GUTENBERG AND THE MENTZ PRESS
Johann or Hans Gutenberg was born at Mentz in or about the year 1400.
His father's name was Gensfleisch, but he is always known by his
mother's maiden name of Gutenberg or Gutemberg. It was customary in
Germany at that time for a son to assume his mother's name if it
happened that she had no other kinsman to carry it on. Of Gutenberg's
early life, of his education or profession, we know nothing. But we know
that his family, with many of their fellow-citizens, left Mentz when
Gutenberg was about twenty years of age, on account of the disturbed
state of the city. They probably went to Strasburg, but this is
uncertain. In 1430 Gutenberg's name appears among others in an amnesty,
granted to such of the Mentz citizens as had left the city, by the
Elector Conrad III., but apparently he continued to live in Strasburg.
Two years later he visited Mentz, probably about a pension granted by
the magistrates to his widowed mother. This is practically all that is
known of the earlier part of Gutenberg's life.
It is curious that nearly all the recorded information concerning
Gutenberg is in connection either with lawsuits or with the raising of
money. From the contracts for borrowing or repaying money into which he
entered, we gather that he was always hard pressed, and that his
invention ran away with a good deal of gold and paid back none.
Gutenberg cast his bread on the waters, and it is we who have found it.
The first known event of his life which directly concerns our subject is
a lawsuit brought against him by Georg Dritzehn. Mr Hessels implies,
though he does not actually state, that he suspects the authenticity of
the records of this trial. But no proof of their falsity can be adduced,
and the integrity of the documents otherwise remains unquestioned. They
cannot now, however, be subjected to further examination, for they were
burnt in 1870 at the time of the siege of Strasburg.
The action in question was brought against Gutenberg in 1439 by Georg
Dritzehn, the brother of one Andres Dritzehn, deceased, for the
restitution of certain rights which he considered due to himself as his
brother's heir. From the testimony of the witnesses as set down in the
records of the trial, we gather that Gutenberg had entered into
partnership with Hans Riffe, Andres Dritzehn, and Andres Heilmann; and
one of the witnesses deposed that Dritzehn, on his death-bed, asserted
that Gutenberg had concealed "several arts from them, which he was not
obliged to show them." This did not please them, so they made a fresh
arrangement with Gutenberg and further payments into the exchequer, to
the end that Gutenberg "should conceal from them none of the arts he
knew."
Again, Lorentz Beildeck testified that after Andres Dritzehn's death,
Gutenberg sent him to Claus, Andres' brother, to tell him "that he
should not show to anyone the press which he had under his care," but
that "he should take great care and go to the press and open this by
means of two little buttons whereby the pieces would fall asunder. He
should, thereupon, put those pieces in or on the press, after which
nobody could see or comprehend anything."
Besides this, Hans Niger von Bischoviszheim said that Andres Dritzehn
applied to him for a loan, and when witness asked him his occupation,
answered that he was a maker of looking-glasses. Later on, a pilgrimage
"to Aix-la-Chapelle about the looking-glasses" is mentioned.
By these records, from Mr Hessels' translation of which the above
quotations are taken, two things at least are made clear. First, that
Gutenberg was in possession of the knowledge of an art unknown to his
companions, which he was desirous of keeping to himself, and which those
not in the secret wished to learn; and secondly, that a press
containing some important and mysterious "pieces," which was not to be
exhibited to outsiders until the pieces had been separated, played a
prominent part in this secret work. The "looking-glasses," apparently,
were imaginary, and intended for the misleading of too curious
enquirers. But it has been ingeniously suggested that the word
_spiegel_, or looking-glass, was a cryptic reference to the _Spiegel
onser Behoudenisse_, or _Mirror of Salvation_, and that Gutenberg and
his assistants were engaged in preparing the printed _Speculum_ for sale
at the forthcoming fair held on the occasion of the pilgrimages to
Aix-la-Chapelle in 1439. This part of his plan, however, was frustrated
by the postponement of the fair for a year.
