History of manual and industrial education up to 1870

Front matter

HISTORY of MANUAL and INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION

UP to 1870

By

Chapter I. Labor and Learning Before the Renais¬ sance

1. Appreciation of the value of hand skill to the individual.

2. The savage learns handwork by unconscious imitation.

3. Barbaric peoples learn manual arts through conscious imi¬ tation. 4. Social value of handwork emphasized by the ancient Jews. 5. Labor a religious duty among the Jews.

6. Attitude of the Greeks toward mechanical arts. 7. Labor a fetish among early Christian monks. 8. Manual labor re¬ quired by the Benedictines. 9. The useful arts developed by the Benedictines. 10. Curriculum of the monastic schools.

11. Apprenticeship in the crafts. Source material: I, a — All these trust in their hands. I, b — Extracts from the rule of St. Benedict. I, c — Apprenticeship in the Middle Ages.

I, d — Apprenticeship as education. Source references.

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Chapter II. The Relationship Between Things

and Thoughts . 30

12. A new conception of the process of education. 13. Luther advocated a state-supported, comprehensive education for all children. 14. Rabelais would approach knowledge through the use of objects and the observation of processes. 15. Mulcaster makes drawing one of the fundamental studies. 16.

Bacon’s philosophy of realism. 17. Comenius advocates teaching according to the order of nature and the arts. 18. Progressive educational thinking in England. 19. The earli¬ est plan for a college of agriculture in England. 20. A “ literary wo rkshouse ” suggested by Petty. 21. The aims of the Royal Society of London. 22. Moxon’s treatise on mechanical processes. 23. John Locke includes the manual arts in his scheme of education. 24. Thomas Budd’s plan for public schools in America. Source material : II, a — The method of the arts by Comenius. II, b — Locke’s estimate of the manual arts. Source references.

Chapter III. Hand Training a Means of Mental Training . 72

25. Practical experiments grow out of theoretical discussions.

26. The Francke institute and its influence. 27. Rousseau and his new system of education. 28. Basedow and his

CONTENTS

PAGE

efforts to apply the principles of Rousseau. 29 Other early efforts to apply the principles of Rousseau. 30. Schools ot industry. 31. Industrial instruction in America. Source material: III, a — Rousseau’s estimate of the value of the manual arts in education. Ill, b A Rural Academy.

Source references.

Chapter IV. Handwork a Fundamental Means in Education . 106

32. Pestalozzi and his preparation for his life work. 33.

The Neuhof industrial school experiment. 34. Pestalozzi finds another opportunity to help poor children. 35. Pestalozzian methods. Source material: IV, A — The Pestalozzian method of teaching drawing as told by Johannes Buss. I\ , b — Pestalozzi’ s discussion of measuring in its relation to teach¬ ing drawing. Source references.

Chapter Y. The Fellenberg Institution at Hofwyl 128

36 Fellenberg’s theory of society. 37. Establishment of the educational institution at Hofwyl. 38. Fellenberg’s academy. 39. Fellenberg’s farm and trade school. 40. Fell¬ enberg’s school for girls. 41. Fellenberg’s school of applied science. 42. Fellenberg’s normal school. 43. Fellenberg’s school colony at Meykirch. Source material: V, a — Fellen¬ berg and his school. V, b— Fellenberg’s school. V, c— A for¬ mer student’s account of Hofwyl. Source references.

Chapter VI. The Followers of Pestalozzi and Fellenberg . 157

44. Popular interest in the work of Pestalozzi and Fellenberg.

45. Heusinger the forerunner of Froebel. 46. The prophetic vision of Niemeyer. 47. Herbart’s view of manual arts.

48. Froebel and his doctrine of self-activity. 49. Wehrli’s normal school at Kreuitzl ingen. 50. The Wehrli agricul¬ tural schools. 51. Oberlin and the first infant school. 52.

Robert Owen and his school at New Lanark. 53. The New Harmony educational experiment. 54. Bronson Alcott’s Temple School in Boston. 55. The Manual Labor Move¬ ment in America. Source material: VI, A — Wehrli’s normal school at Kreuitzlingen. VI, b — Origin and management of Oneida Institute of Science and Industry. VI, c — Labor and study at the Manual Labor Academy of Pennsylvania.

VI, d — A manual labor department of an academy. Source references.

