288 TOUR THROUGH HOLLAND. [1804. 



for the soft and full. The swell was sublime beyond 

 description. It should be heard from a distance. 

 There were many notes of the vox humana execrable. 

 In the Place, near the cathedral, is a good statue of 

 Laurence Coster, erected in 1722 in the Physicians' 

 Garden, and in 1801 removed from thence. It has 

 this inscription 



" Viro consular! Laurentio Costero ITaarlcmensi 

 Artis imprimendi vero inventor!." 



He holds a letter-block in his hand, and leans on the 

 branch of a tree with the other. 



On one side of the base, the above ; on another, a 

 printing-press, in form nearly resembling a modern 

 one ; on the third, a figure of Coster, cutting a letter 

 out of a tree ; and on the remaining side, a tolerably 

 good Latin inscription, to the effect that he is crowned 

 with laurel, not as a warrior for deeds of arms, but as 

 the benefactor and civiliser of the human race by his 

 immortal invention. 



The representation of Coster cutting a letter on 

 a tree refers to the tradition, commonly believed in 

 Holland, that he amused himself by forming letters 

 upon the bark of trees in a wood near Haarlem ; that 

 he followed this up by cutting single letters on sepa- 

 rate blocks of wood, which he united in lines, and 

 from them took impressions upon paper. 



Although this story may not be perfectly credible, 

 there can be no doubt that Coster was the first who 

 cut letters on wood, and that he must be allowed to 



