Chapter II: Engravings (15)

After the capture of Mayence, two workmen, who had been dismissed from the establishment of Fust and Schœffer, Conrad Sweynheim and Arnold Pannartz, carried beyond the Alps the secret that had been confided to them under the guarantee of an oath. They remained for a time in the Convent of Subiaco, near Rome, in which were some German monks, and there they organised a printing apparatus, and printed many fine editions of Lactantius, Cicero, St. Augustine, &c. They were soon invited to Rome, and met with an asylum in the house of the illustrious family of Massimi; but they found an opponent in the city in one of their own workmen from the convent, who had come to Rome and engaged himself as printer to the cardinal John of Torquemada. Henceforward sprang up between the two printing establishments a rivalry which showed itself in unparalleled zeal and activity on both sides. In ten years the greater number of the writings of the ancient Latin authors, which had been preserved in manuscripts more or less rare, passed through the press. In 1476 there were in Rome more than twenty printers, who employed about a hundred presses, and whose great object was to surpass each other in the rapidity with which they produced their publications; so that the day soon arrived when the most precious manuscripts retained any value only because they contained what had not been already made public by printing. Those of which printed editions already existed were so universally disregarded, that we must refer to this period the destruction of a large number. They were used, when written on parchment, for binding the new books; and to this circumstance may be attributed the loss of certain celebrated works which printing in nowise tended to preserve from the knife of the binder.

While printing was displaying such prodigious activity in Rome, it was

not less active in Venice, where it seems to have been imported by that Nicholas Jenson whom Louis XI. had sent to Gutenberg, and whom for a long time even the Venetians looked on as the inventor of the art with which he had clandestinely become acquainted at Mayence. From the

year 1469, however, Jenson had no longer the monopoly of printing in Venice, where John de Spire had arrived, bringing also from Mayence all the improvements Gutenberg and Schœffer had obtained. This art having ceased to be a secret in the city of the Doges, great

(1480.)]

competition arose among printers, who flocked to Venice, where they found a market for their volumes which a thousand ships carried to all parts of the world. At this period important and admirable publications issued from the numerous rival printing establishments in Venice. Christopher Waltdorfer, of Ratisbon, published in 1471 the first edition of the “Decameron” of Boccaccio, of which a copy was sold for £2,080 at the Roxburgh sale; John of Cologne published, in the same year, the first dated edition of “Terence;” Adam of Amberg reprinted, from the Roman editions, “Lactantius” and “Virgil,” &c. Finally, Venice already possessed more than two hundred printers, when in 1494 the great Aldo Manuzio made his appearance, the precursor of the Estiennes,[62] who were the glory of French printing. From every part of Europe printing spread itself and flourished (Figs. 399 to 411); the printers, however, often neglected, perhaps intentionally, to date their

productions. In the course of 1469 there were only two towns, Venice and Milan, that revealed, by their dated editions, the time at which printing was first established within their walls; in 1470, five towns--Nuremberg, Paris, Foligno, Treviso, and Verona; in 1471, eight towns--Strasbourg, Spires, Treviso, Bologna, Ferrara, Naples, Pavia, and Florence; in 1472, eight others--Cremona, Felizzano, Padua, Mantua, Montreuil, Jesi, Munster, and Parma; in 1473, ten--Brescia, Messina, Ulm, Bude, Lauingen, Mersebourg, Alost, Utrecht, Lyons, and St. Ursio, near Vicenza; in 1474, thirteen towns, among which are Valentia (in Spain) and London; in 1475, twelve towns, &c. Each year we find the art gaining ground, and each year an increase in the number of books newly edited, rendering science and literature popular by considerably diminishing the price of books. Thus, for example, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, the illustrious Poggio sold his fine manuscript of “Livy,” to raise money enough to buy himself a villa near Florence; Anthony of Palermo mortgaged his estate in order to be able to purchase a manuscript of the same historical writer, valued at a hundred and twenty-five dollars; yet a few years later the “Livy,” printed at Rome by Sweynheim and Pannartz, in one folio volume on vellum, was worth only five golden dollars.

