any, even comparatively civilized
people.
There il reason to believe that printing from
Characters engraved upon wooden blocks was
known to the Chinese i'm the sixth century,
though we scarcely hear anything of its applica-
ton for four centuries after. until the adyan-
ta@es of the art became so manifest that We are
told that in 952 Fung Taou and lie Yu two min
listers of the Latter Han. memOrialiZed the throne
existed only in manuscript-revsed and printed,
ana IN about twenty years copies We're in circu-
latlon- But it was not until the close OF the
thirteenth century that most of the literature Of
former ages. which had also existed only as
writing upon manuscript. had been printed.
THE ORIGINAL. METHOD OF PRINTING
was from blocks of wood. The subject to be
printed was written upon paper which was then
laid face downward upon a smooth block of
hard wood. to the surface of which the ink
transferred. All of the wood. except the linked
lines was then rapidly cut away with sharp
Instrument. leaving the letters or characters in
relief. Each plate thus made formed page,
and the printing was done by first mixing the
characters and then pressing a sheet of paper
upon them. either with the hand or a soft BRUSH
thus giving the impression. Block printing.
after the Chinese method. was practiced i'm
Italy. Spain and Sicily for designs on fabrics of
silk and cotton, which We're printed i'm ink as
early as the last years OF the twelfth century
The next obvious advance was the engrav-
ing of pictures upon wooden blocks, and it
Is generally agreed that the art was invented
towards the end of the thirteenth century by
member OF the family of CuniOlOrds of ImOla
In Italy.
MOVABLE TYPE.
such IS are now used in printing, were Euro
pean invention; and practically the art of print
ing waited for the development of the manu-
facture of paper. which was not a staple of
commerce before the close of the fourteenth
century. And again find the Chinese in
the advance here. for they we're the first to FORM
from vegetable fiber. the web which constitutes
modern paper. They used the bark Of several
trees. especially the mulberry. the bamboo re-
duced to a pulp by beating. the straw of rice
and other grain, silk, cotton and rags of differ
ent kinds
WHO. WHERE AND WHEN?
IT is still question undecided as to the per-
h, sv,x-N x&.I4
Invention of movable types, and the bringing of
them into practical use. The honor rests be-
tween the Dutch. who claim the honor for Lau-
renee Coster. of Haarlen who died i'm 144O.
and the Germans. who claim it for Johann Guten-
berg. OF MentZ, who died in 1868; Johann Faust
or Fust. OF MentZ. who died i'm 146f: and his
scn-in-laN. Peter SchOffer who died i'm 1902
The Dutch place the date of the invention in
142s and generally hold that COster was the
real inventor. and that Gutenberg one of his
workmen, stole the invention and claimed it as
his own.
In 1856 Johann Gutenberg completed the
printing of the Bible i'm Latin, folio volume of
6s1 leaves. printed on yeIfyim-a fine kind of
parchment made from the skins of calves. kids
or iaI.,bs-and the work must have occupied
several years.
The art of printing was first practiced in italy
In 1850; in France. in 1869: in England in 1474:
In Spain. in l415. In 1900 there were only abOut
two hundred printing Offices in all EUrope-
scarcely more than are now to be found in one of
our larger cities.
PRINTING! POWER
IL Is not necessary in this article to speak of
she manufacture of type. of the art OF stereo-
typing. and other things of recent date of value
% the printer; but few words NAV properly
Oe said about the po,rsr used in printing The
uFst AMI earliest impressions ere taken as by
the Chinese with light pressure OF the hand or
brush upon the very thin paper on which their
printing was done. Then impressions were
made by laying the paper on the type and
placing on 1T a planer or a smOoth-faced block
OF hard wood used for dwelling the type before
printing. and striking it with maet az proof
slips now are often taken. Presses how
ever, were soon invented for the purpose
There are en@rayings which represent presses
Is they existed as far back as 1920 They were
small and the force was applied by means of
simple screw and lever In 1920 or 26l years
ago, Blaeuw. of Amsterdam produced greatly
improved press. kind which, with but little
alteration, continued in $50 years. The
press upon which Benjamin Franklin worked
in md