them, the existence of a group of nearly fifty primitively printed books of undoubtedly Dutch origin, the printing of which must have taken a number of years before 1471, would suggest serious doubts as to the priority of Mainz printing. Zell's statement is all the more weighty, as it is not one made at random but meant to be a direct contradiction of the vague rumours and statements about an invention of printing at Mainz by Gutenberg, which had gradually crept into print since 1468 in Italy and France, and had found their way back into Germany about 1476, after Mainz and Germany had given the greatest publicity, during twenty-two years, to the existence of the new art in their midst; while all those who might, and would and could, have told the public that the invention had been made at Mainz, if it had come about there, preserved a profound silence on this particular point, even the supposed inventor himself. And, though Zell accords to Mainz and Gutenberg the honour of having “improved” the art and having made it more artistic, he denies to them the honour of having “invented” or “begun” it, and this latter honour was never claimed by that town before 1476. Junius's account, on the other hand, is the embodiment of a local tradition at Haarlem, the first written traces of which we have in a pedigree (testimony xxxiv) of the family of the reputed Haarlem inventor, which, as regards its central part, may have existed at least as early as 1520, whereas its first part may be dated much earlier. His account is indirectly confirmed by the finding of several fragments at Haarlem, all belonging to the groups of books mentioned above, but still more by the discovery of several fragments of the Donatuses printed in the Speculum type 1 and 3, some of which had been used as binder's waste by Cornelis, the bookbinder, the very man whom Junius alleges to have been the servant of Coster.
As the case stands at present, therefore, we have, after careful and impartial examination, no choice but to repeat that the invention of printing with movable metal types took place at Haarlem between the years 1440 and 1446 by Lourens Janszoon Coster.
That the Haarlem inventor of printing was, as we have shown, a block-printer before he printed with movable types, helps us to understand what the tradition, as chronicled by Junius, says of him (Testimony xliv. b): that he, while walking in the wood near Haarlem, cut some letters in the bark of a tree, and with them, reversely impressed one by one on paper, he composed one or two lines as an example for the children of his son-in-law. Junius does not say it, but clearly implies that, in this way, Coster came to the idea of the movability (the first step in the invention of typography) of the characters which, hitherto, he had been cutting together on one block. He perceived the advantage and utility of such insulated characters, and so the invention of printing with movable types was made. The questions as to whether he continued to print with movable “wooden” types, or even printed books with them, cannot be answered, because no such books or fragments of them have come down to us. Junius's words (Test. xliv. § d) on this point are ambiguous, and no Dutch edition of the Speculum printed, figures and text, from wooden blocks or movable wooden types, is known.
By the middle of the 19th century the claims of Coster and Haarlem had steadily gained ground, owing to the researches of Joh. Enschedé (1751), Meerman (1765), Koning (1815), Young Ottley (1816), Bernard (1853), Sotheby (1858) and others. But in 1870 they were wellnigh destroyed by a criticism which afterwards proved to be partly groundless, partly a distortion of facts. At the time, however, it was, without further research, accepted as decisive; the claims were regarded to be a fiction, and a system of classifying the incunabula started with the unfortunate result that Utrecht came to be adopted as the birthplace of the Costeriana and Coster and Haarlem almost obliterated from all our catalogues. Since then many things have come to light, all tending to confirm Haarlem's claims, and showing how unjustifiably they were attacked in 1870. An examination of the incunabula on which they rest is far from easy or inexpensive, as the books are scattered not only over Europe but now also over America, and therefore not easy of access. We have, however, made it, sufficiently to be able to prove that the claims are based on good grounds. Our evidence, though still circumstantial, is not based on guesses; we assert nothing except on bibliographical or historical grounds; nor do we accept one statement unless it is corroborated by other statements, or by the rules of bibliography and history. Hence we should not accept Zell's evidence or that of Junius, or of any one else, if the books to which they refer did not corroborate them to the fullest extent, or if the claims of Mainz to the honour of the invention could be said to have any substance of fact. The great efforts made in Germany since 1882 to strengthen the case for Gutenberg, which culminated in the celebrations of 1900 and the publication of valuable and learned books, have enriched our knowledge of early Mainz and German printing, but at the same time conclusively shown that it requires great courage to maintain that Gutenberg was the inventor of printing.
How long Coster or his successors continued the first printing office at Haarlem we cannot say; it seems to have come to an end in or before 1481, as the cuts of the Speculum had evidently then passed into John Veldener's hands, and the Haarlem tradition says that wine-pots had been cast of the remains of the types. In 1483 Jacob Bellaert was printing at Haarlem, and Jan Andrieszn in 1485; their types are imitations of the writing of their time, but already differ from those of the Speculum and the other Costeriana in various respects, and show many features of a later period. The question as to whether they learnt their craft from the first Haarlem printer, or from other masters, has been asked but not yet answered.