The largest number of the early editions resembled each other, for they were generally printed in Gothic characters, or _lettres de somme_--letters which bristled with points and angular appendices. These characters, when printing was only just invented, had preserved in Holland and in Germany their original form; and the celebrated printer of Bruges, Colard Mansion, only improved on them in his valuable publications, which were almost contemporaneous with Gutenberg’s “Catholicon;” but they had already under-gone in France a semi metamorphosis in getting rid of their angularities and their most extravagant features. These _lettres de somme_ were then adopted under the name of _bâtarde_ (bastard) or _ronde_ (round), in the first books printed in France, and when Nicholas Jenson established himself in Venice

he used the _Roman_, which were only an elegant variety of the _lettres de somme_ of France (Gothic characters). Aldo Manuzio, with the sole object of insuring that Venice should not owe its national type to a Frenchman, adopted the _Italic_ character, renewed from the writing called cursive or _de chancellerie_ (of the chancellor’s office), which was never generally used in printing, notwithstanding the fine editions of Aldo. Hereafter the Ciceronean character was to come into use, so called because it had been employed at Rome in the first edition of the “Epistolæ Familiares” (Familiar Letters) of Cicero, in 1467. The character called “St. Augustinian,” which appeared later, likewise owes its name to the large edition of the works of St. Augustine, published at Basle in 1506. Moreover, during this first period in which each printer engraved, or caused to be engraved under his own directions,

“Do not aspire to know high things.”]

“Virtue my Leader, Fortune my Companion.”]

the characters he made use of, there was an infinite number of different types. The _register_, a table indicative of the quires which composed the book, was necessary to point out in what order these were to be arranged

“Christ the true Vine.”]

and bound together. After the _register_ came _the catchwords_, which, at the end of each quire or of each leaf, were destined to serve an analogous purpose; and the _signatures_, indicating the place of quires or of leaves by letters or figures; but signatures and catchwords existed already in the manuscripts, and typographers had only to reproduce them in their editions. There was at first a perfect identity between the manuscripts and the books printed from them. The typographic art seems to have considered it imperative to respect the abbreviations with which the manuscripts were so encumbered as often to become unintelligible; but, as it was not easy to transfer them precisely from the manuscripts, they were soon expressed in such a way, and in so complicated a manner, that in 1483 a special explanatory treatise had to be published to render them intelligible. The punctuation was generally very capriciously presented: here, it was nearly _nil_; there, it admitted only of the full stop in various positions; the rests were often indicated by oblique strokes; sometimes the full stop was round, sometimes square, and we find also the star or asterisk employed as a sign of punctuation. The new paragraphs, or breaks, are placed indifferently in the same line with the rest of the text, projecting beyond it or not reaching to it.

The book, on leaving the press, went, like its predecessor the manuscript, first into the hands of the _corrector_, who revised the text, rectifying wrong letters, and restoring those the press had left in blank; then into the hands of the _rubricator_, who printed in red, blue, or other colours, the initial letters, the capitals, and the new paragraphs. The leaves, before the adoption of signatures, were numbered by hand.

At first, nearly all books were printed in folio and quarto sizes, the result of folding the sheet of paper in two or in four respectively; but the length and breadth of these sizes varied according to the requirements of typography and the dimensions of the press. At the end of the fifteenth century, however, the advantages of the octavo were already appreciated, which soon became in France the sex-decimo, and in Italy the duo-decimo.

Paper and ink employed by the earliest printer seem to have required no improvement as the art of printing progressed.

