Chapter XII: Appendix

I.--ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF PRINTING, BY J. F. FAUST OF ASCHAFFENBERG.

Joh. Fried. Faust, ein Sohn des im Jahre 1619 verstorbenen Schöffen des Reichsgerichtes und Rathes zu Frankfurt, erzhält, aus den Familienpapieren, welche die Fauste von Aschaffenberg (Abkömmlinge der Fuste von Mainz) in ihrem Archive aufbewahrten, die Geschichte der Erfindung in folgender Weise:--

“Diese jetzt erwähnte und andere mehr Scribenten, welche es von Hörensagen theils genommen, theils von einander entlehnet, seind nicht allein an dem Ort und der Zeit, sondern auch an der Person vom ersten Anfenger zweifelhafftig, ja gar ohngewis, und ist uns Teutschen nicht ein geringer Spott, dass wir solche edle Kunst zu allererst von Gott empfangen, und so mancherlet frembde Historien und Auctores lesen und schreiben, den unter anderen vortrefflichen Sachen, nicht eine Gewissheit des ersten Anfengers, ihme und gantzem Teutschland zu ewigen unsterblichen Ruhm und Lob, solten auch in getruckten und also unsterblichen Zeugnüssen beglaubt machen und beweisen, und so lange Zeyt im Zweiffel haben stecken lassen. Darumb habe ich nicht unterlassen können, dieser Sachen und Kunst gantzen Verlauf und Anfang, so viel ich dessen aus glaubhafften alten Zeugnüssen und _Documentis_, wie auch von meinem Vatter seelig, und der von seinen Eltern und also fortan, _quasi per aures et manus_ eingenommen, auch zum Theil aufgazeichnet hinterlassen, der Wahrheit und Kunst ja vielmehr Gott zu ehren, ettwas umstendlich zu erzehlen und zu beweisen.”

“Und ist anfänglich wahr, dass ein Bürger, eines ehrbarn Geschlechts und Herkommens zu Mentz gewohnet, so Johann Faust geheissen; dieser den _Studiis_ sehr ergeben, hat betrachtet, wie manch edles _ingenium_ aus Mangel der Bücher, die sogar eine lange Zeyt und hohen Verlag abzuschreiben erfordert, und nicht in eines jeden Beutel gestocken, ohnbillig verliegen, ja gar verderben müssen, und derowegen lang nachgesonnen, wie doch allerhand nützliche Bücher mit weniger Mühe gemannigfeltigt, und um geringen und billichen Preys mitgetheilt werden könten. Solchem seinem wohlmeinenden nutzlichen Wunsch und Vorhaben hat Gott wohlerspriesliches Mittel und _Modell_ gezeiget, also dass er eine _Alphabet_ Taffel, erstlich in einem _Format_ mit erhöheten Buchstaben geschnitten. Es hat ihm aber grosses Nachsinnen erfordert, bis er besondere Tinten darzu erfunden; dann die gemeine Tinte ist in den Buchstaben von Holtz und in Holtz geschnitten, verflossen, und hatt alle Buchstaben zusammengehengt, so haben auch die Licht-Flammen, daren Rus er sich auch zu gebrauchen unterstanden, ob sie wohl einen ziemlichen Abdruck geben, dannoch keinen Bestandt haben wollen, bis endlich eine schwartze zähe Tinten erfunden worden, die einen Bestandt gehabt. Als solche erfunden und solche Taffeln mit kleinen Pressen leichtlich zu trucken erst an Tag kommen seynd sie mit groser Verwunderung umb geringen Preys von jedermänniglich erkaufft und berühmt, und er darauf weiters fortzufahren verursacht worden, und den _Donat_ ebenmässig an Tag gegeben. Weil aber derselbige auf gantze Bretter geschnitten, ohngleich an Buchstaben gefallen, und auch sonst sich bald abtruchen lassen, hatt Erfinder der sich erinnert, das es besser were, mit eintzlichen Buchstaben und A. B. C. ein Buch zu setzen, als mit gantzen _columnis_ oder _paginis_ zu schneiden. Derowegen hat er die Bretter von einander geschnitten, die gesammten Buchstaben herausgenommen, und damit die Setzerey angefangen, und die abgegangene Buchstaben mit newen ersetzet.”[145]

“Weil aber solches mit ohnaufhörlicher Arbeyt geschehen müssen, und sehr langsam von statten gehen wollen, hatt es abermahl nicht geringe Hindernuss der angefangenen Kunst, auch der Pressen halben, geben wollen, darüber der Erfinder nicht in geringe Sorg und Schwermuth gerathen. Nun hatt er aber bey solcher _Invention_ etliche Diener gehabt, die ihm solch Truckerei verrichten und in andern nöthigen Sachen, als Dinten sieden, setzen, und dergleichen fleissige Hand und Hülfte gebotten. Unter denen ist einer Peter Schöffer von Gernsheimb genannt, gewesen, welcher als er seines Herrn Vorhaben erlerntt, und selbst Lust darzu bekommen, hatt ihm Gott das Glück und Gab eingeben, wie man nemlich die Buchstaben in Buntzen schneiden und nachgiessen, und also vielmahls mannigfaltigen könne, und nicht jeden Buchstaben oftmahls einzeling schneiden müsse. Dieser hat in geheim eine Buntzen von einem gantzen _Alphabet_ geschnitten, und seinem Herrn sampt den Abgus oder _Matricibus_ gezeyget, welches dam seinem Herrn Johann Fausten so wohl gefallen, dass er vor Frewden ihme sobald seine Tochter Christinam zur Ehe zu geben versprochen, und balden nachmalen auch solches würcklich vollzogen.”

“Es hatt aber mit dem Abdruck oder Nachguss dieser Buchstaben eben so viel Mühe genommen, also mit den Höltzern, dann man lang gekünstelt, biss man eine gewisse _Mixtur_ so der Gewalt der Pressen eine gute Zeyt ausstehen könne, erfunden. Als solches auch glücklich erfolget, damit solch edle Gab Gottes in geheimb verbleiben möge, haben Schwäher und Tochtermann ihre Gewerken mit Eydpflichten verbunden, solch Sachen alle in höchster Geheim und Verschwiegenheit zu halten, haben auch die Bretter und ersten Anfang, wie auch die höltzern Buchstaben in Cortel oder Schnur eingefasst, aufgehoben und zu zeyten guten Freunden gezeiget. Quæ primordia avum meum Doctorem Joh. Faust inque manibus suis Donati primam partem inter cætera vidisse MSStum posteris nobis relictum testatur.”[146] (D. h.: Dass mein Grossvater, der Doctor Johann Faust, diese Anfänge und, unter andern, den ersten Theil des Donats gesehen und in Händen gehabt habe, bezeugt eine uns Nachkömmlingen zurückgelassene Handschrift.)

