Chapter II: Progress of Wood Engraving (4)

As it is undoubted that the cuts of all the editions have been printed separately from the text, it has been objected that Mr. Ottley’s examination has only ascertained the order in which the cuts have been printed, but by no means decided the priority of the editions of the entire book. All the cuts, it has been objected, might have been taken by the engraver before the text was printed in a single edition, and it might thus happen that the book first printed with text might contain the last, and consequently the most imperfect cuts. This exception, which is founded on a very improbable presumption, will be best answered by the following facts established on a comparison of the two Latin, and which, I believe, have not been previously noticed:--On closely comparing those pages which are printed with moveable types in the true second edition with the corresponding pages in that edition which is properly the first, it was evident from the different spelling of many of the words, and the different length of the lines, that they had been printed at different times: but on comparing, however, those pages which are printed in the second edition from engraved wood-blocks with the corresponding pages, from moveable type, in the first edition, I found the spelling and the length of the lines to be the same. The page printed from the wood-block was, in short, a fac-simile of the corresponding page printed from moveable types. So completely did they correspond, that I have no doubt that an impression of the page printed from moveable types had been “transferred,”[II-82] as engravers say, to the block. In the last cut[II-83] of the first edition I noticed a scroll which was quite black, as if meant to contain an inscription which the artist had neglected to engrave; and in the second edition I perceived that the black was cut away, thus having the part intended for the inscription white. Another proof, in addition to those adduced by Mr. Ottley of that Latin edition being truly the first in which the whole of the text is printed from moveable types.

[Footnote II-82: Wood-engravers of the present day are accustomed
to transfer an old impression from a cut or a page of letter-press
to a block in the following manner. They first moisten the back of
the paper on which the cut or letter-press is printed with a
mixture of concentrated potash and essence of lavender in equal
quantities, which causes the ink to separate readily from the
paper; next, when the paper is nearly dry, the cut or page is
placed above a prepared block, and by moderate pressure the ink
comes off from the paper, and leaves an impression upon the wood.]

[Footnote II-83: The subject is Daniel explaining to Belshazzar
the writing on the wall.]

Though there can no longer be a doubt in the mind of any impartial person of that Latin edition, in which part of the text is printed from engraved wood-blocks, and the rest from moveable types, being later than the other; yet the establishment of this fact suggests a question, as to the cause of part of the text of this second Latin edition being printed from wood-blocks, which cannot perhaps be very satisfactorily answered. All writers previous to Mr. Ottley, who had noticed that the text was printed partly from moveable types and partly from wood-blocks, decided, without hesitation, that this edition was the first; and each, accordingly as he espoused the cause of Gutemberg or Coster, proceeded to theorise on this assumed fact. As their arguments were founded in error, it cannot be a matter of surprise that their conclusions should be inconsistent with truth. The fact of this edition being subsequent to that in which the text is printed wholly from moveable types has been questioned on two grounds: 1st. The improbability that the person who had printed the text of a former edition entirely from moveable types should in a later edition have recourse to the more tedious operation of engraving part of the text on wood-blocks. 2d. Supposing that the owner of the cuts had determined in a later edition to engrave the text on blocks of wood, it is difficult to conceive what could be his reason for abandoning his plan, after twenty pages of the text were engraved, and printing the remainder with moveable types.

Before attempting to answer those objections, I think it necessary to observe that the existence of a positive fact can never be affected by any arguments which are grounded on the difficulty of accounting for it. Objections, however specious, can never alter the immutable character of truth, though they may affect opinions, and excite doubts in the minds of persons who have not an opportunity of examining and judging for themselves.

