confirmed it by an oath. In the name of God. Amen. Be it known to all
who shall see this public document or hear it read, that, in the year
of our Lord 1455, on Thursday, the 6th of November, between eleven and
twelve at noon, at Mentz, in the large dining-hall _(refectorium)_ of
the convent of bare-footed friars, appeared before me, notary, and
the witnesses to be mentioned hereafter, the honorable and prudent
man Jacob Fust, citizen of Mentz, and has, in behalf of Johan Fust
his brother, also present, shewn, said and exposed, that to the said
Johan Fust on the one side and Johan Gutenberg on the other, should
be administered the oath, according to judgment passed on both the
parties, and for which this day and this hour had been fixed and
the hall of the convent assigned. In order that the friars of the
said convent, who were still assembled in the hall, should not be
disturbed, the said Jacob Fust did ask through his messenger, whether
Johan Gutenberg, or any one for him, were present in the convent,
in order to finish the matter. At this message came into the said
refectorium the reverend Heinrich Gunther, pastor of St. Christopher’s
at Mentz, Heinrich Keffer, and Bertolf von Hanau, a servant of Johan
Gutenberg, and when they had been asked by Johan Fust whether they
had been authorized by Johan Gutenberg, they answered that they had
been sent by Junker Johan Gutenberg to hear and see what should happen
in this case. Thereupon Johan Fust begged leave to conform to the
stipulations of the verdict, after he had waited for Johan Gutenberg
till twelve o’clock, and was still waiting for him. He reads the
sentence passed on the first article of his claim, from word to word,
with its pretension and response, which runs as follows: First, that
he, according to the written agreement, should lend Johan Gutenberg
about 800 florins in gold, _with which he was to finish the work, and
whether it would cost more or less was no matter to Fust_; and that
Johan Gutenberg was to pay six per cent. interest for this money.
He had indeed lent him these 800 guilders on a bond, but Gutenberg
was not satisfied, but complained that he had not yet received the
800 guilders. For that reason, Fust, being desirous of doing him
some service, lent him 800 guilders more than he was bound by his
contract to do, for which 800 guilders Fust had to pay forty guilders
as interest. And, although Gutenberg had bound himself by contract
to pay six per cent. interest on the first 800 guilders, yet he had
not done so for a single year, but Fust had to pay this interest
himself to the amount of 250 guilders. For, at present, Gutenberg
having never paid interest, and Fust having been obliged to borrow
this interest from Christians and Jews, for which he had paid about
thirty-six florins, his payments, together with the capital, [p427]
amount to about 2,020 guilders, of which he demands reimbursement.
Thereupon, Johan Gutenberg answered that Johan Fust had agreed to lend
him 800 guilders, _with which money he was to arrange and make his
tools_, and that these _tools_ should remain as security for Fust.
But Fust had moreover agreed to give him every year 300 guilders for
_expenses_, and to advance also _wages_, _house-rent_, VELLUM, PAPER,
INK, etc. If, afterward, they did not agree, Gutenberg should then pay
the 800 guilders back, and the tools should be free from mortgage; it
should be understood, that with the 800 guilders he had to make the
_machine_, which was to be a pledge. He hopes not [that any one shall
pretend] that he was obliged to spend these 800 guilders _on the work
of the books_ [_i. e._, on vellum, paper, etc.] And, although it is
said in the contract that Gutenberg was to pay six per cent. interest,
Fust had told him that he had no intention of accepting this interest
from him. Moreover, he had not received the 800 guilders in full and
at once according to agreement, as Fust had pretended in the first
article of his claim; and as for the second 800 guilders, he is ready
to give an account of them, but declines to give him interest or usury
for them, and hopes that he is not bound by law to pay them. We pass,
therefore, sentence according to pretension and response: When Johan
Gutenberg has submitted an account of all receipts and disbursements
spent _on the work to their common profit_ [_i. e._, printing], this
work shall be added to the 800 guilders; if he has spent more than the
800 guilders, which did not belong to their common profit, he should
pay it back; if Fust is able to prove, on oath or by witnesses, that
he has borrowed the money on interest, and did not lend it out of his
own resources, then Gutenberg is bound by contract to pay it.
