s
derived from his mirror-making trade. We know, however, little of his
experiments. He worked in secret, spending years in research and wasting
other years in delays, when money to further his invention was not
forthcoming. His first printing was done about 1439 or 1440, and from
that time up to 1460 he was busy printing and struggling to make his
work more perfect."

"What did he print in those early days?" inquired Paul. "Books?"

"Yes. A few pages from them remain and are to be seen at the National
Library at Paris. The letters used are very coarse and uneven and are in
the Latin type employed by the monks in writing their manuscripts. It is
almost a romance to picture Gutenburg shut up in the old ruined
monastery where he worked night and day with one of his faithful
helpers--a goldsmith who had long been in his employ--and two other
tried and trusty apprentices. You can see how necessary it was that he
have men whom he could rely on not to divulge his secret. Probably the
goldsmith's knowledge of metals was of service to his master in the
undertaking; as for the joiner who had previously aided in constructing
mirror frames, he made most of the tools. We don't know much about the
third workman, but we do know that later one of the trio died very
suddenly, and the interruption to Gutenburg's work caused great delay.
Fearful that in the meantime the secret of the invention might leak out,
or that the old servant's heirs might insist on having a share in the
discovery, Gutenburg melted up his forms and abandoned further labor for
a time. This was a great pity, for by destroying what he had done the
inventor had it all to create over again later on. His rash act did,
however, prove one thing which history wanted to know, and that was that
Gutenburg used metal forms and not wood to make his letters."

"How soon did he re-make his metal forms?" asked Paul eagerly.

"Not right away," responded Mr. Cameron. "He was deeply in debt and a
good deal discouraged by the death of his efficient workman on whom he
was very dependent. For six years we hear no more of him. Then he
appeared at Metz where he began borrowing money again, just as he had
done before. He was fortunate in securing the aid needed, and it is from
this period on that his best printing was done. He now branched out into
more ambitious tasks, producing a copy of the Latin Bible in three
volumes. This pretentious undertaking of course required a great many
le