rjphe basis of knowledge is the printed word. Progress

rjphe basis of knowledge is the printed word. Progress of man began only after moveable type came into general use and the knowledge accumulated by manu scripts and handed down from generation to generation was made available to the average person through the vehicle of the printed word. The monks performed a valuable serv ice by | copying manuscripts and recording the happenings and discoveries of their time, but these recordings were not avail able generally. They were for the use of the privileged, for the scholars and for the intelligentsia. Even the Bible was not available to the people but was read and interpreted by the priests. In fact, so long as the knowledge of centuries was reserved for tlje few, the majority was kept in ig norance, and in a condition of intellectual slavery. The bonds of darkness were broken when moveable type was introduced by Gutenberg, a German, who probably cut the characters into metal and from these made the prints. Gutenberg printed about fifty books during his lifetime, mostly re ligious. He printed two Bibles, the 36 line Bible and the 42 line Bible, the latter known as the Mazarin Bible. Gutenberg, like most printers, was forced to raise capital and he mortgaged his plant to Fust. And, as sometimes hap pens, it was not long before Fust foreclosed and owned the plant. His son-in-law, Shoeffer, a workman with Gutenberg, be came the printer and Fust the salesman. Fust was finally placed in prison in France and died during the plague. William Claxton, ail Englishman, went to Germany when he was thirty years old, learned the art of printing and returned to Westminister, when 60 years old to .set up his printing plant. He is credited with printing the first books in English, "Reeu ycll of the Historyc of Troyc" and later “The Game and Play of Chesse." The first printing done in America was by Stephen Have at Cambridge, Mass., in about 163.8 and oddly enough his publica tions were the “Freeman's Oath," an almanac and a prayer book. It is significant that the first publica