Gutenberg's Information Revolution

Recently I bought a facsimile of the Gutenberg Bible at a used book store. The price was reasonable and the facsimile was nicely done. It’s in two volumes, same as the original, and somewhat reduced in size so as to keep the cost down by putting it in the range of standard binding machines. Prompted by the serendipitous purchase I’m reading a book on Gutenberg and his development of movable type. It’s important to note that he didn’t invent it. It was invented in China a couple of centuries before but never went anywhere because of the nature of the Chinese language, which has thousands of characters. Gutenberg succeeded because he had an alphabet instead.

The pieces of the puzzle already existed in Gutenberg’s time, such as the idea of a punch to make the impression of a letter, the idea of printing in general (woodblock printing was already common) and so forth. Gutenberg was able to take these elements and put them together, developing the idea of making identical copies of a text. The Bible wasn’t the first thing he printed. He published a Latin grammar text that hasn’t survived, and an indulgence, a document that people paid for to get time off from purgatory. Church fundraising hasn’t been the same since Martin Luther made the indulgence unfashionable.

As for the facsimile, it is well done. It is by Taschen, the German publisher which has mastered the art of fine facsimiles. I have also bought their facsimile of the first edition of Martin Luther’s complete German bible and it is also magnificent.

Anyone who has been awake for the last couple of decades knows that we are in the midst of tremendous societal change. We don’t know where it is going, yet. Computer technology has totally revolutionized society. The Internet has transformed the dissemination of information.

Gutenberg started the previous information revolution. By developing movable type he made the quick transmission of information possible. One good example is Martin Luther. Although the printing press was not the only factor in Luther’s meteoric rise to prominence it was a major factor. Luther unwittingly tapped into anti-Rome sentiment in the Holy Roman Empire, fueled by a rising German nationalism.

Luther’s writing spread quickly once they reached the press. Historians do not agree that Luther actually posted the 95 theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, although if he did post them in public, that’s where it would have been. Church doors functioned as the dormitory bulletin board in medieval Europe. Nevertheless the text of the 95 theses made its way into print shops around Germany pretty quickly. The original document doesn’t exist, most likely because someone snagged it off the church door to take to the nearest printer.

Within a few years Luther’s pamphlets fueled the rebellion against the Roman Catholic Church. It didn’t start at once, and he certainly did not have that in mind when he wrote it. However, the fact that he sent the 95 theses to the Archbishop of Mainz does indicate that he intended to make a splash. A splash is what he made.

Getting back to Gutenberg, I find it ironic that I was able to purchase an affordable facsimile of this magnificent book. It is copied from a perfect vellum copy. Out of the 180 volumes Gutenberg produced, about 40 were printed on vellum/parchment, the rest were printed on paper. The vellum copies were quite expensive, and probably made their way to royal libraries and wealthy monasteries and cathedrals. The paper copies made their way around as well, and were more affordable.

I have seen three perfectly complete Gutenberg bibles--at the Widner Library at Harvard University, the Library of Congress, and at Yale University. There aren't very many around, and only about 20 are complete. The rest are one volume or another, or an incomplete volume. About a century ago a book dealer divided up a very incomplete copy and sold individual pages. You can still get a page for somewhere around $75,000-150,000. Not bad, I guess, considering the historical value and rarity. I think I'll settle for my facsimile, though.

The ironic thing about a facsimile is that with computer technology in its present state a copy can be made of any image and nobody has to set type. The object is scanned, and printed off. The photograph can be of anything, text or otherwise. And, if the images are posted on the internet anyone can look at them without holding the physical book in their hands, which in the case of this particular book  is very unlikely to happen. This is the sort of book that sits behind glass and is handled by qualified people wearing gloves.

We still profit from Gutenberg's technology. Books are now printed with computer technology, although there are small presses that will publish books printed with handset type. But we use the great grandchild of movable type daily. It's the computer keyboard. Hit a key, and the letter or symbol on the key appears on the screen. Print it out and it's on paper. One to one correspondence. Key, screen, paper.

The funny thing about Gutenberg's bible is that he made it look like a manuscript bible. That's a pretty basic human thing. If you want to sell something really new, make it look like something familiar.

The standardization of a technology can come on quickly. Take the standard letter size of paper, 8.5 " x 11". Nobody knows the origin of this paper size, but it became the standard size for paper used in typewriters in the early 1900's. I discovered this when I was in seminary, where I worked in the archives. In cataloging theses from students around 1900, I found that in the later 1890's, one or two would be typed and the rest handwritten. Then one year, most of them were typed, and the following year they were all typed. The size of the paper varied, however. With the quick spread of the typewriter the standard size of paper settled into today's standard size. So, we program our computers to produce documents that are the standard size because that's what was used with typewriters. And, we have fonts that look like something printed rather than something generated by a computer, also to look like a thing from the past.