Chapter VII. Industrial Schools for Poor or Delinquent Children . 210

56. Industrial schools for orphans in Germany. 57. Schools for orphans in Great Britain. 58. Industrial reform school.

59. The ragged schools of England and Scotland. 60. “Cer¬ tified industrial schools” in England. 61. Industrial work

CONTENTS in English elementary schools for the poor. 62. Drawing and industrial work in German elementary schools. 63. In¬ dustrial schools for orphans and poor children in America.

64. Industrial reform schools in America. Source material:

VII) A Establishment of pauper schools. VII, b — Needle¬ work as reported by government inspectors of schools in England. VII, c— On girls’ industrial training. VII, d—

The education of factory children in Germany. VII, e — - Education of the working classes in Europe. Source references.

Chapter VIII. The Development of School Sub¬ stitutes for Apprenticeship . 266

65. Apprenticeship and schooling. 66. The education of apprentices in Colonial America. 67. The factory system and its effect upon apprenticeship. 68. English half-time schools.

69. Seeking a substitute for apprenticeship in France. 79.

The “beginnings of the National Schools of Arts and Trades in France. 71. Findings and recommendations of the French Commission of 1865 concerning child labor in factories. 72.

Value of special instruction shops in apprentice training. 73.

Value of the school workshop in technical training. 74. Gen¬ eral educational value of shopwork recognized in France.

75. Drawing in French schools for industrial training. 76.

Child labor regulations in Germany. 77. Continuation schools of Germany. 78. Shopwork instruction in German schools. 79. Drawing instruction in Germany. Source ma¬ terial: VIII, A — British half-time schools as reported by government inspectors of schools in England. VIII, b — Advantages of the half-time schools. VIII. c — The technical school at Mulhouse. Source references.

Chapter IX. The Mechanics’ Institute Movement 301

80. The mechanics’ institute movement in Great Britain.

81. The workingmen’s colleges in England. 82. Mechanics’ institutes in America. 83. The Lyceum Movement. Source materia] : IX, A — Early days of the mechanics’ institutes in England. IX, b — Some results of the mechanics’ institutes in England. IX, c — Aims and results of the mechanics’ insti¬ tutes in England. IX, d — The spirit of Working Men’s College. IX, e — American Lyceum of Science and the Arts.

Source references.

Chapter X. Higher Technical Education in Rela¬ tion to Instruction in the Manual Arts . . 345

84. Higher technical schools of France. 85. Higher technical schools in other European countries. 86. Early American schools of applied science and engineering. 87. The Land- Grant Act of 1862. 88. The workshop in the School of Engineering. Source material : X, a — The Gardiner Lyceum.

X, b — A state university for the industrial classes. Source references.

CONTENTS

Chapter XI. The Development of Art Education in Relation to Industry

89. Early art schools in Italy. 90. The progressive policy of France in developing art instruction. 91. Early schools ' of art in Great Britain. 92. The establishment of the British j; system of industrial art training. 93. Art instruction in Germany and other European countries. 94. Early art development in Philadelphia. 95. The struggle for the recognition of art in New York City. 96. Art and art in¬ struction in Boston. 97. Art instruction in other American cities. 98. Early courses in drawing for general education.

99. Drawing in Boston public schools before 1870. 100.

Early efforts to establish drawing in public schools of Phila¬ delphia and Baltimore. 101. The beginnings of public school drawing in Ohio. Source material: XI, a Value of instruction in drawing. Source references.

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

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Title page, Moxon’s Mechanick Exercises .

Tools of Smithing, Moxon’s Mechanick Exercises. . . Initial page on Smithing, Moxon’s Mechanick Exercises Tools used in Joinery, Moxon’s Mechanick Exercises

"Preface to Moxon’s Mechanick Exercises

1. Sir William Petty’s Pamphlet on the Advancement of Learn¬ ing .

2. A Paragraph by Petty on the Art of Drawing .

3. Title Page and Frontispiece of Sprat’s History of the Royal

Society of London .

4. First page of the dedication and Initial page of first part of

Sprat’s history .

Jean Jacques Rousseau .

John Henry Pestalozzi .

Pestalozzi's Home at Neuhof .

Pestalozzi at Stanz .

Alphabet of Form . . .

Central Group of Buildings at Hofwyl .

Plan of Hofwyl .

School Colony at Meykirch .

Daily Program of Classes in Wehrli’s Normal School in 1839 New Harmony as it was during the Owen Occupation . . .

Plan of Red Hill Farm School .

Carpentering Class in a Ragged School .

