Opening the text

The Invention of Printing.: A Collection of Facts and Opinions, Descriptive of Early Prints and Playing Cards, the Block-Books of the Fifteenth Century, the Legend of Lourens Janszoon Coster, of Haarlem, and the Work of John Gutenberg and His AssociatesDe Vinne, Theodore Low

History

The Invention of Printing.: A Collection of Facts and Opinions, Descriptive of Early Prints and Playing Cards, the Block-Books of the Fifteenth Century, the Legend of Lourens Janszoon Coster, of Haarlem, and the Work of John Gutenberg and His Associates

Name: The Invention of Printing.: A Collection of Facts and Opinions, Descriptive of Early Prints and Playing Cards, the Block-Books of the Fifteenth Century, the Legend of Lourens Janszoon Coster, of Haarlem, and the Work of John Gutenberg and His Associates
Author: De Vinne, Theodore Low

De Vinne, Theodore Low

Incunabula -- Bibliography; Printing -- History -- Origin and antecedents

In Holland, this legend of the invention of printing by Coster was an
article of national faith which only the bold man dared to deny. It has
produced results which could never have been foreseen by the vain old
man Gerrit Thomaszoon, in whose conceit the fable originated. Haarlem
is dotted with [p359] monuments to the memory of Coster. Certain
days in June and July are observed as festivals in commemoration of
the invention. In the Hout, or Haarlem Wood, where Coster is said to
have received his first suggestion of types, an imposing cenotaph has
been placed. Carved on this stone are the arms of the sheriff Laurens
Janszoon, and the year 1423, which is offered as the date of this
suggestion. An acknowledgment of Coster as the inventor of typography
may be seen in the ancient cathedral of Haarlem, on a black marble
tablet, which was put in place during the month of June, 1824, by King
William I. In almost every well appointed public office or private
house of Haarlem is some pictorial recognition of Coster as the
inventor of printing.

[Illustration: The Statue on the New Monument to Coster.

[From Noordziek.]]

In the year 1851, an association of patriotic Hollanders placed
in front of the rebuilt Coster house a memorial stone with this
inscription: “The house of Coster: the birthplace of typography.” The
date of this birth is judiciously omitted. The tablet of the old Coster
house contained an inscription in honor of “Laurens Coster, sheriff,
of Haarlem, inventor of typography about the year 1430.” The vitality
of the legend has also been preserved by the issue of a great many
medals, prints and papers, and by the repeated assertion of the civic
authorities that Coster was the original and unquestionable inventor of
typography.




[p360]

XIX

The Downfall of the Legend.


 The Vague Inscription on the Last Monument . . . Relics in the
 Costerian Museum . . . Fac-simile of Janszoon’s Autograph . . . The
 Coster Pedigree . . . Made by Gerrit Thomaszoon . . . Legend began
 with the Pedigree . . . Pedigree has been Falsified, and is of No
 Authority . . . Search by Van der Linde for Records concerning Coster
 . . . Archives of the Town and Church of Haarlem represent Coster as a
 Tallow-Chandler and Innkeeper . . . Coster living at Haarlem in 1483
 . . . The Record of the Chair-Book . . . No Evidence that Coster was a
 Printer . . . Lourens Coster has been Confounded with Laurens Janszoon
 . . . Illustration of the House of Coster . . . Other Fac-similes of
 Portraits of Coster . . . Their Curious Dissimilarity . . . Absurdity
 of the Legend.

       *       *       *       *       *

 We see in a square at Haarlem the monument of the fictitious personage
 Laurens Coster. It presents a sad figure. Behind this statue, sneering
 in mockery, is another colossal monument, which dominates and
 belittles it—a statue visible to us, but to Hollanders invisible—the
 statue of Ridicule.

 _Helbig._

       *       *       *       *       *

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

The Invention of Printing.: A Collection of Facts and Opinions, Descriptive of Early Prints and Playing Cards, the Block-Books of the Fifteenth Century, the Legend of Lourens Janszoon Coster, of Haarlem, and the Work of John Gutenberg and His Associates

De Vinne, Theodore Low

Incunabula -- Bibliography; Printing -- History -- Origin and antecedents

In Holland, this legend of the invention of printing by Coster was an
article of national faith which only the bold man dared to deny. It has
produced results which could never have been foreseen by the vain old
man Gerrit Thomaszoon, in whose conceit the fable originated. Haarlem
is dotted with [p359] monuments to the memory of Coster. Certain
days in June and July are observed as festivals in commemoration of
the invention. In the Hout, or Haarlem Wood, where Coster is said to
have received his first suggestion of types, an imposing cenotaph has
been placed. Carved on this stone are the arms of the sheriff Laurens
Janszoon, and the year 1423, which is offered as the date of this
suggestion. An acknowledgment of Coster as the inventor of typography
may be seen in the ancient cathedral of Haarlem, on a black marble
tablet, which was put in place during the month of June, 1824, by King
William I. In almost every well appointed public office or private
house of Haarlem is some pictorial recognition of Coster as the
inventor of printing.

[Illustration: The Statue on the New Monument to Coster.

[From Noordziek.]]

In the year 1851, an association of patriotic Hollanders placed
in front of the rebuilt Coster house a memorial stone with this
inscription: “The house of Coster: the birthplace of typography.” The
date of this birth is judiciously omitted. The tablet of the old Coster
house contained an inscription in honor of “Laurens Coster, sheriff,
of Haarlem, inventor of typography about the year 1430.” The vitality
of the legend has also been preserved by the issue of a great many
medals, prints and papers, and by the repeated assertion of the civic
authorities that Coster was the original and unquestionable inventor of
typography.




[p360]

XIX

The Downfall of the Legend.


 The Vague Inscription on the Last Monument . . . Relics in the
 Costerian Museum . . . Fac-simile of Janszoon’s Autograph . . . The
 Coster Pedigree . . . Made by Gerrit Thomaszoon . . . Legend began
 with the Pedigree . . . Pedigree has been Falsified, and is of No
 Authority . . . Search by Van der Linde for Records concerning Coster
 . . . Archives of the Town and Church of Haarlem represent Coster as a
 Tallow-Chandler and Innkeeper . . . Coster living at Haarlem in 1483
 . . . The Record of the Chair-Book . . . No Evidence that Coster was a
 Printer . . . Lourens Coster has been Confounded with Laurens Janszoon
 . . . Illustration of the House of Coster . . . Other Fac-similes of
 Portraits of Coster . . . Their Curious Dissimilarity . . . Absurdity
 of the Legend.

       *       *       *       *       *

 We see in a square at Haarlem the monument of the fictitious personage
 Laurens Coster. It presents a sad figure. Behind this statue, sneering
 in mockery, is another colossal monument, which dominates and
 belittles it—a statue visible to us, but to Hollanders invisible—the
 statue of Ridicule.

 _Helbig._

       *       *       *       *       *

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Invention of Printing.: A Collection of Facts and Opinions, Descriptive of Early Prints and Playing Cards, the Block-Books of the Fifteenth Century, the Legend of Lourens Janszoon Coster, of Haarlem, and the Work of John Gutenberg and His Associates

The Invention of Printing.: A Collection of Facts and Opinions, Descriptive of Early Prints and Playing Cards, the Block-Books of the Fifteenth Century, the Legend of Lourens Janszoon Coster, of Haarlem, and the Work of John Gutenberg and His Associates

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