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HISTORY OF PRINTING.
occasionally used red ink in other works; but in his Ptalterium, 1494 ; his DiumaU Ecclaia, 1496; his Breviarium Cameracerue, 1497; his Miuale, folio, 1497 ; and his Hora B. Virginit, 1498; and also in his Corpus Juris Canonici cum Glostit, 3 vols, folio, and similar works, he used red and black inks in every page, in all their brilliancy. It is scarce necessary to men- tion the use of these rubriqua in the rituals of the church. The name of rubric is still given to those directory sentences which are found in our Common Prayer; though the practice of distinguishing them by red letters has been long discontinued. Chevillier says that Antoine Za- iDt was the first who printed missals furnished with these distinctions, for the convenience of the clergy. He had seen a copy of the Miuale Romanum,* printed by him with rubrics (ru. briquet rouge*) at Milan, 1478, in folio, with this subscription : —
" Antonl, Patrta Fumensii, gentc Zarote, Primus Mlnlea imprimis ute libros.
Nemo repertorem nlmium se jactet. In arte Addere pltis tantum quam peperisse valet."
1479, Soon after the discovery of printing laws were made for subjecting books to exauni- nation: and the establishment of book-censots, and licensers of the press, was strenuously sup- ported by many of the Romish clergy, who feared the circulation of publications inimical to their religious views, or their ecclesiasUcal domination. The earliest instance of a book printed with a permission from government, is commonly supposed to occur in the year 1480 ; but professor Beckmann mentions two books printed early in this year, with the approbation of the public censor. The first is, Wtlhelmi epis-
- Hie mannscrlpt of the Miitale Romanum, from which
the abovewas printed, is of a description so dazzlina:, that wwds alone cannot convey the ideas requisite to form a conception of its singular attractions. — It commences wfUi a portrait, and on the opposite leaf, armorial bear- ings, doubtless those of the individual whose likeness is represented, and for whom this magnificent volume was executed. Next appears the calendar, which occupies twenty-six pages, on the first of which occurs the date Il.CCCC.X. Each leaf of this calendar is appro|viately ornamented with miniatures, wUch display in the most delightful manner, such avooitlons or amusements as are peculiar to the different months, while tlie picturesque effect of the pages is admirably completed by borders which notliiog but genius of the most refined order could hare designed.— After the calendar follow the prayem, opposite the Ibst of which appears a minUture, represent- ing a fhU length figure of the person whose portrait pre- viously occurs, on bis knees, at the altar. This minhitnre is soiToanded by a border to which the opposite page corresponds, thus forming a striking picture. There are eleven other large miniatures from scriptaral subjects, with borders on both pages, and thirty small miniatures i3i saints and martyrs, with ornamental sides of flowers, &c besides the decorations above described; and the InitlalSi which are illuminated in gold and colours, are almost innumerable.— To dweU upon the pecullaritiea of this snperb book, adequate to its deserts, would far out- strip oar proper limits , but it may be finally observed, that the artist who has shewn so much skill in his outline of the figures, and knowledge of perspective, must have been fhr above the level of his fellow illuminator*,— the brilliancy of colour and gold, the minute and correct finishing of the faces, the inventive skill displayed in the borders. In short, the un-relaxed display of excellence throughout Uils attractive volume, must ever rank it as a work of art, unexcelled by any missal which has yet been offered to the notice and admiration of the public. It was valoed in a trade catalogue at ^iso.
copi Lut/duneiuis Summa de Virhttibut: the other is a Bible, with the following conclusion : "In the year of the incarnation of our Lord 1479, on the vigil of Matthew die apostle; when this notable work, of the Old and New Testament, with the canons of the Gospels, and their harmonies, to the praise and glory of the holy and undivided Trinity, and the immaculate virgin Mary, was printed in the city of Cologne, by Conrad de Homborch ; allowed and ap- proved by the university of Cologne. "
Many centuries, however, before the invention of printing, books were forbidden by different governments, and even condemned to the flames. A variety of proofs can be produced that this was the case among both the antient Greeks and Romans. At Athens the works of Protagoras were prohibited ; and all the copies of them which could be collected were burnt by the public crier. At Rome the writings of Numa, which had been found in his grave, were, by order of the senate, condemned to the fire, because they were contrary to the religion which be had introduced. As the populace at Rome were in times of public calamity more addicted to superstition than seemed proper to the government, an order was issued that all superstitious and astrological books should be de- livered into the hands of the prætor. This order was often repeated; and the emperor Augustus caused more than twenty thousand of these books to be burnt at one time. Under the same emperor the satirical works of Labienus were condemned to the fire, which was the first instance of this nature; and it is related as something singular, that, a few years after, the writings of the person who had been the cause of the order for that purpose shared the same fate. The burning of these works having induced Cassius Severus to say, in a sneering manner, that it would be necessary to burn him alive, as he had got by heart the writings of his friend Labienus, this expression gave rise to a law of Augustus against abusive writings. When Cre- mutius Cordus, in bis history, called C. Cassius the last of the Romans, the senate, in order to flatter Tiberius, caused the book to be burnt ; but a number of copies were saved by being concealed. Antiochus Epiphanes caused the books of the Jews to be burnt ; and in the first centuries of our era the books of the Christians were treated with equal severity, of which Amobius bitterly complains. We are told by Eusebius that Diocletian caused the sacred scriptures to be burnt. After the spreading of the Christian religion, the clergy exercised against books that were either unfavourable or disagreeable to them, the same severity which they had censured in the heathens as foolish and prejudicial to their own cause. Thus were the writings of Arius condemned to the flames at the council of Nice; and Constantine threatened with the punishment of death those who should conceal them. The clergy assembled at the council of Ephesus requested the emperor Theodosius II. to cause the works of Nestorius to be burnt;
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