The Invention of Printing — Theodore Low De Vinne
, by Theodore Low De Vinne This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org . If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title : The Invention of Printing. Author : Theodore Low De Vinne Release date : January 25, 2016 [eBook #51034] Most recently updated: October 22, 2024 Language : English Other information and formats : www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51034 Credits : E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, RichardW, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) *** START OF *** , by Theodore Low De Vinne Note: Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/inventionofprint00deviuoft to transcriber's note to table of contents ♠ THORWALDSEN’S STATUE OF JOHN GUTENBERG. THE INVENTION OF PRINTING. DESCRIPTIVE OF EARLY PRINTS AND PLAYING CARDS, THE BLOCK-BOOKS OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, THE LEGEND OF LOURENS JANSZOON COSTER, OF HAARLEM, AND THE WORK OF JOHN GUTENBERG AND HIS ASSOCIATES. WITH FAC-SIMILES OF EARLY TYPES AND WOOD-CUTS. BY THEO. L. DE VINNE. NEW-YORK: FRANCIS HART & CO. 12 & 14 COLLEGE PLACE. 1876. ENTERED, ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1876, BY T HEODORE L. D E V INNE , IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS AT WASHINGTON. TO DAVID WOLFE BRUCE, IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF INSTRUCTION ABOUT TYPES, NOT TO BE HAD BY READING, OF ASSISTANCE IN STUDIES, NOT TO BE FOUND IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES, OF COMPANIONSHIP MORE PLEASANT THAN BOOKS, THIS WORK IS DEDICATED BY HIS FRIEND, THEO. L. DE VINNE. , by Theodore Low De Vinne CONTENTS. I T HE D IFFERENT M ETHODS OF P RINTING 17 II A NTIQUE M ETHODS OF I MPRESSION AND THEIR F AILURE 29 III T HE K EY TO THE I NVENTION OF T YPOGRAPHY 49 IV T HE I MAGE P RINTS OF THE F IFTEENTH C ENTURY 69 V P RINTED AND S TENCILED P LAYING C ARDS 88 VI T HE C HINESE M ETHOD OF P RINTING 109 VII T HE E ARLY P RINTING OF I TALY 122 VIII T HE I NTRODUCTION OF P APER IN E UROPE 133 IX T HE B OOK-MAKERS OF THE M IDDLE A GES 146 X T HE P REPARATIONS FOR P RINTING 171 XI B LOCK-BOOKS OF I MAGES WITHOUT T EXT 193 XII B LOCK-BOOKS OF I MAGES WITH T EXT 230 XIII T HE D ONATUS, OR B OY’S L ATIN G RAMMAR 254 XIV T HE S PECULUM S ALUTIS, OR M IRROR OF S ALVATION 264 XV T HE W ORKS AND W ORKMANSHIP OF AN U NKNOWN P RINTER 282 XVI T HE P ERIOD IN WHICH THE S PECULUM WAS P RINTED 308 XVII T HE L EGEND OF L OURENS J ANSZOON C OSTER 326 XVIII T HE G ROWTH OF THE L EGEND 347 XIX T HE D OWNFALL OF THE L EGEND 360 XX J OHN G UTENBERG AT S TRASBURG 375 XXI G UTENBERG AND HIS E ARLIER W ORK AT M ENTZ 403 XXII T HE L ATER W ORK OF G UTENBERG 431 XXIII T HE W ORK OF P ETER S CHŒFFER AND J OHN F UST 449 XXIV A LLEGED I NVENTORS OF P RINTING 480 XXV T HE S PREAD OF P RINTING 492 XXVI T HE T OOLS AND U SAGES OF THE F IRST P RINTERS 514 A UTHORITIES C ONSULTED 543 I NDEX 547 , by Theodore Low De Vinne ILLUSTRATIONS. Statue of John Gutenberg ♦ Surface Exposed to Impression by Copper-plate method ♦ Surface Inked and Exposed to Impression by Typographic method ♦ Surface Exposed to Impression by Lithographic method ♦ Face of a large Type, showing how the Letter is placed on the body ♦ Side view of Canon body ♦ Small Pica, Agate and Diamond body ♦ View of body inclined to show the face ♦ Stamped Brick from Babylon ♦ Fac-simile of Impression on brick ♦ Egyptian Stamp for impressing bricks ♦ Assyrian Cylinder ♦ Old Roman Stamps ♦ Roman Stamps ♦ Roman Scrinium and rolls of papyrus ♦ Types of Irregular Body ♦ Punch ♦ Matrix ♦ Illustrations of Type-bodies ♦ Type-Mould, without matrix ♦ One-half of the Mould ♦ The other half of the Mould ♦ Type-casting as practised in 1683 ♦ Type-casting as practised in 1564 ♦ Print of St. Christopher ♦ Print of the Annunciation ♦ Print of St. Bridget ♦ Flemish Indulgence Print ♦ Brussels Print ♦ Berlin Print ♦ Playing Card of the fifteenth century ♦ Print Colorer ♦ Engraver on Wood ♦ Chinese Playing Cards ♦ Early French Playing Cards ♦ French and German Playing Cards of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries ♦ Fac-simile of part of a Chinese Book ♦ Chinese Types made in London ♦ Mark of Jacobus Arnoldus, 1345 ♦ Mark of Johannes Meynersen, 1435 ♦ Mark of Adam de Walsokne, 1349 ♦ Mark of Edmund Pepyr, 1483 ♦ Mark of an unknown person ♦ Japanese Method of Making Paper ♦ Paper-Mill of the sixteenth century ♦ Scriptorium of the middle ages ♦ Penmanship of the ninth century ♦ Manuscript of the fifteenth century ♦ Medieval Bookbinding ♦ Medieval Illuminator ♦ Sumptuously Bound Book ♦ Medieval Book with covers of oak ♦ Book Cover in Ivory, Byzantine style ♦ Seal of the University of Paris ♦ English Horn-Book ♦ English Clog ♦ Holbein’s Dance of Death ♦ Dance of Death, as shown in the Nuremberg Chronicle ♦ Last page of the Bible of the Poor ♦ First page of the Bible of the Poor, as made by Walther and Hurning ♦ First page of the Apocalypse ♦ First page of the Canticles ♦ Story of the Blessed Virgin ♦ Exercise on the Lord’s Prayer ♦ Illustration from the Book of Kings ♦ Letter K of Grotesque Alphabet ♦ Page from the Apostles’ Creed ♦ Page from the Eight Rogueries ♦ Page from the Antichrist ♦ Page from the Ars Memorandi ♦ Page from the Ars Moriendi ♦ Chiromancy of Doctor Hartlieb ♦ Calendar of John of Gamundia ♦ Page from the Wonders of Rome ♦ Pomerium Spirituale ♦ Temptations of the Devil ♦ Life of St. Meinrat ♦ Heidelberg Dance of Death ♦ German Donatus, from a block in the National Library at Paris ♦ Fragment of an early Donatus ♦ Early Dutch Horarium ♦ Imprint of Conrad Dinckmut ♦ First page of Speculum Salutis ♦ Last page of Speculum