Sewing Class in a Ragged School .

Number of Voluntary Teachers in the Schools of the Ragged School Union, 1845 to 1905 .

27. One of the first statements sent out by the London Mechanics’

Institute. 1823 .

28. Frederick Denison Maurice .

29. The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, 1825 .

30. Holbrook’s Original Plan .

31. Somerset Palace, The Strand, 1837 .

32. Catalogue of Exhibition of Boston Athenzeum, 1828 . . . .

33. Plate V. From Smith’s Juvenile Draining Book. 1822 . . .

34. Plate XI. From Smith’s Juvenile Drawing Book. 1822 . .

35. Plate XIII. From Smith’s Juvenile Drawing Book. 1822 .

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59 77

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Fig. 36. Plate XY. From Smith’s Juvenile Drawing Book. 1822 . . Fig. 37. Course in Geometric Drawing. From Fowle: The Hand and

Eye .

Fig. 38. Plate illustrating principles of perspective. From Fowle:

The Hand and Eye .

Fig. 39. Interior view of Bronson Alcott’s schoolroom in Boston . . Fig. 40. Plate in Bartholomew’s National System of Industrial Draw¬ ing, Book 6 .

Fig. 41. A Page, Teacher’s Hand Book Number 2, Bartholomew’s Na¬ tional System of Industrial Drawing .

Fig. 42. Study of the Elements of Landscape by Bartholomew . . .

Fig. 43. Outdoor Study by Bartholomew .

Fig. 44. Landscape by Bartholomew .

Fig. 45. Landscape by Bartholomew .

Fig. 46. Landscape by Bartholomew .

Fig. 47. Development of Solids. From Minifie’s Textbook of Geomet¬ rical Drawing .

Fig. 48. Isometric Figures. From Minifie’s Textbook of Geometrical Drawing .

418 420

REFERENCE NUMBERS

Throughout this volume the reference numbers refer to the Source Refer¬ ences at the ends of the chapters. The first number in the parenthesis is the number of the reference in the list. The last number is the page in the book referred to. In some cases more than one page is indicated; in others none is indicated. When the book consists of more than one volume, the volume number is indicated in Roman numerals and is placed immediately before the page number. In a few cases page numbers are in Roman numerals because they refer to introductions to books and these are often printed in Roman numerals. Source material numbers refer to the excerpts printed at the ends of the chapters. In these references the Roman numeral indicates the chapter in this volume. — Author.

CHAPTER I Labor and Learning Before the Renaissance

1. Appreciation of the Value of Hand Skill to the Individual.

Rousseau is said to have warned the young men of wealth in France by saying: “A revolution is approaching, and the man who has a good trade will be well taken care of.” In making this statement he recognized that skill of hand is an asset to any man, and especially when fame and fortune have been swept away. A trade involving skill of hand is a safeguard against personal want and poverty. Many of the manual trades are very close to the primary necessities of life. This idea has long prevailed among the royal families of Europe. Even after gen¬ erations of luxury, it has persisted, and for this reason princes have been taught handicrafts. But the idea itself, more or less developed, dates back beyond recorded history. A realization of the fact that skill of hand is an advantage to its possessor goes back to the time when primitive man taught his son all the crafts he knew, and when the exceptionally skilled worker was regarded as possessing super-human power.

2. The Savage Learns Handwork by Unconscious Imitation. The savage is driven by hunger to seek food, and by the cold or the heat to devise clothing and a shelter for himself and his family. Skill of hand in these primal activities is his great source of power over his environment. Skill of hand in the making and using of weapons becomes more valuable than mere physical force in protecting the family and in procuring food. “The savage,” says Davidson, “divides his activities between work and worship. Through both he seeks the satisfaction of his desire.” (1 — 20) “Savage education, then, consists in learning how to obtain the necessities of life for self and family, and how to propitiate the unseen powers supposed to be active in nature. In his efforts after the former the savage learns the use of tools and means and is thus clearly distinguished from the lower

li animals. He also learns to manufacture tools and means from wood, stone, clay, bone, wool, fibre and hides.” (1 — 21)

But this education of the savage is not of the school ; it is at first merely unconscious imitation through the social life of the family or tribe or group. (2 — 6) As the father is the head of the family he becomes the leader in work as well as worship. “The father, then, becomes the one who trains the younger genera¬ tion in the formal conduct of life, — in the proper way of doing things.” (2 — 8)

3. Barbaric Peoples Learn Manual Arts Through Conscious Imitation. When man gained the power to control fire he passed into another stage of civilization — from savagery to barbarism. (1 — 26) Then he was able to cook his food, to smelt metals and shape them into tools, and with these tools to engage in crafts unknown and impossible before, and to further develop many others. With this new development came also a more definite division of labor; some men became miners, others smiths, still others carpenters, masons, weavers, and so on. With this divi¬ sion of labor came also new social groups; common experiences in work drew men together; groups and gilds were formed of those pursuing the same craft ; and sometimes a whole commu¬ nity became famous for skill in a single craft.

