The Savannah morning news., 1900-07-04

an uphill one. Like other inventors too,
Gutenberg was not par excellence man
Of affairs. The hundred guilders lent TO
him by his kinsman Arno.d Gelthus melt
ed withot tangible results, and then II was
that he came into contact with the astute
goldsmith of Mainz John Fust. Swift TO
see the possibility Of profit, Fust advanc-
ed 500 Suilders on conditions that
might well have given pause to man
less absorbed than poor Gutenberg. Fust
held a mortgage on all printing materials
10 be purchased, so that almost at any
moment he was in a position TO foreclose
and rob the inventor al once of his secret
and all the tangible fruits of his labor.
Nothing daunted, however, Gutenberg
set 10 work on the Bible, but before long
he had to apply for a further loan of 800
suilders to Fust. In 1854 the .letters of
Indulgence accorded by Pope Nicholas
V. to the faithful who desired to aid in
funds the King of Cyprus against the
Turks were scattered widely throughout
Christendom Scribes all over Europe
were busily making copies. At Mainz
the distributors found that an extraordi-
nary number of copies could be supplied
on the shortest possible notice. This, in
point of fact marked the initial effort OF
which we have authentic record that
came from the workshop of Gutenberg,
and for these letters of Indulgence the
type of the Bible was in part used. 1t
may be remarked in passing that the
rapid production of these letters, and the
ease with which they were sold a a rela-
lively small price. was later fixed on by
Luther as one of the matters calling for
reform-and this is not surprising when
we remember that the sherffs of Paris
requested the Pope to allow them to
raise money In tins way for the recon-
struction of d bridge at the Hotel de vile.
An early examp.e-printed, If l mistake
not, in LISTS in Earl Spencer's library
at Althorp. while one ated 1855 may be
studied any day in the Kings library at
the British Museum.
1t is now generally allowed that al
though Gutenberg may have laid the foun-
dation stone of printing by means of move
able types, he did not single-handed pro-
duce the first great monument of typog
| raphy, TO which with a certain poetic jus
tice his name still cings. Exactly when
Peter Schoeffer was introduced into the
Malnz workshop it is impossible TO say;
! almost certainly subsequent TO 1889 how
ever, when he is said TO have written and
ornamented a MS. in Paris, OF whose
most glorious university" according to
a Strasbourg MS. from his hand, he had
become a student. Gutenberg, the cares
of life lying heavily upon him, pressed on
the one hand by Fust, anxious on the 9TH
| er at all hazards to fulfil his dream, must
| have seen with alarm the growing favor
| of Schoeffer with the clear-headed gold
smith Fust by this time doubtless real
| lied that momentous discovery had been
made, and that the best chance of his
prohting thereby was to keep Gutenberg
| supplied with money until such time as
| Schoeffer-to whom he had given his
! granddaughter in marriage-had acquired
an intimate knowledge of the mechanical
/ aspect of the subject To what extent, If
| any Schoeffer should be credited with de-
signing the type of the Bible must re-
/ main a mystery. That he, the skilled
| scribe, did design some of the most beau
tiful type that has ever been used every
| person of taste can assure himself by
| study of the Psalters issued in 1857 and
! 1853, ard the beautiful Bible in Latin of
! 1852.
| On Nov. G. 1855. before the actual issue
| of the great Bible-now widely known as
the Mazarn Bible, because De Bure first
| discovered a copy in the library of Gardi-
nal Mazarin-Fust instituted a process
! against Gutenberg for the recovery OF
the 1920 gold forms advanced by him, and
the interest secured thereon, at the rate
of per cent. Having taken the deposit
| tons of the parties, the judges sentenced
| Gutenberg to pay what was owing, and
! this, of course, he was unable to do In
| lieu of money he was compelled TO cede
Fust all the moulds types, presses, and
! utensils, which practically meant his I'M
! doing. Within the next few months the
first copies of the Mazarin Bible were
allowed 10 go forth. The vicar of St. Ste
| phen al Mainz records that ne himself
/ finished the binding and Illuminating OF
the first volume on st. Bartholomew's
day Ohe 18th of june, 1456, and the second
on the 18th of August. If only because of
the many hardships he suffered, of his
years of earnest effort against adverse cir
| cumstances, one feels disposed to give full
credit for it 10 John Gutenberg, the decay
ed nobleman, rather than to Peter Schoef-
/ fer, who in any case came relatively late
on the scenes, and whose own triumphs
suffice to add lustre TO his name. Soon
! after the success of Fusts action, Guten-
berg retired to little house outside
Mainz, where, by the aid of foreign help,
he attempted to carry on his work. And
he did actually issue one or two books.
Not The least pathetic glimpse of the end
of his days is given by himself In the colo
Dhon of a book to whlch-doubtless after
seeing the finer type by this time being
used in the productions of Schoeffer-he
did not dare to add his name. To the
honor of his relative Arnold Gelthus, from
whom he had borrowed money, probably
never repaid, il may be said that it was
he who set up sculptured monument
near the place of John GutenberS's grave.
1t is wen known that the Mazarin Bible
is one of the NEST eagerly sought after
10 ks by collectors The last copy sold
was that of the late Rev. William Makel-
lar of Edinburgh, which, by reason of de-
f5cts having come to light since the Sys-
ton Park dspers al i'm 1884. was sold with
all faults, making 1850 against $500 for
melly Ia.d for it, while the late Earl of
Ashbulnham's fine copy, printed on vel
.um, ain sold, not subject to re urn,
realized 1900, in the summer of 1897. In
our British museum is magnificent as
semblage of early printed books, arranged
in chronological order, of profound inter
est.
TIE official programme for the Mainz
celebration includes, l understand, an his
toIical procession and on the last day
a visit by steamer to Bingen and Eltville,
when the banks of the river will be il UNI
ina ed on the return journey. A perma-
nent Gutenberg museum is, too, to be
started the Mainz Town Council and the
government of Darmstadt each