I am sure that Gutenberg would approve of the digital revolution. He's largely responsible for it.

The Singing Man on the Cello

Recently I decided to do something wacky. I thought I’d like to try playing a fractional cello. There are different sizes, and they are made for children of varying ages, although a smaller adult could certainly use one of the larger fractional cellos. Anyone who has a child learning to play a string instrument with the Suzuki method will be familiar with these small instruments. Generally the sizes are 1/10, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 7/8, and 4/4 (full size). The fractional sizes can be deceptive to the uninformed. A 1/2 cello is not one half the size of a full sized cello. A full sized cello is around 48”. For each quarter size it drops about 2-3 inches. So, a 1/4 cello is about 38” long, significantly smaller than a 4/4 cello. I have one of those too, a Chinese 5 string cello that I like very much, and of course my grandfather's cello, which is in storage right now because it needs some serious work. I trolled Craig’s list looking for either a 1/8 or 1/4 cello, as well as eBay and Facebook Marketplace. After a few days I found a nice 1/4 cello for a very reasonable price. I brought it home, and really liked the sound. Turns out it is made by Eastman, which makes good student instruments. Then I had a thought--there were lots of 5 string cellos, called a “violoncello piccolo,” and there's an up and coming thing called a “violencello da spalla,” which is about the size of a 1/10 to 1/8 cello and is played in the position of a viola or violin, except it rests against your chest and shoulder, held in place by a shoulder strap. Here's a link to a Wikipedia article on the violoncello piccolo that also has a picture of a violoncello da spalla. https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violoncello_piccolo Such instruments were often found in the Baroque period, and one builder started making them a few years ago. They have a more nasal sound, more like a viola, which is fine for me because I love the sound of a viola. The sound doesn't have the full ring that a full size cello has. It's a more intimate sound, especially when played with a Baroque bow, which has less hair than a modern bow.

Originally I thought I would add a high E string to my small cello but eventually decided against it, thinking I could end up destabilizing the whole thing by doing too much to the neck. So, I decided instead I’d make it into a 4 string baroque cello. There were some smaller cellos used to make a more intimate sound.

I took off the ebony fingerboard, which unfortunately came off in pieces, and made a new Baroque fingerboard from a heavily figured curly maple. The difference between a modern cello (a “Rhomberg” fingerboard) and a Baroque one is that the Rhomberg fingerboard slopes downward more on the high side, whereas a Baroque fingerboard has a uniform arch. The same is true for the bridge, the profile of which has to mimic the end of the fingerboard so that the strings will be suspended properly over the fingerboard.

I also made a new tailpiece to match the new fingerboard. Then, for both pieces I woodburned a geometric design common for the baroque period.

Next, I decided to replace the standard scroll with a carved grotesque head, a very common feature on Renaissance and Baroque string instruments. I decided  to carve a small copy of a wood carving that my father brought home from France after World War II. It is a carving of a man wearing a hat and a mustache, and his mouth is wide open as if he is singing.



The last little detail was a rosette. I had to have a rosette, another common feature on viols and other string instruments during the Renaissance and Baroque eras. I bought a 1.5" maple rosette from a vendor on Amazon, and it is very nice. It's laser cut so the detail is exquisite. I will buy another one from them if the occasion arises. This involved using a 1.5 " hole saw to cut the hole. I measured carefully and it came out well.

While I was at it, I thought since the other details were in maple, I would turn new tuning pegs from maple. They came out well. I replaced the end pin with a maple button that I turned, since Baroque cellos do not have an end pin. The end pin comes out of the bottom of the instrument and is essential for modern playing because it holds the cello in a stable position. For Baroque playing the cello is held between the knees and calves.

Carving the head was the better part of a day, and using a power cutter made the process shorter. I then put a bit of scroll detail on the pegbox with the head, stained the carving, and finished it. It’s all strung and sounds really nice

I then altered the bridge so it would have a curved arch like the end of the fingerboard.


The cello is now restrung and sounds great! I have been experimenting with bows. After some time I have found that a full size cello bow is too much. It seems the best way to get a nice intimate Baroque sound is to use, (drumroll) a Baroque bow. I happen to have one.

 How will I use this? For fun. Maybe I'll get a chance to play with someone else in a Baroque piece.