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HISTORY OF PRINTING.
1473, and for that reason is supposed by some to hare died about that time, yet bis partner, Pannartz, continued printing until about 1476, using a smaller type than what bad been used by him during the former partnership. — ^An ex- trafit from the Latin petition from the printers to the pope, is given, with a list of their works, in 3e\oe's Anecdotes of Literature and scarce Books, roL UI. There is also a short extract from it in Le Long's Bibliotlteca Sacra. Sweynheim and Pannartz were the first printers who used spaces between the words.
In a short time after Sweynheim and Pan- nartz, Ulric Han commenced printing at Rome. He was so accomplished in the art, that several nations have claimed him; particularly the Ger- mans and French. Anthony Carpanus, bishop of Terumo, the most distinguished poet and orator of his time, prepared and corrected his copies, and revised his editions. The merit of this printer appears from his fine impressions, and the choice that his patron made of him to publish those works, which he bad procured and corrected with the most diligent application.
Ihe invention of printing produced a wonder- ful change in the valuation of manuscripts and other literary commodities. In 1468, manuscripts had fallen in price, not less than eighty per cent And in proof of the moderate prices assigned to printed works, writers on these subjects are fond of citing the letter of Giovanni bishop of Aleria, to pope Paul II. under whose patronage the art of prmting was oommenced at Rome. In the first volume of the " EpistoUe Hierinymi," Romffi, 1470, the aforesaid prelate thus addresses the pontiff in a prefatory inscription: —
"In your days, amongst other divine blessings which the Christian world enjoys, it may con- gratulate itself on the facility with which books may be purchased, even by the poorest student. It reflects no small glory on the reign of your holiness, that a tolerably correct copy of such a work as formerly cost more than a hundred crowns, may now be purchased for twenty — those which were heretofore worth twenty, for four at most It is a great thing, holy father, to say, that in your times the most estimable authors are at- tainable, at a price little exceeding that of blank parchment or paper. Some Tnonarcbs have glo- ried, not without reason, that under their ad- ministration, the price of com hath scarcely ex- ceeded that of the empty sack — of wine, that of the cask. With equal exultation I record it for the admiration of posterity, that persons ex- quisitely skilled in the typographic art, first began to exercise their calling at Rome, under the auspices of Paul II. the Venetian; that by means of that su^er-eminent pastor of the church, heaven gives us m these days, to purchase books, for less than would formerly defray the expense of the binding."
1466. />i«dJoHKFAOST,agoldsmithofMentz, who is one of the three artists considered as the inventors of printing; it is not certain that Faust did more than supply the money for carrying on the concern. The exact dale of his death is
not known; he was at Paris in this year, and it is strongly conjectured, that he fell a victiinti) the pla^e which then raged in that capitiL— After!^ust, no books seem to have been printed upon vellum, but for the sake of curiosity; fet as paper became more necessary, the art of maldiig it became more common, and it grew cho^m than vellum, of which the quantity might be said to be limited by nature; whereas paper may be increased without difficulty.
1467. The archbishop of Tours, in France,]!- troduced the art of printing into that city, md the first work was done in his palace; bnt instead of its being a work of piety, as might have bees expected from the house of a prelate, this siseu. lai production contains the Loves of Cmxma and Emilia, with otiter tales.
1468, i^eJ: DiedJoHfi Gutenberg, or Gems- FLEisH, the reputed inventor of printing,* was bom at Mentz of noble and wealthy paienls, about 1440. The abbe Mauro Boni says, that " stimulated by his genius to discover something new," he travelled in his youth through various countries, where he learned several arts unknomi to the Germans. In the year 1421, he took ap his residence at Strasburg, as a merchant; bnt from a deed of accommocUition between himaelf and the nobles and burghers of Mentz in 1430, it is evident, he returned to his native place. A document adduced by Schoepflin, proves him to have been a wealthy man in 1424. ScriT^ rius informs us, that he resided at Strasburg from 14^ to 1444, during which period he made several ineffectual attempts to gain a perfect
• It is not poisiUe that the inventor of the art o( pMof should have foreseen how large would be his claim to tin giatitade of after-ages. Happilf he was the ImmKlliW percorsor of Luther; and the press became the engine liT which nations were roused to civil and reUirtouB Ubotr. The great reformer's vindication of hoth spread with the swiftness of lightning throughout Europe; and befoit the first quarter of the sixteenth century had revolTed, enii Asia knew Mm by liis writings. Theyeai 1836 will be the fourth ccntenuary of Gutenl}erg's inappreciable inventioo, and will be celebrated at Mayence, where lie drst bno^ it into active being, by the erection of a monument tn bis memory j but we regret to say, that the gratitude of Urf present day has hitherto alTorded but ind^etent proof of its lieing endued with vitality. The committee of Mayeoce have not, even after two years' appi^, received asnffidener of contributions to cover the ezpences to wfaidh tbeystaad pledged: we trust, however, for thehonootof onrttew, that the sovereigns of Grand Ducal Hesse and Fiance will not prove the only crowned heads who are not afraid publicly to record their veneration for the press v' it» parent; and we cannot believe that a citinn of Bristol, who has presented the committee with a donation of fifty guineas, will be the only admirer of Gutenberg amonist our fellow-countrymen, who will hereafter contemplate the Intended siirine without a personal sense of shame at the untbankfulness of a posterity that has derived so vast a l>enison from the ajfency of the typographical art Tbor- walsden, the first sculptor of the present day, has, we lie happy to add, nobly stepped forward and undertaken to design and execute the monument in marble as at^-wiU otTenng; and those who have seen the model, prooonace it every way worthy of his fame. The booksellen of Lepzig, and the citizens of Gldenberg, too, have contti- boted ^90 each to the fund now raising, and the society of arts at Mayence have added jfflso. Surely there oerer was occaaion which commended itself more inesistiblr to the pationage'of the scholar,the artist, and the bibUoi»list,twa tills liomage, tardy though it may tie, to the master-miiKt which has opened to them the road to scientific aoqoiia- ments, to fortune, and to fame.— Pr^aftn; Maehbu-
From some circumstance, the ceremony waidelajed vx another year. (See Appendix.)
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