But even under these circumstances one must not think of education in the crafts in terms of present methods of learning. The process of imitation became conscious; but never as a com¬ mon practice did primitive life reveal a rationalized process of instruction. (2 — 11) Even in the higher civilization of ancient Egypt where the closely co-operating arts of sculpture and painting were highly developed, there seems to have been no theory or system in the teaching of these arts.

Theirs was a teaching of routine, and not of theory. Models executed by the master were copied over and over again by his pupils, till they could reproduce them with absolute exactness. . . . They made their first

attempts upon slabs of limestone, on drawing boards covered with a coat of red or white stucco, or on the backs of old manuscripts of no value. New papyrus was too dear to be spoiled by the scrawls of tyros. Having neither pencil or stylus, they made use of the reed, the end of which, when steeped in water, opened out into small fibres, and made a more or less fine brush according to the size of the stem. The palette was of thin wood, in shape a rectangular oblong, witn a groove in which to lay the brush at the lower end.

At the upper end were two or more cup-like hollows, each fitted with a cake of ink; black and red being the colours most in use. A tiny pestle and mortar for colour-grinding, and a cup of water in which to dip and wash the brush, completed the apparatus of the student. Palette in hand, he squatted crosslegged before his copy, and, without any kind of support for his wrist, endeavoured to reproduce the outline in black. The master looked over his work when done, and corrected the errors in red ink. (3 — 165)

4. Social Value of Handwork Emphasized by the Ancient Jews. The fundamental motive in ancient Jewish education was religious; it was to make every child a firm believer in Jehovah. Next to instruction in the Law, however, was instruc¬ tion in some trade or other vocation. The custom was for the boy to go to the school in the morning where he was taught by the Rabbis, and to remain at home in the afternoon learning the trade of his father. Thus is presented the prototype of the modern half-time school.

The special significance of this custom is not in the fact that each boy was required to learn a trade in order to earn his daily bread according to the Law, but the motive behind this custom. This motive is made clear in the Talmud, the book of tradition¬ ary law of the Jews. Here are found such statements as these: “As it is your duty to teach your son the law, teach him a trade.” “Disobedience to this ordinance exposes one to just contempt, for thereby the social conditions of all are endan¬ gered.” “He who does not have his son taught a trade prepares him to be a robber.” “ He who applies himself to study alone is like him who has no God.” (4 — 212)

These statements make it clear that the ancient Jews recog¬ nized that to fail to give a boy an honest means of livelihood, which usually meant giving him instruction in some manual trade, was to prepare him to be a social parasite, dangerous to the community. On the other hand, to make him skilful in a manual trade was to insure his becoming a useful member of society.

The Jewish law placed the duty of teaching the trade upon the parent, and it is significant that the earliest records of apprenticeship show this same relationship between master and apprentice. In the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi (about 2250 b.c.) is the following:

If an artisan take a son for adoption and teach him his handicraft, one may not bring claim against him.

If he do not teach him his handicraft, that adopted son may return to his father’s house. (5 — 71)

The fact that down to the beginning of the factory system in the nineteenth century the apprentice left his father’s home and went to live with his master, or his maintenance was paid for by the master, is proof of the persistence of this idea of paternal relationship between master and apprentice.