“We hart aber sie ihre Gewerken verknüpfet, und sich diese Kunst in geheim zu halten unterstanden, hat es doch aus sonderlicher Schickung Gottes nicht seyn wollen noch sollen. Dann es hat sich begeben, dass Johann Faustens nechster Nachbawer Johann von Gutenberg (man ist auch der Meinung, dass Johann Faust und Gutenberg zusammen in einem Haus genannt zum Jungen in Mentz, gewohnet haben, dahero solch Haus den Nahmen auch von der Truckerey nachmahlen behalten) innen worden dass solche edle Kunst nicht allein einen grossen Ruhm bey aller Welt gemacht, sondern auch einen guten und erlichen Gewin gebracht, darumb er sich freundlich zu gemelten Fausten gethan, und seine Dienste mit Darschiessung nothwendiges Verlags anerbotten, welches er Faust gerne angenommen, bevorab weil das Werk, so er zu trucken vorhatte uff Pergament zu verfertigen, einen grosen Kosten erforderte darob sie sich vereiniget und einen aufgeschnittenen Zettel oder _Contract_ nachfolgend beygesetzen Inhalts aufgerichtet, dass was auf solch Werk gehen würde, zu Verlust und Gewinn ins gemein gehen, und alles was darzu gehörete, uff gemeinen Sold entlehnet und aufgenommen werden solte. Weil aber er Faust mehr aufgenommen und der Unkosten höher geloffen, als Gutenberg vermeinet, hatt er solchen halben Theil nich zahlen wöllen, darüber sie beyde vor das weltliche Gericht zu Mentz gerathen, das hatt auf alles Ein- und Vorbringen, auch geschenen Beweistum erkannt würde Johann Faust mit lieblichen eyd betewren, dass solch uffgenommen Geld auf das gemeine Werk gegangen, und nicht ihme allein zu Nutz kommen sey, solte Johann von Gutenberg solches zu erlegen schuldig seyn. Solchem Rechtsspruch hat Johann Faust im Refender zu Mentz zun Barfüssern ein Genügen gethan wie aus copeylich beygesetzten _Instrument_ gründlich und wahrhafftig zu ersehen. Aber Johann von Gutenberg ist darüber sehr zornig worden, darumb er nicht allein bei Anhörung des eydt nicht gewesen, sondern auch bald darauf von Mentz sich hinweg gen Strasburg gethan, vielleicht daselbst seinen eygenen Verlag gehabt, und sindt ihm dahin etliche Gefährde nachgefolget, und eine gäntzliche Trennung geschehen, dass solche herrliche Kunst nicht mehr ist geheimb behalten blieben, sondern allenthalben von _dato_ angeregten _Instruments_, so _An. 1455 datiret_ ausgebreitet worden. Und Hans von Petersheim, ein Diener Johannes Fausten und Peter Schöffers, im vierten Jahr hernach Ao. 1459, zu Frankfurt, andere, sonderlich als Mentz; Ao. 1462 verräthlichen erobert, und umb ihre Freyheit kommen, folgends anderstwo sich niedergethan, und solche Kunst ohngescheuet getrieben, offenbahret, und gemein gemacht haben. Est ist auch diess Unglück mit zugeschlagen, dass als sie ein vornehm Juristisch Buch gen Paris in Frankreich uff Pergament gedruckt, geführet und die Wahlen [Wallischen oder Wälschen] ihnen solche Kunst missgönnet, das Buch in Laugen gestossen, und mit Kratzbürsten auszuthun, aber vergeblich, unterstanden, sie solche _Exemplaria_ alle, unter dem Schein als ob der Trucker eine frembde Waar ohne _Special_ Erlaubnuss des Königs in Frankreich gebracht, _confiscirt_, darauf er _repressalias_ vom Kayser Fridrichen III. verlangt, und soviel frantzözische Kaufleute niedergeworfen, dass er seines Schadens wohl zukommen, und viel Französische Waare in sein Haus allerhant _Sorten_ bekommen, dass die Sach endlich durch beyde _Potentaten_ verglichen, uffgehoben, ut er Peter Schöffer befriediget worden.”

Man sieht, dass in diesem Berichte über den Gang der Erfindung der objektive Thatbestand, besonders was die Anfänge betrifft ganz richtig erzählt wird, und dass er nur _quoad personas_ verfälscht ist; indem Fusten das zugeschrieben wird, was Gutenbergen angehört. Es erbellt ferner daraus, dass er weder aus Trithems Werken noch aus dem Lobgedichte des Bergellanus geschöpft ist; da er umständcher als beide in’s Einzelne der Verfahrungsweisen eingeht. Auch die Angabe, Fust und Schöffer hätten nach Erfindung der gegossenen Buchstaben ihre Arbeiter mit Eiden zur Geheimhaltung der Kunst verbunden, die ersten Holztafeln aufgehoben, die einzelnen hölzernen Buchstaben in Schnüre gefaszt und nur zu Zeiten guten Freunden gezeigt, deutet, als auf ihre Quelle, auf handschriftliche oder mündliche Ueberlieferungen, die sich in der Familie Fust erhalten haben müssen. So haben sich in dem an die Herren von Glauburg übergegangenen Familienarchive des mainzischen, nach Frankfurt ausgewanderten Patriziergeschlechtes zum Jungen viele die Familie Gutenberg betreffenden Urkunden, und darunter auch das bei dem Prozesse zwischen Gutenberg und Fust errichtete Notariatsinstrument erhalten. In dem Archive der Familie Faust, welche von Aschaffenberg nach Frankfurt gekommen, und dort durch Heirath unter die Patriziergeschlechter aufgenommen worden ist, hatten sich gewiss ähnliche Urkunden und Nachrichten über die Angelegenheiten der Familien Fust und Schöffer erhalten, wie auch in dem Berichte, bei 1 und 2, ausdrücklich gemeldet wird. Joh. Friedrich Faust, durch Familieneitelkeit verleitet, verfälschte sie nur in Betreff der Personen, indem er (so wie Johann Schöffer in seinen Schluszschriften die Erfindung allein seinem Grossvater Fust zuschreib) demselben Fust, den er mit Recht für seinen Ahnen hielt, alle Ehre zuwendete, und zu diesem Behufe sogar das Instrument des Notars Helmasperger verdrehte.--WETTER, pp. 271-277.

FOOTNOTES:

[145] As wooden types were the first with which the original printers made their earliest essays in the art of Typography in Europe, it is interesting to learn that in America such types are now being used to so great an extent, that it requires the aid of the most finished machinery to supply the demand that has arisen for them. The following account of their manufacture is condensed from a narrative in the _Boston Weekly Spectator_ (Oct. 12, 1871).--About 1853 Mr. William H. Page, originally a printer, entered into the employ of Mr. J. G. Cooley, a wood type cutter at Greenville. Noticing the many defects of the process he busied his mind in devising and inventing methods for its improvement. Succeeding in his efforts, he started in business on his own account; and in 1869, having bought out Mr. Cooley, transferred the whole of the works to Norwich, Eastern Connecticut. Here, with extensive and perfect machinery, and from 35 to 40 workpeople, one-seventh of whom are females, he supplies the greater part of the wooden types used throughout the United States. The process of manufacture is as follows:--All ordinary wood type is made of rock-maple, which grows abundantly in Connecticut. The logs are first sawed across the grain into blocks an inch and an eighth thick, then steamed to force out the sap, and when dried, packed away in the seasoning house for two years. When wanted for type, they are taken to dressing machines, where horizontal revolving cutters rapidly smoothe and reduce their size with perfect uniformity; they are then skilfully planed by hand, next gum-shellaced, and dried for half a day, and sand papered, which process is again repeated. After this, they are taken to felt buffing wheels, covered with beeswax and tallow, which, revolving with exceeding swiftness, thoroughly polish the surfaces on which the letters are to be cut. The blocks are then sawed into the desired shapes, and transferred to the letter makers. These place the prepared blocks in a machine not much unlike in its appearance to an eccentric lathe, although it is not one. Set in one angle of a horizontal frame like a pentagraph, is a pencil or tracer, moved by the hand of the operator exactly in the lines of a stationary pattern or model letter. In an opposite angle, and directly over the block to be carved, is a corresponding pencil of fine steel, in reality a small bit, or gouge, which is belted to the driving power, and makes from 17,000 to 20,000 revolutions a minute, following minutely all the lines and flexions of the tracer on the pattern. A skilful operator can thus make a letter in half a minute. This part of the work is chiefly performed by girls. After leaving the cutter the letters are further dressed by a trimmer who gives them their finishing touches, when they are thoroughly oiled with linseed oil, and packed for transport to wherever ordered. The ordinary size of letters, used for Advertising placards, is 1 ft. 8 in., though occasionally some are ordered 14 ft. long, [made and printed in sections it is presumed]. These monster letters are made of a softer white wood, and gouged out on a great machine called a “router.” The smallest size manufactured is about one-third of an inch. [_B. W. S._] This is just the size of the types used for the “Appeal to Christendom against the Turks,” printed at Mentz in 1454 or 1455. What steam-driven machinery is doing for wooden types it is also doing in another form for types of cast metal. The greatest number that an expert workman could cast by the hand-mould process was about 1800 in an hour. After many years of costly experimentalizing, and frequent but not wholly fruitless failures, a machine was at last perfected in 1862, by which as many as 7600 letters an hour are turned out. With type manufactured at this rate, with steam type-composers that put together 40,000 letters an hour, (the invention of Mr. A. Mackie of Warrington), and with steam printing machines capable of perfecting 12,000 sheets (equal to 24,000 impressions) in the same space of time, (the _Times_ “Walter” machine, invented by Mr. J. C. Macdonald); the latter half of the nineteenth century is truly an era of marvels in all that concerns Letter-press Printing.

