[75] Eight great inventions may be enumerated in the history of Typography. These are, first, the block books; second, the separable types; third, the printing-press; fourth, type-founding; fifth, stereotyping, (taking plaster moulds of whole pages of type, and from them castings in solid metal plates); sixth, composition inking rollers; seventh, cylindrical printing machines, to be worked by steam-power; and eighth, steam type-setting machines. As the four last are of modern date, they do not come within the scope of the present work.
[76] That Gutenberg considered himself an injured man is clear from statements which occur in both J. F. Faust’s and Arnold de Bergel’s accounts. The former states that Gutenberg was greatly angered by the lawsuit, and not only refused to be present at the close of the proceedings, but afterwards left Mentz for Strasburg, where he established a printing office of his own. This is not exactly correct; but as it shews the belief that existed in the Faust family, it is probable that he may have supplied Mentelin, the first printer there, with types and material to commence with. Bergel states, that when the originator of the contract (Faust) began to see some hopes of gain, he raised a discord which led to a rupture: that Gutenberg protested the strife was unjust, but the upshot was a separation, each one trusting to himself and his own press. The following lines shew this, and hint also at the belief that the tribunal before which the lawsuit was tried, was under influences adverse to Gutenberg; the old grudge of Burgher versus Noble, still making itself manifest.
“Hic dum cernebant raras procedere merces,
Sanxerunt dextris foedera pacta suis:
Quæ Deus, aut fortuna dabit, communia sunto,
Æqualis nostrum sitque laboris onus.
Foedera sed lucri raro concordia nutrit,
Indiga sunt pacis dissidioque patent.
Sit postquam autores quæstus spes cepit habendi,
Ad lites vertunt pectora capta leves.