Printing Press Importance

The printing press is a system invented by the goldsmith Johann Gutenberg in the 15th century.This invention introduced movable print first to Europe and then to the rest of the world and thus was a very important creation. The printing press is often regarded as one of the most influencial events in our time. This is due to the fact that it spread rapidly and had a great effect on all the world especially in Europe.

Thanks to the generous help of Mr Frank Spiteri the owner of Gutenberg Press Malta and Mr Mario Magro the finance director of Gutenberg Press Malta who allowed me to interview them and provide me with a tour of their factory. I would also like to thank Ms Samantha Abela, my European Studies teacher, for all the notes and lessons that she has provided me relating to this topic.

In the 1430s Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press. This is a mechanical device that applied pressure to an inked surface that was resting upon a meda such as paper or cloth and therfore transferred the desired image. This was much more efficient than the previous method which was all hand-made and also cheaper as the expensive parchment was being replaced by paper, which could be made more cheaply from linen rags. The press depended mostly upon the knowledge of technologies from Asia which were the paper and woodblock printing. The demands for books was

According to the French scholar Henri-Jean Martin, Gutenberg’s press is very similar to the the form of metal movable type used in Korea in the Goryeo Dynasty in 1377. Jikyi is the world’s oldest known book printed with this movable print. Its is traditionally summarised that Johann Gutenberg developed the metal movable type printing however this would be an incorrect statement. Underneath is a picture of the earliest known book printed with movable metal type called the