VOL. XXV.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 361 



bably take it from the ancient Romans; as from their medals, seals, and the 

 marks or names at the bottom of their sacrificing pots. But if it be certain 

 that cards are as old as onr king Henry VI. nothing that I have seen or consi- 

 dered of, seems to give so fair a hint for printing, as the making of cards ; as 

 is evident by the first specimen of printing at Haarlem, and by some books in 

 the Bodleian library at Oxford, one in Junius's collection, another in archbishop 

 Laud's, and a third in the same, being the lives of the Russian Saints in a thin 

 folio; the leaves are not pasted together as the former two are, but cut on 

 wooden blocks, and illuminated. There is also another rare specimen of the 

 first, in that valuable collection of archbishop Parker, in Bennet college library, 

 at Cambridge, bound up vi^ith a MS. book; which differs very much from those 

 at Oxford; it is the Life of Christ in figures, or rather the types of the old 

 and new 'I'estament They have not so many specimens of the first printing 

 at Haarlem, as we have in England. 



The cutting of the blocks or molds for making our playing cards, is after the 

 same manner as those for the books printed at Haarlem. They lay a sheet of 

 moist or wet paper on the form or block, being first lightly brushed over with 

 ink, made of lamp-black mixed with starch and water: they then rub it oflf 

 with a round list with their hand, which is done with great expedition ; this is 

 for the picture or court cards : they then paste them together threefold, the 

 coarsest in the middle. They colour them by the help of several patterns, or 

 stanesiles, as they call them; they are card paper cut through with a penknife^ 

 for every colour, as red, &c. for at the first printing, the card has only a mere 

 outline : these patterns are painted with oil colours, to keep them from wearing 

 out with the brushes ; they lay it upon the picture, and by sliding a brush, that 

 is full and loose, gently over the pattern, it fixes the colour into the cut holes, 

 and leaves it on the print that is to be a card; and so on through all the colours 

 you see on cards ; but this cannot be so well understood by a description, as by 

 seeing it performed. This I conceive to have been their first way of printing 

 at Haarlem. This hint might have been taken from MSS. QOO years old ; for 

 in them the great letters are done by the illuminators the same way as card 

 making. 



The next method of printing at Haarlem, was by cutting whole forms in 

 wood, from MSS. exactly written, and without pictures: such I take the Do- 

 natus to be, mentioned in histories; and this might bear date in 1450, some 

 say 1440. This may be as plainly demonstrated, as the former, from copy- 

 books which we have seen printed at Rome, Venice, Switzerland and England, 

 as high as 1500. This writing is harder to perform than either the Roman, 

 Italic, or any other letters used in printed books. 



