New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-10-15

4 NEW VOLUME IN TIE SERIES OF BOOKS
ABOUT COOKS.
EARLY PRINTED BOOKS By f. Gordon Duff.
Pp xii 2l9 Imported by Charles Scribher $

EARLY PRINTED BOOKS. By F. Gordon Duff.
Pp. xii. 2l9. Imported by Charles Scrlbher
Sons.
This is in effect history Of the first steps in the
progress of printing The author VIII seem
partisan 10 those, if any remain. who support the
claims of the Dutch to this invention. He is thor
oughly orthodox in his support Of the fame or
Gutenberg. The pretensions OF Italy in the person
of Pompho Castadi. once more strenuously al
vocated than they are now. arr dismissed IN Il
sentence at Is little use 10 recapitulate here the
various unsupported assertions on which this claim
is bascd-a claim which if it ever had. has now
ceased to have any sensible supporters" or the
'Haarlem Legend" Mr. Duff remarks: ION no sub
iect connected with printing has more been writ
ten and to less purpose, than on III" linarlem IN
vention Of printing by Lourens Janzoon Coster
He leaves the date Of the so-callcd Cosierlana
where he found it-that is. in doubt. only putting
in an emphatic demurrer to the argument Of
Hessels in favor OF 1876 Mr.. Dun's whole treat
ment of the subject Is in line with the principle
that I'VE must put the evidence OF the printed
books themselves first and then work from these
to such documentary evidence we possess
France has the documents, but no books; the Low
Countries neither the the other. and, there
fore If we are to set about our inquiries on any
rational plan. must date the invention o! print
ing from the date Of its first product That is
1t is practically impossible TO get back Of the
earliest specimen Of printing from movable type
known to exist. the Indulgence OF Nicholas ',
printed at Maanz in 1851.
1t is only within very recent years that France
has figured in the controversy. But she has come
in at last to a very good purpose Experts in the
history OF printing know all about the matter, but
the general reader may have overlooked the evil
dence gathered by the Able Requn at Avlgnon.
Ii appears from this evidence that a silversmith.
Procopius Waldfoghel of Prague who had settled
in Avignon, carried a business that can only
be described that OF printer and typefounder.
that he taught others the art and furnished them
with tools The records are explicit enough though
1t is impossible to fix the meaning OF certain tech
meal terms which ambiguous. rather from
lapse of time and variety of usage than from any
fault of the original writer As early as TAG VALID
foghel had agreed to teach the art to Jew and to
cut for him a set Of "twcnty-seven Hebrew letters.
There is some excuse for suspicion here. since
there not twenty-seven letters In the Hebrew
alphabet Mr.. Dur. however. grants that these
iragmentary records refer to pruning Win movac
printing But he conjectures that the Avignon
invention was some method OF stamping letters
or words from cut type. than printing from cast
type In press" He holds that the question must
remain undecided until some specimen of the work
There are peciliarites IN the book which show
that Mr.. DUFF is not writing for absolute beginners
by Caxton with)u indicating. 80 far as was OBJ
served In single reading Of his book, the inventor
volume concludes with some practical instruction lon
as 10 the care required by old books, and on the
method OF collecting and describing. The author
without system. "A collection" he remarks. "of
nifty miscelaneous nfteenth-century books has not
with the Individual books But take collection
Of MY books , printed n one town or by sns
obtains value on that account over and above
It's own individual rarity or interest" the . work
Is worthy addition to the Series Of Books About
Books"