[146] Dr. Van Der Linde treats this writer with but scant ceremony. He says, (p. 76 of Hessels’ Translation) “The father of this arch-liar had written frankly and in accordance with truth--‘Joh. Faust (Fust) war Mitverleger der Buchdruckerei in der Stadt Mentze; etliche wollen wider seiner Dank ihn zu einem Inventorem haben und macken, so aber nur mit seinem Vermögen und guten Rath in der That geholfen.’--‘Joh. Faust was partner in the printing office at Mentz; some persons would make an inventor of him against his own wish; he really helped only with his money and good advice.’”

II.--ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGIN OF PRINTING, BY HADRIAN JUNIUS.

Dicam igitur quod accepi a senibus et autoritate gravibus et Reipublicæ administratione claris, quique a majoribus suis ita accepisse gravissimo testimonio confirmarunt, quorum auctoritas jure pondus habere debeat ad faciendam fidem. Habitavit ante annos centum duo de triginta Harlemi, in ædibus satis splendidis (ut documento esse potest fabrica, quæ in hunc diem perstat integra) foro imminentibus e regione Palatii Regalis, Laurentius Joannis cognomento Aedituus Custosve (quod tunc opimum et honorificum munus familia eo nomine clara hæreditario jure possidebat) is ipse, qui nunc laudem inventæ artis Typographicæ recidivam justis vindiciis et sacramentis repetit, ab aliis nefarie possessam et occupatam, summo jure omnium triumphorum laurea majore donandus. Is forte in suburbano nemore spatiatus (ut solent sumpto cibo aut festis diebus cives, qui otio abundant), cœpit faginos cortices principio in litterarum typos conformare, quibus, inversa ratione sigillatim chartæ impressis, versiculum unum atque alterum animi gratia ducebat, nepotibus, generi sui liberis exemplum futurum. Quod ubi feliciter successerat, cœpit animo altiora (ut erat ingenio magno et subacto) agitare primumque omnium atramenti scriptorii genus glutinosius tenaciusque, quod vulgare lituras trahere experiretur, cum genere suo Thoma Petro qui quatuor liberos reliquit, omnes ferme consulare dignitate functos (quod eo dico, ut artem in familia honesta et ingenua, haud servili, natam intelligant omnes), excogitavit, inde etiam pinaces totas figuratas additis caracteribus expressit. Quo in genere vidi ab ipso excussa adversaria, operarum rudimentum, paginis solum adversis, haud opistographis. Is liber erat vernaculo sermone ab auctore conscriptus anonymo, titulum præferens: _Speculum nostræ salutis_, in quibus id observatum fuerat inter prima artis incunabula (ut nunquam ulla simul reperta et absoluta est) uti paginæ aversæ glutine cohærescerent, ne illæ ipsæ vacuæ deformitatem adferrent. Postea faginas formas plumbeis mutavit, has deinceps stanneas fecit, quo solidior minusque flexilis esset materia durabiliorque; e quorum typorum reliquiis, quæ superfuerant, conflata œnophora vetustiora adhuc hodie visuntur in Laurentianis illis, quas dixi ædibus, in forum prospectantibus, habitatis postea a suo pronepote Gerardo Thoma, quem honoris causa nomino, cive claro ante paucos hos annos vita defuncto sene. Faventibus, ut fit, invento novo studiis hominum, quum nova merx, nunquam antea visa, emptores undique exciret, cum uberrimo quæstu creuit simul artis amor, creuit ministerium, additi familiæ operarum ministri, prima mali labes, quos inter Joannes quidam, sive is (ut fert suspicio) Faustus fuerit ominoso cognomine, hero suo infidus et infaustus, sive alius eo nomine, non magnopere laboro, quod silentum umbras inquietare nolim contagione conscientiæ, quondam dum viverent, tactas. Is ad operas excusorias sacramento dictus, postquam artem jungendorum characterum, fusilium typorum peritiam, quæque alia eam ad rem spectant, percalluisse sibi visus est, captato opportuno tempore quo non potuit magis idoneum inveniri, ipsa nocte, quæ Christi natalitiis solennis est, qua cuncti promiscue lustralibus sacri operari solent, choragium omne typorum involat, instrumentorum herilium, ei artificio comparatorum, supellectilem convasat, deinde cum fure domo se proripit, Amstelodamum principio adit, inde Coloniam Agrippinam, donec Magontiacum perventum est, ceu ad asyliaram, ubi quasi extra telorum jactum (quod dicitur) positus tuto degeret, suorumque furtorum aperta officina fructum huberem meteret. Nimirum ex ea intra vertentis anni spacium, ad annum a nato Christo 1442, iis ipsis typis, quibus Harlemi Laurentius fuerat usus, prodisse in lucem certum est _Alexandri Galli Doctrinale_, quæ Grammatica celeberrimo tunc in usu erat, cum _Petri Hispani tractatibus_, prima fœtura. Ista sunt ferme, quæ a senibus annosis, fide dignis, et qui tradita de manu in manum, quasi ardentem tædam in decursu acceperant, olim intellexi, et alios eadem referentes attestantesque comperi. Memini narasse mihi Nicolaum Galium, pueritiæ meæ formatorem, hominem ferrea memoria et longa canitie venerabilem, quod puer non semel audierit, Cornelium quendam bibliopegum ac senio gravem, nec octogenario minorem (qui in eadem officina subministrum egerat) tanta animi contentione ac fervore commemorantem rei gestæ seriem, inventi (ut ab hero acceperat) rationem, rudis artis polituram et incrementum, aliaque id genus, ut invito quoque præ rei indignitate lachrymæ erumperent, quoties de plagio inciderat mentio: tum vero ob ereptam furto gloriam sic ira exardescere solere senem, ut etiam lictoris exemplum eum fuisse editurum in plagiarium eum fuisse editurum in plagiarium appareret, si vita illi superfuisset: tum devovere consuevisse diris ultricibus sacrilegum caput, noctesque illas damnare atque execrari quas una cum scelere illo communi in cubili per aliquot menses exegisset. Quæ non dissonant a verbis Quirini Talesii Cos, eadem fere ex ore librarii ejusdem se olim accepisse mihi confessi, etc.--_Batavia_ p. 253, _et seq._

III.--THE HAARLEM-COSTER-LEGEND.

[The Haarlem Legend of the Invention of Printing by Lourens
Janszoon Coster, critically examined by Dr. A. VAN DER LINDE.
Translated from the Dutch by J. H. HESSELS, with an Introduction
and a Classified List of the Costerian Incunabula. _London_,
Blades, East, and Blades. 1871. Roy. 8vo. pp. xxvi. and 170.]

A copy of the above work having reached me while the preceding sheet was being prepared for press, I am singularly gratified to find, that by means of a wholly independent process of investigation, I have arrived at a conclusion, almost identical, on the main point, with that to which other and more direct sources of information have led Dr. Van Der Linde. Writing for English readers, and dealing chiefly with the statements and arguments of the leading English Costerians, the confirmation thus given to my views is as great as it was unexpected.

