JOHN GUTENBERG.--FIRST ATTEMPTS AT TYPOGRAPHY IN
STRASBURG.--DIFFICULTIES.--INVENTION OF THE
PRESS.--LAWSUIT.--RETURN TO MENTZ.--CONNECTION WITH
FAUST.--SUCCESS.--MAZARIN BIBLE THE FIRST BOOK PRINTED
FROM MOVEABLE METAL TYPES.--SECOND LAWSUIT.--FORFEITURE
OF PLANT TO FAUST.--PETER SCHŒFFER.--INVENTION OF
TYPE-FOUNDING.--FAUST AND SCHŒFFER.--THE GUTENBERG
‘PRINTING HOUSE.’--GUTENBERG ATTACHED TO THE COURT OF
THE ELECTOR OF MENTZ.--DEATH.
Until the publication in the Hague of Meerman’s _Origines Typographicæ_
(1765),--a work based upon the traditions inserted in Hadrian Junius’s
_Batavia_, first published in 1588,--the man to whom the whole of
Europe, with hardly a dissentient voice, ascribed the honor of the
invention of the Art of Typography, was John Gutenberg.[32] a native
of Mentz. He was of honorable descent; his family being included among
the junckers and nobility, the equestrian order of the country, and
possessing a small estate situated in the neighbourhood of Mentz,
called Sulgeloch, on which estate he was born, about the year 1399.
His father, Frielo, had besides him, an elder son, Conrad, who died
some time previous to the year 1424, and Frielo, a younger, who was
living in 1459; and two daughters, Bertha and Hebele, both of whom
became nuns in the Convent of St. Clair at Mentz. In addition to the
above-mentioned estate, the family owned two houses in the city of
Mentz, one of which was called ‘Zum Gansfleisch,’ and the other ‘Zum
Gutenberg.’ The latter of these formed part of the property of his
mother, Elsy of Gutenberg. John Gutenberg, junior,[33] left Mentz
in early life for Strasburg, where he settled and obtained rights
of citizenship, and established himself in business as a polisher
of precious stones, and a mirror and looking-glass manufacturer, in
both which arts he is said to have shewn considerable skill. The
precise date of his arrival and settlement in Strasburg has not been
ascertained, but that it was prior to 1424 is known from a letter
written to his sister Bertha, on the 24th March of that year;[34]
probably it was about the year 1420, and may have been occasioned by
the political disturbances of the time. His name frequently appears in
the city documents and registers, and he occasionally visited Mentz. He
left Strasburg finally about the year 1444. Of great natural sagacity,
gifted with an inventive genius, and of indomitable perseverance, the
increasing thirst for knowledge which at this period was every where
manifesting itself, arrested his attention, and convinced him of the
desirability, as well as the profitableness, of devising some method
for its more ready and abundant supply.
The problem of the mechanical multiplication of manuscripts had already
been partially solved in the block-books which were manufactured
in Holland. In the study of these, Gutenberg perceived the immense
advantages which would follow from having every letter made separate,
with sufficient quantities of each to allow of their being combined
into words, sentences, and pages, instead of continuously engraving
whole series of lines in solid blocks as in the specimens before him.
That idea once clearly seen, time and patience, with the ability to
engrave, were all that were required for its realization, so far at
least as concerned the mere making of the types or letters. The first
experiments would naturally be, as indeed we are informed they were, on
wood. And one can well imagine the flush of triumph that mantled on
his brow, when, after having engraved a few continuous sentences, or
sets of alphabets, with spaces between each line and letter; and after
having sawn each line asunder, and separated each letter from the one
adjoining, and trimmed and squared the whole to his mind, Gutenberg
recomposed the letters into words, and other words, which differed from
the original, and saw his cherished thought worked out complete before
him.
But, while thus on the very threshold of success, obstacles and
difficulties began to present themselves, which taxed his ingenuity
and tried his perseverance to an extent which it was scarcely possible
for him to have foreseen. In the first place, whatever plan he may
have adopted to produce impressions in his earliest experiments, he
could not fail to find out in a very short time that the Chinese
method, adopted by the block-book printers, would not answer for his
separable types; and moreover, that the fine strokes and edges of his
wooden letters were liable to damage and destruction from other causes
besides those arising from the amount of pressure it was necessary to
subject them to in order to ensure a clear readable impression. It was
necessary therefore to resort to metal. This was, in itself, a serious
matter to begin with, for engraving on metal is a much more difficult,
tedious, and expensive process, than engraving on wood. With separable
types, and direct perpendicular pressure to produce impressions, a
different kind of ink or pigment to that hitherto used by scribes, or
stencillers, or block-book printers, also became necessary, as well as
a different method of applying it to the face of the types; and many an
experiment must have been made, and much time and money lost, before
these difficulties were overcome, and success attained in these as in
the preceding step.[35]
The chief difficulty--the greatest obstacle in the way of putting
to a practical use the Types as now designed, and thus bringing the
TYPOGRAPHIC ART before the world,--was the want of the LETTER Press.
To overcome this obstacle, to conquer this difficulty, was Gutenberg’s
great task. There was, in point of fact, no particular ingenuity or
inventive faculty required in making separable letters. The keen
perception which saw the advantages to be gained from such separation,
was, no doubt, a sure indication that Gutenberg was a man of mark,--one
whose mental gifts transcended those ordinarily possessed by his
fellow-men. But the realization of the idea of separating the letters
was a task which mainly depended on the amount of manual and mechanical
dexterity brought to bear upon its execution. The higher efforts of
genius, and the development of the inventive faculties were displayed
in the subsequent steps, and in none more notably than in the invention
of the PRESS.
The question--Who invented the Printing Press?--has never yet, it is
believed, been thoroughly considered or satisfactorily answered. A
writer in the Encyclopædia Britannica says, “It is probable that one
of the difficulties which Gutenberg found insuperable at Strasburg was
the construction of a machine of sufficient power to take impressions
of the type or blocks then employed. Nor is it at all wonderful that
even the many years during which he resided at that city should have
been insufficient to produce the requisite means; for what with cutting
his type, forming his screws, inventing and compounding his ink, and
constructing the means for applying the ink when made, his time in the
Alsatian capital must have been fully occupied.” And he goes on to
argue that the Press was probably the joint production of Gutenberg,
Faust and Schœffer, during the time of their association in Mentz. But
for such a belief there is no real ground whatever.
Mr. Hansard, although he devotes 166 pages of his voluminous work[36]
to an account of Presses and Printing machines, strangely enough heads
his first chapter on the subject “Construction of the Original Printing
Press by Blaew of Amsterdam.” But Blaew lived two centuries after the
original invention, and was only an improver of certain of its parts.
Of the original inventor he says not a word.
Mr. M‘Creery, a contemporary of Hansard, in his poem the “PRESS,”[37]
reprinted in the _Typographia_, apostrophises Gutenberg and Mentz in
the following terms:--
“SIRE of our ART, whose genius first design’d
This great memorial of a daring mind,
And taught the lever with unceasing play,
To stop the waste of Time’s destructive sway!
