NOTE ON DEVILS.
|_Note. — "We hope our readers will not mate any mistake about this word "devil." There are devils and devils. The first printers' devil that we find any mention of in history was employed by Aldus Manutius, a printer, who cast the Greek alphabet, printed a Greek book a.d. 1476, and set up a printing- office in Venice in 1494. That printers' devil was a negro hoy ; hut as the Chinese are said to have invented block-printing a.d. 593, probably the first P.D. was a heathen Chinee. The little negro of Aldus Mauutius became a victim to Venetian superstition, was believed to be an imp of Satan, and hence the name, which has stuck to the tribe ever since. In order to protect the boy from persecution, Manutius made a public exhibition of him, and announced that "anyone who doubted him to be flesh, and blood might come forward and pinch him." Anyone nowadays who entertains any doubt as to the humanity of our "printers' devil" can examine him, bar the pinching. We can do that ourselves if the young beggar is cheeky, or box his ears, or ." Well, so much for printers' devils, many of whom turn out to be good men and Christians. As to that old Devil, which is Satan, we need say nothing 1 about him. We don't aspire to be his biographer, and there is no present danger of his passing into oblivion, so far as we are enabled to judge. Only, to prevent mistakes, we felt it necessary to add this explanatory note. It would nover do to have it supposed that tho Devil and the printers' devil will march in company with the Editor through the gates of the City. — Ed. Observer.")
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TO18820114.2.26
Bibliographic details
Observer, Volume 3, Issue 70, 14 January 1882, Page 280
Word Count
291NOTE ON DEVILS. Observer, Volume 3, Issue 70, 14 January 1882, Page 280
Using This Item
No known copyright (New Zealand)
To the best of the National Library of New Zealand’s knowledge, under New Zealand law, there is no copyright in this item in New Zealand.
You can copy this item, share it, and post it on a blog or website. It can be modified, remixed and built upon. It can be used commercially. If reproducing this item, it is helpful to include the source.
For further information please refer to the Copyright guide.