Now, after this sentence had been read in presence of the aforesaid
witnesses, Johan Fust has, with raised fingers, in the hands of me,
public notary, taken the oath by all the saints, that everything was
comprised according to truth and sentence, in an act which he placed
in my hands. He confirmed it on oath, as truly as God and the saints
may help him; and the contents of this document were as follows:
I, Johan Fust, have borrowed 1,550 guilders, which have been received
by Johan Gutenberg, and spent on our common work, for which I have
paid an annual interest, and still owe a part of it. Therefore, I
count for every hundred guilders which I have borrowed in this way,
six guilders per annum; and for the money spent on our common work, I
demand the interest according to judgment passed.
The said Johan Fust demands from me, public notary, one or more public
acts of this matter, as many and as often as he should want them; and
all these matters recorded here, happened in the year, indiction, day,
hour, papacy, month, and town aforesaid, in the [p428] presence of
the honest men, Peter Grauss, Johan Kist, Johan Knoff, Johan Yseneck,
Jacob Fust, citizens of Mentz; Peter Gernsheim and Johan Bone, clerks
of the city and diocese of Mentz, asked and summoned as witnesses. And
I, Ulrich Helmasperger, clerk of the diocese of Bamberg, by imperial
authority, public clerk of the Holy See at Mentz, sworn notary, have
been present at all the aforesaid transactions and articles with the
witnesses mentioned. Therefore, being requested to do so, I have
signed with my hand, and sealed with my common seal, this public act,
written by another, as testimony and true record of all the aforesaid
matters.[267]
ULRICUS HELMASPERGER, _Notary_.
The suit brought by Fust was, apparently, a surprise, for it cannot
be supposed that Gutenberg would have been so completely unprepared
to meet his obligation if he had not been led to believe that Fust
would postpone the collection of his claim. The enforcement of this
claim before the book was published, or at least before money had been
derived from its sale—taken in connection with the facts that the delay
in the publication of the book, and Gutenberg’s inability to pay his
debt, were largely due to the delay of Fust in furnishing the money
as he had promised—seems to warrant the charge that Fust meditated
the despoilment of Gutenberg at the formation of the partnership.
Gutenberg’s defense before the court was very feeble: it is that of a
man who knew he had no hope of success. He did not appear in person,
but trusted his case to his workmen. Fust was more adroit; he was
voluble and positive, and his relative, Jacob Fust, was one of the
judges. But the fates were against Gutenberg: the hard terms of the
contract he had signed compelled an adverse decision.
[Illustration: John Gutenberg . . . From an Old Print in the National
Library at Paris.
[From Lacroix.]]
That Fust did Gutenberg a grievous wrong is very plain; that
Gutenberg had managed the business of the partnership with economy
and intelligence is not so clear. At no period of his life did the
great inventor show any talent for financial administration. He was
certainly deficient in many qualities that should be possessed by a
man of business, and Fust may have thought that he was fully justified
in placing his money [p429] interests in the hands of a more careful
manager. This, a copy of the oldest engraving known of Gutenberg,
presents him to us as a man of decided character, not to be cajoled
or managed by a partner in business. The thin curving lip and pointed
nose, the strongly marked lines on the forehead, the bold eyes and
arrogant bearing of the head reveal to us a man of genius [p430] and
of force, a man born to rule, impatient of restraint, and of inflexible
resolution. We have but to look at the portrait of Fust to see that he,
also, was accustomed to having his own way, and that he and Gutenberg
were not at all adapted to each other as partners.
