[The Vatican’s Printing Press]

It is not generally known that the Vatican possesses one of the finest printing establish­ments in the world. It was founded in 1626, and only one year after its foundation already possessed the characters of twenty-three dif­ferent languages. In 1811, when Pius VII. was Napoleon’s prisoner at Fontainebleau, the Propaganda Press was abolished, and its imple­ments were carried off to Paris. It was re­stored under Louis XVIII., and is now one of the marvels of Rome.