* * * * *
O MENTZ! proud city, long thy fame enjoy,
For with the PRESS thy glory ne’er shall die;
Still may thy guardian battlements withstand
The ruthless shock of War’s destructive hand,
Where GUTENBERG with toil incessant wrought
The imitative lines of written thought;
And, as his Art a nobler effort made
The sweeping lever his commands obeyed:”--
But although, _poetically_, Mr. M‘Creery thus ascribes the invention to
the man and place to whom it rightfully belongs, I do not know (not
having the original edition to refer to) whether he intended anything
more. I suspect not, since otherwise Mr. Hansard would scarcely
have failed to have made use of any information in the notes to the
poem which tended to throw light on a subject of so much historical
importance.
Other writers pass the subject by with the remark, that “Of the
mechanical construction of these presses there is little or no record.”
One of the latest authorities, Mr. Blades, the able palæotypographist,
thus dismisses it:--“The method of obtaining an impression by a direct
pressure downwards is generally supposed to have been synchronous with
the use of moveable types. Mr. Ottley, however, describes several of
the earliest wood blocks, which he had no doubt were printed by means
of a press. Of one he states ‘I am in possession of a specimen of
wood engraving, printed in black oil colour on both sides the paper
by a downright pressure, which I consider to have been, without
doubt, printed in or before the year 1445.’ There can be no question
therefore that the earliest type printers found a press ready to their
hands.”[38] But this is a very unconvincing method of reasoning; and
a positive conclusion founded upon a mere opinion given in regard to
the supposed age of an old engraving--a subject upon which the ablest
experts differ--is one which is open to very considerable question.
It has already been stated, (pp. 42-43) that before the invention of
the press, impressions were usually taken on one side only of the paper
or vellum; although the _possibility_ of their being taken on both
sides is admitted. Mr. Ottley says “the best proof that the printer
knew how to print on both sides of his paper, is that he did so;”[39]
and he mentions _two_ instances where, on a single leaf, the text of
the _Speculum_ is so printed.[40] The inference which these writers
intended should be drawn from the above statements is, that the press
used by the printer of the _Speculum_ was essentially the same as that
subsequently used by the printers at Mentz.
But what is the evidence in the case? All that can be brought forward
is the nature of the ink, and the appearance of the printed pages.
As regards the ink, it differed from that used at a later period in
Germany, and was certainly much more fluid; this is shewn by its
spreading over the edges, and filling up the loops of the letters.
By itself, however, the ink proves nothing as to how the types were
impressed; that is to be learnt from the appearance of the pages; and
this shews that impressions were taken by a rolling process. A wooden
or metallic roller, 7 inches long, with a diameter of not less than
3 inches, and covered with two or three folds of fine woollen cloth,
rolled, with a sufficient amount of pressure, over the back of the
paper when it was laid upon the types after they had been inked,--or
an uncovered roller, if two or three folds of woollen cloth were laid
over the paper,--would do all that was needed, and be quite sufficient
to account for the practice of printing on one side of the paper only.
The statement how such an impression might be taken, is not however
a proof that such was in reality the method adopted. That proof lies
in the fact, that the capital letters of the columns of text on the
left hand margin, and the end letters of the lines on the right, are
all more or less blurred, and choked with ink, in a way which only
such a cylindrical method of printing would effect; that effect being
caused by the first and last contact of the roller with the outer
edges of the types. In cylindrical machine printing at the present
day, where care has not been taken to guard the edges and ends of the
types by ‘bearings,’ similar blurrings may at any time be seen. In the
admittedly rude appliances of the earliest printers such appearances
would under such a process be at least as plainly shewn. And in the
_absolute fac-simile_ which Mr. Humphreys gives, on plate 10 of his
work, of the page of the _Speculum_ printed from separable letters with
black oleaginous ink, those appearances are most plainly visible. Of
course it was possible to print sheets of paper in this way on both
sides; but care would have to be taken to guard the first printed
side by interposing between it and the roller a waste or setting-off
sheet, before the process was repeated. And, as already hinted, by
the use of ‘bearings,’ the blurring might be avoided. The difference
however between such a process and that invented and put in practice
by Gutenberg, is as great as that which exists between the battering
rams and catapults of the ancients, and the siege trains of modern
artillerists.
Admitting then that impressions from type could be taken on both sides
of a sheet, the mere fact that a single leaf was so printed in two
editions of the same ancient work, is no proof whatever that the said
impressions were made with a press such as was used by the printers at
Mentz, the invention of which became a necessity in order to complete
the Typographic Art. What it does prove, is, that the printer of the
_Speculum_, with the appliances then at his command, preferred the
easier, simpler, and _safer_ method of printing on one side only.
But in the consideration of this subject there are other questions
which ought not to be overlooked;--_e. g._ For what special purposes,
and for whom, were the _Donatuses_ and _Block-books_ printed? Certainly
not for the public at large. The _Donatuses_,--small elementary _Latin_
grammars,--would be for a few of the superior monastic schools of the
day; and the _Biblia Pauperum_, _Ars Memorandi_, _Speculum Salutis_,
&c., were avowedly for “the assistance of poor preachers,”--“propter
pauperes predicatores.” Editions of these works would therefore be
small in number, and the time taken in their production would not be
an object of much account. Mr. Ottley supposes (p. 283) that they
would not exceed 20, 40, or 60 copies each. The market for them,
consequently, might very easily be overstocked. Now as regards the most
ancient _Speculums_ printed in Holland, it is by no means improbable,
that, as two editions in Latin and two in Dutch followed one another
in quick succession, the printer did overstock the market, and had to
cease work in consequence. It is at any rate certain, that the cuts
were laid aside for a length of time, and were not reprinted until
1483, when Veldener, then printing at Culembourg, issued an edition
in small 4to., sawing the pictorial headings in two in order to suit
his purpose. This branch of the subject is of some importance in its
bearings on the question of the origin of block printing in Holland,
and will be more fully considered in a subsequent chapter.
Gutenberg we may fairly presume, (relying upon documentary evidences
for the presumption), aware of the nature and extent of the demand
that existed for such productions, foresaw how a _new public want_
might be created by means of new inventions for further developing the
new-born art. Separable types with the then known methods for making
use of them, were but as acorns in comparison with stately full grown
oaks,--but sickly stunted bushes, instead of luxuriant vines, from
whose wide-spreading boughs the thickly clustered bunches of ripe,
refreshing, life-giving fruit should be sought for far and near. How
to excite and satisfy this want was the problem constantly revolving
in his mind. It soon became evident, that a machine capable of rapidly
striking off copies of works that were to be set up in types, was a
necessity of the case; and to meet that necessity all his energies
were bent. The time and money spent in working out his ideas,--in
constructing the original LETTER-PRESS,--is shewn in the evidence which
has been preserved, the bearing of which seems to have been hitherto
strangely misapprehended.
