Part 29
The gravest difficulty in the way of this conjecture is, that the type-mould of modern type-founders has, including the matrix, but three detachable pieces. As this mould is substantially of the same form as that known to have been used by Claude Garamond, the eminent type-founder of Paris, in 1540, it has been supposed, and properly, that this mould of three pieces must have been used before Garamond, by all the early printers. But it was not the only form of mould. At the beginning of this century every type-founder found it expedient to use at times, a type-mould somewhat different in its construction—a mould which, with the matrix, consisted of four detachable pieces. The merit of this mould was its adaptability, within limits, to any size of body. Its disadvantages were its difficulty of nice adjustment and its liability to inaccuracy—faults which have obliged all American type-founders of this day to discontinue its use entirely. It is, without doubt, a very old form of mould, but it was never a popular one, having been used chiefly for casting bodies of irregular size.[246] Mr. Bruce has showed me one of these early moulds—a mould long out of use, preserved only as one of the earlier relics of his old type-foundry. Its construction is [p400] too complex for description by words, or even by engraving; but it may be sufficient to say that, with the matrix, it consisted of four pieces, and was so constructed as to allow of an enlargement and nice adjustment in either direction of the space provided for casting the body of the type. The pieces were held together by stiff springs, but buttons could have been used for the same purpose. When these pieces were connected it would be plain to any mechanic that it was a mould; disconnected, its purpose would be a riddle. This peculiarity, coupled with the well known fact that Gutenberg subsequently made at Mentz, three fonts of types on bodies of different size, but closely approximating each other, lead me to the belief that this tool of four pieces should have been some kind of an adjustable type-mould.
The only book which can be offered with plausibility as the work of Gutenberg in Strasburg is a _Donatus_, of which four leaves are now preserved in the National Library at Paris. This _Donatus_ is a small quarto, containing twenty-seven lines to the page. The similarity of the types of this book, both in face and body, to those of the _Bible of 42 lines_, suggests the thought that both books were the work of the same printer; but the cut of the letters, the founding of the types and the printing of the book are vastly inferior.
It is possible that Gutenberg may have printed some books at Strasburg, but we do not know anything about them. There were many difficulties connected with the proper development of typography, and he may have labored over them many years without any satisfactory result.[247] His earlier experience could not have been materially different from that of other inventors: he may have been kept for years on the threshold of success, vainly trying to remove some obstruction which blocked up his way. If we suppose that Gutenberg [p401] began, as a novice would probably begin, by founding types of soft lead in moulds of sand, the printer will understand why he would condemn the types made by this method. If he afterward made a mould of hard metal, and founded types in matrices of brass, we can understand that, in the beginning, he had abundant reason to reject his first types for inaccuracies of body and irregularities of height and lining. To him as to all true inventors, there could be no patching up of defects in plan or in construction. It was necessary to throw away all the defective work and to begin anew. Experiments like these consume a great deal of time and quite as much of money. The testimony shows that the money contributed by some of the partners in the association had been collected with difficulty. We may suppose that when this had been spent to no purpose, they were unable or unwilling to contribute any more.
It may be that the failure of the Strasburg associates was due solely to the audacity of Gutenberg, whose plans were always beyond his pecuniary ability. Even then he may have purposed the printing of the great _Bible of 36 lines_ in three volumes, which he afterward completed in an admirable manner. In trying to accomplish much, he may have failed to do anything of [p402] value. Whatever the reason, it is certain that his partners abandoned Gutenberg and his invention. We read no more of Riffe and Heilmann in connection with typography.
There is evidence that Gutenberg was financially embarrassed after the trial. On the second day of January, 1441, Gutenberg and the knight Luthold von Ramstein gave security for the annual payment of five pounds to the Chapter of St. Thomas at Strasburg, in consideration of the present sum of one hundred pounds paid by the chapter to Gutenberg. On the fifteenth day of December, 1442, John Gutenberg and Martin Brether sold to the same corporation for the present sum of eighty pounds, an annual income of four pounds, from the revenues of the town of Mentz. Gutenberg had inherited this income from his uncle, Johan Lehheimer, secular judge of that city. The tax-book of the city shows that he was in arrear for taxes between the years 1436 and 1440. In the tax-book for 1443, it is plainly recorded that Gutenberg’s tax was paid by the Ennel Gutenbergen who is supposed to have been his wife. Gutenberg had reason to be disheartened. He had spent all his money; had alienated his partners; had apparently wasted a great deal of time in fruitless experiments; had damaged his reputation as a man of business, and seemed further from success than when he revealed his plans to his partners.
