Page:De Vinne, Invention of Printing (1876).djvu/222

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BLOCK-BOOKS WITHOUT TEXT.

married lady of Ephesus, and one of the many converts of St. John, is an important personage in this fabulous life and in the illustration annexed. In the upper picture, St. John is represented as preaching to a magnate, whose robe or mantle is held by two attendants. Drusiana stands behind them. This picture is described in the legend:

Conversi ad idolis predicacionem beati Johannis Drusiana et cetera.

Through the preaching of St. John, I have turned from idols Drusiana and others.

In the lower picture, St. John is represented as baptizing Drusiana in the Christian temple of Ephesus. Drusiana is judiciously abbreviated to suit the size of the baptismal font Six armed men are before the barred door, endeavoring, by violence, to gain entrance, or to witness the ceremony. The picture is explained by the words:

Sts Johannes baptisans Drusiana.

Cultores idolorum explorantes facta ejus.

St. John baptizing Drusiana.

The worshipers of idols watching his [St. John's] proceedings.

The edition of the Apocalypse named by Heineken as the first was planned by a practical book-maker, and was made up in sections of eight double leaves. The first and last pages of each section were probably engraved together on one block. They were certainly printed together by the following plan:

1 — 16
2 — 15

3 — 14
4 — 13

5 — 12
6 — 11

7 — 10
8 — 9

Page 1 was engraved on the right, and page 16 on the left end of the block. Page 2 was on the left, and 15 on the right. This alternation was maintained on all sheets of the section.[1] The printed sheets, 1, 3, 5 and 7 were folded with the printed work on the inside; while sheets 2, 4, 6 and 8 were folded with the printed work on the outside. When the sheets were properly collected, two printed pages faced each other, and were followed by two pages of blanks. This method of making

  1. A section consists of two or more sheets folded together, so that one leaf will be within another, as sheets of folded letter paper are nested. If five quarter quires of letter paper were sewed together, and bound, the book so bound, in binders' phrase, would have five sections.