Dr. Van Der Linde shews, most conclusively, that the whole story of the Origin of Printing in Haarlem arose from the fabrication of a pedigree by an innkeeper named Gerrit Thomaszoon, who was sheriff of Haarlem in the year 1545, and who died about the year 1563 or 1564. This pedigree, made a few years before his death, traces his descent from one Thomas Pieterssoen, by Lucye “his second wife, who was the daughter of Louris Janssoens Coster, who brought the first print into the world Anno 1446.” Authority for this statement there is absolutely none; and no proof whatever exists that Lucye the daughter of Louris Janssoens, ever existed otherwise than by her creation in the fertile fancy of the pedigree maker. But proof there is in abundance, that one Lourens Janszoon Coster kept a tallow-chandler’s shop in Haarlem between the years 1440 and 1450; that about the latter year he transferred that business to his sister, Ghertruit Jan Costersdochter, who died in 1454; he himself starting as an innkeeper in 1451, in which occupation he continued until 1483, when he left Haarlem with all his goods, and is heard of no more. This Lourens Coster was a member of a festive body, called the “Holy Christmas Corporation.” It consisted of 54 brethren and sisters, each one of whom possessed a chair specially set apart for him or her at their regular meetings. These chairs passed by inheritance or purchase from one to another; the corporation apparently having had its origin in a family gathering. Its transactions were minutely recorded, and particular care was taken to note the transmission of the chairs from one holder to another. Lourens Coster’s chair passed in 1484, (the record does not state how), into the possession of Frans Thomas Thomaszoon, and in 1497 Gerrit Thomaszoon Pieterszoon inherited it from his father. This is the individual who kept the inn on the market place, and was made sheriff in 1545. Now Jan Van Zuyren and Coornhert were partners in business, and “sworn book-printers” to the town in 1561, in which year Van Zuyren also became Burgomaster. They could not but have been intimate with the sheriff and innkeeper Gerrit Thomaszoon, who lived to the year 1563 or 1564. He would also be well known to Junius, living as he did in Haarlem from 1560 to 1572. In one of the rooms of his inn Gerrit Thomaszoon hung up the pedigree he had had made, and in which was set forth his descent from “Lucye, second wife of Thomas Pieterszoon, daughter of Louris Janssoens Coster, who brought the first print into the world Anno 1446.” Here then, as in a nutshell, lie the whole of the circumstances which Junius, in 1568, worked up in his _Batavia_ into an account of the Origin of Printing in Haarlem, by Laurens Janszoon Coster; but with the date of the pedigree altered from 1446 to 1440. The cogent reasons for this alteration are fully shewn by Dr. Van Der Linde.

The statements of Van Zuyren and Coornhert; the story of the family mansion, and the wine-pot relics; the cursings of the old book-binder Cornelis; the confirmations of the tale to Junius by Nicholas Galius and Quiryn Dirksz Talesius, are all now easily understood,--they were tavern gossip, suggested by the pedigree, which passing through the alembic of Junius’s brain, issued thence in the shape of a circumstantial history, which national vanity has been induced to accept as a record of indubitable facts.

From first to last, the Coster-legend forms a very singular chapter in the history of national credulity. Scriverius, writing in 1628, and not knowing the source of Junius’s information, makes one Lourens Janszoon, sheriff of Haarlem, who died in 1439, the Laurens Janszoon Coster,--(these names being as common in Haarlem as those of Brown, Jones and Smith in London,)--to whom was attributed the origin of printing; and to whose memory a stone statue was erected in 1722. In 1823 and 1824 bronze and silver jubilee medals were struck in honor of the same supposed first typographer, and two memorial stones put up; and in 1851, a third tablet was placed in front of the rebuilt Coster-house. But meanwhile, the pedigree is discovered, and Koning and others strive hard to identify the Lourens Janssoens Coster it mentions, with the Lourens Janszoon of Scriverius. Junius’s account is unscrupulously amended and altered and corrected, in order to make room for the views of subsequent writers; and another statue in bronze is resolved upon, which is erected in 1856; but this one, in the secret knowledge of the Committee engaged in its erection,[147] is to the memory of the tallow-chandler and innkeeper, and not to that of the alleged sheriff. Finally, the pedigree is published, all other documents connected with the persons named in it, and in the history by Junius, are critically examined; and in 1870 the fallacy of the whole affair is thoroughly exposed.

The conclusion to which Dr. Van Der Linde arrives in his chapter on “The Spread of Typography in the Netherlands,” is as follows:--

“The harvest of history on the field of typography concerning
Haarlem may be scanty; it does not yield _anything_, as far
as xylography goes. There existed there already very early a
Lucasguild, like that at Antwerp, and like the Johannesgild
at Bruges; but, however rich in painters, sculptors, and
goldsmiths, the Haarlem Corporation may have been, it produces,
notwithstanding the most patient researches, not a single
_prenter_ (_briefprenter_) or xylographer. The manufacture,
therefore, of a whole series of blockbooks of the 15th century,
ascribed, two, three, and four centuries afterwards, without any
shadow of evidence, to a Haarlem innkeeper, has to be referred to
the empire of fiction.”

Mr. Hessels (a native of Haarlem, as is also Dr. Van Der Linde) says, in his very able Introduction: (p. vii.)

“Whatever may be said about the discrepancies and absurdities of
the Coster-legend, now that we possess a full knowledge of it,
there is one circumstance which has given, and will give, an
air of probability to the story, even now that it is deprived of
its hero, so long as this circumstance cannot be sufficiently
accounted for. I mean the existence of a comparatively large
number of works--blockbooks and incunabula--which are of an
incontestably early, and Dutch origin, and which cannot, even at
present, be ascribed to any known printer, but of which it is
certain that they belong to the printer who produced the four
editions of the _Speculum Humanæ Salvationis_, the book referred
to by Junius.”

He then gives, on pages xi. to xvi., a classified list of the Costeriana as far as known, amounting in all to 43 separate works and editions, distinguishing seven different types used in their production.

“The earliest date (he says) we can assign for the present to
the Costeriana is 1471-74. Mr. Holtrop tells us on p. 31 of
his Monuments, that the Hague copy of the Saliceto (No. 25 of
his list) contains two MS. annotations: 1st, ‘Hunc librum emit
dominus Conrardus abbas hujus loci XXXIII., qui obiit anno
MCCCCLXXIIII, in profesto exaltationis sanctae crucis, postquam
profuisset annis fere tribus.’ Another inscription indicates that
this copy had belonged to the convent of St. James, at Lille.
Now, the abbat Conrad, who bought this book for his convent, was
Conrad du Moulin, who was abbat only from 1471 to 1474.

“This is the only date we can use at present. It is, as Mr.
Bradshaw observes in his ‘List,’ mentioned above, ‘a singular
circumstance that this one fact should compel us to place the
printer of the Speculum at the head of the Dutch printers,
though it only just allows him to take precedence of Ketelaer
and De Leempt,’ from whom we have the date 1473, found in Peter
Comestor, Scholastica hystoria.”--pp. xvii.-xviii.

The above considerations go far towards supporting the suggestions I have thrown out (see pages 323-348) in regard to the dates when, and the parties by whom, the _Speculum_, _Donatuses_, &c., were printed. And these suggestions are further confirmed by the extracts cited by Dr. Van Der Linde from the archives of Utrecht, in a note on p. 85 of Hessels’ Translation, where it is stated that in the year 1466, the name of Peter Dircxsz, described as a “beeldedrucker”--a _prenter_,--appears. “Perhaps,” adds Dr. Van Der Linde, “the printer of the plates of the Speculum.”

FOOTNOTES:

[147] The name of Lourens Janszoon, the sheriff of Haarlem who died in 1439, is mentioned seventy-six times in the archives of the city, but _never_ with the name of _Coster_. The name of the tallow-chandler Lourens Janszoon Coster, appears much later, (as late as 1483); _but his name was never brought before the public_, in connection with the origin of printing, until the year 1867.--See _Haarlem Legend_, pp. 124, 125.

IV.--CUT WOODEN, _versus_ CAST METAL TYPES.

