A printer's devil was a young

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

in a

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type. Notable writers including

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book '' The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by ...

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

, and Mark Twain served as printer's devils in their youth.

Origins

The term "printer's devil" been ascribed to the apprentices' hands and skin getting stained black with ink when removing sheets of paper from the

tympan Tympan means skin, and is used in a variety of technical meanings. Astrolabes In an astrolabe, a tympan is a metal plate on which the coordinates of the celestial sphere (azimuth and altitude) are engraved in a stereographic projection. A tympan ...

. In 1683, English printer Joseph Moxon wrote that "devil" was a humorous term for boys who were covered in ink: "whence the Workmen do Jocosely call them Devils; and sometimes Spirits, and sometimes Flies." Once cast metal type was used, worn, or broken, it was thrown into a " hellbox", after which it was the printer's devil's job to either put it back in the job case, or take it to the furnace to be melted down and recast. Many explanations have been given for the religious or supernatural connotations of the term. From the Middle Ages onward, particularly in Catholic countries, technological inventions such as the printing press were often regarded with suspicion, and associated with Satan and the " Dark Arts". Some have suggested that the term was coined as an epithet by scribes who feared that the

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...

would make the hand-copying of manuscripts obsolete. Several theories of the term's origins are included below.

Titivillus

One popular theory is linked to the fanciful belief among printers that a special demon, Titivillus (also referred to as "the original printer's devil"), haunted every print shop, performing mischief such as inverting type, misspelling words, and removing entire lines of completed type. Titivillus was said to execute his pranks by influencing the young apprentices – or "printer's devils" – as they set up type, or by causing errors to occur during the actual casting of metal type. High-profile printing errors "blamed" on Titivillus included the omission of the word "not" in the 1631 Authorised Version of the Bible, which resulted in Exodus 20:14 appearing as "Thou shalt commit adultery." Often depicted as a creature with claw-like feet and horns on his head, the origins of the Titivillus legend date back to the Middle Ages, when he was said to collect "fragments of words" that were dropped or misspoken by the clergy or laiety in a sack to deliver to Satan daily, and later, to record poorly recited prayers and gossip overheard in church with a pen on parchment, for use on Judgement Day. Over the centuries, Titivillus was also blamed for causing monks to make mistakes while copying manuscripts by hand; meddling with block and plate printing; and eventually, playing pranks with

movable type Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuation m ...

Johann Fust

Regarding the origins of the term "devil" to refer to "the errand boy or youngest apprentice in a printing office", Pasko's ''American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking'' (1894) states: "It is said that it is derived from the belief that John Fust was In league with the devil, and the urchin covered with ink certainly made a very good representation of his Satanic majesty." Johann Fust (c.1400–1466), also known as Faust, loaned money to Johannes Gutenberg to perfect his printing process using movable type, and sued Gutenberg for repayment, with interest, in 1455. Fust, together with Gutenberg's son-in-law Peter Schoeffer, then set up their own printing business and published the '' Mainz Psalter'', a Bible which introduced colour printing, in 1457. Over the centuries, biographical accounts of Fust, the printer, have often become confused or intertwined with the legend of

Johann Georg Faust Johann Georg Faust (; c. 1480 or 1466 – c. 1541), also known in English as John Faustus , was a German itinerant alchemist, astrologer, and magician of the German Renaissance. ''Doctor Faust'' became the subject of folk legend in the ...

(c.1480–1540), the alchemist and

necromancer Necromancy () is the practice of magic or black magic involving communication with the dead by summoning their spirits as apparitions or visions, or by resurrection for the purpose of divination; imparting the means to foretell future events ...

who became the subject of numerous " Faust books" published in Germany starting in 1587, which in turn inspired Christopher Marlowe's work, ''Doctor Faustus'' (c.1591–1593). The legendary Faustus is said to have sold his soul to the demon

Mephistopheles Mephistopheles (, ), also known as Mephisto, is a demon featured in German folklore. He originally appeared in literature as the demon in the Faust legend, and he has since appeared in other works as a stock character (see: Mephistopheles i ...

