"IKi DIES to;; .^ Ex Libris W. P. M. KENNEDY (a/Ha. jfo?vtM*r ^ «G« p *£ • Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from University of Ottawa http://www.archive.org/details/earlyprintedbooOOduff eigiftimutiflumpf IirtPijPpmWmtuu Dnmnoftrufu»ttrc0 r&pnuisatirnmus* un acctpta Ijabras tt bnoiraS'ljciD^na- bee inu^nrra-tjrc fanrta^ famnna il= ubata,Inpiui8 out ttbi otau^io fctfia ma faucta bat^Um^iaiHtirat- mftoUire^aDunare-i rrgt Otftttietoto rcfc terras/Una ru famfomo $ap no* ftrojM rrge uro- jMautt&ite noftm ' ( p\ omite oz^JtDjris-at^batbJlttt ct ajjoftdite- ftUti tultante. 6mmto tine fatnubra famulas$ jJtuarii- B- %ir fit mrmonauiuoii- „ otm rircuaftaml quoi? tibi fibre rogtii tatfttt nota fcuorii pzo quite nbi offm muo-uri nut nbt offmlt bor rarrifinum FROM SCHOEFFER'S CANON OF THE MASS Early Printed Books By E. Gordon Duff London Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd. MDCCCXCIII THE To 15 % TO THE MEMORY OF HENRY BRADSHA W a7To9av<s)V en \a\ti a 2 Preface In the following pages I have endeavoured to give a short account of the introduction of printing into the principal countries and towns of Europe, and to bring our information on the subject as far as possible up to date. Small books on large subjects are for the most part both superficial and imperfect, and I am afraid the present book forms no exception to this rule, but my excuse must be that I have attempted rather to draw attention to more out of the way information than to recapitulate what is already to be found in the majority of bibliographical books. Above all, I have tried as far as possible to confine myself to facts and avoid theories, for only by work- ing from facts can we help to keep bibliography in the position, to which Henry Bradshaw raised it, of a scientific study. And, in the words of a learned Warden of my own college, ' if any shall suggest, that some of the Z viii Preface inquiries here insisted upon do seem too minute and trivial for any prudent Man to bestow his serious thoughts and time about, such persons may know, that the discovery of the true nature and cause of any the most minute thing, doth promote real knowledge, and therefore cannot be unfit for any Man's endeavours who is willing to contribute to the advancement of Learning.' I must express my best thanks to two friends, Mr. F. J. H. Jenkinson, University Librarian, Cam- P. Librarian the bridge ; and Mr, J. Edmond, to Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, for very kindly reading through the proofs of the entire book and making many useful suggestions and corrections. E. G. D. March 1893. Contents PAGE CHAPTER I Steps towards the Invention, i CHAPTER II The Invention of Printing, 21 CHAPTER III Spread of Printing in Germany, 39 CHAPTER IV Italy, 59 CHAPTER V France, 78 CHAPTER VI The Low Countries, ... .... 95 CHAPTER VII Spain and Portugal—Denmark and Sweden, . 113 CHAPTER VIII Westminster : Caxton—Wynkyn de Worde—Julian Notary, 125 Contents PAGE CHAPTER IX Oxford and St. Alban's, 147 CHAPTER X London: John Lettou —William de Machlinia — Richard Pynson, 160 CHAPTER XI The Spread of the Art in Great Britain, . .174 CHAPTER XII The Study of Bookbinding, 185 CHAPTER XIII The Collecting and Describing of Early Printed Books, 201 Index of Printers and Places, 21 Illustrations Page from the Canon of the Mass printed by Schoeffer about 1458 {much reduced), . Frontispiece (From the unique copy in the Bodleian.) PLATE PAGE i. Page 3 of the 'Mirabilia Rom^,' . .11 (From the copy in the British Museum.) 11. The Catalogue issued by Schoeffer about 1469 [reduced)) . -31 (Reproduced from a full-sized facsimile of the original in the Munich Library, published in the Centralblatt fur BibHothekswesen . ) in. Page 3 of the 'Liber Epistolarum' of Gasparinus Barzizius, the first book printed at Paris, ... 83 (From the copy in the British Museum.) iv. Fragment of an edition of the ' Doctrinale ' of Alexander Gallus, one of the so-called ' Costeriana,' 98 (Reduced from the copy in the British Museum.) v. Page of the first edition of the ' Sarum Breviary,' 127 (Printed at Cologne about 1475.) vi. Part of a page from the 'Golden Legend,' . 144 (Printed by Julian Notary in 1503. From the copy in the British Museum.) ) xii Illustrations TLATE PAGE vii. First page of the ' Excitatio ad Elemosinam Faciendam,' 152 (Printed at Oxford about 1485. From the unique copy in the British Museum.) { viii. Page of the Hor^ ad Usum Sarum,' . .163 (Printed at London by Machlinia. From the fragment in the University Library, Cambridge. ix. Last page of the 'Festum Nominis Jesu,' . 167 (Printed at London by Pynson about 1493. From the unique copy in the British Museum.) x. Stamped Binding with the Device of Pynson, . 