The ink was black, bright, indelible, unalterable, penetrating deeply into the paper, and composed, as already were the colours, of oil-paint. The paper, which was certainly rather grey or yellow, and often coarse and rough, had the advantage of being strong, durable, and was almost fit, in virtue of these qualities, to replace parchment and vellum, both of which materials were scarce and too expensive. Editors contented themselves with having struck off on _membrane_ (a thin and white vellum) a small number of copies of each edition; never exceeding three hundred. These sumptuous copies, rubricated, illuminated, bound with care, resembling in every respect the finest manuscripts, were generally presented to kings, princes, and great personages, whose patronage or assistance the printer sought. Nor was any expense spared to add to typography all the ornaments which wood-engravings could confer upon it; and from the year 1475, numerous illustrated editions, of which an example was found in the first “Specula,” especially those printed in Germany, were enriched with figures, portraits, heraldic escutcheons, and a multitude of ornamented margins (Figs. 412 to 415). For more than a century the painters and engravers worked hand in hand with the printers and booksellers.

The taste for books spread over the whole of Europe; the number of buyers and of amateurs was every day increasing. In the libraries of princes, scholars, or monks, printed books were collected as formerly were manuscripts. Henceforth printing found everywhere the same protection, the same encouragements, the same rivalry. Typographers sometimes travelled with their apparatus, opened a printing-office in a small town, and then went on elsewhere after they had sold one edition. Finally, such was the incredible activity of typography, from its origin till 1500, that the number of editions published in Europe in the space of half a century amounted to _sixteen thousand_. But the most remarkable result of printing was the important part it played in the movement of the sixteenth century, from which resulted the transformation of the arts, of literature, and science; the discoveries of Laurent Coster and of Gutenberg had cast a new light over the world, and the press made its appearance to modify profoundly the conditions of the intellectual life of peoples.

LONDON: PRINTED BY VIRTUE AND CO., CITY ROAD.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _Dorserets_, covers to backs of chairs, beds, &c.

[2] Richard I., surnamed _Sans-peur_, third Duke of Normandy, was natural son of William I., and grandson of Rollo. He died in 996.--[ED.]

[3] Charles le Brun, a distinguished painter of the French school, flourished during the seventeenth century. The son of a sculptor, who placed him under Simon Vouet, the young artist made such progress that at the age of fifteen he painted a remarkable picture, “Hercules Destroying the Horses of Diomede,” which brought him at once into public notice. Le Brun’s patron, the Chancellor Seguier, sent him to Italy, with an introduction to Nicholas Poussin, whose pure and correct taste, however, seems to have had little influence on the French artist, who, though possessing an inventive and somewhat elevated genius, often showed himself a mannerist.--[ED.]

[4] “Historical Topography of Ancient Paris in the district of the Louvre and Tuileries.” By Berty and Legrand.

[5] Probably an abbreviation, or corruption, of cap-mail.--[ED.]

[6] Or _brassarts_--pieces to protect the upper part of the arms.--[ED.]

[7] This title is not chronologically correct. Henry of Bolingbroke had been created Duke of Hereford nearly a year before his intended combat with Norfolk, at Coventry, in 1398; when the king, Richard II., interfered, and banished both nobles from the kingdom.--[ED.]

[8] _Anglicè_, partisan--a kind of pike or lance.--[ED.]

[9] _Martel-de-fer_--a weapon combining a hammer and pick; used by cavalry in the Middle Ages, to damage and destroy armour. It was generally hung at the saddle-bow.--[ED.]

[10] _Tassets_--parts of the cuirass.

[11] _Morion_--a kind of helmet, usually worn by foot-soldiers.--[ED.]

[12] So called, it may be presumed, from its form and make.--[ED.]

[13] Latin, _Luteus_--muddy.--[ED.]

[14] Quincunx order is a method of arranging five objects, or pieces, in the form of a square; one being in the centre, and one at each corner.--[ED.]

[15] _Limousine_--a term applied to enamelling, and derived, as some writers assume, from Leonard Limousin, a famous artist in this kind of work, resident at Limoges. It is, however, more probable it came from the province Limousin, or Limosin, of which Limoges was the capital; and that Leonard acquired the surname of Limousin from his place of birth or residence; just as many of the old painters are best known by theirs.--[ED.]

