Early Printed Books

Early Printed Books by E. Gordon Duff offers, in the preface's words, a short account of the introduction of printing into the principal countries and towns of Europe. The preface adds the aim to bring the information on the subject as far as possible up to date. The preface admits that small books on large subjects are for the most part both superficial and imperfect, and fears that the present book forms no exception.

The text says numerous writers have asserted that printing began at Leiria in Estremadura as early as 1466. The text names a Commentary on the Pentateuch by Moses ben Nachman, printed by two Jews, Rabbi Samuel Zorba and Rabbi Eliezer, and says that, whatever may be said about the probability of printing having been introduced at an early date into Portugal, the first authentic dated book appeared at Lisbon in 1489. The text calls another argument of Mr. Hessels, that since the Costeriana look older than the first Mainz books, therefore they are older, hardly worthy of so learned a writer.