THE

ORIGIN, RISE, AND PROGRESS,

OF

THE TYPOGRAPHIC ART.

Th' Inventor of this noble Art to find,
Has long engag'd the Antiquary's mind;
To question dates, on books and records pore,
To draw the veil Obscurity's cast o'er;
Vain are his efforts, 'tis beyond his might,
To fix, in truth, on man or place the right:
Doubts still exist to whom the palm is due,
Partisans for each their claims pursue:
But metal types the honour all confer,

On both the Guttenbergs, Faust, and Schöffer.

CONSIDERING the importance of this noble invention to society, which is one of the greatest blessings heaven has bestowed, it cannot fail exciting a considerable degree of interest in the rising generation to be informed when, and by whom, this divine Art was first discovered and brought into general use. *

* Though printing be a modern invention in Europe, it is allowed to have been practised in the East from a very early period, in a similar manner to our first essays. It has been contended, that the remoteness and seclusion of the Chinese prevented our gaining any information from them: but Mr. W. Y. Ottley, and Mr. S. W. Singer, concur in opinion, that the art of engraving in wood was known in Europe in the thirteenth century; that it was brought from Asla by the Venetian merchants, whose intercourse with that territory was frequent, by way of Constantinople, from a very early period. As to the silence of Marco Polo upon this subject, in his account of the mar vels he had witnessed in China, having resided at the court of the great Chan of Tartary for seventeen years, 1295: Mr. O. conceives that the author thought it of little interest, as the art had been long practised in Venice. Mr. O. is of opinion, that if the name of its inventor is ever destined to be known, it most probably will be found. among the records of the East. Many writers have ascribed this invention to an earlier period than the Christian era; Father Couplet states the year 930: Father du Halde fixes it fifty years prior to the former period, under the reign of Ming Tsong I. the second Emperor of the Tartarian dynasty: and Father le Compte coutends, that it has been practised in China from all ages: he adds, that the only difference be ween the European and Chinese methods, consists in the former being able, from the small number of letters in their alphabet, to print voluminous works, the letters of the first sheet, from a re-arrangement, serving for all the succeeding ones: whereas, from

"To the art of printing," says Dr. Knox, "it is acknowledged we owe the Reformation. It has been justly remarked, that if the books of Luther had been multiplied only by the slow process of the hand-writing, they must have been few, and would have been easily suppressed by the combination of wealth and power: but, poured forth in abundance from the press, they spread over the land with the rapidity of an inundation, which acquires additional force from the efforts used to obstruct its progress. the prodigious number of characters in the Chinese alphabet, (some accounts state them at eighty thousand) they contend, that it is much easier and less expensive to have their pages cut on wood; thus having as many blocks as there are leaves in the book. Father du Halde gives the following particulars relative to Chinese printing: “The work intended to be printed is transcribed by a careful writer upon thin transparent paper: the engraver glues each of these written sheets, with its face downwards, upon a smooth tablet of pear or apple-tree, or some other hard wood; and then, with gravers and other instruments, he cuts the wood away in all those parts upon which he finds nothing traced; thus leaving the transcribed characters ready for printing in this manner he prepares as many blocks as there are written pages. He then prints the number of copies immediately wanted; for he can always print more, if they are required, without the labour of re-composition necessary in typography nor is any time lost in correcting the proof sheets, for, as he is guided in his engraving by the strokes of the written copy, or perhaps the original of the author himself, it is impossible for him to make any mistakes, if the copy is written with exactness. When once, however, the blocks are engraved, the paper is cut, and the ink is ready, one man with his brush can, without fatigue, print ten thousand sheets in a day. The block to be printed must be placed level, and firmly fixed. The man must have two brushes; one of them of a stiffer kind, which he can hold in his hand, and use at either end. He dips it into the ink, and rubs the block with it; taking care not to wet it too much, or to leave it too dry: if it were wetted too much, the characters would be slurred; if too little, they would not print. When the block is once got into a proper state, he can print three or four sheets following without dipping his brush into the ink. The second brush is used to rub over the paper, with a small degree of pressure, that it may take the impression: this it does easily, for, not being sized with alum, it receives the ink the instant it comes in contact with it. It is only necessary that the brush should be passed over every part of the sheet with a greater or smaller degree of pressure, and repeated in proportion as the printer finds there is more or less ink upon the block. This brush is soft, and of an oblong form."

Mr. Ottley states, that the Chinese do not use presses, because the delicate texture of their paper would not bear the impression of an European press: On this poiut I must differ from Mr. O. and beg to refer him, as a proof of its being used in this country, to the numerous impressions taken from wood engravings, as well as to entire works.

In order to establish the great antiquity of the art in China, Du Halde cites the following, as given by an old author, from the pen of the celebrated Emperor Van Vong, who flourished 1120 years before

Christ:

"As the stone Me," (a word signifying ink in the Chinese language) "which is used to blacken the engraved characters, can never become white; so a heart blackened by vices will always retain its blackness."

The above passage has led several writers to conclude, that printing was known in the East more than three thousand years ago.

Mr. Ottley observes, "Had this number been stated in figures, I should have given the printer credit for having introduced a cipher extraordinary, in honour of Chinese industry. The account is absolutely incredible."

