One of the earliest of these wood-cuts is still extant, and represents the creation of man, as detailed in the book of Genesis. In the centre of the picture stands a figure, intended for the Divinity, having the appearance of an old man with flowing garments, a venerable beard, and rays proceeding from the head; on the ground, before him, lies a human being, intended for Adam, fast asleep; and from an opening in his side is seen proceeding the slender figure of a female, meaning Eve, who is taken by the hand by God, and is apparently receiving His blessing. The execution of this, and cuts of a similar nature, is of the rudest description, and is a striking testimony of the low scale of art at the time. Pictures of this nature, which were bound up into books, nevertheless, were the immediate forerunners of the great invention itself. Books of prints, it will naturally be imagined, would soon be found imperfect, for want of descriptive text; this, therefore, urged on the great discovery. The manufacturers of the books, at first, cut single sentences or words, and stamped them below the pictures; but this not conveying a sufficient idea of the subject represented, an anxiety arose to give a lengthened description on the opposite pages. This it seems was, at length, accomplished; still the sentences were all cut in a piece, and the notion of having separate letters, so as to form words at pleasure, was unknown at that period. We will now proceed to the introduction of the modern art of printing. Ever since the typographic art has been introduced into modern Europe in its present form, the best, and one of the most certain criterions,--which prove the undoubted sense of our species,--exists in the multiplicity of claims which have been made by several cities for the honour of affording the earliest shelter to the infancy of this art. It really appears to be a question yet undecided, to what city, individual, or even era, to attribute this beneficial invention. However, there is every reason to believe that in this art, as well as in most others, the improvements which have subsequently taken place, have benefited the art itself, as much as that has benefited mankind: therefore, the question of its origin does not appear to us to be of so much importance. Amidst the claims of various individuals, Mr. Bouzer, in his “Origin of Printing,” says, that this honour ought to be adjudged to one of the three cities of Haerlem, Mentz, or Strasburg; of which, in his opinion, the first named city has best established her legitimate right. “But it appears,” to use his own words, “that all those cities, in a qualified sense, may claim it, considering the improvements they have made upon each other.”