5. Labor a Religious Duty Among the Jews. Other quota¬ tions from the Talmud would seem to go even further, and indicate that the ancient Jews regarded labor as having some religious significance. It was certainly regarded as man’s duty. “Nearly all the great teachers of Talmudic times were work¬ men. Hillel earned money enough to attend the academy by wood-cutting. Rabbi Joshua was a blacksmith, others were tanners, carpenters, millers.” (4 — 220) “Rabbis who gave a third of the day to study, a third to prayer, and a third to labor are mentioned with special honor. Stories were fondly told of famous teachers carrying their work-stools to their schools, and how Rabbi Phinehas was working as a mason when chosen as high priest. Of the rabbis in honor in Christ’s day or later, some were millers, others carpenters, cobblers, tailors, bakers, sur¬ geons, builders, surveyors, money-changers, scribes, carriers, smiths, and even sextons. In a nation where no teacher could receive payment for his instruction, the honest industry wdiich gained self-support brought no false shame.” (6 — 168) The people were encouraged in their labor by such words as these in the Talmud: “Great is the dignity of labor; it honors man.” “The laborer is allowed to shorten his prayers.” “It is well to add a trade to your studies; you will then be free from sin.” ‘ 1 Beautiful is the intellectual occupation if combined with some practical work.” “He who derives his livelihood from the labor of his hands is as great as he who fears God.” “He who lives on the toil of his hands is greater than he who indulges in idle piety.” (7 — 86)

Evidence seems to be lacking that the Jews appreciated as do modern educators the intimate relationship between training in manual skill and intellectual development, but they did in a more or less general way recognize that a boy who worked with his hands was better than a boy who did not, and that study in school and labor at a manual occupation go well together, and are effective in producing useful members of society. (Source Material I, a)

6. Attitude of the Greeks Toward Mechanical Arts. During the Homeric age in Greece handicraftsmen occupied a place of respect, but in later times, while agriculture and cattle raising might be regarded as an occupation fit for a free citizen, since the more menial part of the work was performed by slaves or by hired labor, the work of handicraftsmen was designated as “banausic ’’(merely mechanical), “a word indicating a contempt that cannot be expressed in the translation. This word expressed the full scorn felt by the free citizen living on his own fortune, and devoting all his intellectual and physical powers to the State — of a gentleman, in fact, — for the man with the horny hand, who toiled in his workshop to earn his daily bread.” This reproach of “banausic” was “never aimed at the rich owner of a number of slaves, who worked for his benefit; a factory owner need not take part in the work himself, but had his overseers to attend to that ; it was the little man who had no other hands to work for him, and who wielded the hammer himself, or who worked the cloth in the fuller’s shop, whom they looked down on.” (8 — 498) Even artists who worked for pay and whose work depended on handicraft “were put in the same class with shoemakers, bakers and smiths.”

Socrates (470-399 b.c.) is credited with giving the following reason for this attitude of contempt toward the mechanical arts : —

The so-called banausic arts have a bad name, and quite reasonably they are in ill repute in the city-states. For they ruin the bodies of those who work at them and those who oversee them. They compel these men to remain seated and to work in gloomy places, and even to spend entire days before a fire. While their bodies are being enervated, their souls, too, are becoming much enfeebled. More especially, also, the banausic arts offer men no leisure to devote to their friends or to the state, so that such men become base in relation to their friends and poor defenders of their fatherland. And so in some of the cities, especially in those which are considered to be strong in war, no citizen is permitted to work at any banausic craft. (9 — XXII, 601)

With this attitude toward handwork on the part of the citizens, the manual arts found almost no place in the training of the Greek youth of the upper classes. However, about 300 b.c., when some new subjects of instruction were being added to the schools, boys were taught drawing. They learned “to draw with a style, or brush, on boxwood tablets specially pre¬ pared for the purpose.” It is supposed that this instruction was chiefly confined to drawing in outline. (8 — 114) (cf. 3)

However, the attitude of the upper classes did not prevent the continuance among the lower classes of the apprenticeship method of instruction which had come down from much earlier times. These same banausic arts, looked down upon by the rich and favored, were fundamental to the material develop¬ ment that characterized the civilization of Greece and later of Rome. There had to be some means of handing down and per¬ fecting these arts; and the method employed, of apprenticeship, was essentially the same as was used at that time in training orators, lawyers, physicians, and cooks. (10 — XX, 196, 198) The importance of apprenticeship training was at times recog¬ nized by statesmen and rulers. “Plutarch tells us that Solon, (638-559 b.c.) observing that the city was filled with persons who flocked from all parts into Attica for security of living, and that most of the country was barren and unfruitful, and that traders at sea imported nothing in exchange, turned his citizens to trade, and made a law that no son should be obliged to relieve a father who had not bred him up to any calling.” (10 — XX, 193)

A little later labor became more highly specialized and a prototype of the modern factory system was developed. Xeno¬ phon (430-357 b.c.) in referring to the manufacture of shoes says:

