Johannes Gutenberg: The Printing Machine

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Have you ever wondered how far the printing machine has come? Who invented it? What the first printing machine really did? How it impacted the people during the time it was first invented? And how that first printing machine was the foundation to the printers we have today. Johannes Gutenberg is the man credited with inventing the printing press. Though the use of moveable type was first discovered in China sometime between 1000 and 1100 ad, it wasn’t known in Europe until Johannes Gutenberg invented it there. Before he invented the printing press books were made by people copying by hand on to blank pages. This took a long time per book, so books at that time were hard to come by and very expensive. Mostly rich people bought books. …show more content…

He was born the youngest child to a modest merchant family in Mainz, Germany. As Johannes grew he started working as a merchant, then also as a goldsmith, blacksmith and other metal work. He enjoyed learning and doing his work. In 1428 there was a craftsman revolt in Mainz against the noble class. His family was exiled and moved to Strasbourg, France. This is the place where he first started to experiment with printing. He already knew about bookmaking. Gutenberg perfected type made out of metal. Before this people had been using type made of wood which was very heavy and bulky. The metal type made it more practical to move. As stated earlier movable type had been already being used in China for hundred years but no one had a system like Johannes was inventing. He was inventing a casting system and used metal alloys. This would make book reproduction easier and more affordable. He began making small models trying to make each one better than the one before. He finally revealed the Strasbourg final product in 1440 in Strasbourg, France and the printing press was born. The printing press didn’t go into operation until 1450 in Mainz, Germany. His printing press started the Printing Revolution and regarded as the most important invention of the second …show more content…

It influenced Gutenberg to publish the most influential book which was the Gutenberg bible published in 1455. His printing presses were later used to mass produce bibles helping to spread the most influential book of that time. The Gutenberg Bible is noted to have a high quality of design. He is also credited with another book called the Psalter which was the book of Psalms in the Bible. This book was decorated with hundreds of two-color letters and fancy scroll borders never seen before. Gutenburg used the method of multiple inking on a single metal block. Some people thought this book was almost like a piece of

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