“The earliest printing press” says Mr. Charles Knight, “was nothing
more than a common screw-press,--such as a cheese press, or a napkin
press.” He gives no authority for the assertion, but he immediately
adds, thereby largely qualifying it,--“with a contrivance for running
the forme of types under the screw after the forme was inked.”[41] In
this ‘contrivance,’ with some few others, which were its necessary
adjuncts,--however simple the matter may seem now-a-days to eyes
accustomed to look upon machinery and mechanical appliances of all
kinds and varieties,--lay the chief difficulty. The screw, from
its power and adjustability, would naturally suggest itself as the
appliance best suited to effect the purpose aimed at. But how to
contrive to make the screw an effective agent in producing impressions
from types, was the question which Gutenberg had to consider. His
separable letters were ready to his hand; but without the press, which
he had yet to make, and to find out how to make, they were as useless
to him as unstrung harp-strings are unmusical until they are keyed and
stretched and tuned, and made to emit soul-thrilling harmonies at the
master touch of the fingers of the finished harpist.
Satisfied with the result of his experiments as to types, a new
series of experiments had to be entered upon before he could hope to
realize his expectations in regard to them. These he carried on in his
residence at St. Arbogaste, in the suburbs of Strasburg.
In his business as a stone polisher, we learn, from his own
declarations, that several years previous to 1436, he had taught that
art to one Andrew Dritzehen. Subsequently, “a long time afterwards,”
he engaged in the manufacture of looking-glasses, along with Johan
Riffe, the prefect or mayor of Lichtenow. Andrew Dritzehen, learning
this, requested Gutenberg to teach him that art as well; and a similar
request was at the same time made on behalf of Andrew Heilman, by his
brother Anthonie. Upon their entering into an agreement, whereby they
bound themselves to pay him certain premiums for so doing, Gutenberg
complied with their requests. But one year, after making preparations
for attending the fair held at the time of the pilgrimages to the
shrines at Aix-la-Chapelle, the journey was suddenly put off until the
year following, owing to the postponement of the fair. Deprived of the
opportunity of increasing their gains, the two Andrews, with enforced
unprofitable leisure upon their hands, made an unexpected visit to St.
Arbogaste, where they found Gutenberg busily engaged upon matters, the
secret of which he seemed determined to keep to himself. After much
importunity, however, he consented to reveal to them, upon certain
conditions, “all the wonderful and secret arts that he knew, without
any exception.” The conditions were, that they on the one side, and
he and Riffe on the other, should cancel the existing agreement, and
enter into a new one; that they should conjointly pay to him the sum
of 250 florins, making, with 160 previously paid for being taught the
art of making looking-glasses, 410 in all; that 100 was to be paid
immediately, and the remainder at stated periods; and that their share
of the profits was to be one-third, the remaining two-thirds being
divided between Gutenberg and Riffe. It was further agreed, that the
partnership for carrying on “_the wonderful art_,” should be for a term
of five years; but that if any one of the partners died before the
expiration of that period, the survivors should, at its expiration, pay
to the representatives of the deceased the sum of one hundred florins,
retaining in their own hands “_all the utensils and implements of the
art, and all works perfected by the instruments_.”
This partnership was entered into about the year 1436. Upon the
completion of the agreement the implements and materials for the new
art were removed from St. Arbogaste to the house of Andrew Dritzehen,
with whom, as perhaps the ablest mechanic in the association, Gutenberg
thenceforth carried on his experiments. These seem to have nearly
approached completion, when Dritzehen was unfortunately seized with
an illness which ended fatally. His death took place in 1438, before
the expiration of the term allotted for the partnership, and while he
was still indebted to Gutenberg in the sum of eighty-five florins.
Gutenberg, as soon as he heard of his death, sent his servant Laurence
Beildeck, to Nicholas Dritzehen, the brother of the deceased, and
requested that no one might be admitted into the workshop, lest the
secret should be discovered, or the materials be stolen. But they had
already disappeared; and this fraud, as well as the claims of George
and Nicholas Dritzehen to succeed to their brother’s share, produced a
lawsuit with the surviving partners.
In the prosecution of this lawsuit, out of a large number of witnesses
summoned, the depositions of sixteen were taken; and in the following
extracts from the evidence of the most material, we may gather what the
secret was which Gutenberg was so desirous to preserve.
“John Schultheissen deposed, that Laurence Beildeck came to his house,
to see Nicholas Dritzehen, when Andrew Dritzehen was lying dead,
and that the said Laurence Beildeck thus spoke to the said Nicholas
Dritzehen:--‘Your brother, Andrew Dritzehen, now happy, had four
“stücke” lying underneath in a press. Therefore John Gutenberg desires
that you will take them therefrom, and thoroughly separate them one
from the other, and lay them on the press, so that it may not be seen
what it is.’ Then Nicholas Dritzehen went and looked for the ‘stücke,’
but found nothing.”
“Item, Hannsz Schultheisz hatt geseit das Lorentz Beildeck zu
einer zit heim inn sin husz kommen sy zü Claus Dritzehen als
diser gezuge jn heim gefürt hette, Als Andres Dritzehen sin
bruder selige von todes wegen abgangen was, und sprach da Lorentz
Beildeck zu Claus Dritzehen, Andres Dritzehen uwer bruder selige
hat iiij stücke undenan inn einer pressen ligen, da hatt uch
Hanns Gutemberg gebetten das ir die darusz nement und uff die
presse legent von einander so kan man nit gesehen was das ist,
Also gieng Claus Dritzehen und suchete die stücke do vant er
nutzit.”
“Conrad Sahspach deposed, that Andrew Heilman came to him in Kremer
street and said, ‘My dear Conrad, as Andrew Dritzehen is departed, and
as you made the presses, and know about the matter, do you go thither
and take the “stücke” from the presses, and disjoin them from one
another, so that no man may know what it is.’ But when this witness
wanted to do so, and looked for them on the morrow of St. Stephen’s
day, the whole was gone.”
“Item, Cunrad Sahspach hatt geseit das Andres Heilman zu einer
zit zu jme komen sy inn Kremer gasse und sprach zu jme lieber
Cunrad als Andres Dritzehen abgangen ist da hastu die pressen
gemaht und weist umb die sache do gang dohin und nym die stücke
usz der pressen und zerlege sü von einander so weis nyemand was
es ist, da nu diser gezuge das tun wolte und also suchete das
were uff Sanct Steffans tag nehst vergangen do was das ding
hinweg.”
“Laurence Beildeck declared, that he was sent by Gutenberg to Nicholas
Dritzehen, after the death of Andrew his brother of happy memory, to
tell him, that he should shew the presses he had under his care to
no man; and this the witness stated, he did. He said moreover, that
Gutenberg told him to take good care to go to the press, and to open
the two ‘wurbelin,’ so that the ‘stücke’ should be separated from one
another, and that he should place the ‘stücke’ upon the press, so that
no man seeing might understand them.”