He who undertook to prevent the dispersion of the books once issued from the press, attempted a task no less arduous than the destruction of the hydra. Resistance was vain, and religion was reformed: and we, who are chiefly interested in this happy revolution, must remember, amidst the praises bestowed on Luther, that his endeavours had been ineffectual, unassisted by the invention of Faustus.

"How greatly the cause of religion has been promoted by the art, must appear, when it is considered, that it has placed those sacred books in the hand of every individual, which, besides that they were once locked up in a dead language, and could not be procured without great dif ficulty. The numerous comments on them of every kind, which tend to promote piety, and to form the Christian philosopher, would probably never have been composed, and certainly would not have extended their beneficial influence, if typography had still been unknown. By that art, the light, which is to illuminate a dark world, has been placed in a situation more advantageous to the emission of its rays: but if it has been the means of illus trating the doctrines, and enforcing the practice of religion, it has also, particularly in the present age, struck at the root of piety and moral virtue, by propagating opinions favourable to the sceptic and voluptuary. It has enabled modern authors wantonly to gratify their avarice, their vanity, and their misanthropy, in disseminating novel systems subversive of the dignity and happiness of human nature: but though the perversion of the art is lamentably remarkable in those volumes which issue, with offensive profusion, from the vain, the wicked, and the hungry, yet this good results from the evil, that as truth is great and will prevail, she must derive fresh lustre, by displaying the superiority of her strength in the conflict with sophistry.

"Thus the art of printing, in whatever light it is viewed, has deserved respect and attention. From the ingenuity of the contrivance, it has ever excited mechanical curiosity; from its intimate connection with learning, it has justly claimed historical notice; and from its extensive influence on morality, politics, and religion, it is now become a subject of very important speculation.

"But, however we may felicitate mankind on the invention, there are perhaps those who wish, that, together with its compatriot art of manufacturing gun-powder, it

The learned Doctor, in bestowing his praise on the inventor of printing, should have recollected, that Faust never worked at the art, he merely supplied the money; and, therefore, has very little title to the invention.

had not yet been brought to light. Of its effects on literature, they assert, that it has increased the number of books, till they distract rather than improve the mind; and of its malignant influence on morals, they complain, that it has often introduced a false refinement, incompatible with the simplicity of primitive piety and genuine virtue. With respect to its literary ill-consequences, it may be said, that though it produces to the world an infinite number of worthless publications, yet true wit and fine composition will still retain their value, and it will be an easy task for critical discernment to select these from the surrounding mass of absurdity: and though, with respect to its moral effects, a regard to truth extorts the confession, that it has diffused immorality and irreligion, divulged with cruel impertinence the secrets of private life, and spread the tale of scandal through an empire; yet these are evils which will either shrink away unobserved in the triumphs of time and truth over falsehood, or which may, at any time, be suppressed by legislative interposition."

This discovery having been made so lately as the fifteenth century, it is matter of surprise that no certain record has been handed down fixing the precise time when, the person by whom, and the place whence this Art received its birth. The abilities of the literary Antiquaries of different nations have been called forth, in order that the palm may be ceded to those, who not only merited so well of their own country, but also of every other portion of the civilized globe. These researches have not satisfactorily determined the point; the affair still remains involved in a certain degree of mystery; although it must he admitted, that great probability appears in the theories of some of those who have investigated this difficult subject. We shall notice the different claims, and leave the Reader to form his own conclusion.

Two reasons may be assigned for this obscurity; viz. the imperfect state of printing while it remained in the possession of its inventor. 2d. Pecuniary motives induced the first printers (from the large sums which

were usually paid for manuscripts) to sell their works as such; so that printing was, for a period, as much the counterfeit as the substitute for writing, it being a facsimile of the most approved Scribes. The few persons concerned kept the art a secret for some time, till their funds not being sufficient to answer the necessary expenses, these ingenious men were thus compelled to associate with persons of property, from the union of whose names a degree of doubt has arisen to whom the merit really belongs.

A competition for this distinguished honour now took place between Haerlem, Mentz, Strazburg, and Venice; partisans arose in favour of Laurensz Jansz Coster of Haerlem; John Guttemberg and others of Mentz; Guttemberg and Mentilius of Strazburg; and Nicolas Janson of Venice. Those who advocated the cause of Janson relinquished the contest, when they discovered that books were printed prior to those generally attributed as Janson's earliest productions. The opinion which states Strazburg to have been the birth-place of the art, is as little satisfactory; a division of sentiment exists as to the inventor at this place, some asserting that Mentilius printed as early as 1447; others ascribing the discovery to John Guttemberg, or Geinsfleich, junior.

* Nicolas Janson, or Jansonius, born in France, was originally an engraver of coins and medals at Paris in the fifteenth century. In the year 1456, King Charles VII. having received private information of the invention at Mentz, he sent Janson to obtain a knowledge of the art. Having succeeded, he returned to France, when he found his patron was dead; upon which he retired to Venice, and commenced letter-founder and printer: he excelled in all branches of the art, and more than are united with it. He first determined the form and proportion of the present Roman character; his editions are still in great request on account of the neatness and beauty of his types. The first production of his press is a scarce work in quarto, intituled 'Decor Puellarum,' the date of which is 1471; the same year he published Gloria Mulierum,' in Italian, a proper sequel to the former. There are found several editions of Latin Classics which he printed during the subsequent ten years: it is conjectured that he died about 1481, this being the date of his last production.