But Fust would not have broken with Gutenberg if he had not been
prepared to put a competent successor in his place. In Peter Schœffer,
a young man twenty-six years old, who had been employed in the printing
office, Fust discerned an intelligent workman who gave promise of
ability as a manager. Schœffer, who then hoped to win the hand of
Fust’s daughter Christina, was, no doubt, more complaisant than the
irascible Gutenberg. As he was afterward married to her, it may be
thought that she approved his suit in its beginning, and that her
influence with her father was used to its utmost in favor of the
removal of Gutenberg and the advancement of Schœffer. It was fully
understood by the three conspirators that Gutenberg could make no
proper defense; it was determined that he should be expelled from his
place in the partnership and that Schœffer should succeed him in the
management of the printing office. When every thing had been arranged,
Gutenberg was summoned to appear before the court.
The plot was successful in all points. Fust won the suit almost without
a struggle: under the forms of law, he took possession of all the
materials made by Gutenberg for the common profit, and removed them
to his own house. With the types, presses and books went also many
of the skilled workmen, and Peter Schœffer was at their head. From
an equitable point of view, Fust was amply recompensed, He got the
printing office that he coveted, and, with it, the right to use the
newly discovered art of Gutenberg. It appears that he was content.
There is no evidence that he afterward made any attempt to collect
the claim which was, legally, unsatisfied even after the surrender of
Gutenberg’s printing materials and the printed books.
[p431]
XXII
The Later Work of Gutenberg.
Establishes a New Printing Office . . . Calendar of 1457 . . . Not
probable that the Bible of 36 lines was printed at this time . . .
Gutenberg Embarrassed by Debts . . . Letter of Indulgence of 1461,
with Fac-simile . . . Catholicon of 1460, with Fac-simile and Colophon
. . . Indifference of Gutenberg to Fame . . . Pamphlets attributed
to Gutenberg . . . Celebration of the Mass, with Fac-simile . . .
Mirror of the Clergy, with Fac-simile . . . The War between the Rival
Archbishops . . . The Siege and Sack of Mentz . . . Gutenberg’s Office
removed to Eltvill . . . Gutenberg made a Gentleman of Adolph’s
Court . . . End of Gutenberg’s Labors . . . His Death in 1468 . . .
Disposition of his Types . . . His Services not fully Appreciated
. . . True Nature of his Invention . . . His Merit acknowledged
by Writers of his Time . . . Tablets of Gelthus and Wittig . . .
Permanency of Gutenberg’s Invention.
* * * * *
Why should we talk about monuments of bronze or marble to commemorate
the services of Gutenberg? His is a monument which, more frail than
any other, will survive them all: it is the Book.
_Madden._
* * * * *
Gutenberg had been legally deprived of his printing office and of the
exclusive right to his great invention, but he was not left friendless
and utterly impoverished. Nor was his spirit broken by this great
calamity. The reflection that Fust was owner of the materials made
for printing the _Bible of 42 lines_, and was about to enjoy all the
emoluments of the new art, aroused Gutenberg to rivalry. He was nearly
sixty years of age, but he was vigorous in mind, if not in body, and
evidently retained all his old power of persuasion. When he determined
to found a new printing office, he found helpers: Conrad Humery, a
physician, and also clerk of the town of Mentz, provided him with the
means, and some of his old workmen came over to join his fortunes.
Gutenberg had some materials toward the equipment of a new office.
Fust’s mortgage covered only the materials [p432] made with Fust’s
money for the common profit; it did not cover the large types on
Double-pica body, which were used upon the _Bible of 36 lines_, and
other materials which might have been made in Strasburg. As these types
were subsequently used in several little books which may be attributed
to Gutenberg, we may conclude that he retained the punches and matrices
in his own possession.
We have indirect evidence that the new printing office of Gutenberg
was in operation at the close of the year 1456. With the types of
Double-pica body he printed on one side of the paper, obviously made to
be pasted on a wall, a broad-side, now known as the _Calendar of 1457_.
Of this curious document, only the half of a copy has been found—a
fragment which contains the festivals and notable days for six months.
It is fairly printed in black ink on coarse paper.
