Transcriber’s Notes.
The spellings of Schœffer and Schoeffer have been left as printed.
Footnotes were moved to the ends of the text they pertain to and numberedin one continuous sequence.
Differences in hyphenation of specific words and missing punctuation have beenrectified where applicable.
Other changes made are noted at the end of the book.
FROM SCHOEFFER’S CANON OF THE MASS
Early Printed Books
By
E. Gordon Duff
London
Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ltd.
MDCCCXCIII
TO
THE MEMORY OF
HENRY BRADSHAW
ἀποθανὼν ἔτι λαλεῖ
Preface
In the following pages I have endeavoured to givea short account of the introduction of printing intothe principal countries and towns of Europe, and tobring our information on the subject as far as possibleup to date.
Small books on large subjects are for the mostpart both superficial and imperfect, and I am afraidthe present book forms no exception to this rule, butmy excuse must be that I have attempted rather todraw attention to more out of the way informationthan to recapitulate what is already to be found inthe majority of bibliographical books.
Above all, I have tried as far as possible to confinemyself to facts and avoid theories, for only by workingfrom facts can we help to keep bibliography inthe position, to which Henry Bradshaw raised it, ofa scientific study.
And, in the words of a learned Warden of myown college, ‘if any shall suggest, that some of the[viii]inquiries here insisted upon do seem too minute andtrivial for any prudent Man to bestow his seriousthoughts and time about, such persons may know,that the discovery of the true nature and cause ofany the most minute thing, doth promote realknowledge, and therefore cannot be unfit for anyMan’s endeavours who is willing to contribute tothe advancement of Learning.’
I must express my best thanks to two friends,Mr. F. J. H. Jenkinson, University Librarian, Cambridge;and Mr. J. P. Edmond, Librarian to theEarl of Crawford and Balcarres, for very kindlyreading through the proofs of the entire book andmaking many useful suggestions and corrections.
E. G. D.
March 1893.