A spokesman was needed, and Luther
stepped forward. The inventor of printing made the way possible;
Erasmus showed the way; Luther took it.
Now the honour of inventing printing lies between two claimants,
Laurens Janszoon Coster, of Haarlem (the original of this statue) and
Gutenburg of Mayence. The Dutch like to think that Coster was the man,
and that his secret was sold to Gutenburg by his servant Faust. Be that
as it may--and the weight of evidence is in favour of Gutenburg--it
is interesting as one stands by the statue of Coster under the shadow
of Haarlem's great church to think that this was perhaps the true
parent of that great upheaval, the true pavior of the way.
Whatever Coster's claim to priority may be, he certainly was a printer,
and it is only fitting that Haarlem should possess so fine a library
of early books and MSS. as it does.
Another monument to Coster is to be seen in the Hout, a wood of which
Haarlem is very proud. It has a fine avenue called the Spanjaards
Laan, and is a very pleasant shady place in summer, hardly inferior
to the Bosch at The Hague. "The delightful walks of the Hout," says
the author of _Through Noord-Holland_, "and the caressing song of the
nightingale and other birds, do not only invite the Haarlemmers to it,
but the citizens of the neighbouring towns as well.
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