SWEYNHEIM
357
SWITHIN
education in everji,hing except religion, which he
ignored. At fourteen she was appointed maid of hon-
our to the empress. At seventeen she was married
to General Swetchine who was fort3--two. By birth
she belonged to the Greek, or Orthodox Church, but
from the time that her trials, her reading, and her own
reflections had made her a Christian, she felt the ne-
cessity of following to the end the path which was lead-
ing her to the truth, and she became a Catholic, de-
spite the anguish of her heart. "My Faith," she
said afterwards, "is to me what Benjamin was to
Rachel, the child of my sorrow. " At the time of her
conversion she was thirty-three years old. She had
already left the court, her husband having been dis-
graced, with his father, as the result of a plot of which
he was the \nctim. Thenceforth she had to leave even
her country, since as an avowed Catholic she could
not remain at St. Petersburg. With her husband she
went to reside at Paris at the beginning of the Resto-
ration. She had been preceded by a letter from Joseph
de MaLstre, who \\Tote to Bonald: "In a short time
you will see at Paris a Russian lady whom I especially
commend to you. Never will you see such moral
strength, wit, .and learning joined to such goodness. "
In her sahti in the Rue Saint Dominioue, open from
three to six, and from to nine to midnight, she saw all
the most distinguished men of the period: Chateau-
briand, Bonals, Cuvier, Cousin, Donoso Cortoes, and
among her intimates were .\ugustin Cochin, Tocque-
ville, Falloux, who wTote her biography, Lacordaire,
and Montalerabert, who were like her spiritual sons.
Her influence was incontestable. She died as a de-
vout Christian in 1S.57 at the age of seventy-five.
She was remarkable more for the beauty of her soul than that of her countenance. Her intellect was lofty, quick, .and penetrating. She read a great deal, and always with her pen in hand. She was pious to the verge of mysticism, and although constantly ill — for she was one of those who never pass a day without suffering — she was resigned to the will of Providence. While kind to all she was an incomparable friend. True modesty prevented her from publishing anything, but at her death she left enough to fill many volumes. De Falloux collected extracts from her manuscripts which were published: "Mme. Swetchine, sa vie, ses oeuvTes" (2 vols., 1860). There have since appeared; "Lettres de Mme. Swetchine" (1861); "Journal de sa conversion" (186.3); " Correspondance du Pere La- cordaire et de Mme. Swetchine" (1864); and "Nou- velles lettres de Mme. Swetchine" (1875). Although a Russian Mme. Swetchine wrote well in French; her style is delicate and original, even studied.
Georges Bertin.
Sweynheim (Schweinheim), Konrad, printer, b. at Schwanheim, Frankfort, Germany; d. in Rome, 1477. Sweynheim and Arnold Pannartz of Prague, both of whom were ecclesiastics, were the first printers in Italy. At the invitation of Cardinal John Turre- cremata they established a )irinting-pre.ss for books in 1464 at the .Abbey of Subiaco; in 1467 they removed their press to the M.a-ssimi Palace at Rome, and car- ried on the business jointly until 1472. The first books they printed were: "Donatus" (1464); Cicero's "De oratore" and the " Divinarum institutionum libri septem" of Lactantius (146.5). During the years 1464-72 they issued over 12,000 copies of thirty-seven works, these works being chiefly the classics and the Fathers. This shows the remarkable skill of the two printers, who were entirely dependent on themselves. Being an engraver Sweynh<'im was probably the die- cutter, the tvpe-founder, and the type-setter of the undertaking, while Pannartz had charge of the actual printing and of matters connected with it. The dies cut by Swevnheim deserve especial attention as they embody the preliminar>' steps of the present type for Latin characters. Sweynheim 's typographi-
cal capitals are the first to show the forms used in the
Roman inscriptions on stone, while some of his small
letters repeat the characters used in manuscripts of the
ninth to tenth centuries. He also cast the first Greek
tj^pe; it is to be found in his third book, that of Lactan-
tius, and the type copies the forms of Greek charac-
ters found in manuscripts of the seventh to the eighth
centuries. Notwithstanding the greatest industry
and technical skill the two printers had no pecuniary
success. In 1472 their patron and fellow-worker as
editor and proofreader. Bishop John Andreas Bussi of
Aleria, secretary of the Vatican Library, asked Sixtus
IV to aid them. The papal assistance was given in
the form of an expectancy. Sweynheim received a
canonry in the collegiate Church of St. Victor at
Mainz to whoso secular brotherhood the inventor
Gutenberg also belonged. In 1472 Sweynheim and
Pannartz dissolved partnership. Sweynheim worked
until his death as engr.aver on the maps of the "Cos-
mography" of Ptolemy. He was the first to apply
copper engraving to the production of maps; twenty-
seven of the beautifully executed plates of the edition
of the " Cosmography of 1478 are his work. Espe-
cially characteristic of Sweynheim as a maker of mat-
rices is the fact that the beautiful even writing of the
names of places are stamped in the engraved plate by
means of individual dies. It is certain that Sweyn-
heim was in clo.se connexion with Mainz until his
death, although he did not return there to enjoy his
benefice. There is no doubt that he learned the art
of printing .at Mainz.
Habtwio, Fc.^t^rhrift zum SOOjtihr. Geburtstage zon J. Gutenberg (Mainz, 1900).
Heinbich W. Wallau
Swinomish Indians. — A tribe of Salishan linguistic stock, closely connected with the Skagit. They formerly held the territory about the mouth of the river Skagit together with the adjacent portion of Whidbey Island, and are now gathered upon a reserva- tion in the same territory, near Mount Vernon, Skagit County, north-western Washington. They were missionized about 1S.')0, by Father Casimir Chirouse and the Oblates; Skagit the entire tribe, to the num- ber of 267 in 1910, is now civilized and Catholic. They are one of the tribes included under the juris- diction of Tul.alip agency. For history and general description see Tulalip Indians.
James Mooney.
Swithin (Swithun), Saint, Bishop of Winchester; d. 2 July, 862. Very little is known of this saint's life, for his biographers constructed their "Lives" long after his death and there is h.ardly any mention of him in contemporary documents. Swithin was one of the two trusted counsellors of Egbert, King of the West Saxons (d. 839), helping him in ecclesiastical matters, while Ealstan of Sherbortie was his chief ad- visor in secular business. He jirobably entrusted Swithin with the education of his son Ethelwulf and caused the .saint to be elected to the Bi.shopric of Winchester in succession to Ilelnistan. His consecr.a- tion by Ceolnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury, seems to h.ave taken place on 30 Oct., 8.52. On his death-bed Swithin begged that he should be buried outsiile the north wall of his cathedral where p;issers-b}' should pa-ss over his grave and raindrops from the eaves ilrop upon it. More than a century later (931) his body was translated with great poiu]) to a shrine within the new church erected by Bishoj) ICthelwulf (d. 984). A number of miraculous cures took place and .Swithin was canonized by jmpular acclamation. In 1093 his remains were again (nanslated to the new church built by Bishop Walkelin. The .shrine was destroyed and the relics scattered in l.")3S. It has often been said that the saint was a Benedictine monk and even Prior of Winchester but there is no evidence for this Statement. From the first translation of his relics in