Spread of Typography.—Having explained the early printing of Haarlem and Mainz, in so far as it bears upon the controversy as to where and by whom the art of printing was invented, and shown that the testimony of Ulrich Zell (in the Cologne Chronicle of 1499) as to Mainz having learnt the art of printing from Holland through the Donatuses printed there, and that of Hadrianus Junius, as to the tradition of its Haarlem origin, are confirmed by bibliographical and historical facts, we can follow its spread from Haarlem to Mainz, and from the latter place to other towns and countries.
1460; Strassburg.—First printers: Johann Mentelin, who completed a Latin Bible in that year, according to a rubrication in a copy at Freiburg in the Breisgau; Adolph Rusch de Inguilen, who is presumed to be the printer of the undated books with a singularly shaped R,[1] c. 1464; Henricus Eggestein, 1471; George Husner, &c.
1461; Bamberg.—First printers: Albrecht Phister, who in 1461 published Boner's Edelstein, though it is still doubtful whether he did not print earlier, while he has always been regarded as the printer of B36 (see above); Joh. Sensenschmidt, c. 1480.
1465; Subiaco.—First and only printers: Conrad Sweynheym and Arnold Pannarts, who completed in that year an edition of Cicero, De Oratore, and Lactantius, an removed to Rome in 1467.
1466; Cologne.—Earliest printers: (1) Ulrich Zell, who published in that year Chrysostom, Super Psalmo quinquagesimo liber primus, though it is presumed that he printed already in 1463; (2) Arnold Ther Hoernen, 1470; (3) Johannes Koelhoff of Lübeck, 1470, who printed the Cologne Chronicle in 1499; (4) Nicolaus Götz, 1474; (5) Goiswinus Gops, 1475; (6) Petrus de Olpe, 1476 (not 1470); (7) Conradus Winter of Homburg, 1476; (8) Joh. Guldenschaaf, 1477 (9) Henricus Quentel, 1479, &c.[2]
1467; Eltville.—First printers: Nicolas and Henry Bechtermuncze and Wygandus Spyes de Orthenberg, who completed in that year a Vocabularius ex quo.
1467; Rome.—First printers: Conra Sweynheym and Arnold Pannarts from Subiaco, who published an edition of Cicero's Epistolae ad familiares; Ulrich Hahn or Udalricus Gallus, who issued on the 31st of December 1467 Turrecremata's Meditationes.
1468; Augsburg.—First printer: Günther Zainer or Zeyner. Same year at Basel (first printer Berthold Rot of Hanau) and at Marienthal (Brothers of the Common Life).
1469; Venice.—Printers: (1) Johannes of Spires; (2) his brother Vindelinus of Spires; (3) Christopher Valdarfer; (4) Nicolas Jenson, &c.
The further spread of typography is indicated by the following dates: 1470 at Nüremberg (Johan Sensenschmidt, Friedr. Creusner, Anton Koberger, &c.), Berona or Beromünster in Switzerland (Helyas Helye alias De Llouffen), Foligno (Emilianus de Orfinis and Johannes Numeister), Trevi (Johann Reynard), Paris (first printers the three partners Ulrich Gering, Michael Friburger, Martin Krantz); 1471 at Spires, Bologna, Ferrara, Florence, Milan, Naples, Pavia, Treviso, Savigliano (Hans Glim?); 1472 at Esslingen, Cremona, Mantua, Padua, Brescia, Parma, Monreale (Mondovi), Fivizzano, Verona, Iesi, St Ursino (?); 1473 at Lauingen, Ulm (perhaps as early as 1469), Merseburg, Alost, Utrecht, Lyons, Messina, Buda-Pest, Santorso; 1474 at Louvain, Genoa, Como, Savona, Turin, Vicenza, Modena, Valencia; 1475 at Lübeck, Breslau, Blaubeuren, Burgdorf, Trent, Cracow (?), Reggio (in Calabria), Cagli,
- ↑ M. Philippe, Origine de l'imprimerie à Paris, p. 219, mentions two books printed in this type, which contain manuscript notes, to the effect that they were purchased in 1464 and 1467, so that Inguilen is to be placed before Eggestein.
- ↑ Johann Veldener, who is said to have printed at Cologne, was never established there, but at Louvain (1473-1477), Utrecht (1478-1481), and Culenborg or Kuilenburg (1483-1484); see Holtrop, Mon. typ., pp. 42, 47, 109.