[16] _Ogivale_--a term used by French architects to denote the Gothic vault, with its ribs and cross-springers, &c. It is also employed to denote the pointed arch.--GWILT’S _Encyclopædia of Architecture_.--[ED.]

[17] This is a literal rendering of the text of M. Labarte; but the artists to whom allusion is made were only two, Niccola and Giovanni, sculptors and architects of Pisa. According to Vasari, Niccola, father of Giovanni (Jean or John), first worked under certain Greek sculptors who were executing the figures and other sculptural ornaments of the Duomo of Pisa and the Chapel of San Giovanni.--[ED.]

[18] Andrea di Cione Orcagna.--[ED.]

[19] _Autochthone_--relating to the aboriginal inhabitants of a country: the use of the word here is not very intelligible.--[ED.]

[20] _Gnomon_--literally the upright piece of wood or metal which projects the shadow on the plane of the dial.--[ED.]

[21] This clock, as many readers doubtless know, was removed some years ago, when St. Dunstan’s Church, in Fleet Street, was rebuilt.--[ED.]

[22] The reader will notice a discrepancy between this description of the _chorus_ and that given in a preceding paragraph. We have retained both, mainly because it is now impossible to determine what the instrument really was: no mention of it appears in any book we have consulted.--[ED.]

[23] _Nabulum_--a name evidently derived from the Hebrew word _nebel_, generally translated in the Scriptures as a psaltery.--[ED.]

[24] The Welsh or Scotch _Crwd_.--[TR.]

[25] In German _Geige_, “fiddle.”--[TR.]

[26] Henry IV., born at Pau, in the Béarn.--[ED.]

[27] The English “knave” is only our old equivalent for the German _knabe_, and had originally the same meaning of _servant_; it is also nearly similar in sense to the French _valet_.--[TR.]

[28] _Paul, the Silentiary_, is so named from holding in the court of Justinian the office of chief of the Silentiarii, persons who had the care of the palace. He wrote a poem on the rebuilding of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, which was translated from Greek into Latin, and published with notes, by Du Cange, of Paris, in 1670. It is this to which M. Lecroix refers in the text.--[ED.]

[29] _Amandaire_--almond-shaped. Strictly speaking, the aureola is the nimbus of the whole body, as the nimbus is the aureola of the head. In Fairholt’s “Dictionary of Terms in Art” is an engraving showing a saint standing in the centre of an almond-shaped aureola--[ED.]

[30] _Grisaille_--white and black.--[ED.]

[31] Probably Alfonso is thus designate!.--[ED.]

[32] This is obviously a misconception. Lanzi, alluding to the picture, says, “Had Leonardo desired to follow the practice of his age in painting in distemper, the art at this time would have been in possession of this treasure. But being always fond of attempting new methods, he painted this masterpiece upon a peculiar ground, formed of distilled oils, which was the reason that it gradually detached itself from the wall,” &c. And a later authority, Kugler, thus writes: “The determination of Leonardo to execute the work in oil-colours instead of fresco, in order to have the power of finishing the minutest details in so great an undertaking, appears to have been unfortunate.” Distemper differs from fresco in that it is painted on a dry, and not a damp, wall; but in both the vehicle used is of an aqueous, and not an oily, nature.--[ED.]

[33] Deacon of the Church at Aquila, and afterwards attached to the court of Charlemagne. Paul, who died about the year 799, was distinguished as a poet and historian.--[ED.]

[34] Or San-Gemignano, a small town between Florence and Siena.--[ED.]

[35] Giorgione studied under Giovanni Bellini, younger brother of Gentile, and son of Jacopo. M. Lacroix does not even mention Giovanni Bellini, though he is generally esteemed before his father and brother, besides being the master of two of the greatest painters of the Venetian school, Titian and Giorgione; who, however, soon cast aside the antiquated style of their early instructor.--[ED.]

