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This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the information in books and make it universally accessible.

Google books

https://books.google.com

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MISCELLANIES

OF THE

Philobiblon Society.

VOL. VI.

Quta vere Ve Ribrorum amore principaliter disserit, placuit nobis, more beterum Zatinorum, igaum Graeco borabule Pptlodiblon amadiliter nuncupare.

Richard Ve Bury.

LONDON: PRINTED BY WHITTINGHAM AND WILKINS.

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U. UF M. BINDERY

NOV 30 ‘54

CONTENTS.

S$ IST of MEMBERS OF THE PHILOBIBLON SOCIETY.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL.

I. Hiftory of Printing in China and Europe. pp. 34. Hon. Robert Curzon, -

2, The Firt Printers of Belgium and England. pp. 22. O&ave Delepierre.

3. Le Canard de la Bibliothéque d’Alexandrie. pp. 14. O&ave Delepierre.

4. Notices of Libraries. pp. 96. Beriah Botfeld.

HISTORICAL.

1. The Execution of Cardinal Caraffa. pp. 24. Edward Cheney.

2. Letter of Beatrice Cenci, with Remarks on her Por-

trait by Guido. pp. 8. Edward Cheney.

28 QA40S

4 Contents.

3. Three Prefatory Supplements to the Hiftoric Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third. pp. 116. Communicated by Dr. Hawtrey. 4. Correfpondence relating to William Penn. pp. 26. Communicated by the Earl of Ellefmere.

5. Letters of the Duchefs of Atholl and Lady Catherine Stewart. pp. 20. Communicated by Sir George Grey.

LITERARY. 1. Nouvelles Plaifantes Recherches d’un Homme grave fur quelques Farceurs. pp. 40. Odave Delepierre. . Original Letters of Dr. Johnfon. pp. 44. Communicated by Sir Fohn Simeon.

WN

The Philobiblon Society.

1860-1.

H. R. H. Prince ALBERT, K. G.—Patron.

Aumale, His Royal Highnefs the Duc d’, Or- leans Houfe, Twickenham.

Bohn, Henry G., North End Houfe, Twick- enham.

Botfield, Beriah, M.P., F.R.S., Clarendon Hotel; Norton Hall, Daventry; Decker Hill, Shiffnal ; Hopton Court, Bewdley.

Cheney, Edward, 4, Audley Square ; Badger Hall, Shiffnal, Salop. .

Crofsley, James, 4, Booth Street, Piccadilly, Manchefter.

Curzon, Hon. Robert,-24, Arlington Street ; Parham Park, Steyning, Suffex.

6 The Philobiblon Society.

Delamere, Lord, 12, Hereford Street; Vale Royal, Northwich, Chefhire.

Delepierre, Octave, Secretary of Legation, and Conful for Belgium, 18, Gloucefter Terrace, Hyde Park.

Dufferin and Claneboye, Lord, Dufferin Lodge, Highgate ; Clandeboye, Belfaft.

Eaftlake, Sir Charles, P.R.A., 7, Fitzroy Sq.

Ellefmere, Earl of, Bridgwater Houfe; Worfley Hall, Manchefter.

Gifford, Earl of, M.P., 2, Wilton Street, Grof- venor Place.

Hamilton and Brandon, Duke of, Hamilton Houfe, Arlington Street; The Palace, Ha- milton, N. B. :

Hawtrey, Rev. Edward Craven, D. D., Provoft of Eton, Eton College.

Heath, J. B., Conful-General of His Majefty the King of Italy, 66, Ruffell Square.

Higgins, Matthew James, 71, Eaton Square ; Profpect Hill Houfe, Reading. - |

Holford, Robert Stayner, M.P., Dorchefter Houfe, Park Lane; Weftonbirt, Tetbury, Gloucefterfhire.

| The Philobiblon Society. 7

Hope, Alexander James «Beresford, .M.P., Arklow Houfe, Connaught Place Beresford Hall, Staffordfhire.

Longman, Thomas, 8, Suffex Square,Hyde Park.

Milman, Very Rev. Henry. Hart, Dean of St. Paul’s, Deanery, St. Paul’s.

Milnes, Richard Monckton, M. P., 16, Unk Brook Street; Fryfton Hall, F errybridge, Yorkshire. |

Murray, John, 50, Aiken Shects ; Wimble don, Surrey. ,

Perry, Sir Thomas Erfkine, M. P. 365 Eaton Place, Belgrave Square.