It is the common belief that Gutenberg went direct from Strasburg to Mentz. Winaricky, on the contrary, says that he forsook Strasburg for the University of Prague, at which institution he took the degree of bachelor of arts in 1445, and in which city he resided, until it was besieged, and he was obliged to leave, in 1448. There is no trustworthy authority for either statement. The period in his life between 1442 and 1448 is blank, but it is not probable that he was idle.
[p403]
XXI
Gutenberg and his Earlier Work at Mentz.
Gutenberg appears in Mentz as a Borrower of Money . . . Was then Ready to Begin as a Printer . . . Donatus of 1451 . . . Letters of Indulgence of 1454 and 1455 . . . Made from Founded Types . . . Circumstances attending their sale . . . Fac-simile of Holbein’s Satire . . . Fac-simile of the Letter dated 1454, with a Translation . . . Almanac of 1455 . . . Gutenberg’s two Bibles . . . Dates of Publication Uncertain . . . Bible of 36 lines, with Fac-simile . . . Evidences of its probable Priority . . . Apparently an Unsuccessful Book . . . John Fust, with Portrait . . . Fust’s Contract with Gutenberg in 1450 . . . Probable Beginning of the Bible of 42 lines . . . Description of Book, with Fac-simile . . . Colophon of the Illuminator . . . Must have been Printed before 1456 . . . Fust brings Suit against Gutenberg . . . Official Record of the Trial . . . Gutenberg’s Inability to pay his debt . . . Suit was a Surprise . . . Portrait of Gutenberg . . . Fust deposes Gutenberg and installs Schœffer at the head of the Office.
* * * * *
There is material in this event for an affecting drama: a genial inventor, indefatigably occupied in realizing an idea, an usurious and crafty money-lender, abusing the financial carelessness of a genius, to get him more and more into his power; a clever servant courting the daughter of the usurer, and conspiring with him against the great master; the inventor robbed of all the fruit of his exertions during many years, at the moment that it was ripe to be gathered.
_Van der Linde._
* * * * *
Gutenberg’s last act upon record in Strasburg was the selling out of the last remnant of his inheritance. The first evidence we have of his return to Mentz is an entry, on the sixth day of October, 1448, in a record of legal contracts, in which he appears as a borrower of money. It seems that Gutenberg had persuaded his kinsman, Arnold Gelthus, to borrow from Rynhard Brömser and John Rodenstein, the sum of 150 guilders, for the use of which Gutenberg promised to pay the yearly interest of 8-1/2 guilders. Gutenberg had no securities to offer; Gelthus had to pledge the rents of some houses for this purpose. How this money was to be used is not stated, but it may be presumed that Gutenberg needed it for the development of his grand invention. His plans, [p404] whatever they were, met with the approbation of his uncle John Gensfleisch, by whose permission he occupied the leased house[248] _Zum Jungen_, which he used not only for a dwelling, but as a printing office.
At this time Gutenberg was, no doubt, nearly perfect in his knowledge of the correct theory of type-founding, and had also acquired fair practice as a printer. Helbig thinks that he had ready the types of the _Bible of 36 lines_. Madden says that he was then, or very soon after, engaged in printing a small edition of this book. There is evidence that these types were in use at least as early as 1451. Two leaves of an early typographic edition of the _Donatus_, 27 lines to the page, printed on vellum from the types of the _Bible of 36 lines_, have been discovered near Mentz, in the original binding of an old account book of 1451.[249] In one word the letter i is reversed, a positive proof that it was printed from types, and not from blocks. The ink is still very black, but Fischer says that it will not resist water.[250] As this fragment shows the large types of the _Bible of 36 lines_ in their most primitive form, it authorizes the belief that it should have been printed by Gutenberg soon after his return to Mentz.
During the interval between 1440 and 1451, about which history records so little, Gutenberg may have printed many trifles. He could not have been always unsuccessful: he could not have borrowed money for more than ten years, without [p405] a demonstration of his ability to print and to sell printed work. It is probable that he had to postpone his grand plans, and that his necessities compelled him to begin the practice of his new art with the printing of trivial work. There is evidence that the branch of typography which is now known as job printing is as old as, if not older than, book printing. This evidence is furnished in the _Letters of Indulgence_, which have distinction as the first works with type-printed dates.
Three distinct editions of the _Letters of Indulgence_ are known. The copies are dated 1454 or 1455, but are more clearly defined by the number of the lines in each edition, as _Letters_ of _30_, or _31_, or _32 lines_. Each _Letter_ is printed from movable types, in black ink, upon one side of a stout piece of parchment, about nine inches high and thirteen inches wide. The form of words is substantially the same in all editions, and all copies present the same general typographical features, as if they were the work of the same printing office. In all copies, the presswork is good; they seem to have been printed by a properly constructed press on damp vellum with ink mixed in oil. The types [p406] of the three editions have a general resemblance,[251] yet they differ seriously as to face and body. They were certainly cast from different matrices and adjustments of the mould,[252] and were composed by different compositors. In the edition of _30 lines_, the types of the text are on a body smaller than English, and those of the large lines are on Paragon body; in the edition of _31 lines_ the types of the text are on English body, and those of the large lines approximate Double-pica body.
