"Look, Grandfather; see what the letters have done!" exclaimed a
delighted boy, as he picked up the piece of parchment in which
Grandfather Coster had carried the bark letters cut from the trees in
the grove, for the instruction and amusement of his little grandsons.
"See what the letters have done!" echoed the old man. "Bless me, what
does the child mean?" and his eyes twinkled with pleasure, as he noted
the astonishment and pleasure visible on the little face. "Let me see
what it is that pleases thee so, Laurence," and he eagerly took the
parchment from the boy's hand.
"Bless my soul!" cried the old man, after gazing spellbound upon it for
some seconds. The track of the mysterious footprint in the sand excited
no more surprise in the mind of Robinson Crusoe than Grandfather Coster
felt at the sight which met his eyes. There, distinctly impressed upon
the parchment, was a clear imprint of the bark letters; though, of
course, they were reversed or turned about.
But you twentieth-century young folks who have your fill of story
books, picture books, and reading matter of all kinds, are wondering,
perhaps, what all this talk about bark letters and parchment and
imprint of letters means.
To understand it, you must carry your imagination away back more than
five centuries--quite a long journey of the mind, even for
"grown-ups"--to a time when there were no printed books, and when very,
very few of the rich and noble, and scarcely any of the so-called
common people, could read. In those far-off days there were no public
libraries, and no books except rare and expensive volumes, written by
hand, mainly by monks in their quiet monasteries, on parchment or
vellum.
In the quaint, drowsy, picturesque town of Haarlem, in Holland, with
its narrow, irregular, grass-grown streets and many-gabled houses, the
projecting upper stories of which almost meet, one particular house,
which seems even older than any of the others, is pointed out to
visitors as one of the most interesting sights of the ancient place. It
was in this house that Laurence Coster, the father of the art of
printing, the man--at least so runs the legend--who made it possible
for the poorest and humblest to enjoy the inestimable luxury of books
and reading, lived and loved and dreamed more than five hundred years
ago.
Coster was warden of the little church which stood near his home, and
his days flowed peacefully on, in a quiet, uneventful way, occupied
with the duties of his office, and reading and study, for he was one of
those who had mastered the art of reading. A diligent student, he had
conned over and over, until he knew them by heart, the few manuscript
volumes owned by the little church of which he was warden.
A lover of solitude, as well as student and dreamer, the church
warden's favorite resort, when his duties left him at leisure, was a
dense grove not far from the town. Thither he went when he wished to be
free from all distraction, to think and dream over many things which
would appear nonsensical to his sober, practical-minded neighbors.
There he indulged in day dreams and poetic fancies; and once, when in a
sentimental mood, he carved the initials of the lady of his love on one
of the trees.
In time a fair young wife and children came, bringing new brightness
and joy to the serious-minded warden. With ever increasing interests,
he passed on from youth to middle life, and from middle life to old
age. Then his son married, and again the patter of little feet filled
the old home and made music in the ears of Grandfather Coster, whom the
baby grandchildren almost worshiped.
To amuse the children, and to impart to them whatever knowledge he
himself possessed, became the delight of his old age. Then the habit
acquired in youth of carving letters in the bark of the trees served a
very useful purpose in furthering his object. He still loved to take
solitary walks, and many a quiet summer afternoon the familiar figure
of the venerable churchwarden, in his seedy black cloak and sugar-loaf
hat, might be seen wending its way along the banks of the River Spaaren
to his favorite resort in the grove.
One day, while reclining on a mossy couch beneath a spreading beech
tree, amusing himself by tearing strips of bark from the tree that
shaded him, and carving letters with his knife, a happy thought entered
his mind. "Why can I not," he mused within himself, "cut those letters
out, carry them home, and, while using them as playthings, teach the
little ones how to read?"
The plan worked admirably. Long practice had made the old man quite
expert in fashioning the letters, and many hours of quiet happiness
were spent in the grove in this pleasing occupation. One afternoon he
succeeded in cutting some unusually fine specimens, and, chuckling to
himself over the delight they would give the children, he wrapped them
carefully, placing them side by side in an old piece of parchment which
he happened to have in his pocket. The bark from which they had been
cut being fresh and full of sap, and the letters being firmly pressed
upon the parchment, the result was the series of "pictures" which
delighted the child and gave to the world the first suggestion of a
printing press.
And then a mighty thought flashed across the brain of the poor, humble,
unknown churchwarden, a thought the realization of which was destined
not only to make him famous for all time, but to revolutionize the
whole world. The first dim suggestion came to him in this form, "By
having a series of letters and impressing them over and over again on
parchment, cannot books be printed instead of written, and so
multiplied and cheapened as to be brought within the reach of all?"
The remainder of his life was given up to developing this great idea.
He cut more letters from bark, and, covering the smooth surface with
ink, pressed them upon parchment, thus getting a better impression,
though still blurred and imperfect. He then cut letters from wood
instead of bark, and managed to invent himself a better and thicker
ink, which did not blur the page. Next, he cut letters from lead, and
then from pewter. Every hour was absorbed in the work of making
possible the art of printing. His simple-minded neighbors thought he
had lost his mind, and some of the more superstitious spread the report
that he was a sorcerer. But, like all other great discoverers, he
heeded not annoyances or discouragements. Shutting himself away from
the prying curiosity of the ignorant and superstitious, he plodded on,
making steady, if slow, advance toward the realization of his dream.
"One day, while old Coster was thus busily at work," says George
Makepeace Towle, "a sturdy German youth, with a knapsack slung across
his back, trudged into Haarlem. By some chance this youth happened to
hear how the churchwarden was at work upon a wild scheme to print books
instead of writing them. With beating heart, the young man repaired to
Coster's house and made all haste to knock at the churchwarden's humble
door."
The "sturdy German youth" who knocked at Laurence Coster's door was
Johann Gutenberg, the inventor of modern printing. Coster invited him
to enter. Gutenberg accepted the invitation, and then stated the object
of his visit. He desired to learn more about the work on which Coster
was engaged. Delighted to have a visitor who was honestly interested in
his work, the old man eagerly explained its details to the youth, and
showed him some examples of his printing.
Gutenberg was much impressed by what he saw, but still more by the
possibilities which he dimly foresaw in Coster's discovery. "But we can
do much better than this," he said with the enthusiasm of youth. "Your
printing is even slower than the writing of the monks. From this day
forth I will work upon this problem, and not rest till I have solved
it."
Johann Gutenberg kept his word. He never rested until he had given the
art of printing to the world. But to Laurence Coster, in the first
place, if legend speaks truth, we owe one of the greatest inventions
that has ever blessed mankind.