Powis, Earl of, 45, Berkeley Scimres Powis Caftle, Welfhpool ; Walcot, Bifhopfcaftle, Salop.

Reeve, Henry, 62, Rutland Gate, Hyde Park South,

Shirley, Evelyn Philip, M.P., National Club, Whitehall ; Houndfhill, Stratford-on-Avon.

Simeon, Sir John, Bart., Swainfton, Newport, Ifle of Wight.

Sneyd, Rev. Walter, Denton, Wheatley, Ox- fordfhire.

8 The Philobiblon Society.

Stirling, William, M. P., 128, Park Street, Grof- venor Square; Keir, Dunblane, N. B.

Stonor, Hon. Thomas Edward, 11, Old Bond Street ; Stonor Park, Henley-on-Thames.

Taunton, Lord, 27, Belgrave Square; Stoke Park, Slough.

Turner, Robert I., 1, Park Square, Regent’s Park.

Van de Weyer, His Excellency Mons. Sylvain, Belgian Legation, 50, Portland Place; New

. Lodge, Windfor. Wellefley, Rev. Henry, D.D., Principal of

New Inn Hall, Oxford.

HISTORY OF PRINTING IN

CHINA AND EUROPE.

¢

~~ ae — eer ee ——_— 4 SEE_—_—E eee

HISTORY OF PRINTING IN CHINA AND EUROPE. _

z(| HEN. the Earl of Elgin "\. L . was on the point of ftart- | ing on his firft miffion to — China, in the year 1857, I afked. him to make inquiries ref- pecting various important inventions which are fuppofed'to have been known in the Celeftial Empire for many centuries before they were dif- covered in Europe. It has been ge- nerally fuppofed that the mariners’ compafs, gunpowder, and its applica- tion to fire-arms, as well as to fire- works, the art of diftilling ardent {pirits, and the wonderful art'of Print- ing, were all in ufe almoft from time

4 Hiftory of Printing immemorial in China. Modern re- fearches have given us more detailed information as to the dates of feveral manufactures of Porcelain; and it feems wonderful that fo ufeful a pro- dution, and one now fo univerfally diffufed all over the Weftern World, fhould have been unknownin Europe lefs than 200 years ago.

Although robes of filk were to be purchafed at a great price, in the time of Charlemagne, and that one of the Fathers of the Church de- claims again{ft the luxury and im- propriety of the “‘fericas veftes,” robes of tranfparent filk, which difplayed he thought too much of the beauties of the fair ladies of his time, this ma- terial fo coftly in the realms of Chrif- tendom was commonly worn by all but the very humbleft orders of fociety in China, while our Britifh anceftors rejoiced in the perhaps lefs luxurious, but ftill more liberal difplay of their

in China and Europe. 5

perfonal charms, in a complete fuit of paint, a ftyle of coftume calculated for finer weather than that which we ufually enjoy in this country in the nineteenth century. .

The Chinefe are alfo faid to be in pofleffion of certain medical {pecifics which are of the utmoft importance to the whole human race. Mr. Fortune defcribes a method of curin fevers and rheumatifm by a a of fhampooing, and the adminiftra- tion of teas or tifannes and fome red pills, which appear to be a fort of patent medicine fold all over China, and made up from a prefcription in the hands of the family who are def- cended from thedoctor who originally compounded the medicine.

On thefe fubjeéts Lord Elgin had better opportunities of gaining infor- mation than any of his predeceffors; and it isto be hoped that we fhall no longer remain in doubt as to the truth

6 Hiftory of Printing

and value of the knowledge which has been afcribed to the wife men of the Eaft; for now that the time has come when “ many fhall run to and fro, andknowledge fhall beincreafed,”’ it is to be hoped that having con- . vinced the unfortunate Chinefe of the fuperiority of our underftanding in the arts of war, fome of the benefits to be obtained by improvements in the arts of peace may be exchanged to the advantage of both nations. Lord Elgin was kind enough to accede to my requeft ; and on his re- turn to England he gave me the following anfwer to his inquiries about the invention of Printing. The paper is oneof great intereft, as I believe it is the firft authentic account which has been brought to Europe of the rife and progrefs of this moft important art in China, where it ap- pears to have been in common ufe for 500 years before it was brought

