Printing press

The printing press is a mechanical device for printing multiple copies of a text on rectangular sheets of paper. It was first invented in China in 1041. It was reinvented in the West by a German goldsmith and eventual printer, Johann Gutenberg in the 1450s. Apart from Gutenberg, the Dutch Laurens Janszoon Coster has also been credited with this invention.

Development of the printing press

The original method of printing was block printing, pressing sheets of paper into individually carved wooden blocks (xylography). It is believed that block printing originated in China and the earliest known printed text, the Diamond Sutra (a Buddhist scripture), was printed in China in 868 A.D. The technique was also known in Europe, where it was mostly used to print Bibles. Because of the difficulties inherent in carving massive quantities of minute text for every block, and given the levels of peasant illiteracy at the time, texts such as the "Pauper's Bibles" emphasized illustrations and used words sparsely. As a new block had to be carved for each page, printing different books was an incredibly time consuming activity.

Related Topics:
Block printing - Xylography - Diamond Sutra - 868 - Europe - Bible - Book

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Moveable clay and metal type are processes much more flexible than hand copying. Movable type for printing was invented in 1041 AD by Bi Sheng in China. Sheng used clay type, which broke easily, but eventually Goryeo (Korea) sponsored the production of metal type (a type foundry with brass was established by the Korean government in 1234 AD). Since there are thousands of Chinese characters (Koreans also used Chinese characters in literature), the benefit of the technique is not as apparent as with alphabetic based languages which typically have less than 50 characters. Movable type did spur, however, additional scholarly pursuits in Song China and facilitated more creative modes of printing. Nevertheless, movable type was never extensively used in China until the European style printing press was introduced in relatively recent times (thus bringing the technology full circle).

Related Topics:
Bi Sheng - Goryeo - Chinese characters - Alphabetic - Song China

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although probably unaware of the Chinese/Korean printing methods (with substantial evidence for both sides of argument), Gutenberg refined the technique with the first widespread use of movable type, where each character is a separate block, in mirror image, and these blocks are assembled into a frame to form text. Gutenberg is also credited with the first use of an oil-based ink, and using "rag" paper introduced into Europe from China by way of Muslims, who had a paper mill in operation in Baghdad as early as 794.

Related Topics:
Ink - Paper - Europe - China - Muslims - Baghdad - 794

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Before inventing the printing press in the 1450s, Gutenberg had worked as a goldsmith. Without a doubt, the skills and knowledge of metals that he learned as a craftsman were crucial to the later invention of the press. Gutenberg made his type from an alloy of lead, tin, and antimony, which was critical for producing durable type that produced high-quality prints. However, the claim that Gutenberg introduced or invented the printing press in Europe is not accepted by all. The other candidate advanced is the Dutchman Laurens Janszoon Coster.

Related Topics:
Goldsmith - Dutchman - Laurens Janszoon Coster

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~