Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Printing Comes to Europe

Typography, or the “printing with independent, movable, and reusable bits of metal or wood, each of which has a raised letterform on one face,” helped knowledge and literacy to quickly spread throughout the world once it was invented. Europeans first used woodblock printing, making playing cards a very popular item among rich and poor alike, as well as proliferating devotional and religious matter. When paper was finally introduced to Europe, the want for books soared. In 1450, Gutenberg was finally able to put a system together and print a typographical book. The typeface had to be precisely made out of metal casts so that all letters would be the same sizes and align evenly, as well as last for thousands of imprints. Gutenberg saw many of the first, most popular texts printed from his presses, including the first typographic Bibles; and printers Fust and brought about two-part metal blocks that could print two colors, just one of their many achievements. Copperplate engraving as a means of printing was popular too, and it is thought that Gutenberg most likely had a hand in this as well.

What I thought so interesting about this chapter was that movable type came into being long before I thought it had, in 1450—over 500 years ago. I thought it would come to be much later in history.

Was Gutenberg influenced by the Asian’s discovery of movable type, or did he innovate this for the Europeans on his own with no influence from the outside?