“Lorenz Beildeck het geseit das Johann Gutenberg in zu einer
zit geschickt het zu Claus Dritzehen, nach Andres sins bruders
seligen dode und det Clausen Dritzehen sagen das er die presse
die er hünder jm het nieman oigete zoigete, das ouch diser gezug
det, und rette ouch me und sprach er solte sich bekumbern so vil
und gon über die presse und die mit den zweyen würbelin uff dun
so vielent die stücke voneinander, dieselben stücke solt er dann
in die presse oder uff die presse lege so kunde darnach nieman
gesehen noch ut gemercken.”
“Herr Anthonie Heilman deposed, that being aware that Gutenberg was
about to take Andrew Dritzehen as a third partner into the society for
the manufacture of looking-glasses for the Aix-la-Chapelle market, he
earnestly begged of him to admit therein his brother Andrew, as he
wished to serve him.” After some demur this was agreed to. Witness
supplied his brother with money to the extent of 90 pounds, but at
last said, “What can you want with so much money, seeing that the sum
agreed upon was only 80 florins?--to which Andrew answered, ‘that he
must have money for other purposes; and that two or three days before
the vigil of the Annunciation, he was to pay 80 florins to Gutenberg,
which he, witness, must advance to him.’... Gutenberg afterwards said
to witness, that in acknowledgment of what he had received, they (the
partners) should be upon the same footing in every thing, and that
in future nothing should be concealed from any of them respecting
the _remaining work_.”... “A long time afterwards Gutenberg repeated
this.” After which, a document was drawn up by Gutenberg for the other
partners to sign, which they did after considerable deliberation,
Gutenberg, before their doing so, telling them, “there is as much
stuff in the concern as quite equals your money; so that, in fact,
the knowledge of _the art_ is given you for nothing.” The terms of
the agreement with Gutenberg were, that in this matter they were to
consider themselves beholden to him alone, and not to John Riffe; and
“that in case any one of them should be removed from the partnership
by death, that then it should be well understood--and so it was--that
the matter should be so arranged with his heirs, that, for all things
done or undone, for money advanced by or belonging to the share of such
person, for the value of the stock, the forms, and all other implements
and materials not excepted, they (the surviving partners) should, after
the expiration of five years, pay to his heirs 100 florins. So that he,
Gutenberg, as he observed, gave them a great advantage; for were he
himself to die, after he had once admitted them into the partnership,
his heirs, _notwithstanding the sums previously expended by him_, would
only have to receive 100 florins for his share, like those of any of
the others. All this was done, to the intent that whosoever of them
should die, the surviving partners should not be obliged to make known,
or to shew to his heirs, any thing concerning _the art_; which article
was approved by every one of them.”
This witness also said, “that he well knows that Gutenberg, not long
before Christmas, sent his servant to both the Andrews (Dritzehen and
Heilman) to fetch all the ‘formen,’ that they might be taken out, and
that he should see it done, as he was dissatisfied, and wished to renew
[alter or change] them.”
There is an obscurity in the original of this last passage which
makes it difficult to translate; but it is believed that the meaning
intended to be conveyed is that given above. Oberlin, who thought
the passage referred to metal types, renders it “Gutenberg sent his
servant to bring together all the different forms, which were [to
be] pulled to pieces before him, because there were some with which
he was not satisfied.” Santander, taking the same view as Oberlin,
renders the last clause of the sentence “parce qu’il avait des choses
a corriger:--_because there were things to be corrected_.” This I
believe to be an accurate translation, although I am satisfied that the
‘formen,’ to be corrected were not pages of type. The old German runs
thus:--
“Dirre gezuge hat ouch geseit das er wol wisse das Gutenberg
unlange vor Wihnahten sinen kneht sante zu den beden Andresen,
alle formen zu holen und würdent zur lossen das er ess sehe, und
jn joch ettliche formen ruwete.”
Mydehart Stocher, after deposing to what he knew of the facts of the
partnership and the illness and death of Andrew Dritzehen; said that
he had heard the deceased say “that God helping them, the work when
completed, would find its way with the public, and that then he hoped
and trusted, he would be delivered from his difficulties.”
John Niger von Bischovissheim deposed, “that Andrew once came to him
and said that he wanted money ... this witness then asked him what he
was making? and he answered he was a looking-glass maker.”
Barbara von Zabern deposed, “that conversing once with Andrew
Dritzehen, about bed time, she asked him, why he did not at last go to
bed, and that he answered, ‘I must first finish what I have in hand.’
When she continued ‘But, God help me! what a sum of money you seem to
be spending; why all these things must have cost at least 10 florins.’
And he replied, ‘You are a simpleton, Zabern! you think these things
have cost 10 florins. Listen; if you had all they have cost above 300
florins, you would have enough to last you all your life. Why, they
have cost over 500 florins! and they would be good for nothing, if they
were not to cost still more; and that is the reason why I have sunk
both my own and my expected inheritance in the matter.’ ‘But,’ said
she, ‘if it should all turn out badly, what would you do then?’ And
he answered, ‘That can never be; before a year is over we shall have
back again all our capital, and be well off for ever; unless indeed, it
should be the will of God to ruin us.’”
Reimbolt von Ehenheim said, “that a little before Christmas he went
to Andrew, and asked him how he got on with the thing he was about?
Andrew, of happy memory, replied, that it had cost him more than 500
florins, but he hoped that, when it should be finished, he would make a
great deal of money, wherewith he would satisfy witness and others, and
relieve himself from his cares;” &c.
Fridel von Seckingen said, “that Gutenberg had made a purchase,[42]
and that he became surety for the payment; that Gutenberg, Andrew
Heilman, and Andrew Dritzehen, had asked him to become their surety for
101 florins to Stolz the son-in-law of Peter; which he did, upon the
condition that they three should give an acknowledgment of indemnity
for the same; that Gutenberg and Heilman signed and sealed the
indemnity, but Dritzehen did not; and that Gutenberg afterwards paid
all the money, at the time of the last Lent fair.”
“Also, John Dünne, goldsmith, declared, that about three years previous
he had received about 100 florins from Gutenberg, solely for materials
relating to printing (or presses.”)
“Item, Hanns Dünne der goltsmyt hat geseit, das er vor dryen
joren oder doby Gutemberg by den hundert guldin abe verdienet
habe alleine das zu dem trucken gehöret.”
On the part of George and Nicholas Dritzehen it was shewn, that their
brother Andrew, when on his death-bed, stated to his confessor that he
had expended 200 or 300 florins in connection with the partnership, and
that he did not then possess a single obolus.[43]
The suit lasted for nearly twelve months, but was decided against the
Dritzehens; the magistrates adjudging the surviving partners to pay to
the heirs of Andrew Dritzehen, the sum of 15 florins only, which, with
the 85 he was indebted to Gutenberg at the time of his death, made up
the hundred they had bound themselves, according to the contract of
partnership, to pay to the heirs of any of their number who chanced to
die during the term for which it was to last.
Neither in the evidence quoted, nor in any portion of the rest of
the depositions, is anything said about ‘types’ or ‘letters.’ Mr.