It is the belief of several historians that Gutenberg, hot with anger
at the bad faith of Fust, in wresting from him the honor of printing
the first _Bible_, immediately undertook in his new office to publish a
rival edition of the same book, or the edition herein described as the
_Bible of 36 lines_. The annotation in one copy of the book of the year
1459, which is supposed to be the date of publication, accords with
the conjecture that the book begun in 1456 could have been finished in
three years. But there is no evidence that it was begun in 1456, while
there are many indications that it was done or should have been done
in 1450. Gutenberg had earned fame as a printer[268] in 1458, but no
writer of that time has said that he was then at work on the _Bible of
36 lines_. [p433]
We have evidence, also, that he was embarrassed by his debts. After
the year 1457 he was unable to pay the four pounds annually to the
chapter of St. Thomas at Strasburg, as he had agreed to do in 1442. The
chapter summoned him to appear before a court at Rottweil in Suabia,
in 1461, but to no purpose, for he was unable to satisfy this debt.
His printing materials were owned by Conrad Humery, and not liable to
seizure. It is by no means clearly established that he was, even then,
carrying on business in his own name. Helbig thinks it was the fear
of legal proceedings, if he had made himself very conspicuous, that
prevented him from putting his name on his books. This omission has
made it difficult to specify the books and pamphlets which are supposed
to have been printed by him about this time.
[Illustration: Fac-simile of the Types of the Letter of Indulgence of
1461.
[From Bernard.]]
One of these works is _The Letter of Indulgence of 1461_, an indulgence
granted by Pope Pius II to all who should contribute to the restoration
of a church at Neuhausen. It is printed in a new face of type, which
should have been made before 1460. The types of this indulgence
resemble those of the _Letters of Indulgence_ of _30 lines_ and of _31
lines_, but they were cast from different matrices and in a different
[p434] mould. They seem to be the production of an incompetent
punch-cutter; the letters were rudely cut, the matrices were not
properly fitted up, and the types do not line. The presswork, upon new
types, is good.
In the same face of type, but upon a body a little larger, Gutenberg
printed the _Catholicon[269] of 1460_, a great folio of 748 pages
of double columns, with 66 lines to each column. In some copies of
the _Catholicon_, the summary of contents is printed in red ink, and
ornamented with an engraving which fills one side of the first page.
The composition is as rude as that of the _Bibles_; the right side
of each column is always ragged from careless spacing. The colophon
annexed states that the book was printed at Mentz in 1460, but it
does not give the name[270] of the printer. The silence of Gutenberg
concerning his services is remarkable, all the more so, when this
silence is contrasted with the silly chatterings of several printers
during the last quarter of the fifteenth century,—of whom Peter
Schœffer may be considered as the first, and Trechsel of Lyons the
last,—each insisting that he, whatever others might have done before
him, was the true perfecter of printing. There is no other instance in
modern history, excepting possibly that of Shakespere, of a man who
did so much and who said so little about it. This colophon is the only
passage in this book, and, indeed, in any of his works, which can be
attributed to Gutenberg: [p435]
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 Incarnation 1460, in the beloved city of
Mentz (which belongs to the illustrious German nation, and which God
has consented to prefer and to raise with such an exalted light of the
mind and of free grace, above the other nations of the earth), not
by means of pen, or pencil, or stencil plate, but by the admirable
proportion, harmony and connection of the punches and matrices.[271]
Wherefore to thee, Divine Father, Son and Holy Ghost, triune and only
God, let praise and honor be given, and let those who never forget to
praise [the Virgin] Mary, join also through this book in the universal
anthem of the Church. God be praised. [p436]
[Illustration: Fac-simile of the Types of the Catholicon of 1460.
[From Bernard.]]