‘in China and Europe. 7

forward in Europe, by Guttemberg, Fauft, and Scheeffer, in the middle of the fifteenth century. oko

Ningpo, sth April, 1858. My Lorp, It quite efcaped me, at the time your Lord- thip was enquiring about old books, as proof of the date of early printing in China, that I had a copy of a book printed in A.D. 1415, that is to fay, fome 30 years before the inven- tion of printing in Europe. It is the copy of the Complete Philofophy mentioned on page 338 of my ‘*Chinefe and other Rebellions ;”’ of which latter I have told my agent to fend in a copy, in the refpe€tful hope that your Lordhip will do me the honour of accepting it. The examination of this copy of the Com- plete Philofophy, fince your Lordfhip left, having led me to exprefs my doubts to one of my Chinefe clerks as to the poffibility of Chi- nefe paper lafting fo long, I found that I have been wrong in afluming that it will only laft two or three hundred years. The clerk faid, in confiderable firprife at my doubts, ‘* But paper will laft 1000 years, if it is properly. taken care of.”” He then added, that there is,

8 Hiftory of Printing

in the Palace at Peking, and now preferved under glafs, a piece of paper containing fome of the hand-writing of Wane che, a celebrated caligraphift, who lived under the Tfin dynafty, upwards of 1500 years ago. This has, it feems, conftantly been in Imperial poffeffion during a long feries of dynafties.

All this was confirmed by the feparate tef- timony of another clerk (who like the firft is a Peking man), and I have now little doubt that it may be poffible to get for your Lordfhip, before you leave China, copies of books printed five or fix hundred years ago, according to the evidence of the dates in them, and the opinions of Chinefe antiquaries.

But what it might be well to imprefs par- ticularly on the mind of the gentleman in whofe behalf your Lordfhip is making thefe inquiries, is, that no copies of old books, how- ever old we may morally convince ourfelves that they are, will eftablith the early date of printing in China fo well as the Chinefe hifto- rical notices of the fact. For it is much eafier to reprint exactly, or to make a fac-fimile of, an old Chinefe book, a couple of hundred years after its firft publication, than to falfify a Chi- nefe hiftorical record. The thing may and does happen, without the leaft intention of deceiving any one. When a new book 1s publithed in China, it is firft written out, leaf by leaf, on thin paper, each leaf is then ftuck,

in China and Europe. 9

face down, on a block of wood; when the block-cutter cuts away everything but the characters, bordering lines, &c. &c., which are to be printed, and which he fees reverfed through the thin paper. Now whena wealthy Chinefe wifhes to give greater diffufion to a valuable old works of which a perfect and un- improveable edition already exifts, he procures an unimpaired copy hick happens to have been printed on thinnifh paper, and has a fet of blocks cut from that, as thofe for a new book muft be cut from a manufcript. If the Cutting is carefully done, you get, in this way, as nearly as poffible a fac-fimile of the original edition of the work; and in a few years a badly preferved copy of this reprint would look older than a well preferved copy of the original. Editions of this kind are, I may add, called technically ‘* fan pan, reverfed editions.”’ Ihave now before me a fine edition of an authoritative work which may be defcribed as a Dictionary of Hiftory, more efpecially of the hiftory of literature and of political inftitutions. This was written by Ma twan lin, in the Peginning of the Yuen dynafty, and a copy was prefented to the fourth Emperor of that dynafty in a.p. 1319. An Emperor of the prefent dynafty, viz. Keen lung, (he whom Lord Macartney faw,) publifhed an edition of this work, with a preface of his own, dated A.D. 1748. The copy I have got gives this

2

10 Hiftory of Printing

preface and the text nia as Keen lung gave them and, in fo far as the letter-prefs 1s con- cerned, this, my copy, might be of his edition publifhed 110 years ago; yet, to my certain knowledge, it was publifhed at Canton not ten years ago. A {fuitable manipulation of this copy, by judicious expofure to damp, worms, and {moke, would give its new paper the look of 100 years of age. It could then only be proved not to be Keen lung’s edition by com- parifon with a copy of the latter, the genuine- nefs of which, again, would have to be firft proved. And even after it was thus proved not to be Keen lung’s edition, it would be almoft impoffible to prove that it was not a re- print publifhed only a few years later. Further, remove the firft three leaves, which contain Keen lung’s preface, leaving that of Jin tfung of the Yuen dynafty and give the paper a ftill older appearance, and there would be nothing in the letter-prefs and the appearance of the whole to prevent its pafling, with the bulk of educated people, for an edition of 540 years ago, though a very learned and acute Chinefe librarian might convince himfelf that it was a modern copy.

