Type of the Mazarin Bible (exact size)
The type, as has been said, was cut to resemble the handwriting of the scribes in the locality where the book was printed. This would be the obvious method because it must be remembered that the rapid reproduction of manuscripts was the sole end which the first printers had in view. They did not think of developing a conventional book type different from handwriting or script. They simply imitated the script which was current, and consequently most legible, in their neighborhood. The school boys of that day did not have to learn two alphabets, one the script letter and the other the printed letter, as we do today. The device of spacing was immediately adopted. The letters were cast, however, upon bodies with wide shoulders at top and bottom and used without leads.
Page from the Mazarin Bible (reduced)
The types of the period were both handsome and legible. Perhaps they may not be easy for us to read, but that is because we are not familiar with the forms of the letters used and especially with the contractions and abbreviations which were common. The beauty of some of these early types will be seen from the little specimen of the type of the Mazarin Bible which is herewith reproduced in full size.
With the example of the illuminators before them the early printers paid much attention to the ornamenting of their pages. They introduced some ornaments of their own and they occasionally left space for the hand illuminator to use in supplementing their work. A full page of the Mazarin Bible greatly reduced is shown herewith. By comparing that with the specimen of full size type and imagining the whole page thrown up to natural size one can see what a really beautiful book this famous Bible was.
An Early Printing Press
The press in use was of the most simple form imaginable, as shown by the accompanying illustration. It was an adaptation of a familiar mechanical device, with no originality about it. It was made of wood and was operated by a screw turning through a nut, the moving of the screw bringing the platen and bed into contact. The form was released by the reverse movement of the screw. After a while the sliding bed and frisket shown in the accompanying illustration were introduced and there the mechanism stopped for a long time.
