Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/870

 846 PRINTING Books thus prepared, dating as far back as the Sung dynasty (960-1279), are still extant. Movable types of various kinds have been used in China, and they have of late been introduced to a considerable extent by the missionaries ; but the immense number of separate characters required makes their manipulation very diffi- cult, and the system of block printing described is still the prevailing one. (See CHINA, vol. iv., p. 483.) Printing was probably introduced from China into Japan at a very early date, the general methods being the same ; but with- in a recent period an alphabetical syllabary of 48 characters has been formed, by the use of which movable types are much more available than in Chinese. Block printing, essentially after the Chinese method, was practised in Italy, Spain, and Sicily, for designs on fabrics of silk and cotton, which were printed in ink, as early as the last ten years of the 12th centu- ry. This method was also used in the produc- tion of playing cards, and somewhere near the beginning of the 15th century for illustrated manuals of devotion, each page containing a picture and a few lines of reading, all engraved upon a single block. One of the earliest speci- mens of this kind bears the date of 1423. The most notable " block book" known is the so- called Biblia Pauperum, a small folio of 40 leaves, which existed in many manuscripts from about the year 1300, and is supposed by some to have been engraved and printed as early as 1400 ; but other and probably better authori- ties place the date at not earlier than 1430, a few years before the European invention of movable types, which form the essential fea- ture of modern typography. Practically, the art of printing waited for the development of the manufacture of paper, which, according to Hallam, was not a staple of commerce before the close of the 14th century. There is still some question as to the time when, the place where, and the persons by whom movable types were invented and brought into practical use. The honor rests between Laurens Cos- ter of Haarlem (died about 1440), Johann Gu- tenberg of Mentz (died about 1468), Johann Faust or Fust of Mentz (died about 1466), and Peter Schoffer, the son-in-law of Faust (died about 1502). Dutch authorities have generally held that Coster was the real inventor, and that Gutenberg, one of his workmen, stole the invention, and claimed it as his own. They place the date of the invention in 1423, and in July, 1823, the fourth centennial of the event was celebrated at Haarlem with great pomp, and a monument to Coster was erected in the Haarlem wood. But Van der Linde, in the " Haarlem Legend of the Invention of Print- ing" (London, 1871), endeavors to prove that Coster was a tallow chandler and innkeeper ; that printing was not done in Haarlem before 1483; and that Jacob Bellaert was the first printer there, and his types were made by Ge- rard Leen. German authorities regard Guten- berg as the real inventor. According to them, he practised the art at Strasburg as early as 1436, and in 1438 had there movable types, a press, and all necessary appliances for print- ing. In 1450 he entered at Mentz into partner- ship with Faust, a wealthy citizen, who sup- plied the requisite capital ; but the partnership being dissolved in 1455, Faust obtained pos- session of most of the material, and carried on the business by himself, and subsequently in partnership with Schoffer. Gutenberg also appears to have carried on the business of a printer until about 1465. As he never affixed his name to the colophons of his early books, there is still doubt as to how many were actu- ally printed by him. In 1456 he completed the printing of the Bible in Latin, a folio vol- ume of 637 leaves, printed on vellum, with types imitating manuscript in form, and illu- minated by hand. The work must certainly have occupied several years, and so have been mainly executed while Faust was in partnership with Gutenberg. The art was conducted at Mentz, with the utmost precautions against the divulging of the secret, till 1462, when, the pity being besieged by Count Adolphus of Nas- sau, the printing houses were broken up, and the printers scattered themselves into various countries. The art was first practised in Italy in 1465, at Subiaco in the Roman territory, and in Rome about four years after, the date of the first Roman book being given by Panzer in 1470. It was introduced into Paris, Milan, and Venice in 1469; into England, at West- minster, probably in 1474, by Caxton; into Barcelona, Spain, in 1475, and into various other cities of Europe about the same time. In 1500, it is said, there were about 200 print- ing offices in Europe. The first printing press in America was set up in Mexico in 1536 ; then followed Lima, 1586 ; Cambridge, Mass., 1639; New London, Conn., 1709; Charles- ton, S. C., 1730; and Newport, R. I., 1732. The first press west of the Alleghanies was at Cincinnati, in 1793 ; the first west of the Mis- sissippi at St. Louis, in 1808. The art of printing comprises two distinct parts, which are usually but not always carried on in the same establishment. " Composition " consists in ar- ranging the types in proper order into words and pages. "Press work" is the taking of impressions from the types or from casts of pages made from the types. Technically the workmen who arrange the types are styled "compositors;" those who take the impres- sions, "pressmen;" but both are called print- ers. In small offices, where hand presses are used, the same workman executes both kinds of work ; in larger offices only one. Types are small bars of metal, with the letter in relief upon one end. They are all cast of a uniform height, the standard, both in England and Amer- ica, being T 9 ^ of an inch. They are of different sizes, each having a distinctive name, arbitra- rily given, and differing in different countries. The largest size usually employed at the pres- ent day for books is called pica, of which 71 '27