In the Royal Library at Paris are preserved the two old blocks of a “Donatus” which are mentioned by Heineken at page 257 of his Idée Générale. They are both of a quarto form; but as the one contains twenty lines and the other only sixteen, and as there is a perceptible difference in the size of the letters, it is probable that they were engraved for different editions.[II-98] Those blocks were purchased in Germany by a Monsieur Faucault, and after passing through the hands of three other book-collectors they came into the possession of the Duke de la Vallière, at whose sale they were sold for two hundred and thirty livres. In De Bure’s catalogue of the La Vallière library, impressions are given from the original blocks. The letters in both those blocks, though differing in size, are of the same proportions and form; and Heineken and Fischer consider that they bear a great resemblance to the characters of Faust and Scheffer’s Psalter, printed with moveable types in 1457, although the latter are considerably larger. [Footnote II-98: Meerman had an old block of a Donatus, which was obtained from the collection of a M. Hubert of Basle, and which appeared to belong to the same edition as that containing sixteen lines in the Royal Library at Paris.--Heineken, Idée Générale, p. 258.] The art of wood engraving, having advanced from a single figure with merely a name cut underneath it, to the impression of entire pages of text, was now to undergo a change. Moveable letters formed of metal, and wedged together within an iron frame, were to supersede the engraved page; and impressions, instead of being taken by the slow and tedious process of friction, were now to be obtained by the speedy and powerful action of the press. If the art of wood engraving suffered a temporary decline for a few years after the general introduction of typography, it was only to revive again under the protecting influence of the PRESS; by means of which its productions were to be multiplied a hundred fold, and, instead of being confined to a few towns, were to be disseminated throughout every part of Europe. CHAPTER III. INVENTION OF TYPOGRAPHY.