first productions of the art--for no invention is immediately perfected--the blank pages were pasted together, so that they might not appear as a defect. He afterwards exchanged his beech types for leaden ones, and subsequently he formed his types of tin, as being less flexible and of greater durability. Of the remains of these types certain old wine-vessels were cast, which are still preserved in the house formerly the residence of Lawrence, which, as I have said, looks into the market-place, and which was afterwards inhabited by his great-grandson Gerard Thomas, a citizen of repute, who died an old man a few years ago. [Footnote III-61: Reckoning from 1568, the period referred to would be 1440.] [Footnote III-62: “Ædituus Custosve.” The word “Koster” in modern Dutch is synonymous with the English “Sexton.”] “The new invention being well received, and a new and unheard-of commodity finding on all sides purchasers, to the great profit of the inventor, he became more devoted to the art, his business was increased, and new workmen--the first cause of his misfortune--were employed. Among them was one called John; but whether, as is suspected, he bore the ominous surname of Faust,--_infaustus_[III-63] and unfaithful to his master--or whether it were some other John, I shall not labour to prove, as I do not wish to disturb the dead already enduring the pangs of conscience for what they had done when living.[III-64] This person, who was admitted under an oath to assist in printing, as soon as he thought he had attained the art of joining the letters, a knowledge of the fusile types, and other matters connected with the business, embracing the convenient opportunity of Christmas Eve, when all persons are accustomed to attend to their devotions, stole all the types and conveyed away all the utensils which his master had contrived by his own skill; and then leaving home with the thief, first went to Amsterdam, then to Cologne, and lastly to Mentz, as his altar of refuge, where being safely settled, beyond bowshot as they say, he might commence business, and thence derive a rich profit from the things which he had stolen. Within the space of a year from Christmas, 1442, it is certain that there appeared printed with the types which Lawrence had used at Harlem ‘_Alexandri Galli Doctrinale_,’ a grammar then in frequent use, with ‘_Petri Hispani Tractatus_.’ [Footnote III-63: “Sive is (ut fert suspicio) Faustus fuerit ominoso cognomine, hero suo infidus et infaustus.” The author here indulges in an ominous pun. The Latinised name “_Faustus_,” signifies lucky; the word “_infaustus_,” unlucky. The German name Füst may be literally translated “Fist.” A clenched hand is the crest of the family of Faust.]