Early Printed Books. By E. Gordon Duff. (Kagan Paul, Trench,
and Co.)—Mr. Duff's first chapter deals with " Steps towards the Invention." Such steps he finds in the impress of a maker's name found on ancient amphorae and lamps, and such like things ; but of course the nearest approach was in the " block books." Of these about a hundred specimens are extant, some, however, of so late a date that they have no interest. The first printed books were editions of the Vulgate, published at Mainz, known as the Marazin and the Bamberg Bibles. Both are prob- ably earlier than 1454. The first dated book is the Psalmorum Codas of 1457. Mr. Duff goes on to describe the spread of the new art in the various Continental countries, and finally in
England. The earliest English book is just twenty years later than the Mainz Psalter. In the following year a press was set up at Oxford, which was at work up to 1486. Eight books were published about the same time at St. Albans. Mr. Duff gives a clear and concise account of these and other matters, and he devotes a special chapter to the "Study of Bookbinding," and another on the "Collecting and Describing of Early Printed Books," for the particular guidance of those who are practically interested in the subject.
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