, in exchange for a book or encyclopedia of magical spells. In 1570, even before publication of the first ''Faustbuch'', English church historian John Foxe credited "a Germaine...named Joan. Faustus, a goldesmith" for the invention of the printing press, in the second edition of '' Actes and Monuments,'' although he had previously attributed its invention to "Jhon Guttenbergh". Literary scholar Sarah Wall-Rendell argues that the association of the Doctor Faustus legend with books and printing technology reflected ongoing ambivalence among Reformation writers about the impact that books would have on an increasingly literate populace.

Aldus Manutius

Yet another possible origin is ascribed to Aldus Manutius, a well-known Venetian printer of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

and founder of the

Aldine Press The Aldine Press was the printing office started by Aldus Manutius in 1494 in Venice, from which were issued the celebrated Aldine editions of the classics (Latin and Greek masterpieces, plus a few more modern works). The first book that was da ...

, who was denounced by detractors for practicing the black arts (early printing was long associated with devilry). The assistant to Manutius was a young boy of African descent who was accused of being the embodiment of Satan and dubbed the ''printer's devil''.

William Caxton

English tradition links the origin of ''printer's devil'' to the assistant of the first English printer and book publisher,

William Caxton William Caxton ( – ) was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into England, in 1476, and as a printer to be the first English retailer of printed books. His parentage a ...

. Caxton's assistant was named "Deville", which evolved to "devil" over time, as that name was used to describe other printers' apprentices.

Malayalam root

While the term "printer's devil" in India may stem from the European legend of Titivillus, another theory is that it might stem from the Malayalam term for "printing error" (''achadi pisaku''), which is only one change of a Malayalam letter away from "printing devil" (''achadi pisachu'').

Famous devils

A number of notable men served as printer's devils in their youth, including

William Dean Howells William Dean Howells (; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ...

James Printer James Printer, also known as Wowaus, (1640–1709) was a Native American from the Nipmuc tribe who studied and worked as a printer in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was one of the most famous early Nipmuc writers. Printer was the first Native Ameri ...

, Raymond C. Hoiles, Samuel Fuller,

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

, Mark Twain,

Joel Chandler Harris Joel Chandler Harris (December 9, 1848 – July 3, 1908) was an American journalist, fiction writer, and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a planta ...

Warren Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...

Harry Burleigh Henry Thacker ("Harry") Burleigh (December 2, 1866 – September 12, 1949) was an American classical composer, arranger, and professional singer known for his baritone voice. The first black composer who was instrumental in developing cha ...

Lawrence Tibbett Lawrence Mervil Tibbett (November 16, 1896 – July 15, 1960) was an American opera singer and recording artist who also performed as a film actor and radio personality. A baritone, he sang leading roles with the Metropolitan Opera in New York ...

, John Kellogg, Lyndon Johnson, Hoodoo Brown,

James Hogg James Hogg (1770 – 21 November 1835) was a Scottish poet, novelist and essayist who wrote in both Scots and English. As a young man he worked as a shepherd and farmhand, and was largely self-educated through reading. He was a friend of many ...

, Geoff Lloyd, Harry Pace,

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), ...

Albert Parsons Albert Richard Parsons (June 20, 1848 – November 11, 1887) was a pioneering American socialist and later anarchist newspaper editor, orator, and labor activist. As a teenager, he served in the military force of the Confederate States of Americ ...

, Meade Huggins and Lázaro Cárdenas.

Usage

United States

In North America during the late 18th and early 19th centuries, young boys were indentured to printers by their parents, or in the case of orphans, by the municipal or church authorities. More than apprentices in other trades, printer's devils were boys who had expressed an interest in printing. By 1894, ''American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking'' noted that with the decline of the apprenticeship system in the United States, the term "printer's devil" was going out of use.

India

The printer's devil is also known in other languages such as Bengali, where it is called ''Chhapakhanar Bhoot''.

References

{{Reflist

Other sources

*Frank Granger (1997)
The Printer's Devil
Retrieved December 25, 2005. *Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. (year unlisted)
Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama
Retrieved December 25, 2005. *Pubs and Breweries of the Midlands: Past and Present (year unlisted

Retrieved December 25, 2005. Obsolete occupations Printing