Humphreys, adopting the conjecture first made by M. Paul Lacroix,
argues, that the evidence about looking-glasses to be manufactured,
and the partners terming themselves looking-glass makers, is to be
understood as meaning that they purposely adopted that term as a ruse
to conceal the true meaning of their work, which was, in fact, the
manufacture or printing of ‘Mirrors of Salvation.’ But this view can
hardly be considered tenable, inasmuch as Anthonie Heilman shews, that
his brother first entered into the partnership to learn the Art of
making looking-glasses; and that it was not until afterwards--“a long
time afterwards”--that the new arrangement was entered into about the
_remaining work_,--“THE ART,”--the secret, in fact, for which they were
to consider themselves beholden to Gutenberg alone, and not to Riffe.
And this was the view the magistrates took. In their summing up of the
case, they very distinctly state, that after having for several years
taught Andrew Dritzehen the art of polishing stones, Gutenberg admitted
him and Andrew Heilman as partners in a manufactory of looking-glasses,
_which articles he and John Riffe had before been accustomed to sell
at the fairs at Aix-la-Chapelle_; and that it was not until one year,
when the fair had been unexpectedly put off until the year following,
that Gutenberg agreed to reveal to them _all_ the wonderful and secret
arts that he knew, without any exception. The magistrates also referred
to the evidence adduced as to various purchases, some or one of which
was deposed to be of _lead_; and from this it may be inferred that the
lead was intended for the manufacture of type. But there is nothing
to shew that either Riffe or Dritzehen or Heilman was entrusted with
the secret of the separable letters. If however, metal types had been
the secret to be preserved, the fact of their being so would surely
have somehow been more or less distinctly stated. But it was the
four ‘stücke’ under the press,--fixed or fastened by two ‘wurbelin,’
which, when opened, and the ‘stücke’ disjoined and separated one
from the other, no one would understand the meaning of,--as well as
the ‘formen,’--that were the cause of Gutenberg and Heilman’s great
anxiety. These four ‘stücke’ were certainly not four pages, or a forme
of types, fastened together by two screws, which is the interpretation
given, with a note of interrogation attached, by writers of repute,
whose minds appear to have been so filled with the importance of the
separable types, that they have failed to see how the word ‘stücke’
could apply to anything else in connection with printing. Had pages of
type been meant, their being separated,--either by being ‘distributed’
into type-cases, or ‘thrown into pye,’ as it is technically
called,--would not have effected the object of the direction given,
“that no man might know what it is;” for any one seeing sundry boxes
full, or heaps of small pieces of wood or metal, all of the same height
and depth, and each with a letter engraved on its upper end, would
scarcely fail to conclude that they were in some way connected with
printing,--especially if he knew of the existence of block-books,
which at that day were by no means uncommon; nor would two screws have
sufficed to fix or fasten a forme of four pages of type together.
Meerman thinks the four “stücke” alluded to were parts of a press; and
Koning[44] is much of the same opinion, believing that Gutenberg was,
at the time to which the evidence refers, occupied in endeavouring
to construct a printing press of a more perfect kind than had been
before known. Ottley, in his observations upon the evidence, disagrees
with these writers. He says (p. 24,) “On the whole there is, I think,
good reason to conclude that the press so often mentioned by the
witnesses in the processes (for it appears to be the same identical
press that is spoken of throughout) was not a screw-press. What was
its construction, or what the use to which it was applied, I cannot
conjecture.”--(p. 35.) “We are led to suppose by all the depositions
... that there was something about it, which Gutenberg feared might
enable some clever person, who should chance to see it, to become
possessed of one of his secret arts without the regular initiation;
and therefore upon the death of Andrew Dritzehen ... he despatches
thither his servant Beildeck, with directions to take all necessary
precautions respecting it. Why in a matter of such moment, and upon
which he was so anxious, Gutenberg did not go himself, it is difficult
to conceive; or why Andrew Heilman, one of the partners, did not go
and do what was needful, instead of deputing Conrad Sahspach....
However, Lawrence Beildeck was sent instead; ... may I suppose that
upon this occasion he did as Gutenberg directed him? If so, then I
should say that Gutenberg’s mode of proceeding was better calculated
to awaken curiosity respecting his secret art, than to prevent any
dreaded discovery of it; and that although he might be determined
that no one, if he could help it, should have become acquainted with
it for nothing, there was mixed up with this feeling a secret wish,
that his mysterious acquirements should be talked of; in the hopes of
getting a fresh addition of monied partners capable of paying good
premiums.”--Very impartial this of Mr. Ottley! “But” he goes on (p.
37) “we will suppose this press to have existed; and briefly remark
upon what is said of it.... The term ‘_wurbelin_’ used in Beildeck’s
testimony has already been spoken of. The two ‘wurbelin’ were not
screws, but must have been some other kind of fastening, or mode of
pressure, with which the press was provided. What the construction
of the press was, or how these fastenings or modes of pressure were
applied, I pretend not to say: but all the depositions, if we except
that of And. Heilman, (which speaks as if it were the _press itself
which was to be taken to pieces,_) describe it as having within it
some pieces, which in some way were connected with each other, and
which Gutenberg desired should be separated or disjoined, (for there is
nothing said of _dividing the pieces into pieces_) in order that people
might not be able to guess the use for which they were intended. Two of
the witnesses, namely, Schultheiss and his wife, inform us that _these
pieces were four in number_, and that Nic. Dritzehen was desired to
take them out of the press and separate them from each other.... This,
according to the natural meaning of the words, is all that can be made
of these depositions; and it is probable that no one would ever have
attempted to make more of them, had not the name of Gutenberg appeared
in connection with them; for there can be no doubt that presses of
different kinds were known, long before the invention of typography,
and applied to many other purposes, either of stamping or of continued
pressure; and the word ‘stücke,’ employed in this process to describe
the things contained in the press, is as applicable to pieces of one
kind whether of shape or material as of another.”
But this is begging the question completely; for the discussion is not,
whether presses of different kinds were already known; but whether
_the_ Letter press,--the press for taking impressions from types,--was
previously known or not; and in discussing this question, the meanings
of the words “stücke,” “formen,” and “wurbelin,” are most important
points.
What then were the ‘stücke,’ the ‘formen,’ the ‘wurbelin’? What do the
words mean? The German dictionary gives us the answer--“Pieces, parts,
bits, fragments,” &c:--“forms, figures, shapes, _frames_, _patterns_,
_models_,” &c:--“turning joints, tourniquots, twirls, convolutions,
pulley rolls, pegs (in musical instruments),” &c.[45] And as the German
for types is “lettern,” for pages “seiten,” and for screws “schrauben,”
instead of looking to the types for the true interpretation of the
terms, we look to the press, and especially to that portion of it which
Gutenberg was contriving, in order to utilize the mechanical power of
the screw for the purposes of book-printing. As yet this contrivance
was incomplete, for no books had been printed,--no impressions taken
from either blocks or types. The invention, in fact, had not been
perfected:--there were parts which needed to be changed, altered,
corrected. Under such circumstances it is easy to understand that
Gutenberg would reserve the secret of his separable types, until the
completion of the press should enable him to introduce them as the
crowning triumph of his ingenuity.