With respect to the first objection, it is to be remembered that in all the editions, the text, whether from wood-blocks or moveable types, has been printed separately from the cuts; consequently the cuts of the first edition might be printed by a wood-engraver, and the text set up and printed by another person who possessed moveable types. The engraver of the cuts might not be possessed of any moveable types when the text of the first edition was printed; and, as it is a well-known fact that wood-engravers continued to execute entire pages of text for upwards of thirty years after the establishment of printing with moveable types, it is not unlikely that he might attempt to engrave the text of a second edition and print the book solely for his own advantage. This supposition is to a certain extent corroborated by the fact of the twenty pages of engraved text in the second Latin edition being fac-similes of the twenty corresponding pages of text from moveable types in the first.

To the second objection every day’s experience suggests a ready answer; for scarcely anything is more common than for a person to attempt a work which he finds it difficult to complete, and, after making some progress in it, to require the aid of a kindred art, and abandon his original plan.

As the first edition of the Speculum was printed subsequent to the discovery of the art of printing with moveable types, and as it was probably printed in the Low Countries, where the typographic art was first introduced about 1472, I can discover no reason for believing that the work was executed before that period. Santander, who was so well acquainted with the progress of typography in Belgium and Holland, is of opinion that the Speculum is not of an earlier date than 1480. In 1483 John Veldener printed at Culemburg a quarto edition of the Speculum, in which the cuts are the same as in the earlier folios. In order to adapt the cuts to this smaller edition Veldener had sawn each block in two, through the centre pillar which forms a separation between the two compartments in each of the original engravings. Veldener’s quarto edition, which has the text printed on both sides of the paper from moveable types, contains twelve more cuts than the older editions, but designed and executed in the same style.[II-84] If Lawrence Coster had been the inventor of printing with moveable types, and if any one folio edition of the Speculum had been executed by him, we cannot suppose that Veldener, who was himself a wood-engraver, as well as a printer, would have been ignorant of those facts. He, however, printed two editions of the Fasciculus Temporum,--one at Louvain in 1476, and the other at Utrecht in 1480,--a work which contains a short notice of the art of printing being discovered at Mentz, but not a syllable concerning its discovery at Harlem by Lawrence Coster. The researches of Coster’s advocates have clearly established one important fact, though an unfortunate one for their argument; namely, that the Custos or Warden of St. Bavon’s was not known as a printer to one of his contemporaries. The citizens of Harlem, however, have still something to console themselves with: though Coster may not be the inventor of printing, there can be little doubt of Junius, or his editor, being the discoverer of Coster,--

“Est quoddam prodire tenus, si non datur ultra.”

[Footnote II-84: Heineken gives an account of those twelve
additional cuts at page 463 of his Idée Générale. It appears that
Veldener also published in the same year another edition of the
Speculum, also in quarto, containing the same cuts as the older
folios, but without the twelve above mentioned.]

There is in the Print Room of the British Museum a small volume of wood-cuts, which has not hitherto been described by any bibliographer, nor by any writer who has treated on the origin and progress of wood engraving. It appears to have been unknown to Heineken, Breitkopf, Von Murr, and Meerman; and it is not mentioned, that I am aware of, either by Dr. Dibdin or Mr. Douce, although it certainly was submitted to the inspection of the latter. It formerly belonged to the late Sir George Beaumont, by whom it was bequeathed to the Museum; but where he obtained it I have not been able to learn. It consists of an alphabet of large capital letters, formed of figures arranged in various attitudes; and from the general character of the designs, the style of the engraving, and the kind of paper on which the impressions have been taken, it evidently belongs to the same period as the Poor Preachers’ Bible. There is only one cut on each leaf, the back being left blank as in most of the block-books, and the impressions have been taken by means of friction. The paper at the back of each cut has a shining appearance when held towards the light, in consequence of the rubbing which it has received; and in some it appears as if it had been blacked with charcoal, in the same manner that some parts of the cartoons were blacked which have been pricked through by the tapestry worker. The ink is merely a distemper or water-colour, which will partly wash out by the application of hot water, and its colour is a kind of sepia. Each leaf, which is about six inches high, by three and six-eighths wide, consists of a separate piece of paper, and is pasted, at the inner margin, on to a slip either of paper or parchment, through which the stitching of the cover passes. Whether the paper has been cut in this manner before or after that the impressions were taken, I am unable to determine.[II-85]

