Missale Romanum
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Printing musical notation began in the mid-15th century, with the earliest examples of printed liturgical music appearing in Germany shortly after the publication of the Gutenberg Bible.
Early 16th century printed music placed the stem at the center of the note; however manu notes had stems either on the left or the right, following the scribe’s preference. Musical type mimicked the scribes practice, however in ensuring that the type pieces could be invertible the foundries inevitably standardized the side of the note the stem appears on (down stem on the left, up stem on the right) and gradually manu music began following the same conventions.
Missale Romanum. Toul, France: Johannis Laurentius, 1671.