Synthesized answer
The statement from De Vinne's dedication suggests that some knowledge, specifically concerning types, cannot be acquired solely through reading [2]. This implies a fundamental limitation of textual knowledge in understanding certain aspects of technology.
The passages indicate that technological understanding, particularly in the realm of early printing and type-making, may require experiences beyond what books can offer [2]. The text mentions practical elements like cutting punches, making molds, and founding types [3], as well as the mechanics of printing presses [4], which suggest a hands-on, experiential component to mastering these crafts. The nature of these experiences, which are "not to be had by reading," likely involve practical experimentation, direct observation, and skill development through physical engagement with the materials and processes of printing [2, 3, 4, 5].
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
← The Invention of Printing ( 1876 ) by Theodore De Vinnè Preface → related portals : Print media , Book industries and trade 1462169 The Invention of Printing 1876 Theodore De Vinnè The Invention of Printing. THORWALDSEN'S STATUE OF JOHN GUTENBERG. THE INVENTION OF PRINTING. A Collection of Facts and Opinions DESCRIPTIVE OF EARLY PRINTS AND PLAYING CARDS, THE BLOCK-BOOKS OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, THE LEGEND OF LOURENS JANSZOON COSTER, OF HAARLEM, AND THE WORK OF JOHN GUTENBERG AND HIS ASSOCIATES. Illustrated WITH FAC-SIMILES OF EARLY TYPES AND WOOD-CUTS. BY THEO. L. DE VINNE. * *…
g to act of congress, in the year 1876, by Theodore L. De Vinne, in the office of the library of congress at washington. TO DAVID WOLFE BRUCE, IN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF INSTRUCTION ABOUT TYPES, NOT TO BE HAD BY READING, OF ASSISTANCE IN STUDIES, NOT TO BE FOUND IN PUBLIC LIBRARIES, OF COMPANIONSHIP MORE PLEASANT THAN BOOKS, THIS WORK IS DEDICATED BY HIS FRIEND, THEO. L. DE VINNE. CONTENTS. (not listed in original) (not listed in original) ILLUSTRATIONS. This work was published before January 1, 1931, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago. Public…
rance of the Types … Were Founded. The Press of the Unknown Printer … Its Defects … Indications of the Use of a Frisket. If any shall suggest, that some of the Enquiries here insisted upon (as particularly those about the Letters of the Alphabet) do seem too minute and trivial for any prudent man to bestow his serious thoughts and time about, such persons may know that the discovery of the true nature and cause of any the most minute thing both promote real knowledge, and therefore cannot be unfit for and Man's endeavours. Bishop Wilkins, 1668. I f the printer of the Speculum was the rightful…
or him a collection of types in "unmixed lead," with which he printed five hundred impressions on rough and dry paper. He says that the types showed no appreciable wear; but this is not surprising, for we have evidences that they were printed by an expert pressman on an iron press provided with every appliance requisite for a nice adjustment of the impression. It is not at all probable that the press of the unknown printer had these handy appliances. All the printing presses made before the nineteenth century had wooden frames, with beds of slate or stone, and platens or pressing surfaces…
where xylography had failed, and developed it by new ideas and new methods. Typography was an invention pure and simple. In the theory and practice of block-printing, there was nothing that could have been improved until it reached the discovery of the only proper method of making types. It may have been from his experience in the melting and pouring of lead, in the engraving of designs for the frames of his mirrors, in the use of a press for the moulding of the designs for these frames, that Gutenberg derived his first practical ideas of the true method of making types. Whatever the external…
More questions about this book
- The quote from Fox's Acts and Monuments asserts that through printing, "truth discerned, falshood detected, and with finger pointed." Beyond simply disseminating information, what does this specific phrasing imply about the transformative power of printing in shaping public discourse and critical thought?
- The text distinguishes between the "alleged discovery" in 1450 and the "complete invention" of copper-plate printing. What crucial elements or processes must occur for an initial technical "discovery" to evolve into a fully realized and impactful "invention" within a field like printing?
- Given the text's mention of "unfixed" dates, "alleged discoveries," and disputed attributions (like those rejected by Passavant), what inherent challenges do historians face when attempting to establish definitive timelines and origins for significant technological breakthroughs, and what does this reveal about the nature of historical evidence itself?
- By outlining the separate stages for copper-plate printing (discovery vs. practice) and lithography (suggestion vs. practical shape vs. patent), how does the text challenge the common narrative of invention as a singular "eureka" moment, instead presenting it as a complex, iterative, and multi-faceted process?