These volumes began to be
printed in 1471, and contain the earliest specimens of Greek type.
The printers of the works of Prynne, Barthius, Reynaud, and other
voluminous writers must have had a sorry experience with their authors;
but "once bitten twice shy." Hence some of these worthies found it rather
difficult to publish their works, and there were no authors' agents or
Societies of Authors to aid their negotiations. Indeed we are told that a
printer who was saddled with a large number of unsaleable copies of a
heavy piece of literary production adopted the novel expedient of bringing
out several editions of the work! This he accomplished by merely adding a
new title-page to his old copies, whereby he readily deceived the unwary.
Catherino, in his book entitled _L'Art d'Imprimer_, quotes the saying of
De Fourcey, a Jesuit of Paris, that "one might make a pretty large volume
of the catalogue of those who have entirely ruined their booksellers by
their books."
But the booksellers and printers whose hard fate I wish principally to
record are those who shared with the authors the penalties inflicted on
account of their condemned books. Unhappily there have been many such
whose fate has been recorded, and probably there are many more who have
suffered in obscurity the terrible punishments which the stern censors of
former days knew so well how to inflict.
One of the reputed discoverers of the art of printing, John Fust, is said
to have been persecuted; he was accused at Paris of multiplying the
Scriptures by the aid of the Devil, and was compelled to seek safety in
flight.
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