PRINTING
Printing, is the art of stamping impressions of
figures, letters, or signs, with ink, upon paper, vellum, cloth, or any similar substance;
Printing may be done
| (1) | from engraved metal plates, in which the ink is stored for transference in the sunk or incised lines of the pattern ; |
| (2) | from a level surface, as polished stone, where the ink is confined to the lines by a repellent medium; (Lithography) or |
| (3) | from surfaces in relief, where the ink is transferred from the raised characters, which may be either on one block or |
| on separate or movable types. The latter method is so much the more important that it gives its restricted meaning to the term printing, unless where otherwise where qualified. |
Block-printing in Europe, from single pieces of wood, can be traced back as far as the 13th century. In these blocks
the lines to be printed were in relief as in modern wood-engraving, and each leaf of the book was printed from
a single block. The leaves were usually printed only on one side of the paper, the blank sides being afterwards
pasted together so as to give the volume the ordinary book appearance. By the middle of the 15th century block-book
makers was a distinct craft in Germany and the Netherlands. Among the earliest species of German origin is an Apocalypsis,
containing forty-eight illustrations on as many leaves; and among those of Netherlanders origin, the Biblia Pauperum
of forty leaves, both works of the early 15th century.
It is a matter of much dispute to whom is due the merit of adopting movable types. The invention has long been popularly credited to Johan Gutenberg, but critical examination of early Dutch and German specimens and historical evidence would seem to point to Laurens Janszoon Coster of Haarlem as the first inventor. The date of the Haarlem invention is variously placed between 1420 and 1430. Coster's types were first of wood, then of lead, said lastly of tin; the first book printed from movable types being probably one entitled Speculum Nostrae Salutis. Gutenberg in 1449 connected himself with a rich citizen in Mainz, named Johann Fust or Faust, who advanced the capital necessary to prosecute the business of printing. Soon after (probably in 1453) Peter Schoffer, who afterwards became Fust's son-in-law, was taken into co-partnership, and to him belongs the merit of inventing matrices for casting types, each individual type having hitherto been cut in wood or metal.
The oldest work of any considerable size printed in Mainz with cast letters, by Gutenberg, Fust, and Schoffer, finished about 1455, is the Latin Bible, which is called the Forty-two-lined Bible, because in every full column it has forty-two lines; or the Mazarin Bible, from a copy having been discovered in the library of Cardinal Mazarin in Paris.
Fust having separated from Gutenberg in 1456, and obtained the printing-press for his own use undertook, in connection with Peter Schoffer, greater typographical works, in which the art was carried to higher perfection. Fust was particularly engaged in the printing of the Latin and German Bible, the first copies of which, bearing date, were printed in 1462. Fust is said to have died of the plague in 1466 at Paris, upon which Peter Schoffer continued the printing business alone at Mainz. After the separation of Gutenberg and Fust the former had found means to procure a new printing-press, and had printed many works, of which the most remarkable is the Astrological and Medical Calendar (in folio, 1457). In 1462 the city of Mainz was taken and sacked by Adolphus, count of Nassau, and this circumstance is said to have so deranged the establishment of Fust and Schoffer that many of their workmen were obliged to seek employment elsewhere.
The truth seems to be that the inventor of the new art was Coster; that Gutenberg and Schoffer made important improvements on it, and aided by Fust widely spread the results of the new art. From this period printing made rapid progress throughout Europe. In 1465 we find works printed in Naples; and in 1467 Sweynheim and Pannartz, two of the most celebrated and extensive old printers, established themselves at Rome. In 1469 we find printing at Venice and Milan; in 1470 at Paris, Nuremberg, and Verona; and by 1472 the art had become known in all the important cities of the Continent. In 1490 it had reached Constantinople, and by the middle of next century had extended to Russia and America.
At the invention of printing the character of type employed was the old Gothic or German. The Roman type was first introduced by Sweynheim and Pannartz at Rome in 1467, and the Italic by Aldus Manutius about 1500. Scoffer, in his edition of Cicero's De Officiis, produces
for the first time some Greek characters, rudely executed; but the earliest complete Greek work was a grammar of
that language printed at Milan in 1476. The Pentateuch, which appeared in 1482, was the first work printed in the
Hebrew character, and the earliest known Polyglot Bible - Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldaic, Greek, Latin - issued from
the press of Genoa in 1516. Several printers' names have become famous not only for the beauty of their types,
but also for the general excellence of their productions.