Within the _frame-work_ of the press then, were fixed,--first, the
screw; underneath the screw, second, the platten, (the impression block
or plate,) to be brought down by the screw upon the types; third, the
carriage, on which the types were to be placed; and fourth, the table
or slide-rest supporting the carriage, with its rounce, or spindle with
crank-handle, drum, and connecting girths to run the carriage in and
out before and after impressions were made. These, or their original
substitutes, were the ‘pieces, parts, or bits’ that formed the four
‘stücke’ spoken of.
But what were the ‘wurbelin’? They were two stout screw-bolts, working
through nuts in a cross-head, and fixing, immoveably, the cross-block
in which the centre screw of the press was wormed. They were variously
made, but the object was invariably the same; to resist, by a counter
pressure, the upward thrust of the screw, when, by the working of
the bar or lever, it was brought down upon the platten, and met the
resistance of the forme at the moment the impression had to be taken.
[Illustration]
Examine now the figure of the press in the accompanying engraving,
copied from woodcuts of presses used as printers’ emblems as early as
1498 and 1511; and observe how easily its component pieces could be
separated by removing or opening (unscrewing) the two long _wurbelin_
fixed above the working parts, which were probably merely morticed and
tenoned together. In the following diagram, outlined from an engraving
of the date of 1520, an older fashioned press seems to be shewn, in
which the two wurbelin are differently shaped, while their special use
is still more plainly to be seen. These unscrewed, the inner portions
of the press taken to pieces, and the parts separated or laid aside,
no one, unacquainted with the secret, would be able to guess for what
object they were designed; or, in the words of the evidence, “know what
it is.”
It may perhaps be said, that so apparently simple a matter could
surely not have taken so long a time to contrive, nor have cost so
much as has been implied, in the way of preliminary experiments. But
the printing press, in its origin, was an entirely novel invention.
The whole contrivance,--although the idea, as we learn from Arnold
de Bergel, (1541), was first suggested to Gutenberg’s mind by the
wine-press,[46]--had to be thought out by its inventor, step by step,
unhelped by any adventitious aid. Gutenberg, versatile genius as he
was, may not have been an expert mechanic; he was certainly unable
to avail himself of the many appliances which modern inventors find
ready to their hand at every turn, for they were non-existent, and he
had therefore to realize his designs the best way he could, without
revealing their object to those whom he employed to carry them into
execution. His partners indeed might know that a new kind of block or
book printing was intended, but yet be ignorant of the real purpose for
which the costly and still unfinished machines were meant; for it is
evident, judging from the depositions of Anthonie Heilmann, concerning
the _formen_, (‘frames or models’), and of others who speak of presses
(_pressen_) in the plural, that more than one had been planned. Unless
such knowledge had been imparted to them, and was further supported by
specimens of block Alphabets, school Grammars, and Vocabularies, it
is difficult, if not impossible, to understand how their faith in the
ultimate success of “_the wonderful art_,” could have been so long
sustained. Now, bearing in mind that three hundred and seventy years
later, it cost a practical printer and engineer, aided by other men’s
ideas, and by every facility which science could give for the quick and
accurate production of whatever his ingenuity designed,--no less than
seven years of labour, and an outlay on the part of his employers of
£16,000, before he achieved success in the first cylindrical printing
machine;[47] a machine which was merely required to print off sheets
more rapidly than could be done by the hand-press;--the marvel is, not
that Gutenberg’s invention cost him the time and labour and money it
did; but that in realizing his ideas, he perfected them so thoroughly,
that the principles of his hand-press have not to this day been
improved. Different adaptations of leverage power may have been tried
to produce the same effects, and different materials made use of in
the manufacture of the machinery, but the hand-press of to-day is
essentially the same as that with which the first Typographer printed
his first book. The greater therefore is the honor due to its inventor.
The annexed sketch represents a press in its completed form, with
tympans attached to the end of the carriage, and with the frisket
above the tympans. The tympans, inner and outer, are thin iron frames,
one fitting into the other, on each of which is stretched a skin of
parchment or a breadth of fine cloth. A woollen blanket or two with a
few sheets of paper are placed between these, the whole thus forming
a thin elastic pad, on which the sheet to be printed is laid. The
frisket is a slender frame-work, covered with coarse paper, on which an
impression is first taken; the whole of the printed part is then cut
out, leaving apertures exactly corresponding with the pages of type on
the carriage of the press. The frisket when folded on to the tympans,
and both turned down over the forme of types and run in under the
platten, preserves the sheet from contact with any thing but the inked
surface of the types, when the pull, which brings down the screw and
forces the platten to produce the impression, is made by the pressman
who works the lever,--to whom is facetiously given the title of “the
practitioner at the bar.”
[Illustration]
One of the consequences that ensued on the termination of the lawsuit
with the Dritzehens, was a stoppage of the progress of the invention.
Very probably Gutenberg, an impoverished if not a disappointed man,
felt compelled to lay his projects aside, and to devote himself, for
a time at least, to other and more remunerative pursuits. Nothing
more at any rate is heard of the partnership, or of types or presses,
until after his return to Mentz. And as printing was not practised at
Strasburg until after Mentelin set up a press there, this silence is
pretty conclusive as to the correctness of the surmise, that neither
Dritzehen nor Heilmann nor Riffe had been entrusted with the secret of
the separable types.
The inference which writers adverse to the claims of Gutenberg draw
from the silence in the evidence in regard to types or letters, is,
that he had not then invented them. But if the press was not designed,
and made, for taking impressions from types, for what else could it
have been invented? Gutenberg must have had types in his possession,
before he commenced experiments in connection with the press. Now
these experiments commenced some time before 1436; how long cannot be
ascertained; but it is clear that the original making of the types
must necessarily have preceded the first attempt at making a press.
But when once a small stock of metal letters had been engraved, (in
itself a work of years for a single individual,) and it was found that
they could not be availed of by what was then the ordinary method of
producing prints, further progress with them would be stopped, until
the press, which was to make them profitable, had been made.[48] The
mere making of the types, however tedious and time-eating a work, was,
as has already been shewn, by no means so wonderfully ingenious as some
have stated it to be.
A period of ten years now passed by. Gutenberg, true to his
convictions, resumed his typographic labours, and perfected “the
mightiest engine of human intellect--the great leveller of power--the
Demiurgus of the moral world--The Press.”[49]
The statement made by Wimpheling,[50] in his _Epitome Rerum
Germanicarum_, written in 1502, that in the year 1440 the art of
printing was invented by John Gutenberg in Strasburg, though afterwards
brought to perfection in Mentz, affords ground for believing that
between the year 1439 and the date of his leaving Strasburg, Gutenberg
actually printed a work or works in that city. It also gives colour to
the conjecture of M. Bernard[51] that a “Donatus, printed in characters
very closely resembling those of the Bible afterwards printed by
Gutenberg at Mayence, may _possibly_ have been printed by him at
Strasburg.” If M. Bernard be right in his conjecture, Mr. Humphreys is
of opinion, (p. 74,) “that it would tend to prove that the characters
used were of lead, as in the ‘Donatus’ in question the types show such
symptoms of spreading and blurring, as would be sufficient to deter a
man of Gutenberg’s taste and ambition from undertaking the printing of
a more important work.”
