Curiosities Of Printing

China, tlio "eradle of the arts," claims the honor of the invention of printing. ' Away back In the year 593, nearly 1,000 j years before Gutonberg issued the first ■ volume of his famous bible, the Chinese were using the "block system" of printing. and in the tenth century, 400 years before Europe had become acquainted witli the "art proservative," the almond-eyed Celestial typos were better versed in the scienee of setting movable types than were the American printers of the days of Benjamin Franklin. The "block system" of printing, wliich was so well known in the flowery kingdom less than six ceuturies after the birth of Christ, did not flnd its way to Europe until about the flrst of the fifteenth century, when "devotional mauuals," each bearing a portrait and a few Unes in printing, became popular. These cuts and printed lines were taken from engravings mado on a single block, the very earliest dated specimen of that character made in Europe bearing date of 1423. There is still a question as to who was the flrst European printer to use the movable types. It is not a question as to what European Invented movable types, for it is known thnt the honor belongs to the far east. The honor of being the flrst to adopt the system appears to rest between Laurenz Coster of Haarlem (died 1440) John Faust and John Gutenberg. In the above list some include the name of Peter Schoffer, a son-in-law of Faust. Dutch authorities claim that Coster was the first to use movable types, and that Gutenberg, who was at one time a workman in Coster's shop stole the idea from him. The Germans give Gutenberg the honor and set the date of his first successful practice of the art at 1436. The first entire European book ever printed from movable types bears the name of Johann Faust on its title page. It boro the name of "Tractatus Petri Hispani" and was printed at Mentz in 1442. As Gutenberg did j not put his name on all of his books, or ' the date when they were issued, there is ■ some doubt when the first appeared or how many were issued. Gutenberg's great work was hls Latin bible, which ' appepared in 1456, and which is often j catalogued as the "first book ever printed on movable types."