Produced by Adrian Mastronardi, Jana Srna and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) [ Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation; changes (corrections of spelling and punctuation) made to the original text are listed at the end of this file. Italic text has been marked with _underscores_. Bold text has been marked with =equals signs=. Greek text has been transliterated and marked with +plus signs+. ] THE STORY OF BOOKS The Useful Knowledge Library PLANT LIFE. By Grant Allen. ARCHITECTURE. By P. L. Waterhouse. THE STARS. By G. F. Chambers, F.R.A.S. THE SOLAR SYSTEM. By George F. Chambers, F.R.A.S. FOREST AND STREAM. By James Rodway. THE MIND. By Prof. J. M. Baldwin. THE RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD. By the Rev. E. D. Price, F.G.S. EXTINCT CIVILIZATIONS OF THE EAST. By Robert E. Anderson, M.A., F.A.S. THE CHEMICAL ELEMENTS. By M. M. Pattison Muir, M.A. A PIECE OF COAL. By E. A. Martin. THE EARTH IN PAST AGES. By H. G. Seeley, F.R.S. BIRD-LIFE. By W. P. Pycraft. GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY. By Joseph Jacobs. PRIMITIVE MAN. By Edward Clodd. THOUGHT AND FEELING. By Frederick Ryland, M.A. THE BRITISH RACE. By John Munro. GERM LIFE. By H. W. Conn. ANIMAL LIFE. By B. Lindsay. COTTON PLANT. By F. Wilkinson, F.G.S. ECLIPSES. By G. F. Chambers, F.R.A.S. ELECTRICITY. By J. Munro. WEATHER. By G. F. Chambers, F.R.A.S. WILD FLOWERS. By Rev. Prof. Henslow. LONDON: HODDER AND STOUGHTON [Illustration: EARLY PRINTERS AT WORK.] THE STORY OF BOOKS BY GERTRUDE BURFORD RAWLINGS Author of "The Story of the British Coinage" HODDER AND STOUGHTON PUBLISHERS, LONDON CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. Introductory 9 II. The Preservation of Literature 13 III. Books and Libraries in Classical Times 26 IV. Books in Mediæval Times 36 V. Libraries in Mediæval Times 56 VI. The Beginning of Printing 70 VII. Who Invented Moveable Types? 81 VIII. Gutenberg and the Mentz Press 89 IX. Early Printing 103 X. Early Printing in Italy and some other Countries 110 XI. Early Printing in England 118 XII. Early Printing in Scotland 131