_ Again, therefore, I fay that Chinefe hiftori- cal notices refpecting printing, fix the period of its invention far more reliably than will copies of old books. One of the illufions which exifts to confiderable extent in the

in China and Europe. 11

Weft with refpect to the: Chinefe confifts in the praftical difbelief in their hiftories. When it is afferted, in a general and . abftract ‘way, that the Chinefe have very old, authentic. hifto- ries, the aflertion is, perhaps, not difputed. But when people find, in thefe hiftories, particular ftatements regarding things ‘or events, which ftatements do not {quare with their own. pre- conceived -notions, they refufe to believe. They ftake. their own what /bould be, againft the what actually was of the Chinefe. records: But. this is to manifeft a total difregard of the rules of found hiftorical criticifm. I am con- vinced that Sir G. C. Lewis,-one of the moft {ceptical of hiftorical critics, would place the . reliability of Chinefe hiftory very high. He difbelieves the early Roman hiftory, not be- caufe it deals with a very ancient period, but becaufe there were no contemporary narratives or records. Grecian hiftory of a confiderable portion of the fame period, he would believe on account of its contemporary writers. Now there i$ no one Nation in the World which has had its hiftory narrated by contemporary writers for fo long a period as the Chinefe. In this refpeét, their literature is like that of the Jews, of the Greeks, of the Romans, of Italy of the Middle Ages, and of Modern Europe put all together. Chinefe hiftory con- tains records and ftate papers written 4000 years ago. Confucius, in his 69th year finifhed

12 Hiftory of Printing

a hiftory of his own times fome 48 years before Herodotus made known his work ; and, fpeak- ing of periods comparatively recent, one of the reafons why the ftatements of Chinefe sia deferve, in the main, more credence than thole of Weftern hiftory of the fame centuries is precifely the fact that the Chinefe have had paper for feventeen hundred years and printed books for a thoufand. They have thus had facilities for contemporary recording and fub- fequent reliable tranfmiffion fuch as no other people has enjoyed for the fame length of time. Add to this that China has, for at leaft 3000 years, had its officially appointed or State annalifts ; upon whofe labours its hiftories, properly fo called, have been largely bafed.

I now give extracts from the two moft cele- brated and efteemed of thefe hiftories; and alfo from the Hiftorical DiGtionary of Ma twan lin mentioned above. It was prefented to the Emperor in A. D. 1319.

The firft of the two hiftories is that of Sze ma kwang, a celebrated writer and Minifter of ftate of the Sung dynafty. It was finifhed in the 7th month of the 17th year of Shin tfung (A. D. 1084).

The fecond hiftory is that of Choo tfze. He and it are noticed at pages 335, 336 and

40, of **the Chinefe and their Rebellions.” t was finifhed in A. D. 1172. My extraéts are from the complete editions

in China and Europe. 13

of all three works; of which Matwan lin’s is in 110 volumes, Sze ma kwang’s in 120 volumes, and Choo tfze’s in 160 volumes.

InSze makwang’s Hiftory, pial the noti- ces of the 3rd year of Ming tfung of the Tang dynafty (a. D. 932) ftands the following :—

“Orders were firft iffued to the National College to collate the Nine Sacred Books and print them for fale.”’

In Choo tfze’s Hiftory the circumftance is mentioned as follows, under the fame year (A. D. 932) :—

“In the 2nd month, the Tang dynafty for the firft time cut blocks for the Nine Sacred Books and had them printed for fale.”’

In Sze ma Kwang’s Hiftory, among the notices of the 6th month of the 3rd Kwang fhun year of the fecond Chow dynafty (a. p. 943) itands the following :-—

“‘ Formerly, in the time of Ming tfung of the Tang dynafty, the Minifters Tung taou and Le yee prayed (the Emperor) to command Teen min, oe officer) of the National College, to correct the Nine Sacred Books, then to cut blocks for them and print them for fale; and the Court affented. The printed edition was finifhed and prefented to His Majefty on the Ting {ze day of the month. From this time forth, even in periods of anarchy, the Nine

Sacred Books were tranflated and diffufed very widely,”

14. Hiftory of Printing

- Both Sze ma kwang’s and Choo tfze’s Hif- tories mention that about the fame time (A.D. 943) 2 wealthy individual of the Shuh State oa prefent province of Sze chuen) founded a

ollege and procured. the publication of a printed State edition of the Nine Sacred Books ; and that, in confequence of thefe meafures, literature and {cholarfhip fubfequently abounded

in that principality.