The dignified and reverential language of this colophon, so unlike
the vainglorious imprints of Fust and Schœffer and the commonplace
subscriptions of Pfister, is almost enough of itself to show that
the printer of the _Catholicon_ was John Gutenberg. That he should
attribute the invention to the assistance and favor of the Almighty,
might be expected from a man thoroughly imbued with religious
sentiment, but why Gutenberg should, in this and in all other books,
neglect to mention himself as the man through whom the invention was
accomplished is an irregularity which cannot be explained. This neglect
is strange, for Fust and Schœffer had boasted, in an imprint to the
_Psalter of 1457_, of their skill as printers.
Five little pamphlets with texts in a new face of Round Gothic on
English body, and with chapter headings in types resembling the text
types of the _Bible of 42 lines_, have been attributed to Gutenberg.
They are: _A Treatise on the Celebration of the Mass_,[272] a book
of 30 leaves; _A Calendar_, or _An Almanac_ for 1460, in Latin, a
quarto of 6 leaves; _The Mirror of the Clergy_, by Hermann of Saldis,
“happily perfected and printed at Mentz,” a quarto of 16 leaves; _A
Treatise on the Necessity of Councils_, etc., a quarto of 24 leaves;
_A Dialogue between Cato, Hugo and Oliver about Ecclesiastical
Liberty_, [p437] a quarto of 20 leaves.[273] It is possible, but not
certain, that Gutenberg printed these books. _A Treatise on Reason
and Conscience_,[274] by Matthew of Cracow, a small quarto of 22
leaves, and _A Summary of the Articles of Faith_, by Thomas Aquinas, a
quarto of 12 leaves, printed in the types of the _Catholicon_, may be
confidently accepted as the work of Gutenberg. But one copy or fragment
of some of these works is known. Gutenberg may have printed many other
works which have been destroyed and forgotten.[275]
[Illustration: Fac-simile of the Types of the Treatise on the
Celebration of the Mass.
[From Fischer.]]
The existing copies or fragments of pamphlets and books printed before
1462 are enough to prove that printing met [p438] with a qualified
degree of appreciation. Gutenberg and Fust must have given employment
to many presses and workmen: there was a demand for printed work of all
kinds from almanacs to dictionaries, and the printers had reason to
believe that they would be amply rewarded for their labor. Their hopes
were destroyed by the sack of Mentz in 1462.
[Illustration: Fac-simile of the Types of The Mirror of the Clergy.
[From Bernard.]]
The city of Mentz then held the first place in the league of the free
cities of the Rhine, but her prosperity[276] was declining. Unceasing
civil strifes had driven away the more feeble part of her population.
In 1461, it was the wreck of its earlier greatness: it had but 50,000
inhabitants and was burdened with debt. Diether, Count of Isenburg, was
then archbishop and elector of the city, by the consent of the majority
of the inhabitants; but the rival archbishop, Adolph II, Count of
Nassau, supported by Pope Pius II, claimed the archbishopric, and made
war upon Diether. The consequences of the war, which nearly ruined the
city, are forcibly stated by Schaab. [p439]
This enmity between two archbishops was the cause of one of the most
terrible days to the town of Mentz. It was the 28th of October,
1462, the day on which Christianity celebrated the anniversary of
the apostles Simon and Judas. Mentz had remained faithful to the
archbishop Diether. Adolph therefore tried to conquer it by stratagem
and treason. Traitors were gained over in the town, who entailed upon
a half thousand of their fellow-citizens death, and endless misery
on many more. By the treachery of some wicked persons the town was
assaulted during the night between the 27th and 28th of October, 1462,
by the followers of Adolph; its noblest citizens were murdered, the
most of them robbed of their possessions, and driven from the town.
All kinds of mischief were committed toward those who remained behind.
