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The History of the Printing Press
A short history lesson...
The History of the Printing Press
by J. Dubo
Copyright 2006 business-cards.com
History would have us believe the first printed book, like
so many inventions, came out of China. The publication,
“The Diamond Sutra” appeared in 868 AD and the print type
was most certainly made from clay. Others insist that there
were earlier examples of printed books or certainly sheets,
but experts have not come forward with either evidence or
titles.
However, there is a lot of evidence telling us the first
printing press originated in what is now modern day
Germany, which at the time comprised a series of princely
states. The first, or “the Guttenberg Press” came into
being somewhere between 1436 and 1440. The inventor,
Johannes Gutenberg was a goldsmith and inventor. The
typeface was composed of at first wooden and then later
metal letters. It is probably true to say that this
invention played a very significant part in the shaping of
thinking and learning in the history of the World. Prior to
Gutenberg books had to be copied, by hand usually by monks
who acted as scribes.
These illuminated manuscripts were truly beautiful pieces
of work, but the costs involved put them well beyond the
means of the ordinary man in the street. Thus they remained
the possessions of the Church, the monarchy and the very
rich. Gutenberg’s press changed all that and suddenly the
written word was available to the middle classes and all
who could read. This revolution certainly resulted in the
ongoing Renaissance and later the Reformation of religion,
which loosened the stranglehold that Catholicism held on
Europe. Gutenberg’s major contribution to this movement was
his printing of the Bible in 1452. Interestingly the
“Gutenberg Printing Press” remained the standard form of
printing right up until the twentieth century. True
improvements such offset printing occurred along the way,
but his invention had a huge impact on civilization.
Those of us educated under the British School system were
of the impression that William Caxton was the father of
printing. Unfortunately this notion is untrue. William
Caxton was actually a wool merchant who was initially
apprenticed to one time Lord Mayor of London, Robert Large.
On Large’s death he moved to the magnificent medieval city
of Bruges in Belgium, the then center of the textile
industry. He was very successful and became an advisor to
Charles, Duke of Burgundy. Charles’s wife was Margaret
sister of the English King Edward IV. Caxton and the
Duchess became firm friends and it was she who persuaded
him to translate and later publish what was to become the
first printed book in English.
“The Recuyell of the Historyies of Troye”, was originally
written in French by Raoul Le Fvre. The book appeared in
1474, 22 years after the “Gutenberg Bible”. Ironically,
Caxton had to go to Germany and study printing in Cologne
before returning to Bruges where he set up his own printing
works. I suppose the Belgians could also claim to be the
home in which the first book printed in English was to
appear.
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About the author J. Dubo:
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