Gutenberg Letterpress Research Paper

A: In the 15th century, Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press. The Gutenberg press diffused quickly in the next century throughout Europe and more places. Gutenberg printed the first Gutenberg Bible (the text for Christians), which brought the texts (scriptures) out of monasteries and churches.The printing press caused an increase in production of written texts in most languages. Gutenberg's press allowed people to have the Bible text in their language, such as French or German, rather than Latin, helping to standardize European languages.

The printing press was an interesting and world changing machine that was used for the mass production of written works for distribution. Such a revolutionary process actually worked through an easy process that included only a few steps. First, every letter had to have been carved into a steel object known as a punch. These punches were eventually hammered into a piece of copper otherwise known as a blank. The blank was used as a mold for a mixture of molten alloys created by Gutenberg who was once a stonecutter and a goldsmith; the mixture consisted of lead, antimony and bismuth. This mixture of metals created an alloy that was easily cooled and handled, but strong enough not to wear down over repeated use. In their creation, the base sizes for the letters had to be determined and marked out ahead of time. Wider letters had wider basis, such as the difference between a capital z and a lower case l. The blocks

The earliest printing in China was the block printing method in the first Century B.C., where the individual sheets of paper were pressed against wooden blocks that had text and illustrations carved into them. This process could print hundreds and even thousands of copies, this technology played a significant role in promoting the spread of culture. A block carver named Bi Sheng made movable types with clay during the period from1004 to 1048. This method each type was carved with one character and the types could be set independently according to contents of different articles. After printing, the movable types could be reused and this improved technology is called movable-type printing. (LAN, 2008)

In 1436 Johannes Gutenberg invented the Printing Press, which had a major impact on both the Renaissance and printing today, however there other movable type systems invented before Gutenberg’s Printing

In the 700s they made block printing and it was carved on a single block

Gutenberg was able to perfect his methods “he forged easily cast uniform typeface, formulated a special ink that would adhere to metal, and modified the standard wooden wine press to fit the task of printing on paper.” Sadly, there partnership ended in 1455 because Faust wanted Gutenberg to pay him back on his investment. Before the pair split they were able to produce the famous Gutenberg Bible. Based on Gutenberg’s paper supply historians believe he produced around 180 bibles which was a large number at the time. (n2)

Johannes Gutenberg was born circa 1395, in Mainz, Germany. He started experimenting with printing by 1438. In 1450 Gutenberg obtained backing from the financier, Johann Fust, whose impatience and other factors led to Gutenberg's loss of his establishment to Fust several years later. Gutenberg's masterpiece, and the first book ever printed in Europe from movable type, is the “Forty-Two-Line” Bible, completed no later than 1455.Born into a modest merchant family in Mainz, Germany, circa 1395, Johannes Gutenberg’s work as an inventor and printer would have a major impact on communication and learning worldwide. He was the third son of Freile zum Gensfleisch and his second wife, Else Wirick zum Gutenberg, whose maiden name Johann later adopted.

Before the invention of paper it was very costly to produce and purchase books, the man called Hui Shi was a scholar and needed five whole carts to transport his books needed for teaching, not only were these books big but were also very heavy and had to be laid down on the floor or on a desk to turn the pages. The books were made of thick wood and used a lot of effort to make, Cai Lun wanted to create a cheaper and easier solution to making books. After lots of attempts of mixing different things together he finally realised what he could combine to create a lightweight and inexpensive writing surface that would change the world

Gutenberg knew the difficulty of printing with carved wooden whole pages and in 1450 he devised a more rational way of printing, based on movable type.

In 1440, while still in Strasbourg, Gutenberg uncovered the secret of his printing press system (Rees 4). Already accustomed to bookmaking, Gutenberg perfected in the small metal type. Infinitely more practical than carving entire wood blocks for printing, every type was a single character or letter. Movable type had been applied in Asia hundreds of years before, but Gutenberg’s innovation was developing a casting system and metal alloys, which made production easier. In 1448 he returned to Mainz, where he proceeded with his work, and within two years his new printing press system was fully

Other printers, such as Nicolas Jenson, developed the first type font specifically intended for print. The science of typography rippled through 15th century society. It drove the simplification of writing; increased literacy, and gradually standardized global communication. In 50 years elaborate scribal shorthand scripts were next to obsolete.

He used a combination of mulberries, hemp, old rags, bark, and even used fish nets for the creation of the paper pulp around 105 AD. While paper had been used in China for wrapping and padding since 200 BC, recent archaeological discoveries have been reported near Dunhuang of paper with writing on it dating from 8 BC. The very first book was printed on paper in China, using a block of wood that had characters carved in reverse relief. Ink was then placed on the block of wood to create a prink on the paper. This technique is known as ‘woodblock printing’ and was originally used as early as 220 AD as a means of printing on

Johannes Gutenberg, a German inventor, has brought together an exquisite machine that he calls the printing press. The function of the printing press is using blocks with ink as a faster and more efficient way of printing. How does the printing press work? Well, type blocks are set up by a frame to make words. These blocks are set backwards so they have a mirror effect when they are transferred. Once all of the blocks are in place, ink has to be put onto these blocks now. Then the paper, yes, paper, is pressed onto the blocks and the ink that was once on the word blocks is now on the paper (“The Invention of the Printing Press”). Although Gutenberg is credited with the invention of the printing press, another version has been used before the

By 1455, Gutenberg completed printing his most famous project, the Forty-Two-Line Bible. Also known as the Gutenberg Bible, it was the first complete book made in the West and the first in the world to be printed from moveable type. It consisted of three volumes of Latin text printed in columns of 42 lines.

By comparing the watermarks from The Gutenberg Bible with the 36-line Bible, which was long believed to be the oldest book made with moveable type, Karl Franz Otto Dziatzko was able to conclude that in fact, the Gutenberg Bible was the older of the two bibles (McCarthy). Each copy of The Gutenberg Bible required about 50,000 sheets of paper, with about 1286 of those sheets in each completed book. It took about three to five years to complete the printing, and it completed in 1454 or 1455. Figure 3 holds an example of what a spread from The Gutenberg Bible looks like. This particular photo is taken from the copy at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas ("The Gutenberg Bible").