It is hardly to be doubted that the researches privately conducted in
the deserted convent of St Arbogastus, where Gutenberg dwelt, concerned
the great invention usually linked with his name. Were this probability
an absolute certainty, then Strasburg might successfully dispute with
Mentz the title of birthplace of the art of printing. But to what stage
Gutenberg carried his labours in the old convent, or how far he
proceeded towards the goal of his ambition, is not known, though it has
been conjectured that possibly he and those in his confidence got as far
as the making of matrices for types, and that perhaps even the types
used for the earliest extant specimens of type-printing were cast there,
although not used until Gutenberg had returned to Mentz. On the other
hand, there are many who think that matrices and punches are due to the
ingenuity of Peter Schoeffer, to whom reference is made below.
When Gutenberg left Strasburg for Mentz is not known, but he was in the
latter city in 1448, as is testified by a deed relating to a loan which
he had raised. His constant pecuniary difficulties resulted in his
entering into partnership, in 1450, with the goldsmith Johann Fust, or
Faust, a rich burgher of Mentz, who contributed large loans towards the
working expenses, and was evidently to share in the profits of the
press. Fust or Faust, the printer of Mentz, has sometimes been
identified with the Faust of German legend. The dealings in the black
art related of the one have also been ascribed to the other by various
story-tellers, some of whom say that in Paris Faust the printer narrowly
escaped being burnt as a wizard for selling books which looked like
manuscripts, and yet were not manuscripts. The first printed letters, it
should be observed, were exactly copied from the manuscript letters then
in vogue.
The first really definite recorded event in the history of Gutenberg's
printing was a lawsuit brought against him by Fust, in 1455, when
Gutenberg had to give an account of the receipts and expenditure
relating to his work, and to hand over to Fust all his apparatus in
discharge of his debt. The partnership was of course dissolved,
Gutenberg left Mentz, and Fust continued the printing assisted by Peter
Schoeffer. Schoeffer was a servant of Fust's, who had further associated
himself with the establishment by marrying Fust's daughter, and to him
some attribute the improvement of the methods then employed by devising
matrices and punches for casting metal types. It has even been suggested
that this device of his, communicated to Fust, induced the latter to rid
himself of Gutenberg by demanding repayment of his advances when
Gutenberg was unable to meet the call, and that having gained possession
of his partner's apparatus, he was able, with the help of Schoeffer and
his inventions, to carry on the work to his own profit and glory. But it
is difficult to know whether to look upon Fust as a grasping and
treacherous money-lender, or as a prudent and enterprising man of
business. However this may be, at the time of the lawsuit the work of
years was already perfected, printing with moveable types was now an
accomplished thing, and the great Mazarin Bible, if not finished, was at
any rate on the point of completion.
The earliest extant specimens of printing from types, however, are
assigned to the year 1454. These are some Letters of Indulgence issued
by Pope Nicholas V. to the supporters of the King of Cyprus in his war
with the Turks. They consist of single sheets of vellum, printed on one
side only, and measuring _c._ 11 x 7 inches. They fall into two classes,
of each of which there were various issues; that is to say, (1) those
containing thirty lines, and (2) those containing thirty-one lines. The
thirty-line Indulgence is printed partly in the type used for the
Mazarin Bible. The thirty-one-line Indulgence is partly printed in type
which is the same as that used for books printed by Albrecht Pfister at
Bamberg, and for a Bible which disputes with the Mazarin Bible the
position of the first printed book. Who printed these Indulgences is not
certainly known. Both emanated from the Mentz press, and it is not
unreasonable to believe that both were executed by Gutenberg, since the
Mazarin Bible is most probably his work, and since the types used by
Pfister were perhaps at one time possessed by Gutenberg. Still, the
point is not clear, and the more general view is that they were the work
of two different printers. Some attribute the thirty-line Indulgence to
Schoeffer, on the ground that some of its initial letters are reproduced
in an Indulgence of 1489 known to be of Schoeffer's workmanship. Yet
there seems no reason why Schoeffer in 1489 should not have made use of
Gutenberg's types--indeed, it is very probable that he had every chance
of doing so, as may be seen from the above account of the dissolution of
partnership between Gutenberg and Fust.
