DISCOVERY OF PRINTING.
The credit of inventing the art which perpetuates the history and achievements of all the arts and sciences has been obstinately contested, several cities having advanced rival claims to the honour of the discovery. This, however, should be no matter of surprise when we consider that the inventor of a new art, unprotected by law, would naturally endeavour to conceal its processes for his own use and advantage. After due consideration, we agree with Isaiah Thomas in the opinion that the probabilities point to Laurentius (sometimes called Coster, Koster, and Kustos) as the discoverer of the art of printing.[1]
Laurentius lived at Haarlem and was a man of property. He seems to have been engaged in printing books from wood blocks or plates, well known to antiquaries as the Block Books, in which the reading matter was illustrated by rude pictures. Fragments of works so printed by him are still in existence. Among others, the celebrated Biblia Pauperum, executed between 1410 and 1420, has been attributed to him. It was only natural that his thoughts should be led to the production of single types, as a means of cheapening and facilitating his work. These were first made of wood, and afterward of tin. The date of his invention of separate types is given as about the year 1429. Other dates have been stated, ranging from 1422 to 1436. The first of his printed books, it is claimed, was the Speculum Humanæ Salvationis, of which about ten copies are now known to be in existence. A small primer, or Abecedarium, in our opinion, shows all the marks of the first attempt of an experimenter in a new art. Koster died in 1439.
The necessity for employing workmen to assist in prosecuting the art led to the divulging of the secret. Among these men, it is supposed, was John Geinsfleisch, (or Gutenberg, Senior,) who, after learning the processes, returned to Mentz, his native place, and communicated the secret to his nephew, John Gutenberg, an ingenious artist of Strasburg. It is in evidence that the latter, in connection with two partners, spent a considerable amount of money in some private experiments. These appear to have occupied several years, from 1436 to 1439, when a legal contest arose as to the rights of one of the partners whose zealous activity had caused his death. Gutenberg continued at Strasburg till 1444, when, his means being exhausted, he rejoined his uncle at Mentz. Here he renewed his experiments, and, needing money, he procured an introduction to John Fust, a capitalist and money-lender, who seems to have been struck with the importance of the work, and who advanced a considerable amount (all the tools and presses being pledged as security) in furtherance of the enterprise. Two years were occupied in making the types and necessary machinery, when the great work of printing the Bible was begun. There can be little doubt that, during all his years of experiment, Gutenberg had executed smaller books, one of which is surmised to have been a reproduction of the Dutch Speculum of Koster. The Donatus of 1451, the Appeal against the Turks of 1454, and the Letters of Indulgence of 1454 and 1455, all appeared before the Bible,[2] which was not published till 1455 or 1456. This great book marked an era in the art.[3]
It is painful to be told that about this time Fust foreclosed the mortgage, and the entire work with all the materials passed into his possession. It seems, however, that Gutenberg succeeded in re-establishing a press, and continued to practise the art, but produced no work at all comparable with the Bible. He died about 1468.
After securing possession of the establishment, Fust engaged the service of Peter Schœffer, who had been apprentice or assistant to Gutenberg, and who was distinguished for scholarship as well as mechanical skill. His skill and the improvements made by him in the art soon led Fust to take him into partnership, and the Bible, the Psalter, and other important works were produced. Schœffer was further rewarded by the hand of the grand-daughter of Fust.
From this rapid summary, we may conclude, 1. That the merit of the invention of printing, however rude it may have been, belongs to Koster of Haarlem; 2. That Gutenberg placed the art on a permanent foundation; and, 3. That its economical application was insured by Peter Schœffer’s invention of cast metal types.[4]