We are now so familiar with the wonders and glo rious results of Printing, that it is only when we look back into the history of the darker ages, that we are made fully sensible, of all the various ad vantages which it has conferred upon mankind. The mention of the Transcribers, that is, the class em ployed to copy Books, before the discovery of Print ing, is well calculated to give rise to reflections of this kind. Their ignorance and carelessness were often the causes of much trouble and mortification to living authors, and of irreparable errors in the works of those who were dead. Petrarch, who flourished in the fourteenth century, has expressed himself in very moving terms, in regard to this double evil. a How shall we find out a remedy," says he, " for those mischiefs which the ignorance and inattention of the Copyists inflict upon us ? It is wholly owing to these causes that many men of genius keep their . most valuable Pieces unpublished, so that they never see the light. Were Cicero, Livy, or Pliny, to rise from the dead,, they would scarcely be able to re cognise their own Writings. In every page they would have occasion to exclaim against the igno rance and the corruptions of those barbarous Tran scribers." • Upon the invention of Printing, the class of Copyists immediately took alarm, and exerted every means to extinguish an art which, whatever benefits it promised the rest of mankind, held out nothing but prospects of loss to them. They en deavoured, and their example is still steadily follow ed by other Crafts, to set up their own petty interests in opposition to the general good ; and called upon their Governments to invest them with exclusive pri. vileges, which all the great interests of society re quired to be done away. Thus, when Printing was introduced at Paris, the Copyists complained of the injury to the Parliament, and that body forthwith caused the Books belonging to the Printers to be seized and confiscated ; but Louis Xi. had the good sense to restore their property to -these ingenious artists, and to authorize them to proceed in their laudable vocation. (Lambinet, Origtne de 1 Imprinte rie.) The question as to the origin of Printing, is of a complexion wholly different from that regarding the origin of Writing, as it turns entirely upon matters of fact ; but it is not the less true, that this is a subject upon which opinions widely opposite are, to this day, entertained ; for though this art, we mean the art of Printing with moveable types, was spread all over Europe within twenty years of the first discovery, it has unfortunately failed to record, in decisive terms, the name of the individual to whom the honour of the invention is due. Thewhere the discovery was made remains also a of doubt and contention. In Mallinkrot's work, De arta et progress* arils Typographical, published in 1640, he enumerates a hundred and nine testimonies in favour of Mentz, as the birthplace of the art; and since that time the number has been greatly augmented ; yet the latest author who has resumed the controversy, declares decidedly in favour of Haerlem, which, in Mallin krot's day, ranked only thirteen advocates ; and fur ther, assigns the wreath which the supporters of Mentz have variously placed on the brow of Gutten berg, of Faust, and of Schoiffer, to Lawrence Coster, as its rightful ownent All that we can do in this place, is to point out some of the most im portant works which have been published upon the origin and history of Printing, and which it may be necessary for the Bibliographer to examine, in order to enable him to judge of early editions ; re commending those who wish to see a clear and compendious view of the various opinions which have been advanced upon this subject, to peruse M. Dau nou's Analysis of these opinions, published in the fourth volume of the Memoirs of the Moral and Political Class of the French Institute.
The Monuments Typographica of Wolfius, pub lished in two thick octave volumes, at Hamburg in 1740, contains a valuable and curious collection of treatises by various authors, and also of extracts, il lustrative of the origin and early history of the art.
Some of these pieces arc in verse. Among several other elaborate tables, it contains one of all the authors, who, up to that time, had either directly or indirectly treated of the history, or of the mecha nical part of Printing. Meerman's Origins Typo graphicte is one of the most instructive works as to the progress of the art. It is illustrated with va rious specimens of early printing, and facsimiles of the Books called Block-Books, printed by means of wooden-blocks. Meerman, who was a Lawyer, and author of many elaborate treatises in the Civil and Ca- , non law, was born at Leyden in 1722, and died in 1771, six years after the publication of his Origins; in which he supports the pretensions of Haerlem as the birth place of the art, and of Lawrence Coster as its inventor, with great ardour and learning. Another work of curious research on the origin and first pro gress of Printing, is that of Prosper Marchand, origi nally a Bookseller at Paris, but whom the repeal of the edict of Nantz drove to Holland, where he em ployed himself till his death In 1756, in composing various works in Literary History and Bibliography. He makes Guttenberg the inventor of the art, and Mentz the place where he completed the invention; the first idea of it, however, having been formed by him, whilst he ,resided in Strasburg. This work, entitled, Histoire de l'Origine et des premiers pro gres de l'Imprimerie, was published in 174.0. A valuable Supplement, in which some errors of Marchand are corrected, and some new views are advanced, was published by M. Mercier, Abbe de Saint Leger, in 1778, and republished in 1775. The author of the original work was not at all pleased with this Supplement, and he according ly criticised it with great severity in a long let ter addressed to the Editors of the Journal des Savona, where it was published. The opinion that Guttenberg conceived the first idea of the in vention at Strasburg, and afterwards completed it at Mentz, is also supported by Lambinet, in his Recherches, historiques, litteraires, et critique sur l'Origine de l'Imprtmerie, first published at Brussels in 1799; and republished in two volumes octavo at Paris in 1810, with the addition of M.• Daunou'a Analyse des Opinions,- already mentioned, Besides the main subject of inquiry, M. Lambinet's work embraces various other objects of curious research, —the history of the substances employed for Books, of Inks, of Engraving in relief, of Block-printing, and of Stereotype Printing. Upon the history of Printing, we shall only mention further, M. Serna Santander's Essai Historique, prefixed to his Dic tionnaire Bibliographique, to be afterwards more fully described ; and the ',title Typographica of Professor Lichtenberger, published at Strasburg in 1811 ; in both of which, the claims set up for Coster are treated as founded on fables ; Guttenberg being re presented as the inventor of the art, and Mentz the place where it Was perfected ; and in both of which, there are ample details as to its progressive esta blishment in the other cities and countries of Eu rope.
Besides the information afforded in these General Histories, as to the progress of Printing throughout Europe, there are various Histories of its establish ment in particular countries and places, which it will often be necessary for the Bibliographer to consult. One of the most valuable, particularly to the Eng lish Bibliographer, is Ames's Typographical An tiquities; which contains memoirs of our early Print ers, and a register of their publications, from 1471 to 1600. The first edition, published in 1749, consisted of one volume quarto. Another edition, enlarged by Mr Herbert to three volumes quarto, was complet ed in 1790; and a third edition, illustrated with superb embellishments, and containing some valu able additions, by Mr Dibdin, is now (1817) in course of' publication. The French, Germans, and Italians, particularly the latter, are rich in Typographical Histories of this description ; but for accounts of them, we must refer our readers to Peignot's Re pertoire Bibliographique Universel, where they are enumerated and described.