The "Printers Devil."

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Issue 34, 14 January 1899, Page 1

The "Printers Devil."

Among the technical terror used in the printing office is the phrase. " Printer's Devil," refei'ring to the boy who make» himself generally useful about the office. Like many another singular expression, this term had its origin nj that age iv which superstition wae rife among the people, and its genesis is explained in the following quaint manner : Aldus Manutius, the Italian printer and scholar, who flourished in the fifteenth century, had in his employment a small negro boy, a curiosity in those da;>s in EJurope, who became known as the v ' Little Black Devil." Printing vras then a great deal of a mystery to the general public. A, superstition had spread that Aldus was invoking the aid of the Black Art, and that the negro boy was the embodiment of Satan. To eorroct this opinion, which gave him much annoyance, Aldus publicly exhibited the black boy and declared : '' Be it known to Venice that I, Aldus Manutius, pi niter to the IJolv Church and to the Doge, have this d\y made public exposure of the Printer's Devil. All those who think ha is not ilesh and blood may come and pinch hun." While this may have been coasidjred sufficient proof that the boy was not; a devil, the name stuck, and remains Jq this day as & singular illustration of the fortuitous manner in which locutions are bom.