[Footnote II-85: The following is a reduced copy of the
paper-mark, which appears to be a kind of anchor with a small
cross springing from a ball or knob at the junction of the arms
with the shank. It bears a considerable degree of resemblance to
the mark given at page 62, from an edition of the Apocalypse. An
anchor is to be found as a paper-mark in editions of the
Apocalypse, and of the Poor Preachers’ Bible. According to
Santander, a similar paper-mark is to be found in books printed at
Cologne, Louvain, and Utrecht, from about 1470 to 1480.
]

The greater part of the letter A is torn out, and in that which remains there are pin-marks, as if it had been traced by being pricked through. The letters S, T, and V are also wanting. The following is a brief description of the letters which remain. The letter B is composed of five figures, one with a pipe and tabor, another who supports him, a dwarf, an old man kneeling, and an old woman with a staff. C, a youthful figure rending open the jaws of a lion, with two grotesque heads like those of satyrs. D, a man on horseback, and a monk astride on a fiendish-looking monster. E, two grotesque heads, a figure holding the horn of one of them, and another figure stretching out a piece of cloth. F, a tall figure blowing a trumpet, and a youth beating a tabor, with an animal like a dog at their feet.[II-86] G, David with Goliath’s head, and a figure stooping, who appears to kiss a flagellum. H, a figure opening the jaws of a dragon. I, a tall man embracing a woman. K, a female with a wreath, a youth kneeling, an old man on his knees, and a young man with his heels uppermost. [Engraved as a specimen at page 109.] L, a man with a long sword, as if about to pierce a figure reclining. [Engraved as a specimen at page 110.] M, two figures, each mounted on a kind of monster; between them, an old man. N, a man with a sword, another mounted on the tail of a fish. O, formed of four grotesque heads. P, two figures with clubs. Q, formed of three grotesque heads, similar to those in O. R, a tall, upright figure, another with something like a club in his hand; a third, with his heels up, blowing a horn. X, composed of four figures, one of which has two bells, and another has one; on the shoulder of the upper figure to the right a squirrel may be perceived. Y, a figure with something like a hairy skin on his shoulder; another thrusting a sword through the head of an animal. Z, three figures; an old man about to draw a dagger, a youth lying down, and another who appears as if flying. [Engraved as a specimen at page 111.] The last cut is the ornamental flower, of which a copy is given at page 113.

[Footnote II-86: The initial F, at the commencement of this
chapter, is a reduced copy of the letter here described.]

In the same case with those interesting, and probably unique specimens of early wood engraving, there is a letter relating to them, dated 27th May, 1819, from Mr. Samuel Lysons to Sir George Beaumont, from which the following is an extract: “I return herewith your curious volume of ancient cuts. I showed it yesterday to Mr. Douce, who agrees with me that it is a great curiosity. He thinks that the blocks were executed at Harlem, and are some of the earliest productions of that place. He has in his possession most of the letters executed in copper, but very inferior to the original cuts. Before you return from the Continent I shall probably be able to ascertain something further respecting them.” What might be Mr. Douce’s reasons for supposing that those cuts were executed at Harlem I cannot tell; though I am inclined to think that he had no better foundation for his opinion than his faith in Junius, Meerman, and other advocates of Lawrence Coster, who unhesitatingly ascribe every early block-book to the spurious “Officina Laurentiana.”

In the manuscript catalogue in the Print Room of the British Museum the volume is thus described by Mr. Ottley: “Alphabet of initial letters composed of grotesque figures, wood engravings of the middle of the fifteenth century, apparently the work of a Dutch or Flemish artist; the impressions taken off by friction in the manner of the early block-books. . . . I perceive the word ‘_London_’ in small characters written upon the blade of a sword in one of the cuts, [the letter L,] and I suspect they were engraved in England.”

