TJ

THE YOUTH’S CABINET.

 

~\ 2

aos

AL
esl Ks

—

 

A Chapter on Printing.

 

BY THEODORE THINEER.

 

aw any of my young readers recol-

lect, that I promised, a good

while ago, to tell them something

about the art of printing? I

made such a promise, I believe; and

though some, doubtless, have forgotten

it, I should not wonder if a larger pro-

portion have remembered it, and have

thought, perhaps, that the chapter was a

long time coming. It is ready now, how-

ever, and the printer must put it into

such a shape as will make it fit to be
read.

The.art of printing from separate and
movable types was discovered during
the first half of the fifteenth century.
Hundreds of years before that time, the
process of making impressions on wax

and other substances was known; and in
Ve 5

some countries, prior to the fifteentn
century, the art of cutting images and
rude letters on wood was practiced to
some extent. But the date of the inven-
tion of printing from movable metallic
types is as late as the period above
named.

This invention made a great noise in
the world, as you may suppose. The
printing art was regarded as a most won-
derful thing; and some of those who
were engaged in it at first, were accused
of practicing witchcraft, because they
made scores of copies of the same book,
all just alike.

Since the discovery was made, there
have been constant improvements in the
process, until now it has reached a de-

gree of perfection which would astonish
MAR