Page:EB1911 - Volume 27.djvu/539

Rh appearance in a perfect state at Mainz, and have seen that none of the particulars known to us of the life and career of Johan Gutenberg, who is alleged to have invented it, nor any of the books said to have been printed by him, afford us any basis for ascribing that honour to him, we will examine what has been said during a period of more than four hundred years on the question of the invention. For this purpose we will gather up into a chronological sequence (a) a few of the most important expressions used by the earliest printers in their colophons, (b) whatever documentary evidence there may be on the subject, and (c) some accounts of the earliest authors on the question. The Roman numerals i., ii., &c., are for the sake of convenient reference.