However much my views may be found to coincide with those of Dr. Van Der Linde, Mr. Hessels, and Mr. Bradshaw, upon the Origin of Printing, and the date of the production of the so-called _Costeriana_, there may be wide differences of opinion on the question, whether the types made use of in the production of those works were made of wood or of metal. Dr. Van Der Linde writes upon this point in very dogmatic strains. In his eleventh chapter,--“A Beech in ‘Den Hout,’”--the object of which is to shew the impossibility of Junius’s statement about Coster having printed with wooden types, he quotes the following from Enschedé, written about the year 1770.

“‘I have exercised printing for about fifty years, and wood
engraving for about forty-five years, and I have cut letters and
figures for my father’s and my own printing office in wood of
palm, pear, and medlar trees; I have now been a type-founder for
upwards of thirty years; but to do such things as those learned
gentlemen (Junius and Meerman) pretend that Laurens Coster and
his heirs have done, neither I nor Papillon, (the most clever
wood engraver of France) are able to understand, nor the artists
Albrecht Durer, De Bray, and Iz. Van Der Vinne either; but such
learned men, who dream about wooden, moveable letters, make
Laurens Janszoon Coster use witchcraft, for the hands of men
are not able to do it. To print a book with capitals of the
size of a thumb, as on placards “HOUSE AND GROUND,” which are
cut in wood, and which I have cut myself by hundreds, would be
ridiculous; to do it with wooden letters of the size of a pin’s
head is impossible. I have made experiments with a few of a
somewhat larger size. I made a wooden slip of Text Corpus, and
figured the letters on the wood or slip; thereupon I cut the
letters; I had left a space of about the size of a saw between
each letter on purpose, and I had no want of fine and good tools;
the only question now was to saw the letters mathematically
square off the slip. I used a very fine little saw, made of a
very thin spring of English steel, so cleverly made, that I
doubt whether our Laurens Janszoon had a saw half as good; I did
all I could to saw the letters straight and parallel, but it
was impossible: there was not a single letter which could stand
the test of being mathematically square. What now to do? it was
impossible to polish or file them; I tried it, but it could
not be done by our type-founder’s whetstones, as it would have
injured the letters. In short, I saw no chance, and I feel sure
that no engraver is able to cut separate letters in wood, in such
a manner that they retain their quadrature (for that is the main
thing of the line in type-casting.) If, however, I wished to
give my trouble and time to it, I should be able to execute the
three words ‘Spiegel onzer Behoudenis,’ better than the Rotterdam
artist has done in the Latin work of M. Meerman; but it is
impossible, ridiculous, and merely chimerical, to print books in
this manner.’”

The above quotation, in the opinion of Dr. Van Der Linde, settles the matter once for all; and certainly such a statement, from such a man, is enough to deter any one from attempting a similar experiment. Dr. Van Der Linde clinches Enschedé’s statement, with the following remarks:--

“We cannot wish for a more decisive and competent criticism
of the story of Junius than this, given by a Haarlemer and a
Costerian; for Junius represents Coster as having printed the
Speculum in Dutch with wooden types; he makes him, in other
words, do something impossible, ridiculous, and chimerical. It is
true that the wooden types have been patronized until our times;
that Camus has given a specimen of printing with wooden types of
two lines, Wetter of one column, Schinkel of half a page; that we
are able to do much more with the means of the nineteenth than
with those of the fifteenth century; but none of those specimens
have proved what they should have proved; the practicability
of printing a book with moveable wooden letters, _i. e._ to
distribute the forms, to clean the ink from the letters, to
submit them to frequent strong pressing, and to retain the
usefulness of the letters employed, and without the aid of modern
apparatus. They have only proved what men are willing to do for a
favorite opinion, for a prejudice which they _insist_, for once
and all, ought to be _true_.”... “It is high time for criticism
to make a fire of these imaginary wooden letters.”

Determined that the advocates of wooden letters shall be beaten completely out of the field, the Dr. adds, in a note upon Schinkel in the above quotation.

“In a brochure entitled ‘Tweetal Bijdragen,’ Schinkel gives
some ‘experiments’ of his foreman H. le Blansch, namely, seven
lines, printed with types of palm wood. The xylotypographic text
runs:--‘That the first Dutch _Spiegel onzer Behoudenis_ was
printed with cast types, is not to be doubted. Is it possible to
print a book of some extension with _moveable_ letters cut of
wood? YES.--Le Blansch, _sculp._’ This YES is an unproved dictum,
the contrary of which is evident already from the dancing lines
of the experiment. Let a _book_ be produced printed with moveable
wooden letters, instead of all those experiments which signify
nothing.... But apart from all this Costerian talk, the question
may not be put as Schinkel did, but simply: Were ever books
printed with moveable wooden letters? No.”--pp. 72-73.

It may however be retorted upon the Dr. that his No! is also an improved dictum. But he says again, pages 78 and 79:--

“Those fatal unhistorical wooden types! Wetter spent nearly the
amount of ten shillings on having a number of letters made of
the wood of a pear tree, only to please Trithemius, Bergellanus,
and Faust of Aschaffenburg, the first two, falsifiers of history
in good, the last in bad, faith. His letters, although tied with
string, did not remain in the line, but made naughty caprioles.
The supposition--that by these few dancing lines the possibility
is demonstrated of printing with 40,000 wooden letters, necessary
to the printing of a quaternion, a whole folio book--is
dreadfully silly. The demonstrating fac-simile demonstrates
already the contrary. Wetter’s letters not only declined to
have themselves regularly printed, but they also retained their
pear-tree-wood-like impatience afterwards. He says, ‘I have
deposited the wooden types with their forms in the town-library,
where they may be seen at any time.’ Nothing is more liberal.” “I
not only deny” [with M. Bernard] adds the Dr., “that they [books
printed with moveable wooden characters] exist at present--I deny
that they ever have existed.”

Nothing can be more emphatic. But, in the first place, “40,000 wooden letters” are not “necessary to the printing of a quaternion, a whole folio book,”--and if they were, the supposition is not “dreadfully silly,” for it was quite within the power of letter-snyders to cut that number if required. But they were not required. I have already shewn (p. 299), that to print two pages of the _Speculum_ the number of letters necessary was under 3,000. It has also been shewn, that the early printers never printed more than one or two pages of their books at a time; while the impressions taken of such productions as the _Speculum_ would in their different editions vary from but 20 to 60 copies each;--3,000 letters therefore were ample for bringing out a whole folio book or quaternion, and the pressure the types were subjected to in the course of a dozen or twenty editions would not more than equal the strain brought to bear upon a single edition of a thousand copies in modern times. It is however “dreadfully silly” to insist, that wooden types, if capable of being used at all in an experiment which proves their capability of printing a portion of a book, ought also to be proved capable of being used for printing a whole book with. In other words, that a whole book should be printed with such types, in order to prove, that as a whole book has been, therefore, a whole book may have been, printed with them. It requires, moreover, no great profundity of wisdom to profess a disbelief in the making and use of wooden types by the inventors of Typography, and to deny the assertions of older and contemporary writers, that they were so made and used. A whole book could just as easily be printed with wooden types, when they were once prepared and ready for use, as half a book, or half a page, or a single word. The real question at issue is not, Can a single book, or has a single book, ever been printed with wooden types?--a question answered with an emphatic, although an unproved No! by Dr. Van Der Linde and other anti-xylo-typographers;--but, Did the earliest Typographers, in their first experiments, make use of wooden types or not? Trithemius says, on information derived from Schœffer senior, that they did. His statement is borne out by that of Zell, who says Gutenberg got the _beginning_ of this art from the Donatuses, _i. e._ block-books, printed in Holland. Bergellanus, an independent inquirer a generation later, and for fifteen years a corrector of the press at Mentz, confirms the statement of Trithemius; while Faust of Aschaffenburg declares that the family papers in his possession bore evidence to the same effect. What the first German printers did, it was most natural that the first Dutch printer would also do; and, as I have already pointed out (p. 346,) there are reasons for believing that wherever the _Speculum_[148] was printed, (and later information seems to indicate that Utrecht may have been the place), the types used were the work of a letter-snyder, and the material of which they were made was wood. It is quite a different question, Could a continued series of works, be produced by the use of wooden types, in a manner equal, or nearly equal, to that by which works are produced with metal types? To such a question, the advocates of the use, first, of wooden types by the earliest Typographers, reply, No; wooden types would only answer for a while; and because of their fragile nature, metal types, cut or cast, became sooner or later a necessity.[149] It is, besides, if not “dreadfully silly,” at least unwise, to argue against the possibility of the original use of wooden types, because the specimens given by Schinkel and Wetter are crooked and irregular, and do not _line_, although tied or strung together with string. Schinkel and Wetter both maintained that the _Speculum_ was printed with metal types; so did Enschedé. For either of the three, therefore, to have thoroughly succeeded with his experiment, would have been fatal to his argument and preconceived opinion. Doubtless, it was scarcely possible for Enschedé to succeed in making wooden letters of “a size somewhat larger than a pin’s head.” His mode of stating that part of his experiment is not at all so straightforward or clear as it might and should have been. But he says further, “I made a slip of Text Corpus, and figured the letters on the wood or slip,” &c. Now, what is the size of the Text Corpus? I am rather at a loss to understand this expression, as I find that the Dutch type called _Text_, is that which corresponds to the English Great Primer, which contains 51½ lines to a foot, while the _Garmond_, corresponding to the German _Corpus_, is equal to the English Long Primer, which has 89 lines to a foot. Neither does Enschedé say what particular wood he used in his experiment. But at any rate he avows, that, using the best and finest tools he could procure, he failed.

