Note 335 — XXIV

There is no English equivalent for libripagus, which means a workman who is an engraver, a printer, and a stenciler. Like other writers of his day, Paul of Prague had to coin a word to define printers, who for many years after were called typographi, typothetæ, chalcographi, excusores and protocharagmatici. Most writers called printers impressores, or impressors, from the process of impressing types. This word, which was finally accepted in all European languages, has served to foster the error that the vital principle of printing is impression.