[Illustration: TYPE OF THE MENTZ INDULGENCE (30-line, _exact size_).]
Those who assign the thirty-line specimen to Schoeffer consider the
thirty-one-line specimen to be Gutenberg's work. "And though we have no
proof of this," says Mr E. Gordon Duff, who holds this view, "or indeed
of Gutenberg's having printed any book at all, there is a strong weight
of circumstantial evidence in his favour." It may be taken for granted,
then, although proof is wanting, that Gutenberg printed at least one of
these Indulgences, and perhaps both. In any case, these are the first
productions of the printing-press to which a definite date can be
assigned. Some of them have a printed date, and in other copies the date
has been inserted in manuscript. The earliest specimens of each class
belong to the year 1454.
The next production of the Mentz press, as is generally believed, is the
beautiful volume known as the Gutenberg Bible, or the Mazarin Bible,
because it was a copy in the library of Cardinal Mazarin which first
attracted attention and led bibliographers to enquire into its history.
It illustrates a most remarkable fact--that is, the extraordinary degree
of perfection to which the art of printing attained all but
simultaneously with its birth. Even though we cannot tell how long
Gutenberg experimented before producing this book, it is none the less
amazing that as a specimen of typographic art the Mazarin Bible has
never been excelled even by the cleverest printers and the most modern
and elaborate apparatus. It was probably not begun before 1450, the year
when Gutenberg and Fust joined forces, and was completed certainly not
later than 1456. This latter date is fixed by a colophon written in the
second volume of the copy in the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris, which
informs us that "this book was illuminated, bound, and perfected by
Heinrich Cremer, vicar of the collegiate church of St Stephen in Mentz,
on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, in the year of our
Lord 1456. Thanks be to God. Hallelujah." A similar note is affixed to
the first volume.
It is believed by competent authorities that this and all very early
printed books were printed one page at a time, owing to an inadequate
supply of type, a process exceedingly slow and productive of numerous
small variations in the text. The work of printing the Mazarin Bible was
in all probability interrupted to allow of the execution of the more
immediately needed Letters of Indulgence, in certain parts of which, as
we have said, some of the types used in the Mazarin Bible are employed.
We must not omit to mention here another Bible issued from Mentz about
this time. It has thirty-six lines to a column, and is therefore known
as the thirty-six line Bible, in distinction to the forty-two line or
Mazarin Bible. It exhibits a larger type, and is regarded by some as the
first book printed at the Mentz press, and, for all that can be proved
to the contrary, it is so. Although the point is still undecided, this
volume may at any rate be safely regarded as contemporary with the
Mazarin Bible.
[Illustration: PAGE FROM THE MAZARIN BIBLE (_reduced_).]
The Mazarin Bible is in Latin, and printed in the characters known as
Gothic, or black letter. These were closely modelled on the form of the
handwriting used at that time for Bibles and kindred works. It is in two
volumes, and each page, excepting a few at the beginning, has two
columns of forty-two lines, and each is provided with rubrics, inserted
by hand, while the small initials of the sentences have a touch of red,
also put in by hand. Some copies are of vellum, others of paper. But
henceforward the use of vellum declines.
[Illustration: TYPE OF THE MAZARIN BIBLE (_exact size_).]
The Mazarin Bible is usually considered to be the joint work of
Gutenberg and Fust. Mr Winter Jones has conjectured that the metal types
used in early printing were cut by the goldsmiths, and that Fust's
skill, as well as his money, were pressed into Gutenberg's service. But
if, as some have thought, Fust provided money only, while Gutenberg was
the working partner, then Fust would hardly have been concerned in its
actual production until 1455, when he and Gutenberg separated. Even
then--supposing the book to have been still unfinished--it is quite
possible that Schoeffer did the work. But no one is able to decide the
exact parts played by those three associated and most noted printers of
Mentz; conjecture alone can allot them.
