. An inquiry concerning the invention of printing : in which the systems of Meerman, Heinecken, Santander, and Koning are reviewed : including also notices of the early use of wood-engraving in Europe, the block-books, etc. . these four verses written in old Englishcharacters, among which are the w, and the Saxon character denotingth, exactly formed as we find them in English manuscripts of the endof the fourteenth, and the early part of the fifteenth century . e< Seynt gregor. With oyer (other) popes & bysshoppes yn seer,Haue graunted of pardon xxvi. dayes & xxvi. mill yeym yat bef
. An inquiry concerning the invention of printing : in which the systems of Meerman, Heinecken, Santander, and Koning are reviewed : including also notices of the early use of wood-engraving in Europe, the block-books, etc. . these four verses written in old Englishcharacters, among which are the w, and the Saxon character denotingth, exactly formed as we find them in English manuscripts of the endof the fourteenth, and the early part of the fifteenth century . e< Seynt gregor. With oyer (other) popes & bysshoppes yn seer,Haue graunted of pardon xxvi. dayes & xxvi. mill yeym yat befor yis fygur on yeir knees Deuoutly say., V. pater noster. &. V. Auees. I had the good fortune to discover this little wood-cut several yearsago, stitched on a blank leaf at the beginning of a manuscript book ofdevotion, on vellum, which I judged to be of the latter part of thefifteenth century. But it was evident from the numerous needle-holes in the margin, that it had been, in like manner, sewed into atleast two other books, previously: besides which, it appears, fromthe back of the print, that in the first instance it had been folded,and that for a length of time it had been carried about by the devout. IL M ; ■ I A |>i» el lie It . «ru, f RtlgPci •• »,K 1 Mil M, ft M. ta chap, ix] WOOD-ENGRAVING IN EUROPE, &c, 199 possessor of it in a small pocket-book. This piece is printed in abrown tint by friction. The Collection of the British Museum possesses another uniquework of early wood-engraving, which I think it extremely probablewas also executed in England. It consists, or rather originally con-sisted, of twenty-four pieces of a square form, pasted on guards formedof fragments of English manuscript of the fifteenth century, andenclosed in a rude parchment cover. In these cuts, the letters ofthe alphabet are represented by grotesque figures. I have causedfour of them, the letters G. I. K. and L, to be accurately copied inthe annexed plate. In the third piece
Size: 1404px × 1781px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectprinting, booksubjectwoodengraving
