Page:Historic printing types, a lecture read before the Grolier club of New York, January 25, 1885, with additions and new illustrations; by De Vinne, Theodore Low, 1828-1914; Grolier Club.djvu/18

 14 HISTOKIC FEINTING TYPES. so much for the pleasure, the knowledge, the civilization of the world of more value as an historical relic than any work of brush or potter's wheel ? Mine may be the pride of a man who magnifies his art, yet it is my belief that the time will come when a copy of this Bible of 42 lines will be held of more value than any painting. For, although The work of a it is accepted as the first of all printed books, there is nothing about it that seems experimental nothing that is timid, or petty, or mean. It bears the stamp and seal of a great invention, and a perfected invention. One need not scrutinize it to be convinced that it was the work of a great inventor who knew the value of his art and knew how to use it. Looking at it in this light one can appreciate, even if he does not fully assent to, the statement of an eminent MT. G. w. book-lover that " the first book is better than the last " ; that in strength of paper, in blackness of ink, in pictur- esqueness of letter, and in many artistic features, the Bible of 42 lines is and ever will be a model of style. Yet it is a curious fact in literary history that this book, which is so much admired now, was practically out of use, Neglected for and held in light esteem a hundred years after it was printed. The finding of a copy in the library of Cardinal Mazarin at the close of the xvnth century gave it the misleading name of the Mazarin Bible ; its identification as the work of Gutenberg gave it merit in the eyes of bibliographers. But proper recognition came at a later