As to whether these cuts were engraved in England or no I shall not venture to give an opinion. I am, however, satisfied that they were neither designed nor engraved by the artists who designed and engraved the cuts in the Apocalypse, the History of the Virgin, and the Poor Preachers’ Bible. With respect to drawing, expression, and engraving, the cuts of the Alphabet are decidedly superior to those of every block-book, and generally to all wood engravings executed previous to 1500, with the exception of such as are by Albert Durer, and those contained in the Hypnerotomachia, an Italian rhapsody, with wood-cuts supposed to have been designed by Raffaele or Andrea Mantegna, and printed by Aldus at Venice, 1499. Although the cuts of the Alphabet may not have been engraved in England, it is, however, certain that the volume had been at rather an early period in the possession of an Englishman. The cover consists of a double fold of thick parchment, on the inside of which, between the folds, there is written in large old English characters what I take to be the name “Edwardus Lowes.” On the blank side of the last leaf there is a sketch of a letter commencing “Right reverent and wershipfull masters and frynds; In the moste loweliste maner that I canne or may, I here recomende me, duely glade to her of yor good prosperitye and welth.” The writing, as I have been informed, is of the period of Henry VIII; and on the slips of paper and parchment to which the inner margins of the leaves are pasted are portions of English manuscripts, which are probably of the same date. There can, however, be little doubt that the leaves have been mounted, and the volume covered, about a hundred years subsequent to the engraving of the cuts.

I agree with Mr. Ottley in thinking that those cuts were engraved about the middle of the fifteenth century, but I can perceive nothing in them to induce me to suppose they were the work of a Dutch artist; and I am as little inclined to ascribe them to a German. The style of the drawing is not unlike what we see in illuminated French manuscripts of the middle of the fifteenth century; and as the only two engraved words which occur in the volume are French, I am rather inclined to suppose that the artist who made the drawings was a native of France. The costume of the female to whom the words are addressed appears to be French; and the action of the lover kneeling seems almost characteristic of that nation. No Dutchman certainly ever addressed his mistress with such an air. He holds what appears to be a ring as gracefully as a modern Frenchman holds a snuff-box, and upon the scroll before him are engraved a heart, and the words which he may be supposed to utter, “_Mon Ame_.” At page 109, is a fac-simile of the cut referred to, the letter K, of the size of the original, and printed in the same kind of colour.

Upon the sword-blade in the original cut of the following letter, L, there is written in small characters, as Mr. Ottley has observed, the word “_London_;” and in the white space on the right, or upper side, of the figure lying down, there appears written in the same hand the name “_Bethemsted_.” In this name the letter B is not unlike a W; and I have heard it conjectured that the name might be that of John Wethamstede, abbot of St. Alban’s, who was a great lover of books, and who died in 1440. This conjecture, however, will not hold good, for the letter is certainly intended for a B; and in the cut of the letter B there is written “_R. Beths._,” which is in all probability intended for an abbreviation of the name, “_Bethemsted_,” which occurs in another part of the book. The ink with which these names are written is nearly of the same colour as that of the cuts. The characters appear to be of an earlier date than those on the reverse of the last leaf.

The cut at page 111, is that of the letter Z, which stands the wrong way in consequence of its not having been drawn reversed upon the block. The subject might at first sight be supposed to represent the angel staying Abraham when about to sacrifice Isaac; but on examining the cut more closely it will be perceived that the figure which might be mistaken for an angel is without wings, and appears to be in the act of supplicating the old man, who with his left hand holds him by the hair.

The opposite cut, which is the last in the book, is an ornamental flower designed with great freedom and spirit, and surpassing everything of the kind executed on wood in the fifteenth century. I speak not of the style of engraving, which, though effective, is coarse; but of the taste displayed in the drawing. The colour of the cuts on pages 109, 110, 111, from the late Sir George Beaumont’s book, will give the reader, who has not had an opportunity of examining the originals, some idea of the colour in which the cuts of the Apocalypse, the History of the Virgin, the Poor Preachers’ Bible, and the Speculum, are printed; which in all of them is a kind of sepia, in some inclining more to a yellow, and in others more to a brown.

