The Palace and Park by Phillips, Forbes, Latham, Owen, Scharf, and Shenton

[Born at Mayence, in Germany, between 1395 and 1400. Died there, 1468.] Nothing is known of the early history of Gutenberg, save that he was born of a patrician family. In 1427, he resided at Strasburgh. When and where his first attempt at printing was made, it is impossible to say, for he never affixed his name, nor the date of printing to any of his productions. About 1438 he first employed moveable types made of wood. In 1443, he quitted Strasburgh, and returned to his native place. There he met with one John Faust, a rich goldsmith, and engaged with him to establish a printing-press, Faust finding the money for the undertaking. The press was established, and then, for the first time, the Bible was printed in Latin. Business went on prosperously for a time. But, four hundred years ago, it fared with great discoverers and great speculations as at the present hour. Faust had made large advances, and Gutenberg could not meet the claim. The pair went to law; and, as it falls out in these cases, the goldsmith got the verdict. He retained the business. Gutenberg was thrown upon the world. There he found a friend, was set upon his feet, and established another press. In 1837, a splendid monument, by Thorwaldsen, was erected to the memory of Gutenberg in his native town, where the members of the Gutenberg Society--to which many of the writers of the Rhenish provinces belong--meet to celebrate his mighty discovery, and to do honour to his name. Who shall fix the merit or assess the claims, or tell the influence exercised in the world by the portentous labours, of “The Inventor of Printing?” [By E. Von Launitz. Plaster. 1840. Modelled gratuitously by the artist, for the celebration of the invention of printing in 1840. For an account of the very line monument erected to Gutenberg at Frankfort by E. Von Launitz, see No. 175 of Handbook to Modern Sculpture.]