Early Printed BooksDuff, E. Gordon (Edward Gordon)
History
Early Printed Books
Duff, E. Gordon (Edward Gordon)
Incunabula -- Bibliography; Printing -- History -- Origin and antecedents
The three books which are unknown, at any rate as having been printed
by Schœffer, are the _Consolatorium timorate conscientie_ and the _De
contractibus mercatorum_, both by Johann Nider, a famous Dominican, and
the _Historia Griseldis_ of Petrarch.
In 1470, Schœffer put out another advertisement relating to his edition
of the _Letters of St. Jerome_, printed in that year. Of this broadside
two copies are known, one in the Munich Library, the other, formerly
belonging to M. Weigel, in the British Museum. From 1470 to 1479,
Schœffer printed a large number of books. Hain mentions twenty-seven,
almost all of which he himself had collated. This was the busiest time
in Schœffer’s career, and he carried on business in several towns. His
agent in Paris, Hermann de Stalhœn, died about 1474, and the books in
his possession were dispersed. On the complaint of Schœffer, Louis XI.
allowed him 2425 crowns as compensation,—a sum which shows that the
stock of books must have been very large. In 1479 he was received as a
citizen of Frankfort-on-the-Maine on payment of a certain sum, no doubt
in order that he might there sell his books. At Mainz he became an
important citizen, and was made a judge.
From 1457 to 1468, Schœffer had used only four types, the two church
types which appear in the _Psalter_, and the two book types which
appear in the _Durandus_. In this year he obtained a fifth type,
like the smaller one of the _Durandus_, and about the same in body,
but with a larger face. In 1484 and 1485 two new types appear, one
a church type very much resembling that used in the forty-two line
Bible, but with a larger face; the other, a vernacular type, which
occurs first in the _Hortus Sanitatis_ of 1485, a book containing
Schœffer’s mark though not his name, and appears the year following
in the _Breydenbach_, printed at Mainz by Erhard Reüwick. Reüwick
was an engraver, and the frontispiece to the _Hortus Sanitatis_ is
perhaps from his hand, showing, if it be so, a connection between him
and Schœffer, which his use of the latter’s type tends to confirm.
In fact, it seems most probable that the text of the two editions of
the _Breydenbach_, the Latin one of 1486 and the German one of 1488,
was really printed by Schœffer, while Reüwick engraved the wonderful
illustrations. The title-page of this book is an exquisite piece
of work, and by far the finest example of wood engraving which had
appeared. It is further noticeable as containing cross-hatching, which
is usually said to have first been used in the poor cuts of that very
much overpraised book, the _Nuremberg Chronicle_ of 1493. It contains
also a number of views of remarkable places, printed as folded plates.
Some of these views are as much as five feet long, and were printed
from several blocks on separate pieces of paper, which were afterwards
pasted together.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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