‘ - Tn that portion of the Ma twan lin’s Hiftori- cal Dictionary of National Inftitutions and Literature in which he difcuffes the authenti- city and genuinenefs of the then received texts of the Sacred Books, we find the following excerpts from a previous writer, Ye fhih lin, who lived about A. D. 1130:—

“¢ ‘Ye fhih lin ftates :—‘ Before the ‘Taig dy- nafty [which began a. D. 620] all books were manui{cripts, the art of printing not being in exiftence. People regarded the colleting of books as fomething honourable, and no one had them in Jarge quantity. Thofe who col- lected them had great ability in collating and comparing, whence it frequently occurred that people had fine copies. And ftudents, as a confequence of the great labour of tranfcrip- tion, alfo acquired great ability and clofenefs in reciting them. In the time of the Five Dynafties, Fung taou firft memorialized his Sovereign [as mentioned above] praying that an official printing eftablifhment might be put in operation. And again in thofe years of our

in China and Europe. 15

reigning dynafty called Shun hwa (A. D. ggo- 994) officers were commiffioned to print the

iftorical Records and the Annals of the Firft and Sécond Han Dynafties. From that time forth printed books became ftill more riumer- ous; fcholars and officers ceafed to make the colleétion of books a chief objeét of their at- tention; and, as Students found it eafy to obtain books, the practice of reciting was in confequence broken up. But printed books were at firft not correct; they always con- tained errors; and, what was deeply to be regretted, the world generally having af- fumed their correctnefs while the manufcript copies daily difappeared, there was afterwards no means of correcting the miftakes.’ ”’

“He (Ye fhih lin) alfo ftates :—‘ According to popular report, the cutting of blocks and printing of books from them was commenced by Fung taou. This is not the faé; but the blocks for the College edition of the Five Sacred Books were prepared by him. The introduction to Lew peen’s Exhortations ftates that when he was in Shuh [the prefent Sze chuen] he frequently infpected the book fhops ; and he fays the character-books [analogous to our A, B, c books] and other fchool-books were sieiderdf printed on paper from cut blocks: Therefore, printing certainly exifted in the time of the Tang dynafty; but I apprehend that it was not equal in 'workmanfhip to the prefent. At prefent, of -all books’ printed

16 Hiftory of Printing

throughout the Empire, thofe of Hang chow are confidered the beft; thofe of Shuh (Sze chuen) come next; and thofe of Fuh keen are worft. Of late years, the printing blocks of the Capital [at that time Kae fung in Honan] begins to ftand but little after thofe of Hang chow ; but the paper ufed is not fo fine. In Shuh and Fuh keen, foft wood is much ufed for cutting into printing blocks, the obje& of which is their eafy completion with a rapid fale for the books. Hence the workmanfhip is not good. Fuh keen editions are fpread almoft over the whole empire, and that pre- cifely in confequence of the eafe with which ie are got ready.’ ”’

rom the context of the laft preceding ex- cerpt, it appears that Lew peen, who gives the firft notice of reliable authority refpecting printing, lived under the Tang dynafty. And accordingly, in both Sze ma kwang’s and Choo tfze’s Hiftories, I find, under the year A. p. g02, the following notice of him, among the records of the Tangs :—