[36] The famous picture, an altar-piece, representing “Christ bearing his Cross,” known by the name of _Lo Spasimo di Sicilia_, from its having been painted for the convent of Santa Maria della Spasimo at Palermo, in Sicily. It is now in the Museum of Madrid.--[ED.]

[37] We can find no authority to support this statement.--[ED.]

[38] Holbein died of the plague which prevailed in London in 1554.--[ED.]

[39] This name is generally written Jeannet, and, according to Wornum’s “Epochs of Painting,” seems to have been applied indiscriminately almost to the two painters, Jehannet or Jehan Clouet, father and son. M. Lacroix appears also to include François under the same general cognomen; which, indeed, appears to have been a species of surname.--[ED.]

[40] _Buziack_ is the name by which this old wood-engraver is generally known.--[ED.]

[41] The legend which accompanies this engraving is in old Italian; it relates to the famous prophecy of Isaiah as to the birth of Christ (Isaiah vii. 14).

[42] We presume this plate to be that commonly known among collectors of prints as “Death’s Horse;” it represents a knight on horseback followed by Death. The best impressions of this plate are prior to the date 1513. It is also called “The Christian Knight,” and “The Knight, Death, and the Devil.”--[ED.]

[43] That Marc Antonio studied painting under Raphael, as is here implied, is more than doubtful, though he engraved a very large number of his various compositions, and was highly esteemed by the great master.--[ED.]

[44] Giovanni B. B. Ghisi; Giorgio and Adams, his two sons; and Diana, his daughter.--[ED.]

[45] This engraver, generally known by the single name of George, usually signed his plates with the surname Peins or Pentz.--[ED.]

[46] He was born at Prague, although most of his works were executed in England.--[TR.]

[47] Ambons--a kind of pulpit in the early Christian churches.--[ED.]

[48] Strasbourg spire is 468 feet in height, the highest in the world. Amiens, the next, a mere _flèche_, is 422 feet.--[TR.]

[49] M. Lacroix uses the word _Romane_ throughout, with reference to this style of architecture: we have adopted _Norman_ as that most commonly associated with it, and because it is a generic term comprehending Romanesque, Lombardic, and even Byzantine.--[ED.]

[50] _Oculus_ (eye).--This word is not known in the vocabulary of English architects; but it is evidently intended to signify a circular window.--[ED.]

[51] Officers who had jurisdiction over, and were inspectors of, works of masonry and carpentry.

[52] The word is derived from _vellus_, which merely signifies the skin of any beast, not of a calf only.--[ED.]

[53] The word is derived from the Latin _uncialis_, and is applied to letters of a round or hook-shaped form: such were used by the ancients as numerals, or for words in abbreviated inscriptions.--[ED.]

[54] _Minuscule._--Less or little. The term is evidently here intended to distinguish small letters from capitals.--[ED.]

[55] _Palimpsest_--a kind of parchment from which anything written could easily be erased.--[ED.]

[56] Librarian probably; though _libraire_ means only a bookseller, _bibliothécaire_ being the French for a librarian.--[TR.]

[57] _Translation_: “This is Monseigneur St. Louis’ Psalter, which belonged to his mother.”

[58] _Antiphonaries_--books containing the responses, &c., used in Catholic church-services.--[ED.]

[59] “Garni de deux fermaulx d’argent, dorez, armoiez d’azur à une aigle d’or à deux testes, onglé de gueulles, auquel a ung tuyau d’argent doré pour tourner les feuilles, à trois escussons desdites armes, couvert d’une chemise de veluyau vermeil.”

[60] Probably this “pilgrimage” refers to some one of the great European Councils or Diets held in the city during the Middle Ages, as were Congresses in later times.--[ED.]

[61] _Sic_; but it should evidently be the fifteenth century.--[ED.]

[62] _Anglicè_, Stephens, by which name this illustrious family of scholars and printers is most popularly known in England. They were ten in number, who flourished between 1512 and about 1660. Anthony, the last distinguished representative of the family, died in poverty at the Hôtel Dieu, Paris, in 1674, at the age of eighty-two.--[ED.]