The types on Double-pica body are those of the _Donatus_ of 1451 and the _Bible of 36 lines_; the types on Paragon body are those of the _Bible of 42 lines_. The appearance of these types in the _Bibles_ is presumptive evidence that the printer of the _Bibles_ was the printer of the _Letters_. The small types are unique; they were never used, so far as we know, for any other work. The large initials may have been engraved on wood, but the text and the display lines were founded [p407] types. The illustration on the previous page shows that although the matrices were fitted with closeness, each type was founded on a square body.
The circumstances connected with the publication of the _Letters_ require more than a passing notice, for they present the first specific indication of a demand for printing. These circumstances give us a glimmer of the corruption of some of the men who sold the indulgences—a corruption which, in the next century, brought down upon the sellers and the system the scorn of Holbein and the wrath of Luther.
The canon at the right absolves the kneeling young man, but points significantly to the huge money-chest into which the widow puts her mite. Three Dominicans, seated at the table, are preparing and selling indulgences: one of them, holding back the letter, greedily counts the money as it is paid down; another pauses in his writing, to repulse the penitent but penniless cripple; another is leering at the woman whose letter he delays. The pope, enthroned in the nave, and surrounded by cardinals, is giving a commission for the sale of the letters.]
On the twelfth day of April, 1451, a plenary indulgence of three years was accorded by Pope Nicholas V to all who, from May 1, 1452, to May 1, 1455, should properly contribute with money to the aid of the alarmed king of Cyprus, then threatened by the Turks. Paul Zappe, an ambassador of the king of Cyprus, selected John de Castro as chief commissioner for the sale of the indulgences in Germany. Theodoric, archbishop of Mentz, gave him full permission to sell them, but [p408] held the commissioner accountable for the moneys collected. The precaution was justified. When the dreaded news of the capture of Constantinople (May 29, 1453) was received, John de Castro, thinking that Cyprus had also been taken, squandered the money he had collected. De Castro was arrested, convicted and sent to prison, but the scandal that had been created by the embezzlement greatly injured the sale of the indulgences. As the permission to sell indulgences expired by limitation on May 1, 1455, Zappe, the chief commissioner, made renewed and more vigorous efforts to promote the sale. It was found that, in the limited time allowed for sale, the customary process of copying was entirely too slow. There was, also, the liability that a hurried copyist would produce inexact copies; that an unscrupulous copyist or seller would issue spurious copies. These seem to have been the reasons that led Zappe to have the documents printed, which was accordingly done, with blank spaces for the insertion of the name of the buyer and the signature of the seller.
The typography of this _Letter of 31 lines_ is much better than that of the _Donatus_, but it has many blemishes. The text is deformed with abbreviations; the lines are not evenly spaced out; the capital letters of the text are rudely drawn and carelessly cut. The white space below the sixteenth line, and the space and the crookedness in the three lines at the foot, are evidences that the types were not securely fastened in the chase. These faults provoke notice, but it must be admitted that the types were fairly fitted and stand in decent line. They were obviously cast in moulds of metal; it would be impracticable to make types so small in moulds of sand.
_Translation_.
