Laurens Janzoon Coster

Was Laurens Janzoon Coster the real inventor of movable type?

I was very interested in the discovery in my previous blog entry that there was another names print designer that has also been credited with the invention of movable type so wanted to do a bit of investigation to discover more about him and this theory.

Junius's Story
Hadrianus Junius, wrote his story in 1588 in 'Batavia' His book and story was supported by some of his friends in the business. - Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert - Samuel Ampzing - Petrus Scriverius are some of the notable names.
According to Junius, Coster was in Haarlemmerhout sometime in the 1420's carving letters from bark to amuse his grandchildren, he then noticed the impressions that the letters left of the sand.
He then proceeded to invent a new type of ink that didn't run and began a printing company using movable type. (he dated this as early in the 1420's due to a fire in 1426 during the Hook and Cod wars that burnt Haarlemmerhout during a seige)
Junius believes that he used wooden letters at first but later used lead and tin movable type. This company grew, he is said to have printed several books including Speculum Humanae Salvationis. He had several assistants including the letter cutter Johann Fust. Laurens broke his promise of secrecy to Fust when Laurens was nearing death by stealing his presses and type and took them to Mainz where he started his own printing company.

Ulrich Zell's Story
In the anonymous 'Kolner Chronik' of 1499 Ulrich Zell who was a printing assistant from Cologne in his sixties claimed that printing began in Mainz. This was based on the knowledge from Holland that was used to print Latin grammar texts (Donatus)
neither Coster nor Haarlem are mentioned in that chronicle which if true points to Johann Gutenberg around a decade after Coster's death.
However the first securely dated book by Dutch printers is from 1471, long after Gutenberg.
Either way Coster is considered a Haarlem local 'Hero' whos statue can be found in the city along with many other mentions of his name.

1823 Haarlem celebrated the 400th anniversary of Coster's invention with a monument which contained the symbolic 'A'