GUTENBERG BIBLE

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 112, 7 November 1935, Page 20

GUTENBERG BIBLE

WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS

BOOK

STORY OF ITS MAKING

The Gutenberg Bible is the most famous book in the world, yet few could answer intelligently if they were asked what it all was about. "It was | the first; book- ever printed," one friend tells me. . "It is the second rarest book known," another whispers with proper awe," writes William Dana .Orcutt, in "Christian Science- Monitor. \ , ■ ■.)■.■ ■ .:■■■ ..■'.-..■■•. ; :- Henry Stevens, in shipping the second' Gutenberg Bible which came into America, dispatched it insured against "risque" to its owner, with this comment: "Pray, sir, ponder for a moment and appreciate the rarity and importance of this precious ''consignment from the, Old World to the New. Not only is it the first Bible, but it is the first book ever printed.; It wasiread in Europe half a- century before America was discovered. Please -suggest to your deputy that he uhcoyer'.his head .while in the ; presence of this great book. . . .It is not possible for many'men ever to touch or even to look upon a page .of a Gutenberg Bible." ' • "•, / / .■'? ~' : This is a great expert's estimate of a great book, but the bibliographical record, granting its, -importance, is so much less interesting than the human story that lies behind it. "Books once were men!" This first-printer volume could not just, have ;liappehed. There must have been some powerful' influence behind the drastic transition from the handwritten to the printed volume. There must have been some human agency to translate that influence into definite expression. THE INFLUENCE. 'The influence is to be found in Francis Petrarch and his ardent band, of humanists, who, lived and laboured a century before the printing press was even dreamed of. . Petrarch demanded a proper recognition of the rich humanities o£ Greece and Rome, which the church at Rome had, condemned to destruction as "pagan literature!" Except for the zealous efforts of Petrarch and.his followers, the actual manuscripts of many of our. present standard classics, would have' been hopelessly lost to. posterity. Petrarch passed in 1374'; the Greek Empire was destroyed in 1453. Between these, two dates Italy recovered the Greek classics and many-pf the Latin. , ' .; ,';. „.,..; ■ , '\ - But these manuscripts could never have been permanently preserved and made available to the cause ofr^education without the printing press. The new art simply had to be invented. And John VGutenberg,..in Strassburg, became thei human .agency,.;to satisjEy the basic demand. 'Yet, .%hat Gutenberg really discovered was not the irt of printing from typ^.Vbut rather the fact, that individual types might be joined' together to form. Avords, arid individual words ,so combined as to form sentences. '. ■ : ;~. ;:; : ; Centuries ■ before, Gutenberg the Greeks and the Romans had.■ printed from stamps, and. .the Koreans had even cut individual ; in''m'etal. If any one of' these .peoples had possessed the wit to join these individual stamps into words as Gutenberg did, printed books "would haye come into being several "hundred years "earlier. IriSthat case the art of prinUhg..:would inevitably have found its'..v^-'tb Constafttinople, and it- rls quite'ci^ieivable thatvJthe Renaissance Shaye applied'itself to the East ratherithan to .tHejWesti. '•• :.i ? :> : : /xi:fx^- ".. ;u{:;:; 'VTVIAN OF MtSTERTr:^:'-- . ; V;This John Gutenberg was looked iuppn by his neighbours, as. a man 6f mystery. He was a maker of 'lookingglasses, but '.with seeming'.'.furtiveness he was forever engaged upon; some carefully-concealed invention; "' Public curiosity was further piqued when, in 1450, John Fust, the wealthy goldsmith :.of Strassburg, lent Gutenberg 800 golden gulden, the collateral 'being ''the contents of a printing office" to be established." The legal agreements be-'carh.e1-public property, so the mystery jwais on the verge of being solved. But what was a."printing- office"? ■ The neighbours hovering about -Gutenberg's Workshop during the next five years saw- strange sights; This first master printer had no time to dis: cuss matters with them;;the days were all too short;for, him to accomplish single-handed"the multiplicity of novel details required by his undertaking. Each type letter had to. .be especially designed, and, then cut' in1 wood or metal., The workmei>;had to be taught how to combine the letters in their composing sticks. There were no iron chases, such as are used" today,l in which the type, is locked up;-arid held rigid for the pressi tfie earliest I'method being ,;to boreholes1 through-the various type charafctefs;'through which'a brass wire was run: arid tied'tightly vto 'hold the form ih.; place. ' : ;''"-;%:,':; :; More than allthisj- John Fust was making things, uncomfortable: for, Gutenberg. Another -800 golden .gulden had- been: required, and suddenly Fust assumed to ibe dissatisfied; demanding immediate-payment,of the bond., And this Gutenberg could not do., V GUTENBERG LEAVES., = It'has'always been believed that the crafty goldsmith 0 took unfair advantage of his debtor. It is more !than probable that Gutenberg .had already demonstrated >by the ■- uncompleted work in his shop the importarice* and commercial value of his invention. The great Bible itself must at .that; time have been well along, for. it was issued a year later. But out, Gutenberg went! Fust took over the business and ran it with the aid of his son-in-law, Peter Schoeffer, who had been one of Gutenberg's employees. The famous firm of Fust and Schoeffer was thus formed, while John Gutenberg eked out his twelve remaining years as equerry to Alphonsus 11. Elector of Mayence. When you h'tve opportunity to examine a copy or even a leaf of the Gutenberg Bible think of it not as a book, but as the living personification of a Great Idea—an idea that placed learning within the reach of the masses and taught them the power of argument. The Gutenberg Bible is more than a book —it is John Gutenberg himself. . wards the Marquess of Landsdowne, whose famous MSS. was later to repose in the British Museum. Grosvenor Sqyiare was named after Sir Richard Grosvenor, a mighty builder in his day, who was cup bearer at the coronation of George 11. In Portman Square was Montague House, where Fanny Burney was welcomed, and where for a moment Johnson grew tame. In Cavendish Square the Duke of Portland built his mansion, and the famous Duke of Chandos bought one whale side o£ the square, intending to build a great home upon it, but the tragic end of the infant heir when, with the Kin i? and Queen standing sponsors, it died during the christening ceremony, put an end to the plans. The ground plan of Hanover Square is described as having the appearance of a gridiron, witli the fashionable church of St. George's supplying the knob. Trafalgar Square, best known to Australians who have never visited London, was named after Nelson's greatest and most tragic victory, and contains the famous Nelson column. London has every reason to be proud of her many squares.

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