Printing and writing materials : their evolution . to us. Witha few exceptions, these prints were colored. Theywere pictiues of sacred personages, and wereundoubtedly copied from ilkmiinated religiousbooks then to be found in all the large monas-teries. They were intended for religious instruc-tion and comfort, and were bought by the poorand hung on the walls of their huts and prints were produced as early as the four-teenth, perhaps as early as the thirteenth cen-tury. The earliest print still existing with a The St. definite and unquestioned date is the St. Chris- ^ ^^ topher of
Printing and writing materials : their evolution . to us. Witha few exceptions, these prints were colored. Theywere pictiues of sacred personages, and wereundoubtedly copied from ilkmiinated religiousbooks then to be found in all the large monas-teries. They were intended for religious instruc-tion and comfort, and were bought by the poorand hung on the walls of their huts and prints were produced as early as the four-teenth, perhaps as early as the thirteenth cen-tury. The earliest print still existing with a The St. definite and unquestioned date is the St. Chris- ^ ^^ topher of 1423. It is a rude wood-engraving,about 8 by 11 inches, and represents the Saintcarrying the infant Saviour across a river. Thisprint was discovered by Heinecken, in 1769,pasted inside the binding of an old manuscriptvolume of 1417, in the library of one of the mostancient convents of Germany, the Chartreuse atBuxheim in Swabia. The manuscript was placedin what was known as the Spencer library, whichafterwards passed into the possession of STATUE OF GUTENBERr, AT STRASBIRG[From a rhntii,i;iapli.] PRINTING IN EUROPE 19 Rylands, of Manchester, England.^ In the bookwhich contained the St. Christopher was also foundanother image print, the Annunciation, by some The Annun- ^ c } J J ciation. thought to be of the same age and workmanshipas the former. It is about the same size and isprinted on the same land of paper. Msmy , of course, were produced before the , but this bears the earliest date of anynow in existence. The Mary Engraving, or theBmssels Print, was formerh thought to be of the tl*^ Brussels • ° Print. year 1418; but the date had evidently been tam-pered with, and the authorities now consider itto be 1468. This print was discovered bj^ an inn-keeper, in 1848, pasted on the inside of an old chest,and was placed in the Royal Library at old prints are the St. Bridget, supposedto be of nearly the same age as the St. Christoph
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbookbinding, bookyear
