What books should be in the State li- McClure, Philips & Co., 2; A. C. McClurg & Co., 57; Baker & Taylor Co., 58; Edu- cational Publishing Co., 60, 62; Pilgrim Press 60; Cassell & Company, 61; The Macmillan Company 63; Cumulative Index Company, 64; C. L. Ricketts, 66; Library Library Supply and Clearing House, 58; L1- brary Bureau, 59, 65, 67; Schlesinger & Mayer, 62; C. M. Higgins & Co., 64; Zella F. Adams, 66; Patton, Fisher & Miller, 66, A Classified Alphabetical List of the Books published by McClure, Phillips & Co. BRADY, REV. C. T. BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY American Fights and Fighters. Cloth, 12mo. $1.50. SMITH, DR. GEORGE ADAM. Life of Henry Drummond. 8vo. $3.00. TARBELL, IDA M. BULLOCK, SHAN F. The Barrys. Cloth, 12mo. $1.25. CROWNINSHIELD, MRS. The Archbishop and the Lady. 12mo. $1.50. JOKAI, MAURUS. The Day of Wrath. Cloth, 12mo. $1.25. PEAKE, ELMORE ELLIOTT. The Darlingtons. Cloth, 12mo. $1.50. SHORT STORY VOLUMES 12mo. $1.25. DOYLE, A. CONAN. The Green Flag. Cloth, 12mo. $1.50. VERSE DOYLE, A. CONAN. Songs of Action Cloth, 12mo. $1.25. MISCELLANEOUS BOOKS Corporations and Public Welfare. Cloth, 8vo. $1.50. DE LOUP, MAXIMILIAN. The American Salad Book. 12mo. $1,00. DEWEY, DR. JOHN. The School and Society. Illustrated. Cloth, 12mo. $1.00 McClure, Philips & Co., Publishers 141-155 East 25th St., NEW YORK Public Libraries (MONTHLY) Vol. 6. Gutenberg* James E. Scripps, Detroit, Mich. January, 1901. It is believed that the stamping of devices upon paper by the use of an engraved stamp and some sort of ink has been practiced by the Chinese from a very remote period, and was a practice probably known to the ancient Greeks and Romans. But until the beginning of the fifteenth century nothing grew out of it. The monks in the thickly scattered monasteries of Europe found the occupation of transcribing books by hand, and drawing and coloring the decorations, a light, pleasant pastime, and there was in those days of widespread ignorance no demand for cheaper or more expeditious methods of bookmaking. No. I existing of greater antiquity but bearing no date. The St Christopher was long in the famous library of Earl Spencer, an English nobleman and great collector of books, but is now, I believe, in a private collection at Manchester, England. Just as the figures I-4-2-3 were in this case engraved on the block with the words was possible, and it soon became picture, the engraving of letters and common to append to the rude woodcuts explanatory inscriptions, sometimes of considerable length, but all, like the lines of the picture, engraved in relief upon the wooden block. It was probably between the years 1430 and 1440 that an entire book was first produced in this way. It has generally been thought that the Biblia Pauperum Playing cards came into use about the was the first such book, but this is a year 1350. For a long time they were matter of controversy. It is also uncerprinted by hand, or more quickly pro- tain where the Biblia Pauperum was duced with stencil plates and a brush. originally printed, though it is generBut soon after the year 1400 they began ally believed to have been in Holland. to be produced by pressing the paper Each page was printed from a single or cardboard upon inked wooden blocks wooden block upon which pictures and upon which the devices were cut in re-reading matter were engraved in about lief. It was but a step from this to the production of religious and other pictures from designs rudely engraved on wooden blocks. The earliest of these woodcuts, the date of which is fixed, is one representing St Christopher carrying the infant Jesus across a river, to which the date 1423 is appended. It is not likely that this was the very earliest engraved picture; there may be others *Read before the Michigan library association Nov. 9, 1900. equal proportions. This and other books of similar character are known as block-books, from the fact of each page being printed from a single engraved block. In all cases in these block-books the paper is printed on but one side, which is explained by the impression being taken, not with a press, but by rubbing the back of the paper super-imposed upon the inked blocks. The Biblia Pauperum was followed |