193 (From the original in the British Museum.) EARLY PRINTED BOOKS. CHAPTER I. STEPS TOWARDS THE INVENTION. When we speak of the invention of printing, we mean the invention of the art of multiplying books by means of single types capable of being used again and again in different combinations for the printing of different books. Taking the word printing in its widest sense, it means merely the impression of any image ; and the art of impressing or stamping words or pictures seems to have been known from the very earliest times. The handles of Greek amphorae, the bases of Roman lamps and vases, were often im- pressed with the maker's name, or other legend, by means of a stamp. This was the basis of the art, and Cicero {De Nat. Deorum, ii. 37) had suggested the combination of single letters into sentences. Quin- tilian refers to stencil plates as a guide to writing; and stamps with letters cut in relief were in common use amongst the Romans. The need for the invention, however, was not great, and it was never made. The first practical printing, both from blocks and mov- A Early Printed Books able type, was done in China. As early as A.D. 593 the more important texts were printed from engraved wooden plates by the order of the Emperor Wen-ti, and in the eleventh century printing from movable type was introduced by a certain smith named Picheng. The multiplicity of Chinese characters rendered the discovery of movable type of little economical value, and the older system of block printing has found favour even up to the present time. In the same way, Corea and Japan, though both had experimented with movable type, returned to their former custom of block printing. It is impossible now to determine whether rumours of the art could have reached Europe from China, and have acted as incentives to its practice. Writers on early printing scout the idea ; and there is little to oppose to their verdict, with our present uncertain knowledge. Modern discoveries, however, point to the relations of China with foreign countries in the fourteenth century having been much more important than is generally supposed. The earliest productions in the nature of prints from wooden blocks upon paper which we find in Europe, are single sheets bearing generally the image of a saint. From their perishable nature but few of these prints have come down to our times; and though we have evidence that they were being produced, at any rate as early as the fourteenth, perhaps even as the thirteenth century, the earliest print with a definite and unquestioned date still in existence is 8 Steps towards the Invention 3 the 'St. Christopher' of 1423. This print was dis- covered in 1769 by Heinecken, pasted inside the binding of a manuscript in the library of the Convent of the Chartreuse at Buxheim in Swabia. The manu- 1 script, which is now in the Spencer Library, is entitled Laics Virginum> is dated 141 7, and is said to have been given to the Monastery of Buxheim by a certain Anna, Canoness of Buchau, 'who is known to have been living in 1427.' On the inside of the other board of the binding is pasted a cut of the Annuncia- tion, said to be of the same age and workmanship as the St. Christopher. It is worth noticing that there seem to have been some wood engravers in this Svvabian monastery, who engraved the book-plate for the books "given by ' Dominus Hildibrandus Branden- burg de Bibraco' towards the end of the fifteenth century ; and these book-plates are printed on the reverse sides of pieces of an earlier block-book, very probably engraved and printed in the monastery for presentation to travellers or pilgrims. The date on the celebrated Brussels print of 141 has unfortunately been tampered with, so that its authenticity is questioned. The print was found by an inn-keeper in 1848, fixed inside an old chest, and it was soon acquired by the Royal Library at Brussels. 1 The Spencer Library has now passed into the possession of Mrs, Rylands, of Manchester ; but as many of the early printed books in it are described in Dibdin's Bibliothecd Spenceriana, and as it is so widely known under the name of the Spencer Library, it has been thought best, in order to avoid confusion, to refer to it under its old name throughout the present book. Early Printed Books Since the date has been touched up with a pencil, and at the same time some authorities consider 1468 to be the right reading, it is best to consider the St. Christopher as the earliest dated woodcut. Though these two are the earliest dated prints known, it is, of course, most probable that some others which are undated may be earlier; but to fix even an approxi- mate date to them is in most cases impossible.