or minstrels who wandered from castle to castle,
had chanted. One was no longer dependent on such a story-teller. The
printed novel had arrived. Its form was still very crude, but it was
nevertheless a story and a broader field for entertainment than was
provided by the threadbare lives of the saints. Science, too, was making
remarkable progress and the public was alert to read of Bacon and
Galileo, as well as of Luther and Shakespeare. Had printing come earlier
it would have been to a passive, indifferent populace; now it appeared
in answer to the craving of a people thirsty to read of travel,
invention, poetry; to consume the Tales of King Arthur, Sir John
Mandeville's Travels, Sidney's 'Arcadia', Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
The Elizabethans reflected in England the rebirth of literature and
learning which was sweeping all Europe at the time. Printing was not the
herald, nor yet the servant, of this wonderful age; but was rather its
companion, going hand in hand with it and making all the wealth of
thought that it had to give available to us, as well as to those of its
own day."

"Long live Gutenburg!" exclaimed Paul.

"Yes, we owe him a great deal," agreed Mr. Cameron. "But do not become
confused and attribute everything to him. He did invent type molds for
casting type and thereby brought printing to the point of a practical
art. He did not invent engraving on wood, as many enthusiasts acclaim;
nor did he invent impressions of relief surfaces. He was not, moreover,
the first to print on paper, for the makers of playing cards and
image-prints had done that before him. There had also been roughly
printed books before his day and printing presses, too. There had even
been movable type. But Gutenburg was the first to combine these ideas so
that they could be used for practical purposes. In other words, he was
the first practical typographer, not the first printer. Upon the
foundation that other men had built in, he reared a permanent, useful
art without which there could not have been either enlightenment or
education."

CHAPTER VIII

THE ROMANCE OF BOOKMAKING

"Ever since last night, Dad," remarked Paul, the next evening at dinner,
"I have been wondering how the old printers got rid of the Latin text,
lettering, or whatever you call it, and got down to printing in English
like ours."

"You're starting on a long story," replied Mr. Cameron, glancing up from
his plate. "The development of our modern type