On the opposite side of the question, I have but to place my own experience; and I may say at the outset, that I have not practised wood engraving for nearly twenty years, that at best I was but an amateur, and that the only tools I had, when I ventured upon the experiment a few months ago, were a common graver, an ordinary tenon saw, a penknife, and a rasp and file. With these implements then, I made, precisely in the way I have described the method I supposed the earliest printers would follow, the letters inserted in page 310. They are of box wood, Pica-size (71½ lines to a foot) and are squared and line well, and are perforated and nicked, and are two sizes smaller than the letters used for the _Speculum_, which are only 54 lines to the foot. The letter =t= I here insert again. More than 1,500 impressions have been taken from it; and it scarcely yet seems anything the worse for wear. Calculating by the time the cutting of the three letters occupied, I could, without difficulty, finish in nine months 3,000 letters equally good, as mathematically square, as true to line, as capable of being used again and again, and therefore as capable of printing a book, a whole folio, with. An expert Chinese ‘chop’ cutter (the modern letter-snyder) would with his simple tools, complete the same number in less than a third of that time: and I know of no reason why similar types of the _Corpus_ or Long Primer size could not be cut on wood. Certainly there is nothing “impossible, ridiculous or chimerical” in the idea. Where then is the “silliness”--the “dreadful silliness”--of supposing that a whole book could be printed with such wooden types, even supposing, further, that 40,000 would be required in all? The “dreadful silliness” lies in the cry of those who argue on the opposite side--“Let a _book_ be produced, printed with moveable wooden letters, instead of all those experiments which signify nothing.” The answer to that cry is, _Cui bono?_--Why should a book be printed, when 3 letters are as good as 3,000, or 30,000, or 300,000, to demonstrate the fact, that words are and can be, and that therefore pages and whole books may be, (and therefore also that they may have been,) printed from such separable wooden types? As well might the demand be made that a whole suburb of London should be lighted up with obsolete oil-lamps, in order to demonstrate to the rising generation the fact, that in that manner the streets of the city were lighted up in the days of their forefathers, before the introduction of coal gas. In the one case, as in the other, a single specimen, one demonstrative example, ought to be sufficient to carry, to every candid and reasonable mind, a conviction of the truth of the asserted fact. But perhaps it “signifies nothing” to a certain class, who are determined not to believe, how great or how small the demonstrative experiments may be. Of such, the voice of supreme wisdom has long ago declared,--“neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.”

FOOTNOTES:

[148] Dr. Van Der Linde infers that the Latin edition of the Speculum, wholly printed with separable types, was the first, and the one with the twenty pages of solid blocks, the second. From the fact, that the curious manuscript of the “_Spiegel der behoudenis_,” (written on 290 8vo. leaves of vellum), which is preserved at Haarlem, has the following inscription at the end, “Dit boec is gheeyndet int jaer ons here_n_ MCCCC en_de_ III en_de_ tsestich opte_n_ XVI dach in jul. Een ave Maria on God voer die scrijver;” and that another inscription in it states, that it belonged to “Cayman Janszoen of Zierickzee, living with the Carthusians near Utrecht;” the Dr. comes to the following conclusion: “Therefore, the Speculum was written, and finished in the Dutch language at Utrecht in 1464, in the days _before_ the introduction of the art of printing.”... “Utrecht had an episcopal see, a gymnasium, a Burgundian prince,--indeed, if hypotheses are allowed, then is that of an _Utrecht_ origin of the Specula provisionally, the only reasonable one.”--pp. 34, 38.

[149] Seven different kinds of types of the _Speculum_ school have been identified, and these are used in 43 different specimens, many of which are second and subsequent editions. It is not however, material to the validity of the argument, that the whole of these seven different kinds of types should be proved to have been made of wood; it is enough, in the absence of the actual types themselves, that there is reasonable evidence, from their appearance in print, as well as from the probabilities of the case, that some of them were so made. To argue, that because Trithemius, Bergellanus, J. F. Faust, or others, may have misrepresented, unintentionally or otherwise, some of the leading facts in connection with the origin, or the inventors, of typography, therefore, on this one point of the original use of wooden letters, in which they all agree, they are not to be believed, is unworthy of one who assumes the functions of, and desires to be looked up to as, a sound historical critic.

ERRATA.

Page 104 last line, for _Vindicæ_ read _Vindiciæ_
” 153 ” ” Opolio ” Opilio
” 175 line 10, ” have to ” have had to
” 181 ” 8, ” Historv ” History
” 239 ” 8, ” say, ” says
” 331 ” 17, ” follows ” follow

_Dedicated, by Special Permission, to_ HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH.

_Foolscap 4to. 412 pages._

ADAM’S PEAK.

LEGENDARY, TRADITIONAL, AND HISTORIC NOTICES of the SAMANALA and SRI´-PA´DA; with a Descriptive Account of the PILGRIMS’ ROUTE from Colombo to the Sacred Foot-print; to which are added, copious Notes, Appendices, and an Index. Illustrated by a Map of the Mountain District, and 10 wood-engravings.

By WILLIAM SKEEN.

EDWARD STANFORD, 6 & 7, Charing Cross, London, S. W. 1871.

