The germ of the present work was a Lecture delivered by the writer before the Members of the Colombo Athenæum, on the 24th February 1853. That Lecture was fully reported at the time in the _Colombo Observer_, and a few copies were subsequently printed for private distribution. These having been disposed of, the writer’s attention was directed to the preparation of a more extended essay upon the subject. The result of his labours is now submitted to the public. The work makes no pretension to the character of an exhaustive treatise; it is, in fact, but little more than a broad outline of the subject which it ventures to describe; but it is hoped, that a fresh interest may have been imparted to some of the topics touched upon, and that they will be found placed in a light which, if not wholly new, is at any rate somewhat clearer than that in which they have hitherto been exhibited. W. S. _Colombo, Ceylon, April_ 29, 1871. Early Typography. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY.--LETTER-PRESS PRINTING THE “DIVINE AND NOBLE” ART--WHY SO TERMED.--FREEDOM OF THE PRESS--WHERE FIRST PROCLAIMED.--PRINTING KNOWN IN CHINA FROM TIME IMMEMORIAL.--METHOD OF CHINESE PRINTING.--BIBLIOGRAPHY AND PALÆOTYPOGRAPHY. Printing is the art of producing copies of engraved writings or designs, by pressure, either upon the inked surfaces of characters raised in relief, or on metal plates, the upper surfaces of which are polished, and the sunk engravings charged with colour. The most important, if not the oldest branch of this art, is that of ~TYPOGRAPHY~, or LETTER-PRESS PRINTING. To this Art, as it was invented and perfected in Europe in the Fifteenth century, the epithets DIVINE and NOBLE have not untruly been applied. It is Noble, not merely because it is one of those arts or professions, the practice of which was permitted to the nobility of the German Empire, but because it is the nurse and preserver of all other arts and sciences; and is unquestionably the most important as well as the most beneficial invention the world has ever seen. It is the disseminator of every other discovery; the commemorator of all other inventions: it hands down to posterity every important event; immortalizes the actions of the great and good; and requires, moreover, in all who would thoroughly excel in its practice, the highest attainable combination of mental alacrity, educated intelligence, and expert manual dexterity.