THE ALDINE PRESS. One of the most famous printers of this early time was a Venetian named Aldus Manutius or Manucci. He gathered about him a number of Greeks and planned to print all the Greek manuscripts that had been discovered. This he did in beautiful type, imitated from the handwriting of one of his Greek friends. He sold the books for a price per volume about equal to our fifty cents, so that few scholars were too poor to buy. SOME EARLY PRINTED BOOKS. Another great printer was the Englishman William Caxton, who learned the art in the Netherlands. Among the books he printed was Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The first book printed by Gutenberg was the Bible in Latin. Early in the sixteenth century, through the labors of a Dutch scholar, Erasmus, and of his printer, the German Froben, the New Testament in Greek was printed. ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE. The artists and the architects of this time began to imitate the buildings they found or that they unearthed. They used round arches and domes more than the pointed arches and vaulted roofs of the Gothic builders. Sculptors pictured in stone the stories of the Greek and Roman gods and heroes. Statues long buried in ancient ruins were dug up, and great artists like the Italian Michel Angelo studied them and rivaled them in the beautiful statues they cut. On every hand men's minds were awakened by what they saw of the work of the founders of the civilized world. [Illustration: FACSIMILE OF PART OF CAXTON'S AENEID (REDUCED) With the same in modern type] QUESTIONS 1. Why did the memory of the Greeks and Romans remain longer in France and Italy than in Germany and England? 2. What different classes of people were there in the Middle Ages? What was the difference between a parish priest and a monk? 3. How did the nobles gain a living? Were they useful? In what sorts of houses did they live? Describe a castle. What was the "keep"? 4. How were the sons of nobles trained? What was a page? How was a young man made a knight? What were the duties of a knight? 5. Were the farmers or peasants prosperous and happy in the Middle Ages? How did the townsmen learn to protect themselves? What was a guild? Why are many Europeans proud of their cities? 6. Why is Venice especially interesting? Why do we remember Genoa? 7. From what language did French, Italian, and Spanish grow? How were the changes made in the old language? Where did the English get their language? Was it just like the English we speak? 8. What did the boys study in the Middle Ages? What did the word "university" mean then? Name two or three universities founded then which still exist. What did the Arabs teach Christian students? 9. What sort of buildings did men in the Middle Ages especially like to build? Are these buildings still standing? Why do we admire these great churches?