Gutenberg returned to Mentz in 1456, and made a fresh start, aided
financially by Dr Conrad Homery. Here again we are confronted with a
want of direct evidence, and can point to no books as certainly being
the work of Gutenberg. But there are good reasons for believing that
under this new arrangement he printed the _Catholicon_, or Latin grammar
and dictionary, of John of Genoa; the _Tractatus racionis et
conscientiæ_ of Matthæus de Cracovia; _Summa de articulis fidei_ of
Aquinas; and an Indulgence of 1461. There is a colophon to the
_Catholicon_ which may possibly have been written by Gutenberg, which
runs as follows:--
"By the assistance of the Most High, at Whose will the tongues of
children become eloquent, and Who often reveals to babes what He hides
from the wise, this renowned book, the _Catholicon_, was printed and
perfected in the year of the Incarnation 1460, in the beloved city of
Mentz (which belongs to the illustrious German nation, whom God has
consented to prefer and to raise with such an exalted light of the mind
and free grace, above the other nations of the earth), not by means of
reed, stile, or pen, but by the admirable proportion, harmony, and
connection of the punches and types." A metrical doxology follows.
A few other and smaller works have also been believed to have been
executed by Gutenberg at this time, but with no certainty.
In 1465 Gutenberg was made one of the gentlemen of the court to
Adolph II., Count of Nassau and Archbishop of Mentz, and presumably
abandoned his printing on acceding to this dignity. In 1467 or 1468
Gutenberg died, and thus ends the meagre list of facts which we have
concerning the life and career of the first printer.
To nearly every question which we might wish to ask about Gutenberg and
his work, one of two answers has to be given--"It is not known," or
"Perhaps." He does not speak for himself, and none of his personal
acquaintance, or his family, if he had any, speak for him. We have no
reason to believe that his work brought him any particular honour, and
certainly it brought him no wealth. It has been suggested, however, that
the post offered to him by the Archbishop was in recognition of his
invention, since there is no other reason apparent why the dignity was
conferred. But we may well conclude this account of Gutenberg with De
Vinne's words, that "there is no other instance in modern history,
excepting, possibly, Shakespeare, of a man who did so much and said so
little about it."
Fust, the former partner of Gutenberg, died in 1466, leaving a son to
succeed him in the partnership with Schoeffer, and Schoeffer died about
1502. Of his three sons (all printers), the eldest, Johann, continued to
work at Mentz until about 1533.
The most notable books issued by Fust and Schoeffer were the Psalter of
1457, and the Latin Bible of 1462. The Bible of 1462 is the first Bible
with a date. The Psalter of 1457 is famous as being the first printed
Psalter, the first printed book with a date, the first example of
printing in colours, the first book with a printed colophon, and the
first printed work containing musical notes, though these last are not
printed but inserted by hand.[2] The colour printing is shown by the red
and blue initials, but by what process they were executed has been the
subject of much discussion. They are generally supposed to have been
added after the rest of the page had been printed, by means of a stamp.
The colophon is written in the curious Latin affected by the early
printers, and Mr Pollard offers the following as a rough rendering:--
"The present book of Psalms, adorned with beauty of capitals, and
sufficiently marked out with rubrics, has been thus fashioned by an
ingenious invention of printing and stamping, and to the worship of God
diligently brought to completion by Johann Fust, a citizen of Mentz, and
Peter Schoffer of Gernsheim, in the year of our Lord, 1457, on the Vigil
of the Feast of the Assumption."
[2] The first printed musical notes appear in de Gerson's
_Collectorium super Magnificat_, printed at Esslingen in 1473 by
Conrad Fyner.
These two printers also produced, in 1465, an edition of the _De
Officiis_ of Cicero, which shares with the _Lactantius_, printed in the
same year at Subiaco, near Rome, by Sweynheim and Pannartz, the honour
of exhibiting to the world the first Greek types, and with the same
printers' Cicero _De Oratore_, that of being the first printed Latin
classic, unless an undated _De Officiis_, printed at Cologne by Ulrich
Zel about this time, is the real "first."