‘“©Lew peen was made Governor of Loo chow. The Lew family, from the time of Lew kung cho had been held in honour by the {cholars and officials of its adherence, in every generation, to filial, fraternal and focial duties and obfervances. At the time when Lew peen was a member of the Cenforate, the Emperor was about to make him Minifter; but the Eunuchs hated him, and hence he was long

in China and Europe. 17

punifhed by being kept in provincial pofts. He gave. the following warning admonition.to the juniors of his family: .‘ The members of eminent families have caufe to be afraid and muft not rely on their pofition. For .each fingle deficiency in character or conduét they receive .a heavier punifhment than others, and thus when they join their anceftors under. the earth, are unable to look. them in the face. That is why they have caufe to be afraid. In an eminent houfe an. arrogant {pirit . eafily finds birth, and when the. members of a family are numerous they excite the envy of others. People will not believe in their good deeds -or real abilities, while their flighteft. blemifhes or faults are pointed at by every one. That is why they muft not rely on their pofition. The younger members of wealthy families muft be unufually diligent in ftudy and unufually ener- getic in their conduct, when, only, they will ucceed in placing themfelves on a level with others.’ ”” a Oe at From the above extracts we learn, there- fore, that before the Tang dynafty, that is, be- fore A. D. 620, there were no printed books in China, while, on the other hand, about the year A.D. goo, they were known to a high officer and eflayift, to be in common ufe as School Books in one portion of the country. I think we may therefore fafely fay that the printing of books for fale and ufe, in place of

3

18 Hiffory of Printing

manufcripts, began about a. Dp. 860 or 1000 years ago. I fhall continue to attend to the fubje&t ; but I do not think it likely that your Lordfhip will be able to afcertain the date of printing more nearly or more reliably than as it is fixed by the above notices. For Sze ma kwang, Choo tfze, and Ma twan lin were eee and fober critics and antiquarians as well as hiftorical writers; and the latter is fpe- cially celebrated for the extent and accuracy of his antiquarian refearches. As to reliability, I may add that it would be far more reafonable to call in queftion the entries in our Doomf- day book written in the rude and unlettered England of a. p. 1086, than thofe of Sze ma kwang’s Hiftory, finifhed two years earlier. For the minifter of State, Sze ma kwang was himfelf but one of a then already long feries of examples of the high practical efteem in which fcholarfhip was held in this country, at a time, when in the Weft, our Chroniclers were obfcure Monks, and learning was a dif- grace. I am,

with much refpect, Your Lordfhip’s obedient fervant, THoMAS TayLor MEapows.

His Excellency, the Right Honourable the Earl of Elgin and Kincardin, K.T., &c. &c., Shanghae.

= — —~m~e | ee.

in China and Europe. 19

It appears to be fatisfactorily proved that Printing was invented in China about the year 860 of our era. I will now mention fome circumftances by which it would feem that Printing was known in Europe at a much earlier period, although it may not have come into general ufe till the middle of the fifteenth century. Pieces of pottery have been often found with Latin infcriptionsftamped upon them, pigs of lead from the Englifh mines: have the names of — Roman Emperors imprefied, or per- haps only caft upon them. One of thefe is in my own collection, as well as three ftamps, impreflions of which aregiven on the following leaf. One of thefe is in Greek. Such ancient ftamps, or printing-preffes, are of great rarity; this is the only one in the Greek language that I have met with. | In the fifth or fixth century A. D.

20 LHiftory of Printing

whole books were printed. As far as can be afcertained, they were not printed with a Psi but each letter was ftamped feparately with a Sot metal die, in the fame way as a, book- binder at the prefent day letters the title of a book on the back of the binding. Two of thefe curious books are {till extant, one of them is called the Codex Argenteus, and is pre- ferved in the library at Upfal; the other is a magnificent quarto of the Gofpels in the library of the Chapter at Verona. I have examined this book carefully, and have no doubt that it was printed in the way I have mentioned above; the letters are in filver, on dark blue, or purple vellum, the initial letters being gold. Some of the letters are cut through by the fharp edges of the metal die, others feem to have been burnt; in fome cafes the letters have fallen out, ,too much force having been ufed by the

TSTATI Ly AMETHYST:

yp eee, =e eee ee a ee: eS see ere Ee —_

in China and Europe. 23

workman in impreffing the letter on the page; this book is in Latin, and was probably executed in Italy. The book at Upfal is in Moefogothic, and was probably completed in the north of Europe. It is not likely that thefe two very interefting works are the only ones that were ever produced ; and we may fafely conjecture that many books were printed in this way, in different parts of Europe, between the years 500 and 1000. It is not unlikely that others may be dif- covered, if attention is raifed to the fubje&t, and refearches made in the ancient libraries of German and Ita- lian convents and churches. | |

Though none of the early block- books have dates affixed tothem, many of them arewith reafon fuppofed to be more ancient than any books printed with moveable types. Their refem- blance to Chinele block-books is fo exact, that they would almoft feem