Other works may also have been printed, of which no trace remains, as
in the case of the _Tracts_ of Peter of Spain, alleged by Junius to
be one of the two works first printed at Mentz in the year 1442. Of
the other, the _Doctrinal_ of Alexander Gallus, there is a supposed
fragment preserved in the public Library at Treves, part of which is
figured by Wetter, in Tab. XII. of the fac-similes accompanying his
work;[52] but it is plainly the production of the printers of the
_Speculum Humanæ Salvationis_, whoever they were, and of whom more will
be said hereafter. The lines are irregular, the letters appearing to
be of wood, strung together with a thread, a practice known to have
been adopted by the first printers, and to which allusion is made by
Theodor Bibliander (1548), Heinrich Spiegel (1549-1612), and other
writers.
[Illustration]
Angelo Rocca, in the Appendix to the Account of the Vatican Library
printed at Rome in 1591, states, from personal knowledge, that “the
types used by the inventors of printing were perforated, and connected
together by a thread which was passed through them, of which he
remembered to have seen specimens at Venice.”[53] These perforations
were no doubt the origin of the ‘nicks’ in the shanks of the types,
which now enable compositors to place them in their proper positions,
without examining their faces. But the threading of the letters
by means of such perforations must have proved a great obstacle to
progress in printing, and the perforations must also have greatly
weakened the letters themselves. This will be at once understood from
the annexed figures, shewing the sides of the shanks of two types,
one perforated and the other nicked as at present. Obviously it was
a great improvement to nick the type instead of perforating it. The
object in view, that of keeping the letters in line, would be better
secured by laying a thin wire in and along the nicks, than by stringing
them together with a thread. Time in composing and correcting would
also be saved by the alteration. As soon however as Type-founding was
established as a scientific art, and types were made to adjust together
with mathematical accuracy, neither threads nor wires were longer
wanted; but the nicks still served as a useful aid to the compositor,
in the speedier execution of his work; while the type-founder, by
multiplying their number and varying their positions, enabled him at
once to distinguish the differently-faced founts of the same class of
types.
However occupied in the five years after 1439, Gutenberg’s means became
exhausted; and having been obliged, in order to extricate himself from
his difficulties, to part with a portion of his paternal property to
the Church of St. Thomas, he resolved to leave Strasburg and return to
Mentz, his native city. This he did about the year 1444, taking up his
residence in the ‘Zum Jungen,’ the house of his uncle on the Platz of
the Franciscans. Here, still busily engaged in the work to which he
had now exclusively devoted himself, he again ran out of funds, and
had to borrow 150 florins from Reinhart Brömser and Johan Rodenstein,
for which sum his kinsman, Arnulphus Gelthus, became security. His
first business transaction with John Fust or Faust, the banker and
money-lender, seems to have been in 1448, Faust’s name appearing as a
witness to a deed of purchase made by Gutenberg in that year.[54] Two
years later a contract was entered into between them, which from that
date has made their names inseparable in the annals of the origin of
Typography.
In the year 1450, Gutenberg, having already completed three, perhaps
four, small founts of type, as well as presses that fully answered his
expectations, designed a work, the magnitude of which necessitated a
large preliminary outlay. To enable him to execute his design, he had
recourse to Faust. Faust, having convinced himself of the worth of his
inventions, and the value of the project in contemplation, agreed to
“advance to John Gutenberg 800 florins in money, as a fixed sum, with
which he was to perform the work in question,” on condition “that the
utensils were to be considered as security to the said John Faust, and
that he (Gutenberg) was to give six florins per cent. interest for
these 800 florins.” With this money Gutenberg was bound “to prepare and
make utensils” to be employed for their joint use. Faust also agreed to
pay 300 florins annually “for expenses, as well as _for the wages of
servants, rent, firing, parchment, paper, ink, &c._” It was moreover
stipulated, “that if in future they should disagree, Gutenberg was to
give back to Faust his 800 florins, and that his utensils were then to
be released.”[55]
Supplied with funds, Gutenberg set actively to work. Several assistants
were at once engaged, and amongst the rest Peter Schœffer of
Gernszheim. Their principal occupation would be in connection with the
work for which Faust made the advance of 800 florins; but while that
was progressing, several small matters were printed, for which there
would be a steady though probably only a limited demand. The Abbot
Trithemius states, in his _Chronicon Hirsaugiense_, that “a vocabulary
called the _Catholicon_,”[56] was the first work printed, “with the
characters of the letters carved in wooden tablets in a series, and
composed in forms:--imprimis agitur characteribus litterarum in
tabulis lignis per ordinem scriptis formisque compositis.” Other
writers make mention of an Alphabet, engraved on a single page, and
two editions of Donatuses, also cut in solid blocks. These were most
likely brought by Gutenberg from Strasburg, and would be his earliest
efforts. But besides these, there were Donatuses in cut metal types,
and, as some consider, “An Appeal against the Turks,” and “Letters of
Indulgence,” printed in the years 1454 and 1455.[57] All these were
doubtless the ‘pot-boilers’ of the establishment for the time being.
At length the _magnum opus_,--the celebrated _Biblia Latina
Vulgata_,--made its appearance. This work is commonly known as the
“MAZARIN BIBLE,” from a copy having been discovered in the Bibliotheque
Mazarin at Paris, about the middle of the eighteenth century. It was
recognised by the book-seller and bibliopole De Bure, who gave a
minute description of it in the _Bibliographie Instructive_, (vol.
i. pp. 32-40.) There can hardly exist a doubt that this is the work
to which Ulric Zell refers in his account of the origin of Printing,
where he says--“And in the year M.CCCC.L. which was a jubilee, they
began to print; and the first book printed was the Bible in Latin.”[58]
Being without a date, the exact year of its publication cannot be
ascertained; but a copy exists in the Royal Library in Paris, printed
on paper, and bound in two volumes, on each of which is an entry,
stating the date when its binding and illuminating was completed: and
as the second entry gives the information that this was finished at
Mentz on the Feast of the Assumption, 1456,[59] the work itself could
not have been issued from the press later than the year preceding,
1455, which secures to it an unimpeached priority in the records of
bibliography.
Strange to say, the existence of this work was unknown until the
discovery of the Mazarin copy; since then about twenty copies have
been traced in various libraries, some on vellum, and some on paper:
twelve of these are now in England, and in every place where they
are deposited, they are justly considered the most precious of
bibliographical treasures. The type is of a large handsome Gothic
character, fine and square and sharp, imitative of the best manuscripts
of the time, the first letters of each chapter being painted in by
hand. The book consists of 637 leaves, with two columns each containing
forty-two lines printed upon each page.[60] It is beautifully executed,
and remarkable for the blackness and brilliancy of the ink made use of.