In the volume under consideration we may clearly perceive that the art of wood engraving had made considerable progress at the time the cuts were executed. Although there are no attempts at cross-hatching, which was introduced about 1486, yet the shadows are generally well indicated, either by thickening the line, or by courses of short parallel lines, marking the folds of the drapery, or giving the appearance of rotundity to the figures. The expression of the heads displays considerable talent, and the wood-engraver who at the present time could design and execute such a series of figures, would be entitled to no small degree of commendation. Comparing those cuts with such as are to be seen in books typographically executed between 1461[II-87] and 1490, it is surprising that the art of wood engraving should have so materially declined when employed by printers for the illustration of their books. The best of the cuts printed with letter-press in the period referred to are decidedly inferior to the best of the early block-books.

[Footnote II-87: The first book with moveable types and wood-cuts
both printed by means of the press is the Fables printed at
Bamberg, by Albert Pfister, “Am Sant Valentinus tag,” 1461.]

As it would occupy too much space, and would be beyond the scope of the present treatise to enter into a detail of the contents of all the block-books noticed by Heineken, I shall give a brief description of that named “Ars Memorandi,” and conclude the chapter with a list of such others as are chiefly referred to by bibliographers.

The “ARS MEMORANDI” is considered by Schelhorn[II-88] and by Dr. Dibdin as one of the earliest block-books, and in their opinion I concur. Heineken, however,--who states that the style is almost the same as in the figures of the Apocalypse,--thinks that it is of later date than the Poor Preachers’ Bible and the History of the Virgin. It is of a quarto size, and consists of fifteen cuts, with the same number of separate pages of text also cut on wood, and printed on one side of each leaf only by means of friction.[II-89] At the foot of each page of text is a letter of the alphabet, commencing with +a+, indicating the order in which they are to follow each other. In every cut an animal is represented,--an eagle, an angel, an ox, or a lion,--emblematic of the Evangelist whose Gospel is to be impressed on the memory. Each of the animals is represented standing upright, and marked with various signs expressive of the contents of the different chapters. To the Gospel of St. John, with which the book commences, three cuts with as many pages of text are allotted. St. Matthew has five cuts, and five pages of text. St. Mark three cuts and three pages of text; and St. Luke four cuts and four pages of text.[II-90]

[Footnote II-88: “Nostrum vero libellum, cujus gratia hæc præfati
sumus, intrepide, si non primum artis inventæ fœtum, certe inter
primos fuisse asseveramus.”--Amœnitates Literariæ, tom. i. p. 4.]

[Footnote II-89: Heineken had seen two editions of this book, and
he gives fac-similes of their titles, which are evidently from
different blocks. The title at full length is as follows: “_Ars
memorandi notabilis per figuras Ewangelistarum hic ex post
descriptam quam diligens lector diligenter legat et practiset per
signa localia ut in practica experitur_.”--“En horridum et
incomtum dicendi genus, Priscianumque misere vapulantem!” exclaims
Schelhorn.]

[Footnote II-90: Heineken, Idée Générale, p. 394.]

“It is worthy of observation,” says J. C. Von Aretin, in his Essay on the earliest Results of the Invention of Printing, “that this book, which the most intelligent bibliographers consider to be one of the earliest of its kind, should be devoted to the improvement of the memory, which, though divested of much of its former importance by the invention of writing, was to be rendered of still less consequence by the introduction of printing.”[II-91]

[Footnote II-91: Über die frühesten universal historischen Folgen
der Erfindung der Buchdruckerkunst, von J. Christ. Freyherrn Von
Aretin, S. 18. 4to. Munich, 1808.]