* * * * *

_Opinions of the Press._

* * * * *

“Adam’s Peak may be considered the most interesting mountain in the world; not only from its height, position, and appearance, but as being sacred to the members of three out of the four great religions of the world. The origin of this singular agreement to regard the same place as holy by these three religions is to some extent obscure; but Mr. Skeen has collected a mass of evidence upon the subject, and has conveyed the result in a form interesting alike to the student and the general reader. The lovely scenery surrounding Adam’s Peak, its general features, and its perilous ascent--so steep that near the summit chains are fastened into the rock by which pilgrims pull themselves up--are graphically described by Mr. Skeen, who accomplished the ascent three times. The book is of great interest, and we can warmly recommend it to our readers.”--_Standard._

* * * * *

“There is, perhaps, no mountain in the world of which so wide-spread a knowledge exists, and yet of which so little is generally and definitely known, as Adam’s Peak, in the Island of Ceylon. A description of this mountain, held sacred by far the largest portion of mankind, cannot fail to be of interest to the scholar; while the pleasing and anecdotal manner in which it is handled by Mr. Skeen, will attract the attention of even the most superficial reader. All classes will read the book with interest. It is brimfull of rich stores of original translations from rare MSS of Indian and Sin̥halese literature, while the strange legends recorded are singularly romantic, and full of weird Eastern imagery. The author enters into a full and searching inquiry into the origin of the sanctity of the mount, and shows much discrimination and mastery of Oriental literature, in the progress of his inquiry. Much valuable information is imparted to the reader, not dry and dull as might be imagined, but invested with an interest which catches and retains the attention. The legends attached to this mount of expiation are singularly beautiful, and are related very felicitously by the author. Much interesting information is given about the inhabitants of Ceylon, and of the various religious beliefs which are held by them, from the serpent worship of the aborigines, to the present time, when Christian churches are scattered throughout the island. The civil and political history of the Sin̥halese is also accurately and interestingly traced. The narrative of the pilgrims’ route from Colombo to the shrine-crowned mount is very graphically described. The work is excellently illustrated with maps, plans, and views. In every particular it deserves commendation, and the author much praise for the successful manner in which he has handled his materials, and presented the public with a book at once interesting and instructive; profound in the researches contained in it, and giving much valuable information on a subject on which so little has hitherto been known.”--_Irish Times._

* * * * *

“We believe this is the first time that a complete work has been devoted to this subject. The narrative portion of the work is supplemented by copious notes and appendices referring to the early history of the religions the members of which regard the Peak as a hallowed spot. These are of immense value to the historian and antiquarian, and prove that the author is no idle member of the Royal Asiatic Society.”--_London and China Express._

* * * * *

“Mr. SKEEN, in his monogram entitled “ADAM’S PEAK,” has shewn that the subject was by no means exhausted by his predecessors, and has given us an interesting volume of Eastern lore and travel. Commencing with history, he fortifies his narrative by extracts from the antient Mahawanso, and various other native and foreign writers down to the present day. Having amply treated of its history, he proceeds to describe his own three visits to it, giving very full particulars of his route, and of places of interest in the vicinity. The volume does credit to both author and printer.”--_Trübner’s American and Oriental Literary Record._

* * * * *

“A very valuable monograph on Adam’s Peak, embodying a vast amount of interesting information. Mr. Skeen has, in connection with this work, cleared up a mystery which had baffled all previous writers on Ceylon.”--_Ceylon Observer._

* * * * *

“It has long been a wonder, and the wonder is a growing one, that so small an Island as Ceylon should attract so many writers. All the Books on Ceylon, about Ceylon, and touching Ceylon, if collected into one group, we are certain, would make a goodly library of itself, but the subject appears to be inexhaustible. The most recent contribution to this accretion of works on Ceylon, or rather touching Ceylon, is Mr. Skeen’s Book on Adam’s Peak, which, without laying ourselves open to the charge of indiscriminate or extravagant praise, we feel justified in pronouncing worthy the subject, and worthy the writer. Mr. Skeen has at last got into his natural groove, the exploration and elucidation of the romantic traditions, legends, and folk-lore which cluster round the sacred places of Ceylon. Adam’s Peak is pre-eminently a land-mark in the history of the Island, and while it serves to bridge twenty centuries of the past with the present, it has never lost its own peculiar distinctive character, which as the central object of a nation’s faith it has for so long occupied. As it is the most conspicuous and remarkable object in the physical geography of the Island, so has it stood the everlasting monument of a tradition, pointing to the mission of that great philosopher who, more than twenty centuries ago, succeeded in revolutionizing the faith of a whole continent. It is somewhat remarkable that a religion which aspires after annihilation and extinction of all corporeal existence, should yet recognize the imperishable, rock-crowned mountain, as one of the symbols of its faith. Mr. Skeen does not enter into the metaphysics of this question. His business has been to trace out the old traditions and legends, and while refraining from expressing an opinion himself, he has supplied the reader with abundant material from which to draw his own conclusions. He carries us throughout the whole range of ancient Eastern lore; and from the great Hindu epic, the Ramayana, down to the most recent works on the Island, he has ransacked the dark recesses of oriental literature, to illustrate his subject. Mr. Skeen has entered on his task in a spirit of research, and influenced by the strong poetic vein for which he has hitherto been so well known, he has embellished his subject--a subject which in the hands of a mere antiquarian threatened to become dull and prosy--with the life and spirit of romance.

Mr. Skeen, as we have already observed, has ransacked all the authorities, ancient and modern, that could throw light on his subject, and it is no small praise to state, that he has added to a great power of research an admirable talent for condensation, while his own narrative of personal investigation and exploration, written in flowing easy language, often rising to the height of poetry, presents the gorgeous scenes which he describes in an animated tableau that brings within one focus, the cloud-capped mountains, the roaring torrents and the arid plains, through which lies the course of the pilgrims. It is hardly possible to imagine, looking at the heads of chapters in the table of contents, how Mr. Skeen could manage to reduce the heterogeneous mass of subjects indicated into one harmonious whole, but the reader has only to take up the narrative, and he scarcely perceives the transition from one to another.

We have great pleasure in recommending the Book to the Public. It is even worthy to stand by the best that has been written of Ceylon, and its value as a very readable book is enhanced by the use to which it may be put as a work of reference, not only with regard to the Peak itself, but also, to the History of the Island generally. The book is illustrated with a map of the Peak range, and ten well-executed woodcuts illustrative of the Peak and its accessories; and, with a copious and well-arranged Index, it is admirably calculated to serve as a guide to those whom Mr. Skeen’s Book may inspire with the desire of exploring the mountain region which has continued to attract to its sacred pinnacle the Traveller, the Historian, and the Pilgrim, from the days when Sindbad the Sailor “made a pilgrimage to the place where ADAM was confined after his banishment from Paradise.”--_Colombo Examiner._

* * * * *

“THE author of ‘ADAM’S PEAK,’ has accomplished a most difficult task uncommonly well.”

“The book opens with introductory remarks on the origin of Buddhist, Hindu, and other pilgrimages to Adam’s Peak. With Chapter III. the author commences an account of a pilgrimage to the holy mountain made by himself and three companions, and which forms a kind of cabinet made to contain the curiosities, with an inspection of which the author indulges us. In a pleasant chatty style the literary pilgrim-author describes the road to Avissáweḷa, dwelling upon all objects worthy of remark by the way, and noting all historical facts and curious legends connected with the towns and villages through which he passed. Leaving Avissáweḷa, the pilgrimage is continued towards what was for long considered the loftiest mountain in Ceylon, Adam’s Peak; entertaining details being given of “Síta’s bath,” the Mániyan̥gama vihára or rock temple, and the Saman Déwálé, where the author mentions finding a most curious mural stone. After giving us a description of the curious old town of Ratnapura, the pilgrims again start onwards. After passing Palábaddala, where the travellers obtain a view of the Peak, which is greeted by cries of “Sadhu!” by all true pilgrims, the most enjoyable portion of the journey appears to begin. We can only pause long enough to draw the reader’s attention to the interesting passages about elephants contained in chapter VI., and their supposed habit of retiring to one spot when about to die, and the curious legend of the Bẹ́na Samanala, or “False Peak,” in the same chapter. Space will not allow us to do more than glance at the Kuruwiṭa Falls, and the halt at Hẹramiṭipána, where the congregation of pilgrims is graphically described.

There are many men who have determination and curiosity sufficient to induce them to set out on three different pilgrimages, which in spite of the pleasant places through which the way lies, plainly entailed much fatigue and inconvenience, but there are few gifted with the great powers of observation which the writer of “Adam’s Peak” evidently possesses, or the ability to express their impressions which he evinces. Whether toiling over a mountain, rambling amidst the ruins of an old Buddhist temple, or excavating those curiosities of fact and tradition of which but for this literary pilgrim we should have remained in ignorance, the author has in almost every page got something new to tell us about, which he relates in a remarkably happy way.

