Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 5.djvu/197

 HANS GUTENBERG 125 one side the first printer's alphabet, coarse, but wonderful the first company of twenty-four letters, which multiplied like the herds of the patriarchs, until at last they covered the whole earth with written characters, in which a new and im- material element human thought became incarnate. Gutenberg, perceiving at the first glance the immense social and industrial bearing of his invention, felt that his weak hand, short life, and moderate prop- erty would be spent in vain on such a work. He experienced two opposite wants tfie necessity of associating with himself persons to assist in meeting the expenses and in executing the mechanical labor, and the necessity of conceal- ing from his assistants the secret and real object of their labors, for fear lest his invention might be divulged and pirated, and the glory and merit of his discovery taken from him. He cast his eyes on the nobility and rich gentry of his ac- quaintance at Strasburg and Mainz. He probably met with rebuffs from all quarters, on account of the prejudice then prevailing that handicrafts were de- rogatory to a gentleman. He was, therefore, obliged to sink his rank, become a workman, associate with artisans, and mix with the people, in order to raise the people to the high level of morality and intelligence. Under the pretence of working together at a new and marvellous craft, such as jewelry, clock-making, and grinding and setting precious stones, he en- tered into a deed of partnership with two wealthy inhabitants of Strasburg, An- drew Dritzchen and Hans Riffe, bailiff of Lichtepau ; and afterward with Faust, a goldsmith and banker of Mainz, whose name, confounded with that of Faustus, the wondrous sorcerer of German fable, the master of mystery, and the friend of the Evil One, caused the invention of printing to be attributed to magic ; and, lastly, with Hulmann, whose brother had just established the first paper-mill at Strasburg. In order the more effectually to conceal from his partners the real object of his pursuit, Gutenberg joined them in several artistic and secondary enterprises. Continuing in secret his mechanical researches on printing, he employed himself publicly in these other occupations. He taught Dritzchen the art of cutting pre- cious stones. He himself polished Venetian glass for mirrors, or cut pieces of it into facets, setting them in copper frames ornamented with wooden figurines rep- resenting personages from history or fable, from the Bible or the Testament. 'These articles, which found sale at the fair of Aix-la-Chapelle, kept up the funds of the association, and assisted Gutenberg in the secret expenses reserved for ac- complishing and perfecting his design. To conceal it the better also from the restless curiosity of the public, who be- gan to circulate a suspicion of witchcraft against him, Gutenberg left the town, and established his workshop in the ruins of an old deserted monastery, called the Convent of St. Arbogast. The solitude of the place, only inhabited by the houseless poor of the suburbs, covered his first attempts. In a corner of one of the vast cloisters of the monastery, occupied by his partners for their less secret labors, Gutenberg had reserved for himself a cell, al- ways closed with lock and bolt, and to which none but himself ever had access.