To trace the periods of design that have most influenced printing is to tell in part the history of the craft. Since that subject is developed elsewhere in this series, suffice it to follow briefly the steps through which the making of books has passed.
Since the invention of movable types came opportunely to meet the desire for enlightenment by means of books, it was natural that printed books should be planned closely to imitate the hand-written or lettered books. These latter, having been produced for centuries by the men of the church to whom had been given training in the arts, had been brought to a high state of perfection in design. It has often been said that Gutenberg’s forty-two line Bible, one of the first books printed from type, has never been surpassed in pure beauty of design and in the rich quality of its type masses.
Fig. 30. A reproduction, greatly reduced, of a page from a Manuscript Bible
of the early 14th Century. Entirely the product of the quill and brush
of the writer and illuminator. Such books were usually done in black ink
on parchment or vellum and decorated in water colors and gold leaf.
Fig. 31. A page from an illuminated Flemish manuscript of the middle
15th Century, showing characteristic treatment of illustration and
decoration. This and the preceding example are shown for
comparison with Figs. [32] and [33]. They demonstrate the
effect of the writing of books upon the development of printing.