To all the faithful followers of Christ who may read this letter, Paul Zappe, counselor, ambassador, and administrator-general of his gracious majesty, the king of Cyprus, sends greeting:
Whereas the Most Holy Father in Christ, our Lord, Nicholas V, by divine grace, pope, mercifully compassionating the afflictions of the kingdom of Cyprus from those most treacherous enemies of the Cross of Christ, the Turks and Saracens, in an earnest exhortation, by the sprinkling of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, freely granted to all those faithful followers of Christ, wheresoever established, who, within three years from the first day of May, in the year of our Lord 1452, should piously contribute, according to their ability, more or less, as it should seem good to their own consciences, to the procurators, or their deputies, for the defense of the Catholic religion and the aforementioned kingdom,—that confessors, secular and regular, chosen by themselves, having heard their confessions for excesses, crimes, and faults, however great, even for those hitherto reserved exclusively for the apostolic see to remit, should be licensed to pronounce due absolution upon them, and enjoin salutary penance; and, also, that they might absolve those persons, if they should humbly beseech it, who, perchance might be suffering excommunication, suspension, and other sentences, censures, and ecclesiastical punishments, instituted by canon law, or promulgated by man,—salutary penance being required, or other satisfaction which might be enjoined by canon law, varying according to the nature of the offence; and, also, that they might be empowered by apostolic authority to grant to those who were truly penitent, and confessed their guilt, or if perchance, on account of the loss of speech, they could not confess, those who gave outward demonstrations of contrition—the fullest indulgence of all their sins, and a full remission, as well during life as in the hour of death—reparation being made by them if they should survive, or by their heirs if they should then die: And the penance required after the granting of the indulgence is this—that they should fast throughout a whole year on every Friday, or some other day of the week, the lawful hindrances to performance being prescribed by the regular usage of the Church, a vow or any other thing not standing in the way of it; and as for those prevented from so doing in the stated year, or any part of it, they should fast in the following year, or in any year they can; and if they should not be able conveniently to fulfill the required fast in any of the years, or any part of them, the confessor, for that purpose shall be at liberty to commute it for other acts of charity, which they should be equally bound to do: And all this, so that they presume not, which God forbid, to sin from the assurance of remission of this kind, for otherwise, that which is called concession, whereby they are admitted to full remission in the hour of death, and remission, which, as it is promised, leads them to sin with assurance, would be of no weight and validity: And whereas the devout _Judocus Ott von Apspach_, in order to obtain the promised indulgence, according to his ability hath piously contributed to the above-named laudable purpose, he is entitled to enjoy the benefit of indulgence, of this nature. In witness of the truth of the above concession, the seal ordained for this purpose is affixed. Given at _Mentz_ in the year of our Lord 1454, on the _last day of December_.
THE FULLEST FORM OF ABSOLUTION AND REMISSION DURING LIFE: May our Lord Jesus Christ bestow on thee his most holy and gracious mercy; may he absolve thee, both by his own authority and that of the blessed Peter and Paul, His apostles; and by the authority apostolic committed unto me, and conceded on thy behalf, I absolve thee from all thy sins repented for with contrition, confessed and forgotten, as also from all carnal sins, excesses, crimes and delinquencies ever so grievous, and whose cognizance is reserved to the Holy See, as well as from any ecclesiastical judgment, censure, and punishment, promulgated either by law or by man, if thou hast incurred any,—giving thee plenary indulgence and remission of all thy sins, inasmuch as in this matter the keys of the Holy Mother Church do avail. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
THE PLENARY FORM OF REMISSION AT THE POINT OF DEATH: May our Lord [as above]. I absolve thee from all thy sins, with contrition repented for, confessed and forgotten, restoring thee to the unity of the faithful, and the partaking of the sacraments of the Church, releasing thee from the torments of purgatory, which thou hast incurred, by giving thee plenary remission of all thy sins, inasmuch as in this matter the keys of the Mother Church do avail. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
_Joseph, abbot of the Monastery of Saint Burckard, Duly qualified to make this engagement._]
Eighteen copies of these _Letters of Indulgence_ are known, all bearing the printed date of 1454 or of 1455. The places where they were sold having been written on the document by the seller, we discover that they must have been sold over a large territory, for one was issued at Copenhagen, another at Nuremberg, and another at Cologne. The large number of copies preserved is evidence that many copies must have [p410] been printed. It is probable that Gutenberg was required to compose and print the form at three different times; but we do not know why he found it necessary to make a new face of text type for the second and third editions,[253] for it is very plain that the types of the first edition were not worn out.
_The Appeal of Christianity against the Turks_, sometimes called the _Almanac of 1455_, is another small work attributed to Gutenberg. It is a little quarto of six printed leaves, in German verse, in the large type of the _Bible of 36 lines_. As it contains a calendar for the year 1455, it is supposed that it was printed at the close of 1454. Its typographical appearance is curious: the type was large, the page was narrow, and the compositor run the lines together as in prose, marking the beginning of every verse with a capital, and its ending by a fanciful arrangement ·:· of four full points. It is the first typographic work in German, and the first work in that language which can be attributed to Gutenberg. But one copy of this book is known.
Gutenberg’s fame as a great printer is more justly based on his two editions in folio of the _Holy Bible_ in Latin. The breadth of his mind, and his faith in the comprehensiveness of his invention, are more fully set forth by his selection of a book of so formidable a nature. There was an admirable propriety in his determination that his new art should be fairly introduced to the reading world by the book known [p411] throughout Christendom as _The Book_. These two editions of the _Bible_ are most clearly defined by the specification of the number of lines to the page in the columns of each book: one is the _Bible of 42 lines_,[254] in types of Paragon body, usually bound in two volumes; the other is the _Bible of 36 lines_,[255] in types of Double-pica body, usually bound in three volumes.