Note 2 — RISE AND PROGRESS OF PRINTING.

The first copies of the Bible are not dated, and do not contain the printer’s name. Only a few impressions have been preserved to the present time; indeed, they were entirely lost to the world until the latter half of the last century, when a copy was discovered in the library of Cardinal Mazarin in Paris; hence, the few existing copies are generally spoken of as Mazarin Bibles. Some of these were printed on vellum, but the earliest copies were on paper. There are only six copies now extant; two of which are in the United States, one belonging to the collection of the late Mr. George Brinley of Connecticut, and the other owned by the late Mr. James Lenox of New York. These two copies are on paper. The Brinley copy is said to have a leaf or two in fac-simile, while the Lenox copy is perfect in every respect. This copy, together with his unequalled collection of rare Bibles, now enriches the magnificent Lenox Library, founded in New York, in 1870, by this excellent and wisely beneficent man. The four remaining copies are in Europe, two of which were sold in London at auction; one on vellum selling for $20,000, and the other, on paper, bringing $14,000.