for relief. In the catalogue accompanying their petition they describe this Donatus as the "Donatus for Boys, from which we have taken the beginning of printing." Their language is not clear, for it may be interpreted as the first book printed by Sweinheym and Pannartz, or as the first book made by the art of printing.
The National Library at Paris has two very old xylographic blocks[1] of this book, which some bibliographers suppose were made about the middle of the fifteenth century.
Fac-simile of part of a Block of the Donatus in the National Library at Paris.
[From Lacroix.]
The letters on these blocks were more carefully drawn and sharply engraved than the letters of any known block-book. The wood is worm-eaten, but the letters are neat and clear, and do not show any evidences of wear from impression.
One of these blocks has been attributed to John Gutenberg, for its letters resemble those of the Mazarin Bible. It
