[INCUNABULA REFERENCE]. The Permanence of Johann Gutenberg

Austin, TX: [Harry Ransom] Humanities Research Center, 1974. First Edition, Second Impression, limited to 250 copies. Near Fine. 8vo. 29 pp. Title-page printed in black and orange. Original burnt-orange colored boards, original clear protective wrapper. NOT ex-library! A very useful and very readable account of the evidence -- and lack thereof -- supporting the argument that Johann Gutenberg was effectively the first "modern" printer in the West. Goff writes with authority, having been compiler of the indispensable "Third Census" of Incunabula in American Libraries. It is instructive to recall that by the end of the 15th century, "printing had been introduced into no less than 238 European communities and more than 1100 individual printers are known to have been operating these equally numerous presses during this 39-year interval" (p. 21). ¶ Designed by William R. Holman, this is one of 250 copies according to the colophon.