Neither age, rank, nor sex was exempted. The booty was sold publicly
in the cattle-market, and the money divided between the soldiers.[277]
Of the expelled citizens only a few gradually returned in secret to
their relations. But the town, so populous before, remained empty, and
all industry was destroyed. The elector Adolph II found it necessary,
on the Saturday after St. Thomas’s day of the same year, to issue a
proclamation whereby he promised to all who wished to trade or to
exercise a profession in Mentz, protection for their persons and
possessions, to induce a few to return. A town, a short time before
flourishing with commerce and industry, had been robbed in a few days
of its privileges and utterly destroyed.[278]
In the general sack of the city, the house of Fust was burned, and his
printing materials were destroyed. During the three years that followed
no books of value were printed in Mentz. We do not know how Gutenberg
was affected: we find no authoritative statement that his printing
office was destroyed; it is not even certain that his office was then
in the city of Mentz. In the year 1466, the printing office which
contained his types was in active operation at Eltvill, a village not
far from the city. As this was the place where Gutenberg’s mother was
born, and where she had an estate, it is probable that Gutenberg found
some advantage in making it his residence, soon after his separation
from Fust. Eltvill was also [p440] the place which Adolph II had
selected for his residence before he made his attack on Diether. It
may be presumed that Eltvill was the place where Adolph first knew of
Gutenberg and his works.
In 1465, Adolph II made Gutenberg one of the gentlemen of his court for
“agreeable and voluntary service rendered to us and our bishopric.”
The nature of the service is not defined. Gutenberg was certainly not
a soldier. His German biographers do not believe that, as diplomatist
or politician, he had favored the cause of the destroyer of the
liberties of his native city. Helbig thinks the words used are purely
conventional, and that this distinction was conferred on Gutenberg
because he was connected with the old nobility of the city. It is a
more common and a more reasonable belief that Adolph recognized, to
some extent, the utility of Gutenberg’s invention, and took this method
to honor the inventor.
WE, Adolph, elected and confirmed archbishop of Mentz, acknowledge
that we have considered the agreeable and voluntary service which
our dear and faithful Johan Gutenberg has rendered to us and our
bishopric, and have appointed and accepted him as our servant and
courtier. Nor shall we remove him from our service as long as he
lives; and in order that he may enjoy it the more, we will clothe
him every year, when we clothe our ordinary suite (_unsern gemeinen
hoffgesind_), always like our noblemen, and give him our court dress;
also every year twenty mout of corn and two voer of wine for the use
of his house, free of duty, as long as he lives, but on condition that
he shall not sell it or give it away. Which has been promised us in
good faith by Johan Gutenberg. Eltvill, Thursday after St. Antony,
1465.[279] [p441]
The man who had invented an art which promised to renew the literature
of the world, who had printed two great _Bibles_, a _Latin Dictionary_,
and many minor works relating to religion, had surely rendered service
to the first ecclesiastical dignitary of Germany.
Here Gutenberg’s work ends. If not disqualified by the infirmities
of age from the management of his printing office, his position as
courtier must have compelled his attendance at the court of the
archbishop. Possibly, the rules of the court required Gutenberg to
withdraw from business. Whatever the reason, we see that the printing
office at Eltvill passed into the hands of his relatives by marriage,
the brothers Henry and Nicholas Bechtermüntz. It does not appear that
these men had been formally instructed as printers in Mentz. As they
acquired no rights of proprietorship in this office, as they were men
of middle age, rich, of noble birth and of high civic position, it may
be supposed that they took charge of the office to oblige Gutenberg and
the archbishop, and, perhaps, from a pure love of the new art.
In the year 1467, this printing office at Eltvill produced a book now
known as the _Vocabularium ex quo_, called so because these first words
of the work serve to distinguish it from other vocabularies. It is an
abbreviation of the _Catholicon_, and for that reason is described in
the colophon as an _opusculum_, or a little work; but it is a heavy
quarto of 330 pages. It is printed with the types of the _Catholicon_,
and shows the same peculiarities of composition. The colophon says that
“this little book was made, not by reed, nor pen, nor stencil plate,
but by a certain new and subtile invention . . . by Henry Bechtermüntz,
of blessed memory.[280] . . . Nicholas Bechtermüntz, and Wygand Spyess
of Orthenburg.”[281]