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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Enemies of Books by William Blades: the famous law-suits between Gutenberg, one of the first Printers,
and his partners, upon the right understanding of which depends
the claim of Gutenberg to the invention of the Art. The flames raged
between high brick walls, roaring louder than a blast furnace.
Seldom, indeed, have Mars and Pluto had so dainty a sacrifice
offered at their shrines; for over all the din of battle,
and the reverberation of monster artillery, the burning
leaves of the first printed Bible and many another priceless
volume were wafted into the sky, the ashes floating for miles
on the heated air, and carrying to the astonished countryman
the first news of the devastation of his Capital.
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