Medieval and modern times : an introduction to the history of western Europe form the dissolution of the Roman empire to the present time . thic, or black letter. In Italy, however, where the first Black letterprinting press was set upin 1466, a type was soonadopted which resembledthe letters used in ancientRoman inscriptions. Thiswas quite similar to thestyle of letter commonlyused to-day. The Italiansalso invented the com-pressed italic type, whichenabled them to get agreat many words on apage. The early printersgenerally did their workconscientiously, and thevery first book printed isin mos
Medieval and modern times : an introduction to the history of western Europe form the dissolution of the Roman empire to the present time . thic, or black letter. In Italy, however, where the first Black letterprinting press was set upin 1466, a type was soonadopted which resembledthe letters used in ancientRoman inscriptions. Thiswas quite similar to thestyle of letter commonlyused to-day. The Italiansalso invented the com-pressed italic type, whichenabled them to get agreat many words on apage. The early printersgenerally did their workconscientiously, and thevery first book printed isin most respects as welldone as any later book. By the year 1500, afterprinting had been usedless than half a century,there appear to have beenat least forty printingpresses to be found in va-rious towns of Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, andEngland. These presses had, it is estimated, already printedeight millions of volumes. So there was no longer any dangerof the old books being again lost, and the encouragement towrite and publish new books was greatly increased. Fromthat date our sources for history become far more voluminous. Fig. 73. An Old-fashionedPrinting Office Until the nineteenth century printingwas carried on with very little machin-ery. The type was inked by hand,then the paper laid on and the formslipped under a wooden press operatedby hand by means of a lever 264 Medieval and Modern Times than those which exist for the previous history of the world;we are much better informed in regard to events and con-ditions since 1500 than we ever can be respecting those ofthe earlier periods. Developmentof art inItaly Florence theart centerof Italy Rome becomes thecenter ofartisticactivity The Art of the Renaissance 52. We have already described briefly the work of the medi-eval architects and referred to the beautiful carvings that adornedthe Gothic cathedrals and to the pictures of saints and angelsin stained glass which filled the great church windows. But inthe four
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