VM1H1
IN
among many natiolhPof antiquity, that the invention o f
printing, as here described, land coming so near to mere
engfaving'r^aslikely soon, to follow whenever thie num.-
ber cdr;rdafcs.istomild be so great as to insuxfe.reward ito
the inventor.-'iCEhe; state o f society in China, from! the *
most early ages, rendered that number prodigious. Um
like'to the rest o f the world, where; valourand military
talents, occasionally! unitgd with natural eloquencepv^<l
«•iginally the. found&lion of! all wealth and greatness,
while literatUEej;wasr little .more than an amusement;
the study-of the written moral s*ihi<story, arid poMc^sof
China, was the only road, not mereljsto power and honour,
but to every individual employment in the, s£at.e:
30He necessity^ therefore, Jfor snch a multiplicity ofLco-
pies for all persons in the: middling,,a«.well as upper
classes o f life in the
theiearly and natural p a rentof the printing art,> ascitis
still practised among them.
The paper used b y the Chinese, for their publicatipns,
is too thin and weak to receive distinct impressions oh both
sides. T h e engraved board on which; the paper is laid to
take the impression on one side, generally contains the
characters fpr two,pages. T h e paper when printed off, is
doubled together, the blank sides touching;each other:
The; fold .forms the outer edge, which thus is double*
while all thei single edges, contrary ,to the. mode ,bf Eu-.
ropean bookbinders, are stitched together .and bound into
-a.Volume?, the*.edijljiomds fo rk e d I off, th ep la te s:o r jgagh.
' bo_ardsi,a^e»egll^fc©^6-f3g ^ ier^!fhhd .dvd-ss generally mentioned
«- in^h^^rCfep® w h ii^ h e y fa rp ; deposited, ;inrdase
a a^@nchedit'io/0l.^M>ald bej.odiWifor.n; ''
11 hjas- sqni©.tjmes.fheen$ 'thdhgjl t in Enrap|, ‘that* movjeu
ahfetffph§-iwere a-^i eljgiiahl^ dto^emtionyfcd^ thawoft tMe
Qh^nese; but they^Sflddm ssaitffcbe* applietbifev'fej^enm-
pptes.sioh!of wri tings'- in>adahgj||:gh'e©®,sis theirs^
a|a»4?a^ttva#iet)^i©ff<ehai^Se(s,dfi^^^!daiatiacter^h^0MiS'h
deVedas aden'erin an al pjhab^teTh,e hemps® istor in a ,prints
ing-(>ffi.eg easilyiid'istributesrthfe fib uriafid ftwe n tyfMtfiiuss-'O f
an .alphabetd^language! He at’,oncsespeseeiVes?vlheTe/eac’h
i s . f o u n d . * Hejdistdnguishe«#hei^r^t{^a|gla>nee: His
handsf #ve n-■ aqquire^the^abit ©£«ip.a$hing rapidly,'with*
out looking,, fo y th e fe^ s ith e fingers«l.earhitp^toBeh^the
k«m©! a-,harpsijsfig>.r d without turwdn^k^e
|l|em. Wqge^rfef^manySj^opsands^df, Such keys,rut
ig that;;n^such habitbCpuld be! acquired5,! ®ibr
could the key^^djqfwithin peach. /The;, praotie,©M$5efe ,
^|uallyf.im'P0 ssg.b^' in ^printingr jwithie.eigh'fcy thousand
moypakde5 - by pes,( -for e that numb» *jofwdi!ffeR^r|:,*chapac-
tlrs o f .which th®;:Cfiinese'£6ngueje,ons5;StS!.*. ItiBas not;
indeed,, occurred »tog the ..artists of China tonfokm move!
able and ^Separate types,' for^each ofdhemninute, strokes,
or' elements^ohawhich suchroharafctferspare* composed«
as, has.iheen. attempted some ;years; since- inpGermany;
It js possible that, stjch a practice, mights be found to
;^voz..‘nr B R '