“It is a very striking circumstance,” says Mr. Hallam, “that the
high minded inventors of this great art, tried at the very outset so
bold a flight as the printing an entire Bible, and executed it with
astonishing success. It was Minerva leaping on earth in her divine
strength and radiant armour, ready at the moment of her nativity, to
subdue and destroy her enemies. The Mazarin Bible is printed, some
copies on vellum, some on paper of choice quality, with strong, black
and tolerably handsome characters, but with some want of uniformity,
which has led, perhaps unreasonably, to a doubt whether they were cast
in a matrix.[61] We may see in imagination this venerable and splendid
volume, leading up the crowded myriads of its followers, and imploring
as it were a blessing on the new art, by dedicating its first fruits to
heaven.”
Whatever may have been the precise date of the publication of this
Bible, it is evident that some short time before, a disagreement took
place between Faust and Gutenberg. The first advance of 800 florins
made by the former, not having sufficed for bringing out the work, a
second advance had been made to the same extent, and for five years
no interest had been paid. Principal and interest, or the forfeiture
of the security, were then demanded; and the demand enforced by an
action at law. Why Faust waited so long, and then, when the work was
all but ready for publication, made his demand, amounting in all to
2020 florins, it may not be difficult to determine as the narrative
proceeds.
Gutenberg did not appear in person at the final hearing of the case,
but empowered “the respectable Sieur Henry Gunther, late curate of
St. Christopher’s at Mentz, Henry Keffer, and Bertolff of Hanau, his
servant and domestic,” to hear and see what was done in the matter.
He did not deny the fact of the advances, but pleaded against the
demand for immediate payment,--“that it was well understood that he
was to complete the work with the money which he (Faust) had lent to
him upon his pledges, but that he considers he was not obliged to
employ these 800 florins in the making of books; and although it be
stated in the letter of agreement, that he was to give six per cent.
interest; nevertheless Joh. Faust promised that he would not ask him
for this interest; and, further, that these 800 florins were not paid
to him, according to the tenor of the agreement, all at one time, as he
pretends in the first article of his demand; and that with regard to
the last 800 florins he is willing to render an account. He (Gutenberg)
does not admit that he ought to pay either interest or usury, and he
hopes he will not be obliged to do so by the Court; all which has
appeared in the demand, the answer, the reply, the rejoinder, and in
various other written papers, &c.”
But the magistrates gave judgment against him in the following
terms:--“That when Joh. Gutenberg shall have rendered an account of
all his receipts, and of the sums expended by him for their joint
advantage, whatever further moneys he may have received, over and
above, shall be counted in the 800 florins; but that if it shall appear
by the account, that Faust has advanced to him any money beyond the
800 florins, which has not been employed for their joint advantage,
he (Gutenberg) shall repay it to him; and if Joh. Faust shall prove
by oath or other good evidence, that he borrowed the said money at
interest, and that he did not advance it out of his own funds, then
Joh. Gutenberg shall also pay to him the said interest, according to
the tenor of the letter of agreement.”
Whereupon the said Joh. Faust declared upon oath as follows: “I,
Joh. Faust, did borrow fifteen hundred and fifty florins which were
delivered to Joh. Gutenberg, and have been employed for our joint
advantage. I have been obliged annually to pay interest and usury for
the same, and I still owe a part; therefore I charge him, for each
hundred florins that I have borrowed, as is said above, six florins
annually for the money borrowed, which he has received, and which has
been employed upon our joint work, as appears in the account; I demand
of him the interest, according to the tenor of the judgment; and in
proof that such is the fact, I am willing to abide, as is just, by the
tenor of the judgment given upon the first count of the demand which I
have made against the said Joh. Gutenberg.”
This closed the proceedings, which were duly attested by Ulric
Helmasperger, clerk of the Bishopric of Bamberg, by Imperial authority
Notary Public, and sworn Notary of the Holy See at Mentz, on the sixth
day of November 1455. The persons present as witnesses were Pieter
Grantz, Joh. Kilsen, Joh. Knopff, Joh. Iseneckh, Jaques Faust, Burgher
of Mentz, and _Pieter Gernszheim_ and Joh. Bonne, Clerks of the city
and Bishopric of Mentz.
Gutenberg, not being able to meet the demand, the mortgage on the
materials was foreclosed, and Faust thus became possessor of types and
presses in his own right. These, with “the stock of partially complete
Bibles, were removed from Gutenberg’s residence, and taken to the
house of Faust in the Schuster Gasse, (Shoemaker’s street) which was
eventually styled ‘The Printing Office,’ as the house of Gutenberg had
previously been.”[62]
Before proceeding further it will be well to ascertain what there was
in the plant of the printing establishment at the Zum Jungen which
could occasion so great an outlay. We have already seen how much time
and money had been spent in the experiments at Strasburg. It is not
recorded how Gutenberg arranged with his partners there; but it may be
fairly assumed, that in 1444 he brought with him to Mentz his original
blocks, and types, as well as apparatus for setting up presses. The
making of new founts of type would therefore be his chief concern. If
the small works attributed to him by Fischer, Van Praet, and others,
really issued from his press, (and there is no reason to doubt the
fact,) three founts of type were already made, before the one for the
Latin Bible was commenced. Now supposing that these three founts
consisted of 10,000 letters in all, an equal number would, at least,
be required to complete four pages of the Bible; for the printing of
such a work could hardly have been begun with less type than would
suffice for two formes of two pages each. How then were these letters
made? The answer to this question is given in the statement of the
Abbot Trithemius, who says, that to the engraved letters on solid
blocks “succeeded a more ingenious invention, for they found out a way
of _stamping the shapes_ of every letter of the Latin alphabet in what
they called matrices, from which they afterwards _cast their letters_
in copper or tin, hard enough to be printed upon, _which they first
cut with their own hands_.”[63] This information was given to the
Abbot by Peter Schœffer of Gernszheim, one of Faust’s witnesses in the
lawsuit with Gutenberg, the same who invented the art of type-founding
as at present practised, and who moreover added, “that before the
third quaternion (twelve sheets) of the bible was completed, no less a
sum than 4000 florins had been expended.”[64] From this statement it
is clear that the matrices consisted of a number of small troughs of
uniform length, each one the size, in regard to depth and thickness,
of the shape of a letter; that these shapes were stamped into a
prepared mould of clay or plaster; that the fused metal was poured
into these matrices; and that a considerable number of small ingots,
or cast ‘blanks’ might thus be made at each pouring of the metal. The
accompanying diagram, in which the border represents the rim of the
mould, and the inside figures the matrices, renders further explanation
unnecessary. On one end of each of these cast ‘blanks,’ a letter would
be cut or engraved by hand, while the sides would be ‘dressed’ (with
perhaps a greater amount of labour,) in the same way as ordinary
type now-a-days. It is not at all unlikely that this method, called
by some the _fuso-sculpte_, may have been suggested by the goldsmith
John Dünne, the friend of Gutenberg at Strasburg; or if not, by Faust
himself.
[Illustration]