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HISTORY OF PRINTING.
That Mentil was resident at Strasburg in the middle of this centuiy is quite certain aom two documents extracted by Scnoepflin. There hare not been wanting those, who influenced rather by misplaced zeal, or invincible prejudice, than by dispassionate enquiry, have made out Mentil to be the father of printing in general. I. P. Lig- namine places the operations of Mentil's press between the years I4d8 and 1464 ; and says that as well as Gutenberg and Faust, Mentil printed three hundred sheets a day at Strasburg.' Per- haps mote fuss is made about Mentil than he merits ; as his type is exceedingly indifferent, and many works bear the character of having been put forth from his press, which in fact may have been elsewhere executed. He died in the year 1478.
Orlandi gives a list of eigh^-four separate works printed at Strasburg without printers' names.
1471. Christopher Yaldarver, printed the first edition of Bocacio's Decameron. — see Roxburgh club, 1813.
1471. Florence, it appears, was not indebted to foreigners for the art of printing ; for it origi- nated with one of her own citizens. Bemaxd Cenninus, an eminent goldsmith ; who had two sons, Dominic and Peter ; they were very inge- nius artificers, and the latter a scholar. The father and his two sons set about cutting punches, sinking matrices, &c. and soon completed the whole apparatus of a printing office. They began to print about the commencement of this year. The first fruits of their labour were Virgil's works, with Servius's commentaries. After the preface, which was at the end of the book, are the following words :
"At Florence VII. Ides Novemb. 1471.
" Bernard Cenninus, a most excellent gold- smith in the opinion of ail men, and Dominic, his son, a youth of an extraordinary genius, having first made their steel punches, ana after- wards cast their letteis from them, printed this their first work. Peter Cenninus, another son of the said Bernard, hath used his utmost care in correcting it, as you see it.
" Nothing it too hard for a Florentine genitu.
" Finis." And after, the colophon runs thus :
" Bernard Cenninus, a most excellent gold' smith, &c. (ai in the lait,) and Dominic his son, a youth, &c. printed this book ; Peter, the son of the same Bernard, corrected it, having first com- pared it with the most ancient manuscripts. It was his first care that nothing should pass under the name of Servius but what was truly his, or any thing that was plain from the most ancient copies to be his, lest any thing might be maimed or wanting. But because many persons choose to write the Greek quotations with their own hands, and there were but few to be met with in the old copies, and their accents cannot be printed but with great difficultr, he thought proper to leave blank space for tnem. But as man can
produce nothing absolutely perfect, it will be sufficient for us if these books be found, as we heartily wish, more perfect than any other."
1471. Sixtus Russinger, a learned and pioui priest, and a native of Strasburg, commenora the art of printing in the city of Naples. It is sap- posed that Ferdinand III. king of Naples, pre- vailed upon Russinger to settle in that city : for having oiscovered that he intended to return to his native country, he tried to divert him from it, and even offered him a noble bishopric, or any other preferment, if that could fix him in bis dominions. But this venerable old man, whether out of modestr, or rather a desire of spending the small remainder of his days in his native citv, refused the king's offer, ana returned home load- ed with the presents of that generous monarch. The following four boastful lines were placed at the end of a volume printed by Sixtus Rus- singer, at Naples, in the year 1472 : —
Sizto* the copies printed with moch cue, Now twice rerlied br Dr. Ollviere i Hie hi^ipy puzcliaaer in vain aludl look, Yet find no error in tliis faoltleu book.
—Melanga f Hutotn el it LUertlm.
Capitals and distances between the lines were first used at Naples, about this time.
U7l,July25. Died Thomas (Hanurkin) at Kempis, at Mount St. Ag^es, near Zwoll, in the 91st year of his age. In a painting near Us tomb he is represented as sitting in a chair, a monk on his knees before him inquires, " Thomas, where shall I with certainty find true rest ?" To which he replies, " Never canst thou find certain rest, but in the cell, in the bible, and in Christ" He was the author of De Imitatione ChrisH, and many other works. His incomparable work of the Imitation of Chritt has been translated into mostEuropean languages, and even into Chmeae.
I47I. Balthazar Azzoguidi, a gentleman of great learning, commenced printing in the city of Bologna, and continued to exercise the pro- fession until 1480. His productions are all in a neat Roman character, and executed with great accuracy.
The art of printing was also introduced into the following places in 1471 : —
Treviso, by Gerard de Liza, or Ijssis.
Ratisbon, but by whom, is not known.
Amberg, the printer also unknown.
Colle, the printers unknown, notwithstanding their works are extant.
Pavia, by Antonio de Carcano.
Spire, by Petrus Drach.
Ferrara, by Andreas Gallus, who was mthera Frenchman, or of French extraction, thoueh a citizen of Ferrara, which honour might have been conferred on him on account of his setting up the first press in that city. But whether be brought it to Ferrara from any distant place, or devised it there, it is not possible now to ascer- tain. Catchwords are found in a work entitled Lilium Medicino!, printed at Ferrara, in 1486.
1471. For the loan of a volume of Aricenati, a bstron of France, offered a pledge of two marb of silver, which was refused ; bera.use it was not considered equal to the risk incurred of losing a
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