24 Hiftory of Printing

to be copied from the books com- monly ufed in China. The impref- fions are taken off on one fide of the paper only, and in binding, both the Chinefe, and ancient German, or Dutch block-books, the blank fides of the pages are placed oppofite each other, and fometimes pafted together ; by this means the printed fides of the pages face each other as the leaves of the book are opened.. The impref- fions are not taken off with printer’s ink, but with a brown paint or colour, _ ofa much thinner defcription, more in the nature of Indian ink as we call it, which is ufed in printing Chinefe books. Altogether the German and Oriental block-books are fo precifely alike in almoft every refpect, that unlefs we can find one of the Euro- pean books, with any pretence to an antiquity previous to the year 860, we muft fuppofe that the procefs of printing then muft have been copied

in China and Europe. 25

from ancient Chinefe. {pecimens, brought from that country by fome early, travellers, whofe names ‘have not been handed down to our times.

‘T..mentioned in a‘ former paper an account of certain broadfides, initial letters to edicts, Papal bulls, &c. which had: been ufed by one Pamfilo -Caftaldi, of Feltre, near Venice, towards the end of the four- teenth century. He is faid to. have produced thefe works by the affiftance of ftamps made of glafs, and after- wards of wood, the idea:of which — he took from feeing fome wooden blocks which. Marco Polo. had brought to Venice from China fome years before: The tradition goes on to fay that Guttemberg faw. the blocks and ftamps for printing the ornamental initial letters inthe work- fhop of Caftaldi, and improving on the principle, afterwards brought the idea into pratical ufe at Mentz,

4

where he printed the firft books with moveable types.

The probability of this hiftory is {upported by the difcovery of a docu- ment in the archives of Strafburgh, where Guttemberg was eftablifhed as a merchant in 1427. He wasim- plicated there in a law-fuit for breach of promife of marriage, which was brought againft him by Anne of the Iron Door, whom he afterwards mar- ried. This law-fuit fupplies another link in the hiftory, as the defignation of the Iron Door belonged to a branch of the great Venetian family of Contarini; it is therefore moft likely that Guttemberg had met this lady at Venice, the great emporium of all merchants and traders of thofe days; or, at any rate, that he was ac- quainted with Venetians who might have told him, even if he had not feen with his own eyes, the contriv- ances for fimplifying the production

in China and Europe. 27

of manufcript books, which Caftaldi had in his turn borrowed from the Chinefe inventions which Marco Polo, the famous traveller, had im- ported from the diftant Empire of Cathay. |

The firft book printed, or at leaft now known to have been printed, by Guttemberg, with a date, is the Pfalter of 1457; but fo beautiful and _ difficult a work is probably not the firft which he had produced. Many little grammars, or Donatufes, of which fome fragments are to be feen in the Britifh Mufeum, from the col- leGtion of Butler, Bifhop of Lichfield, feem to be in the fame type as the Pfalter and the great and wonderful Mazarine Bible. And though no book is at prefent known with a date earlier than 1457, {mall works moft probably were printed by Guttem- berg in 1440, if not earlier. An argument in aid of this affertion 1s

28 Hiffory of Printing

fupported by the following very in- terefting difcovery.

On Eafter eve, March 22, 1856, fome workmen were employed to enlarge the cellar of the tavern at Mentz, which is always fuppofed to occupy the pofition of the refidence of Guttemberg, where he formerly carried on in fecret the myfterious art, by which he was enabled to fell, what were confidered to be manu- {cripts, at a cheaper rate than that at whichfuch books were ufually offered in the literary market. The work- men in pulling down the wall on one fide of the cellar came to a clofet or recefs which had been walled up in fuch a manner as to conceal its ex- iftence; herethey found feveral pieces of wood of various fizes, all more or lefs {tained with black, eight pieces of red fand-ftone, fuch as ts found in the neighbourhood of thecity, in the form

in China and Europe. 29

of cones, evidently for polifhing and rubbing down the colour or printer’s ink, and laftly, the beam of Guttem- berg’s original printing-prefs, with his initials on it, and the date of 1441; proving that as he had broken up this prefs he had certainly printed fomething before that time. The accompanying fketch of thefe moft interefting relics, which I made upon the fpot, on the 31ft of July, 1856, will tell their own ftory better than any words I can add upon the fub- ject. The beam is of a black wood, apparently oak, and about three feet fix inches long, one corner is broken, which has taken off the upper half of the letter G, fome rough ufage has alfo nearly erafed the lower half of the figure C ; the cones are not all of the fame fize, butrun from nine to ten or eleven inches long, their lower ends worn quite {mooth with friction.

