Evening star., 1923-10-21
Romance of Printing Gives Interest
To Development of Great Industry


step was taken and printing was
the voice of education and the art
which perpetuates all human knowl-
edge. Printing has made it possible
10 record and preserve history. With
out IL civilization could not have
advanced, nor could Christianity
have spread to the far corners OF
the earth in so short a space of time.
Were all the printing presses in the
world to stop running today and all
type and machinery to be destroyed,
our progress would be checked i'm
mediately. We would scarcely know
what was going on in the world and
knowledge would be dear indeed.
What the early pioneers in the
art accomplished-what was achieved
by those who followed in their train
is truly remarkable. The story Of
printing has been told many times,
but no history ever written on this
subject has related all the struggles
OF the craftsmen who toiled upward
IN the night What the world owes
to printing 1t owes to these men.
Their perseverance and zeal are not
generally appreciated, and 1t Is
doubtful If there are many printers,
even. who realize what their pred
ecessors achieved or understand the
difficult conditions under which they
labored.
Modern Typography practically be-
gan with the use of movable types
by John Gutenberg, at Mainze, 1850
l455. Gutenberg's right to the honor
OF discoverer of printing has been
: disputed, but we do know that the
art of printing from types came into
being about 1450, and his invention
of movable types certainly entities
Gutenberg to an honored place.
Many printers followed after Gu
tenberg when men of learning took
up the work in Europe. Perhaps the
greatest printer of the sixteenth
century was one Christopher Plantin
who was born about 1914. He was
taught printing and book binding in
Caen and Paris and soon became a
master of the art. Owing to con-
ditions existing in France at the
time, which made 1t anything but
healthy for printers, who were being
continually charged with heresy,
Plantin wisely left Paris In l54S and
made his home in Antwerp. It was
in this city that the master printer
Plantin rose to fame, but his life
was not a bed of roses. Printing
was in restraint everywhere and the
city of Antwerp finally became the
chosen battle field of the contestants
in the conflict between the press, the
state and the church. Plantin had
to fee for his life on two occasions,
and his plant was twice destroyed.
The fruits of years OF labor were
lost, but PIantin loved his art. Even
In the ruins of n sacked city he kept
at his work, struggling with heavy
debts, until his death in 1859. The
presses and types of Plantin, with
many of his best volumes. have been
preserved to this day and may be
seen in the city of Antwerp
English printers were active In the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
One of the finest masters of his day
was Richard Pynson. 1t Is supposed
that Pynson, in his youth, was an
employe of the famous Caxton. Hen
ry r. Plomer in his history OF Eng
Hsh printing says of him: "wher-
ever he came from. Richard Pynson
was the finest master this country
had yet seen, and no one, until the
appearance of John Day, approached
him in excellence Of work"
printer TO see the merit of Roman
type. All his works We're rare ex-
amples of the care displayed by
printers of his day. He died in 1929.
and up to that time he was actively
engaged i'll the production of Sc
lected and carefully printed books.
We next witness the birth of print
Ing in the new world. Just nineteen
years after the Pilgrims moored their
bark at Plymouth the first printing
press was established at Cambridge.
This beginning of printing here we
owe to an English clergyman, Rev.
Jose Glover. Attracted by the oppor-
tunfties which he believed offered
themselves in America, and becoming
interested in the religious freedom of
tho colonies. he came over from Eng
land with his family in 1888. He was
man of wealth and excellent educa-
ton and planned to engage In the
iron industry In the colonies and to
control a printing press. He brought
with him as assistants in the project
the Day family-Stephen, the father,
and his two sons, Stephen, jr, and
Matthew.
Mr.. Glover unfortunately died at
sea, and as an indirect result of that
fact the management of the press
fell to stephen Day. 1t is an error of
history that Stephen Day was the
first printer in Cambridge. 1t should
be explained here that he was not a
practical printer in any sense of the
word. His son Matthew, who actually
operated the press. made very good
progress in the trade, and to him, and
not to his father, belongs the honor
OF being the first printer in the COL
onies. Specimens Of Matthew Days
work are extant. and it is evident
from their appearance that with prac-
tice in his trade he made great strides
in skill and craftsmanship.
Much Of Matthew's work was per-
formed for Harvard College. He was
only twenty-nine years old when he
died. Samuel Green was selected to
take the place, and while he had no
knowledge of the art, was quick to
learn. He took over his duties in
t64s. Within the next few years it
appears that the press, which had
been owned by the Glover estate and
controlled by Mr.. Dunster. passed
into the hands OF the college.
The first printing house in Boston
1pas that of Marmaduke Johnson, who