Among these may be noted:
The Aldi of Venice (1490 - 1597),Baden of Paris (1495 - 1535), Estiennes or Stephens of Paris (1502 - 98), Plantin
of Antwerp (1514 - 89), Wechel of Paris and Frankfort (1530 - 72), Elzevir of Leyden and Amsterdam (1580 - 1680),
and Bodoni of Parma (1768 - 1813).
The art of printing was first
introduced into England by William Caxton,
who established a press in Westminster Abbey in 1476. In the midst of a busy mercantile life, while resident in
the Netherlands, he began about 1468 to translate Le Recueil des Histories de Troye of Raoulle le Fevre. This work
was finished in 1471, and Caxton set about learning the new art of printing, with the view of publishing his book.
The Recueil, the first English printed book, appeared in 1474, printed either at Bruges or Cologne. In 1475 The
Game and Playe of the Cheese, the second English book printed, appeared at Bruges, and in 1476 he began to practise
the new art at Westminster. The first book printed in England, The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, was
printed in November 1477. Between that date and 1491 Caxton printed upwards of seventy volumes, including the works
of Lydgate, Gower, Chaucer, Malory, &c. Upwards of twenty-two of these were translated by himself from French,
Dutch, or Latin originals. The whole amounted to more than 18,000 pages, nearly all of folio size, some of the
books having passed through two editions, and a few through three. Caxton distinguished the books of his printing
a particular device, consisting of the initial letters of his name, with a cipher between. His first performances
were very rude, the characters resembling those of English manuscripts before the Conquest. most of his letters
were joined together; the leaves were rarely numbered, the pages never. At the beginning of the chapters he only
printed, as the custom then was a small letter, to intimate what the initial or capital letter should be, leaving
that to be made by the illuminator, who wrote it with a pen, with red, blue, or green ink.
Caxtons two most distinguished successors were Wynkin de Worde and Richard Pynson. The former, a native of the Dukedom of Lorraine, served under Caxton, and after the death of his mater successfully practised the art of printing on his own account. The books which he printed are very numerous, and display a rapid improvement in the typographic art. He died in 1534. Pynson was a native of Normandy, and it is supposed that he also served under Caxton. The works which he printed are neither so numerous nor so beautiful as those of Wynkin de Worde. He was the first printer, however, who introduced the Roman letter into England. To Wynkin de Worde and Pynson succeed a long list of ancient typographers.
The first Scottish printers of whom we have any authentic account were Walter Chapman, a merchant in Edinburgh,
and Andrew Millar, who, in consequence of a patent from James IV., established a press at Edinburgh in 1507. In
1536 Thomas Davidson printed, 'in the Fryere's Winde,' Edinburgh, the Chronicles of Scotland, by Boethius, and
in 1540 the works of Sir David Lindsay. Robert Leprevik printed extensively both at Edinburgh and St. Andrews.
Thomas Vautrollier was another old Scottish printer, who brought out, in 1585, Calvin's Institutes; in 1589, Tuseer's
Points of Good Husbandry; and in 1597 the Domonologie of King James VI Edward Raban, a native of Gloucestershire
or Worcestershire, introduced the art into Aberdeen about 1620 - 22, and continued printing there till 1649. In
1638 George Anderson, by special invitation of the magistrates, set up the first printing press in Glasgow. In
later days Scotland highly distinguished itself by the extent and beauty of its typographical productions. Ruddiman,
who flourished at Edinburgh during the first half of the 18th century, was one of the most learned printers which
any country has produced. The art continued to flourish in the Scottish capital, in Urie, in Robert and Andrew
Foulis in the Duncans, and others, Glasgow has produced printers whose works are alike celebrated for their elegance
and accuracy.
In 1551 the Common Prayer was printed in Dublin by Humphrey Powel, and this is the earliest recorded production
of the Irish press; but until as far down as 1700 very few books were printed in Ireland. Alderman George Faulkner,
who lived in the 19th century, may be considered as the father of Irish typography.
Printing was introduced in the New England States of America in 1639, the first known print being the Freeman's Oath; in 1640 what is known as the Bay Psalm-book was printed in Cambridge, Mass.
