108

PRINTING.

The inhabitants of Haerlem , with Boxhornius, Scrive-rius, and others, ascribe it to Laurens Jane Koster, orLaurence John Koster, (called Koster, from an official situa-tion which himself and family had sustained in that city,)in the year 1430; adding', that his associate, Guttemherg,stole away his tools while he was at church, and carried themto Mentis, where he set up lor the first inventor. This thefthas been also, .without probability, attributed to his partnerFaust; others, again, ascribe it to John Geinsfleisch, senior,one of his servants, in 1441. With those types of Laurence,two small works were printed at Mentz, in 1442. Theprincipal evidence in favour of Ifaerlein, is Cornelius, whohad been servant to Laurence, and afterwards a bookbinderin that city. On whose authority, Adrian Junius, M.D.founds his account, which appears to have been drawn upbetween the years 15(52 and 1575, published at Leyden in1588. The learned Meerman, in his Origines Typogra-phicee, 17(55, has amply vindicated and confirmed the testi-mony of Junius to this fact; although he disputes andsufficiently invalidates what that writer has said, with refe-rence to the types used by Koster at Haerlem : these heshows were neither cut or fused metallic types, but separatewooden types.

Munster, Polydore Virgil, Pasquier, and others, willhave Guttenberg, or Guttemherg, to have been the inventorof printing, and they add, that he took in Faust and Sclioefferas associates. Naude, in his Muscurat, espouses the causeof Faustus, and contends that he was the first printer inEurope ; that he took in Guttemherg for a partner. Hisreason for assigning this privilege to Faust is, that the firstbooks that were printed appear to have been all of his im-pression. For this purpose, he alleges, that it is not proba-ble, if Guttemherg or Koster bad possessed a greater orequal share in the invention, they would not have allowedhim to engross the whole to himself and his son-in-law,Schoeffer, as he has done, without asserting their own right,or contradicting him.

After every due consideration of the preceding claims, itreally appears to stand as we have previously stated it.Wooden block types, the typi Jixi , were first invented byLaurens Koster, of Haerlem ; afterwards he improved thisidea by manufacturing cut moveable letters also in wood, lypimobiles: and afterwards cut metal types were invented by J.Geinsfleisch, jun. called Guttemherg, his brother J. Geins-fleisch, sen. having brought wooden types from Haerlem to