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HISTORY OF PRINTING.
STOvidence of God, the method of cutting (inci- endi) the characters in a matrix, that the letters might easilybe singly cast, instead of being cut. He privately cut matrices for the whole alphabet ; and when he showed his master the letters cast from these matrices, Faust was so pleased with the contrivance, that he promised Peter to give him his only daughter, Christiana, in marriage ; a promise which he soon after performed. But there were many difficulties at first with these letters, as there had been before with wooden ones, the metal being too soft to support the force of the impression : but this defect was soon remedied, by mixing the metal with a substance which sufficiently hardened it"
From all the arguments and opinions which hare been adduced in this important controversy, the conclusion may be satisfactorily drawn : — That to JOHN GUTENBERG is due the appellation of the Father of Printing : to PETER SCHOEFFER that of Father of Letter-Foundino : and to JOHN FAUST that of the Generous Patron, by whose means the wonderous discovery, of the Art of Print- ing Was brought rapidly to perfection.
We are informed that the Mentz printers, in order that the art might not be divulged, admi- nistered an oath of secresy to all whom they em- ployed ; this appears to have been strictly adhered to until the year 1462, at which period the city was sacked and plundered by archbishop Adol- phus, its former rights and franchises were also abolished ; amid the consternation occasioned by this extraordinary event, the workmen of the Mentz press, considering their oath of fidelity no longer binding, now l^came free agents, and spread themselves in different directions ; by this circumstance, the hitherto great mystery was rapidly carried through a considerable portion of Europe, and which commenced a contention for the merit of the discovery.
If Harleim, &c. could, have advanced a claim equal to that of Mentz, and upon as good grounds, for the invention of printing, it is sin- gular that this city should have enjoyed it without interruption for more than 125 years; and that none of the Dutch writers attempted, in that long period of time, to disprove the colo- phons, or inscritions, which subjoined to his works, when it was out of his power to conceal his art, and wherein he mentions the inventors, and the manner in which the books were printed.
It is remarkable, that none of these writers mention Gutenberg otherwise than being as an
assistant. Mr. Palmer says : " Among all die learned I have conversed with whose cuiiodt; hath led them to search into the rise and progmi of printing, and all the writers upon this subject I could never meet with, not one has pretended to have seen any book printed in John Gmei- berg's name even in the oldest monuments re- maining of the infancy of this art, whether printed upon wood, or by separate metal tjrpet. That on the contrary, where there is any men- tion madeof eitlier printer or place, it is still ia Faust and Schoeffer s name. Therefore, until there is some better proof of Gutenberg's name, either jointly with the otlier two, or separatelv, or some book produced with it, it seems endent beyond contradiction, that the glory of this in- vention is wholly due to John Faust, and the improving and perfecting it to his son-in-law Peter Schoeffer, exclusive of John Gutenberg."
Salmuth informs us, that Peter Schoeffer added considerably to the improvement of print- ing, by inventing punches, matrices, &c. and speaks of the difficulties which Faust and he met with, owing to the softness of the metal is which they had cast their first types ; and of his discovering a mixture by means of antimony, which fully answered the purpose: which so pleased Faust, that he made nim his son-in-law.
Monsieur Thevet, cosmographer to the king of France mentions some particulars which ought not to be omitted, not only because they over- come every argument advanced by the Dutch writers, but that they are peculiarly interesting in themselves. Spring of printing, he sajrs, " This art is believed to have been first invented at Mentz, in Germany, about the year 1442, by John Gutenberg, a German kiught, who began his first essays of it there ; and found out a new sort of ink, now used by the printers : but there are some writers of opinion, that this honour rather belonged to Jonn Faust and Ives (in Latin Ivo) Schoeffer two years before that time.
One of the finest specimens of early printing, is Gregorii IX. Nova Compilatio DecnUdium, Mogunt. per Petrum Schoeffer, 1473,* printed upon vellum and paper alternately. This mag- nificent book is remarkable in the history of typogpraphy, on account of various Latin verses at the end, which lay claim to the invention of the art, a few years after it had been in practice. The reference to Gutenberg, Faust, and Scho- effer, in despite of the barbarous style, cannot be misunderstood in these lines —
' Quo8 genutt ftmbos orbs Mo^nntina Joimntt,
Ubroruminslgnes PToUiearigmaticon Cum qnibua oputu Pttna venTt ad poUandrum,
Cursu poateiior, intracnndo ]irioi.'
Mariangelus Accuesius, a learned Italian, who flourished about the sixteenth century, wrote the following lines upon the first leaf of a Do- natut, printed at Mentz, by John Faust : — "John Faust citizen of Mentz', grandfather by the mother's side, of John Shepherd, was the first that devised this art of printmg with brass types.
- A line cop7 in russta, gilt leaves, «u marked in *
London catalogue at am.