Having attentively perused “Adam’s Peak,” it remains for us to pass upon it our carefully formed opinion. In a former notice we said that the author had “accomplished a most difficult task uncommonly well,” and we reiterate our statement. To have compressed so much useful knowledge into so small a compass can only be the result of deep research and hard and persevering study. Mr. Skeen has collected a number of local traditions, legends, and facts, which he has elaborately arranged, and by a pleasant account of incidents connected with his three pilgrimages to the holy mountain, unites the whole in a pleasing and sightly form. The book abounds in quotations which are generally apt and appropriate. The foot notes and copious appendix form by no means the least valuable part of the work.”--_Ceylon Times._

* * * * *

“In a careful perusal of the above production [ADAM’S PEAK] we have been most favorably impressed with its general character and ability; the labour that produced it must have been most painstaking, and involving great research. Nearly a hundred authors are quoted or referred to for confirmation or illustration of the text, which, with well executed engravings, a large and interesting Appendix, and an excellent Index for facility of reference, becomes a most useful addition to Eastern literature. Besides the direct textual matter of the book concerning the Peak, its history, and the pilgrimages made to it, we have a large amount of very interesting particulars respecting the Geology, Botany, and History of the Island, and the religions, manners and customs of the people, with much legendary and traditional lore, which, if not always reliable, is not without either interest or importance, in the assistance it affords to a fuller knowledge of the country and its inhabitants. Indeed the book is almost of encyclopedic utility concerning Ceylon.

For a knowledge of the route, viâ Ratnapura, and of its many interests and attractions of scenery, &c., and also for the many delights of the Peak itself, as given by our author, we recommend a careful perusal of his most interesting and able work.”--_Colombo Friend._

MOUNTAIN LIFE AND COFFEE CULTIVATION IN CEYLON;--A POEM ON THE KNUCKLES RANGE, with other Poems. By WILLIAM SKEEN. 1870.

_Foolscap 4to. 182 pp._ EDWARD STANFORD, Charing Cross, London.

* * * * *

“Adam’s Peak,” and “Mountain Life and Coffee Cultivation in Ceylon,”--two companion volumes devoted to one of our most interesting though least known Eastern possessions ... abound in local colour and afford life-like glimpses into the industry of the society of an island which the Anglo-Cingalese not unpardonably regard as the centre of the earth.”--_Daily Telegraph._

* * * * *

“The poem contains interesting historical records which evince considerable research and extensive reading; also a very full account of the processes of planting the Coffee tree, of collecting the berries, and preparing them for use and exportation. As a picture of Eastern life and industry this book is not only interesting but instructive.”--_The Messenger._

* * * * *

“IN the main poem Mr. Skeen records the impressions derived from a visit to the Knuckles District, and in the text alludes to, while in the notes he affords, valuable information respecting historical personages and events. The specimens quoted will give our readers some idea of a poem in which, clustered round the scenery of the Knuckles, we have described to us a large portion of the incidents of coffee planting life, much history, ancient and modern, more or less connected with the coffee enterprise, with striking references to Hindu mythology. The notes, which explain the brief allusions in the poem, embody a fund of interesting and curious information. The work is probably the most beautifully got up that has ever issued from the local press, and we trust the venture will be largely encouraged.”--_Ceylon Observer._

* * * * *

“The main poem treats of a well known Coffee District, its magnificent scenery, its hospitable planters, and its prosperity. There is abundant evidence in the poem that Mr. Skeen does not now come before the public for the first time. He has at least the assurance, gained from experience, to encourage him in his aspirations; and if he has not quite succeeded in establishing a poetic reputation of the highest order, he yet gives ample promise of better results in the future. With a wonderful facility for versification, and an inexhaustible resource for rhyme, Mr. Skeen has amplified his subject in a manner which less practised or more timorous hands would hardly have dared. We can recommend the book as well worthy perusal, not only for the sake of its poetic beauties, but also on account of the valuable mass of information it contains both in the body of the main poem, and the copious notes at the end.”--_Colombo Examiner._

* * * * *

“One of the most attractive volumes of flowing verse that Ceylon has ever sent forth. The typography is perfect, the general getting up of the book all that could be desired, and the verses are highly descriptive.”--_Ceylon Times._

EARLY TYPOGRAPHY, A LECTURE ON LETTER-PRESS PRINTING IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. By WILLIAM SKEEN. 1853. Sm. 8vo. 48 pp. (_out of print_)

“This little work, issued from the [Ceylon] Government Press, does credit to the author and printer alike.... We can say in all truth and honesty, that the work of Mr. Skeen would reflect credit on any Printing Office in the world. He has certainly illustrated what has been done for the improvement of Printing in Ceylon by _himself_, for to him it is entirely due. He has issued a pamphlet of sound historical matter, carefully written, admirably printed, and on excellent paper. The matter consists of a history of the discovery of the Art of Printing and its various improvements, down to the close of the Fifteenth Century; and while it contains much new and interesting matter, there is but one fault to find with it:--it is too short, and stops at a very interesting point.... We welcome such works with the right hand of fellowship; and in conclusion, we will only add, that we hope Mr. Skeen will have the inclination and leisure to complete this history of the Art of Printing, in the first part of which, now published, he has imparted his information in so agreeable a manner, and illustrated the present state of the Art by so perfect an example.”--_Colombo Examiner_, [1853.]

Transcriber’s Note:

Equals signs indicate the word or character was printed in an ornate font, for example, =Ornate font=

The tilde character in ~TYPOGRAPHY~ indicates spaced letters

Some fonts may not render the following characters as expected:

n under ring
--Sin̥halese
--Sy-chong-n̥gén-pon
--Mámyan̥gama

dot under
--e and d in Wẹlikaḍa
--l in Avissáweḷa
--é in Bẹ́na
--t in Kuruwiṭa and Hẹramiṭipána

Items in the Errata listed on page 424 have been changed. Otherwise, no known changes to spelling or punctuation as appeared in the original publication have been made except as follows:

Page 22
papier-maché castings _changed to_
papier-mâché castings

Page 243
by the name of the printing house.” _changed to_
by the name of the printing house.’”

Page 316
“NO ONE KNOWS; yet it seems _changed to_
“NO ONE KNOWS;” yet it seems

the assistants of Guttenberg, Faust and Schœffer _changed to_
the assistants of Gutenberg, Faust and Schœffer

Page 383
and eighth formes: the next quaternion _changed to_
and eighth formes; the next quaternion

Page 417
‘experiments of his foreman H. le Blansch _changed to_
‘experiments’ of his foreman H. le Blansch

Page 420
that of Zell, who says Gutenburg _changed to_
that of Zell, who says Gutenberg

Page 421
were the work of a letter-synder _changed to_
were the work of a letter-snyder

Page i
pleasing and anecdotal manner it which _changed to_
pleasing and anecdotal manner in which

Page ii
little has hitherto been known. _changed to_
little has hitherto been known.”

Page iv
only interesting but instructive.--_The Messenger._ _changed to_
only interesting but instructive.”--_The Messenger._

Footnote 11
Monumens Typographiques des Pays Bays _changed to_
Monumens Typographiques des Pays Bas

Sieclé _changed to_
Siècle

Footnote 17
Thomas á Kempis, according to Meiners, _changed to_
Thomas à Kempis, according to Meiners,

Footnote 63
plusquam 4000 florenorem _changed to_
plusquam 4000 florenorum

Footnote 79
Introduction Historique et Bibliographique. _changed to_
Introduction Historique et Bibliographique.”

Footnote 83
Harlem, 1628. 4to. _changed to_
Haarlem, 1628. 4to.

Footnote 98
clarum nomem Mogus _changed to_
clarum nomen Mogus

Footnote 107
The attitude of the statute, nobly draped _changed to_
The attitude of the statue, nobly draped

Footnote 139
Justiniani codex institutionem _changed to_
Justiniani codex institutionum

Footnote 140
that William Tydnale’s version of the _changed to_
that William Tyndale’s version of the

by Joann. Schæffier _changed to_
by Joann. Schæffler