“In great cities, because there are numbers that want each particular thmg, one art alone suffices for the maintenance of each individual; and frequently, indeed, not an entire art, but one man makes shoes for men, and another for women; sometimes it happens that one gets a maintenance merely by stitching shoes, another by cutting them out, another by cutting out upper leathers only, and another ... by simply putting together the pieces.” This system of production is said to have resulted in a large increase in the number of slaves. (10 — XX, 193)

7. Labor a Fetish Among Early Christian Monks. With the teachings of the rabbis in the background and the example of Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth, and his disciples in the fore¬ ground, it is not strange that the early Christian monks, in their great enthusiasm, made a fetish of manual labor. In Egypt, where the number of these hermits was very great — where there was “a kind of emigration of towns to the desert, of civilization to simplicity, of noise to silence, of corruption to innocence”- — labor was required of everyone. (11 — I, 182)

The days were divided between prayer and work. The work was divided between field labor and the exercise of various trades, especially the manu¬ facture of those mats which are still so universally used in southern countries. There were among the monks entire families of weavers, of carpenters, of curriers, of tailors, and of fullers; among all, the labor was doubled by the rigor of an almost continual fast. All the rules of the patriarchs of the desert made labor obligatory, and the example of these holy lives gave authority to the rule. No exception to the contrary can be quoted, or has been discovered. The superiors were first in hardship. When the elder Macarius (before a.d. 335) came to visit the great Anthony (251-356), they immediately set to work at their mats together, conferring thus upon things important to souls; and Anthony was so edified by the zeal of his guest that he kissed his hands, saying, “What virtues proceed from these hands!”

Each monastery was then a great school of labor and at the same time a great school of charity. (11 — I, 184)

The Rule of St. Basil (329-379), one of the fathers of the Greek church, insisted above all “upon the perpetual duty of labor. He would not allow even fasting to be an obstacle to work: 'If fasting hinders you from labor/ says he, ‘it is better to eat like the workmen of Christ that you are.’ This was the pivot of monastic life according to this patriarch.” (11 — I, 204)

8. Manual Labor Required by the Benedictines. Following the example of the monks of the East, St. Benedict (480-543), who founded the order of the Benedictines at Monte Cassino in Italy about 529, made manual labor one of the cardinal prin¬ ciples of his Rule. (Source Material I, b) “In order to banish indolence, which he called the enemy of the soul, he regulated minutely the employment of every hour of the day according to the seasons, and ordained that, after having celebrated the praises of God seven times a day, seven hours a day should be given to manual labor and two hours to reading.” (11 — I, 331)

This program varied slightly according to the seasons and to meet the needs of individuals and the necessities of the com¬ munity life of the monastery. In following such a program they were encouraged by the thought that if they lived by the labor of their hands they were following the example of Christ and the apostles.

Quite apart from any religious or educational motive there was of course the economic motive. There was the necessity of providing food and clothing and shelter at low cost, and the desirability of being as independent as possible of the cities and towns for supplies. A monastery, “like a citadel always besieged,” had within its enclosure “gardens, a mill, a bakery and various workshops in order that no necessity of material life should occasion the monks to leave its walls.” (11 — I, 336) Through intelligently directed industry the Benedictines not only in principle maintained “the nobility and sanctity of work, but they put their principle into practice, and set the example of enterprise and thrift in their agricultural labors. They drained the marshes, rendered fertile the sterile plains, built roads and bridges, introduced new methods of farming and exerted in the social economic order an influence as great as that which they exerted in the spiritual order.” (12 — I, 360)

9. The Useful Arts Developed by the Benedictines. While the Rule of Benedict insisted upon manual labor, it also required reading as a daily occupation of the monks. As the printing of books from type was not invented until about 1450, and block books first appeared during the same century, all the reading up to that time had to be done from manuscripts. The increase in the number of monks, therefore, called for a multiplication of manuscripts. This demand was met by the monasteries, and the copying of manuscripts became a favored occupation with the monks. To produce a fine manuscript book was looked upon as a special service to Christianity, and so into that work went religious devotion which found expression in making the books more and more beautiful. Thus grew up the art of book-making, and thus were produced those examples of the penman’s art which are so much prized today. Scribe work has “accepted in place of an equal number of hours given to manual labor out-of-doors, while skilled scribes, whose work was of special impor¬ tance as instructors in the scriptorium, were to be freed from a certain portion of their devotional exercises and observances.”