The first cut is intended to express figuratively the first six chapters of St. John’s Gospel. The upright eagle is the emblem of the saint, and the numerals are the references to the chapters. The contents of the first chapter are represented by the dove perched on the eagle’s head, and the two faces,--one of an old, the other of a young man,--probably intended for those of Moses and Christ.[II-92] The lute on the breast of the eagle, with something like three bells[II-93] suspended from it, indicate the contents of the second chapter, and are supposed by Schelhorn to refer to the marriage of Cana. The numeral 3, in Schelhorn’s opinion, relates to “nonnihil apertum et prosectum circa ventrem,” which he thinks may be intended as a reference to the words of Nicodemus: “Nunquid homo senex potest in ventrem matris suæ iterum introire et renasci?” Between the feet of the eagle is a water-bucket surmounted by a sort of coronet or crown, intended to represent the principal events narrated in the 4th chapter, which are Christ’s talking with the woman of Samaria at the well, and his healing the son of a nobleman at Capernaum. The 5th chapter is indicated by a fish above the eagle’s right wing, which is intended to bring to mind the pool of Bethesda. The principal event related in the 6th chapter, Christ feeding the multitude, is indicated by the two fishes and five small loaves above the eagle’s left wing. The cross within a circle, above the fishes, is emblematic of the consecrated wafer in the Lord’s supper, as celebrated by the church of Rome.[II-94]

[Footnote II-92: “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and
truth came by Jesus Christ.”--St. John’s Gospel, chap. i. v. 17.]

[Footnote II-93: “Forte tamen ea, quæ tintinnabulis haud videntur
dissimilia, nummulariorum loculos et pecuniæ receptacula
referunt.”--Schelhorn, Amœnit. Liter. tom. i. p. 10.]

The above reduced copy of the cut will afford some idea of the manner in which the memory is to be assisted in recollecting the first six chapters of St. John. Those who wish to know more respecting this curious book are referred to Schelhorn’s Amœnitates Literariæ, tom. i. pp. 1-17; Heineken, Idée Générale, pp. 394, 395; and to Dr. Dibdin’s Bibliotheca Spenceriana, vol. i. p. 4, where a copy is given of the first cut relating to the Gospel of St. Matthew.

[Footnote II-94: The following are the contents of the first page,
descriptive of the cut: “Evangelium Johannis habet viginti unum
capittula. Primum. In principio erat verbum de eternitate verbi et
de trinitate. Secundum capittulum. Nupcie facte sunt in Chana
Galilee et qualiter Christus subvertit mensas nummulariorum.
Tertium capittulum. Erat antem homo ex Phariseis Nycodemus nomine.
Quartum capittulum. Qualiter Ihesus peciit a muliere Samaritana
bibere circum puteum Jacob et de regulo. Quintum capittulum. De
probatica piscina ubi dixit Ihesus infirmo Tolle grabatum tuum &
vade. Sextum capittulum. De refectione ex quinque panibus & duobus
piscibus Et de ewkaristia.”--Schelhorn, Amœnit. Lit. tom.
i. p. 9.]

Block-books containing both text and figures were executed long after the introduction of typography, or printing by means of moveable types; but the cuts in such works are decidedly inferior to those executed at an earlier period. The book entitled “Die Kunst Cyromantia,”[II-95] which consists chiefly of text, is printed from wood-blocks on both sides of each leaf by means of a press. At the conclusion of the title is the date 1448; but this is generally considered to refer to the period when the book was written, and not the time when it was engraved. On the last page is the name: “+jorg schapff zu augspurg+.” If this George Schapff was a wood-engraver of Augsburg, the style of the cuts in the book sufficiently declares that he must have been one of the very lowest class. More wretched cuts were never chiselled out by a printer’s apprentice as a head-piece to a half-penny ballad.

[Footnote II-95: This work on Palmistry was composed in German by
a Doctor Hartlieb, as is expressed at the beginning: “Das
nachgeschriben buch von der hand hätt zu teutsch gemacht Doctor
Hartlieb.” Specimens of the first and the last pages, and of one
of the cuts, are given in Heineken’s Idée Générale, plates 27 and
28.]

