It would seem that it was Gutenberg's original intention to print all the summaries in red ink, and that he was obliged, for some unknown reason, to have them written in.
The general effect of the typography is that of excessive blackness,—an effect which seems to have been made of set purpose, for the designer of the types made but sparing use of hair lines. It may be that the avoidance of hair lines was caused by difficulties of type-founding. The type-founding was properly done: the types have solid faces and stand in line. The letters are not only black but condensed, and are so closely connected that they seem to have been spread by pressure. Double letters and abbreviations were freely used. Judged by modern standards, the types are ungraceful; the text letters are too dense and black, and the capitals are of rude form, obscure, and too small for the text. The presswork is unequal: on some vellum copies, the types are clearly and sharply printed; on other copies, they show muddily from excess of ink. On the paper copies, the ink is usually of a full black, but there are pages on paper and on vellum, in which, for lack of ink and impression,[1] the color is of a grimy gray-black. Van der Linde and others say that the ink will not resist water, but the ink on the fragments of vellum belonging to Mr. Bruce stood a severe test by water, without any weakening of color. The register on the paper copies is very good; on the vellum copies it is offensively irregular, a plain proof that the vellum had been dampened, and had shrunk or twisted before the second side was printed.
It has been said that this Bible of 42 lines was printed with intent to cheat purchasers, so that it might be sold as a manuscript. There is a legend that Fust did attempt the cheat at Paris, but there is no good authority for the libel, ⟨which⟩ scarcely deserves examination. There were, no doubt, ⟨during the⟩ fifteenth century, many who could not perceive
- ↑ ⟨Bernard says that⟩ over-colored ⟨and under-colored⟩ pages are by ⟨no means rare. He attributes⟩ this unequal blackness to imperfections in the inking implements. De l'origine de l'imprimerie, vol. I, p. 182.
