New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-12-27
A VENETIAN SIUD1.
ruE PRINTING PRESS IN THE CITY OF lhh
SEA.

Hitherto Unpublished. Iy HGra'lo +, bp0""o On rto
twentytwo FAC SMILES OF earN piIn'"n'
pn, xvii 463. q. r. Putnam'S SONS :.
Tho history Of tho Venetian printing pIcNS
rccountcd at length and with dlhgch' ~
and annie crudition in this beautiful Noi''n'' Wv
- and nublisbe;s of which have eNldeh'N
.,rfven TO make il not only Il true IV'o''
cbronicle. but a typographical monument "oi,,N
,be importance and interest OF Inc sUnJr'" ~
1toratio Brown has expended great I'''' "r
the work. and has brought 10 n@n' "'"''
documents bearing upon II. many u ""'O"
has REPRODUCED in the appendices WIN" nc
eli. half ,bc spacc Of the massive volume VI
'"''S moo, mar, Of the Information thus
hroucht together has been printed before poo '''
,ho most mart if not altogether in foreign tongues
, ;o WORKS inaccessible to the general pu'Ilc'
pT, tbe ORIGINAL papers are full of intcrcS'. anu
NOT fovy among them illuminate the details ol
rntirg and boolsclling in tie fifteenth Sl\''eh"
o,.or,ocntb and eighteenth century, with a iulrSs
that leaves nothing 10 he desired III "o 80,
torical portion Of his comprehensive "o'N' W.
brown naturally dcvotcs special attention 10 inc
relations Of the Venetian printing press 10 '''o
Church and the State. The circumstances ID
Venice were indeed not radically dlneT'h'' '"i"
those in other States during the periods cohccI''
Tn all alike struggle went on-on INC one s''
n establish freedom of thought ana eNPreSS'o"'
and on the other to secure control "i p"''' !" ''
end that they might be compelled 10 serve 'nc
dominant powers, or, failing thlS' 1la' 'neS "''"
be suppressed. .,,,o,oo
The close relationship which colhciuch'e
wrouoht between the printing press ana the
Reformation inevitably impcllcd the Church oi
Rome 70 rrapple at once and earnestly win 'he
NOW AGENCY for disseminating thought-and hereSN'
The Inouisition and the Index were the 1ns'ru-
mentalties emploved for this purpose. and nut LOT
ono circumstance il seems quite possible thaI 'he
uneonal contest might have ended in me com
nlete extinction of printing. That saving cir
cumstance was the civil powers constant e8I'"SS
of the ecclesiastical power. The cohHl'' "e'"''"
Church and State for centuries centred "p'"
The rival claims Of PopeS and hlneS TO Scr"l"i
,,nrorocv The temporal prctentions of Rome
continually cmbroilcd her with the rulers oi
Furopc. and the Republic of Venice was ho' FSS
determined than the Kings of France ana LIN
nerors of Germany TO resist all their attempts "O
Roman domination. 30 lar aS peicI III ~,
.houcbt was concerned. the Venetian Oligarchy was
no more liberal or advanced than me Nhui'"
In fact when the printing press was not neihg
barasscd by the Inquisition II was gcner~N !"
diNiculties with the State: and could the TWO
ro,vers ever have come into accord with one an
otber the prcss must have persisted between lhe
,oror and the neither milestone Fortunately 1or
civilization the Republic observed all the pro
cecdinrs of Rome with vigilant ana suspicious
rve. and while on abstract prmclples II "l' ""'
recognize the freedom Of the printing PreSS' "
stroncly disapproved of interference III It's a"""N
IN the part of foreign Power Inc 'cne'"n
Republic was then in the pride oil us SlFehH'" anu
repntation. and apt IN do things Win 'ie HI"
hand But the time had not Yet come "heh any
State could afford to set at nau@ht 'he En"9,N
,veanons of the Church. Sccptical ana I"n"'i
rnlcrs there were: men who smiled al me l"l"l'
,ions Of the Vatican and deSplsed Inc system -
49, Irouisi,ion But these dared not avow their
mental attitude. and experience han taught 'n'n'
tbot the limit of their ventures in opposition 10
Rome was to be found in the credulty ana euPei-
stition of their ignorant subjects. WIN '''S'
,ott.r the comminatory formulae Of the Church
wore very real and very dreadful things III
communication and Incrdct were capane oil
blasting the prosperity and disorganiznS the NJ
cial system Of almost all countries 'Icc
launched these terrible meacurcs iSoia'ed 'nc
monarcb or the government attacked, ana S'lpp'"
him of the defence afforded 10y the loN2IN vi HIS
reople: and by suSpendlng all inc Sd'I""''''9
converted every one of his subjects int" a personal
enemy and a strenuous asitator Tor the Hi'i"l"S
of that submission which could alone H'V INC
curse from the banned territory. mus IT was
that the haughtcst and ostenslbIy the slIo"-'''
rplers feared 10 60 to extremes III their oispu'es
with Rome. They knew that they couid not "
rond upon their own subjects in such case, ana
that they were more likely to DC oepoeeo '"''"
selves than 10 conquer the Natlcah.
1y,oro was indeed but one point on which they
Col, il necessary TO make rcsolute stand, and
This was the question of supreme secular au'hor-
CIV The Roman weapons lost their 'erToIS hc'o
because submission 10 Roman arrogance "oulu Gus.
e., &c much rs they could possibly he mulctcd
fhrourh accommodation and lntcrdlc'. lIeA
.ov.reiontv was their life, and they must ana
yould fight for it To the bitter end' no md'"I
what the consequences. Whenever tins Issue was
,oinc6 therefore, the struggle was herce ana pro-
tracted. and the Church Was often compelied -
,otiro discounted. This happened in the case Of
tho printing-press in several countries, ana once
of least in Venice the Inquisiton appears to have
hocn other driven out or Silcnced. For space
of somc twenty-five years, at the close OF the SIN
,oorth and opcning of the seventeenth centuries,
4be record of press trials is blank. though lmmed-
atelv before the beginning of this period thcrc
had been an average of fifty trials year Tor
some time But it was not always or long 50.
Tho strength of the Venetian Republic had Gull
minated and was on the decline, and though 'he
struggle with the Inquisiton and the Congrega-
tion of the Index was kept up stubbornIN, 'Hc
secular government thereafter began To lose
cround OF course the interests of the pruning
press were put in the background during tins
Ionr contest When the lnqGlsltion had It's own
way il exercised a minute and eNaspcratng IN
quest. a housc-to-house search, and put on tral
every one even found in the same house with
heretical books. whether or not there was any
evidence of proprictorship. Mr.. Brown gives par
,iculars OF one of these trials from the record and
il strikinCly illustrates the nature and extent OF
the dominion claimed and exercised by the Church
over the cultivation of the human mind. In some
respects Venice sank below Spain in this regard
Spain at least maintained her own control over
the Censorship, and would none Of the Roman
index But Venice Sometimes not strong
enough TO protect herself and had 10 submit t'
the ecclesiastical tyranny under futile protest.
The Censorship which Mr.. Brown examines very