Of the block-book entitled “Ars Moriendi,” Heineken enumerates no less than seven editions, of which one is printed on both sides of the leaves, and by means of a press. Besides these he mentions another edition, impressed on one side of the paper only, in which appear the following name and date: “+Hans eporer, 1473, hat diss puch pruffmo er+.”[II-96]

[Footnote II-96: I am of opinion that this is the same person who
executed the cuts for a German edition of the Poor Preachers’
Bible in 1475. His name does not appear; but on a shield of arms
there is a spur, which may be intended as a rebus of the name; in
the same manner as Albert Durer’s surname appears in his coat of
arms, a pair of doors,--_Durer_, or, as his father’s name was
sometimes spelled, _Thurer_.]

Of the book named in German “+Der Entkrist+”--Antichrist--printed from wood-blocks, Heineken mentions two editions. In that which he considers the first, containing thirty-nine cuts, each leaf is printed on one side only by means of friction; in the other, which contains thirty-eight cuts, is the “brief-maler’s” or wood-engraver’s name: “+Der jung hanss priffmaler hat das puch zu nurenberg, 1472+.”

At Nuremberg, in the collection of a physician of the name of Treu, Heineken noticed a small volume in quarto, consisting of thirty-two wood-cuts of Bible subjects, underneath each of which were fifteen verses in German, engraved on the same block. Each leaf was printed on one side only, and the impressions, which were in pale ink, had been taken by means of friction.

The early wood-engravers, besides books of cuts, executed others consisting of text only, of which several portions are preserved in public libraries in Germany,[II-97] France, and Holland; and although it is certain that block-books continued to be engraved and printed several years after the invention of typography, there can be little doubt that editions of the grammatical primer called the “Donatus,” from the name of its supposed compiler, were printed from wood-blocks previous to the earliest essays of Gutemberg to print with moveable types. It is indeed asserted that Gutemberg himself engraved, or caused to be engraved on wood, a “Donatus” before his grand invention was perfected.

[Footnote II-97: Aretin says that in the Royal Library at Munich
there are about forty books and about a hundred single leaves
printed from engraved wood-blocks.--Über die Folgen, &c. S. 6.]

In the Royal Library at Paris are preserved the two old blocks of a “Donatus” which are mentioned by Heineken at page 257 of his Idée Générale. They are both of a quarto form; but as the one contains twenty lines and the other only sixteen, and as there is a perceptible difference in the size of the letters, it is probable that they were engraved for different editions.[II-98] Those blocks were purchased in Germany by a Monsieur Faucault, and after passing through the hands of three other book-collectors they came into the possession of the Duke de la Vallière, at whose sale they were sold for two hundred and thirty livres. In De Bure’s catalogue of the La Vallière library, impressions are given from the original blocks. The letters in both those blocks, though differing in size, are of the same proportions and form; and Heineken and Fischer consider that they bear a great resemblance to the characters of Faust and Scheffer’s Psalter, printed with moveable types in 1457, although the latter are considerably larger.

[Footnote II-98: Meerman had an old block of a Donatus, which was
obtained from the collection of a M. Hubert of Basle, and which
appeared to belong to the same edition as that containing sixteen
lines in the Royal Library at Paris.--Heineken, Idée Générale,
p. 258.]

The art of wood engraving, having advanced from a single figure with merely a name cut underneath it, to the impression of entire pages of text, was now to undergo a change. Moveable letters formed of metal, and wedged together within an iron frame, were to supersede the engraved page; and impressions, instead of being taken by the slow and tedious process of friction, were now to be obtained by the speedy and powerful action of the press. If the art of wood engraving suffered a temporary decline for a few years after the general introduction of typography, it was only to revive again under the protecting influence of the PRESS; by means of which its productions were to be multiplied a hundred fold, and, instead of being confined to a few towns, were to be disseminated throughout every part of Europe.