Each has a hole through the top, probably for a ftring to hang them up by, when wet with the printer’s ink.

I am glad to take advantage of the opportunity of printing thefe notes in the Mifcellany of the Phi- lobiblon. Society, as they may be a means of adding to our knowledge of literary antiquities, and point out the direction in which further in- quiries may be made on the hiftory of the art of printing.

Since thefe fheets have been in the printer’s hands, the Earl of Elgin has returned from his fecond fucceff- ful and wonderful expedition to China and Japan. He has informed me, that he has taken fteps to fecure fome {pecimens of very ancient Chi- nefe printed books, for the Britifh Mufeum.

Although I am furprifed that a

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in China and Europe. 33

nobleman of fuch diftinguifhed abili- ties fhould not immediately have perceived the expediency of adding fome of thefe volumes to the collec- tion of one of the members of the Philobiblon Society, yet I am glad that his attention fhould have been turned to the elucidation of fo in- terefting an inquiry, and I am happy to think that fo important and curi- ous an addition is likely to be made to the treafures of the National Library of England.

R. Curzon.

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THE FIRST PRINTERS OF BELGIUM AND ENGLAND.

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By Octave DELEPIERRE.

THE FIRST PRINTERS OF BELGIUM AND ENGLAND.

N the hiftory of medieval and modern literature, there is one characteriftic among many others which is very ftriking. It is that in ‘the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the biographical details of the lives of many of the luminaries who en- lightened the intelleCtual world of the fubfequent periods, are partially, and fometimes even totally unknown. In modern times, on the contrary, we are often made acquainted with the moft intimate circumftances and facts regarding the lives of authors

4 The Firft Printers of

whom the world ignores. But as there is good in all things, this ap- parent neglect on the one fide, and {uperabundant care on the other, have each their advantages. Who can fay what fhall be the judgment of pofterity on cotemporary great men? Celebrities have difappeared for ever in the waters of Lethe, and have been ignored by after ages, while names almoft unknown to cotemporaries have later become famous.

We muft not therefore complain of being too minutely informed in the pm Be day of the lives of thofe who labour in the field of intelligence, and of being too fcantily informed concerning the men of genius who lived in the paft; juftice is done fooner or later, and all find their level.

The fcarcity of details on many of the remarkable men of the middle

Belgium and England. 5

ages, is Owing partly to the uni- formity and retirement of the lives of {cholars, and partly to the then exift- ing fact that work, whether it was embodied in a book or in a Cathedral, drew all the attention of the intel- le@tual world, and abforbed the in- dividuality of the workman, while with us, the reverfe is often the cafe. If it is true that the art of printing is one of the greateft boons which the fifteenth century left to pofterity, they by whom it was firft introduced have a right to be confidered among the as 5 of mankind, and all that relates to themfelves and to ‘their labours fhould be eagerly ac- cepted.

What Caxton is to England, Colard Manfion is to Belgium, and by a curious coincidence, friendly relations exifted between thefe two great men, who laboured fide by fide in the field which was to produce

6 The Firft Printers of

thofe grand refults, without which we may doubt if political liberty could ever have exifted.

Colard Manfion is one of the few among the ancient printers who, like Caxton, ufed his preffes to publith his own works; but we will {peak prefently of the connection between thefe two men.

Although much has been written on the talent and the induftry of the Belgium printer, he is very little known in England, and his biography is a defideratum in the rich colleCtion of materials gathered together by Englifh authors who have wifhed to make a hiftory of the art of printing. Profper Marchand,' the Abbé de St. Léger,’ De la Serna Santanda,* Lam-

' Ditionnaire Hiftorique.

2 Efprit des Journaux, Nov. 1779, p. 245.

* Dictionnaire Bibliographique du xv. fiécle, t. I. p. 351.

Belgium and England. 7

binet,* Van Praet,? Beuchot,° the Abbé Carton,’ Dibdin,® and a few others lefs known, have all contri- buted to give him the praife which he