As the name suggests, this machine allows for themass productionof printed matter like newspapers and books.
Its unknown who invented the initial printing press, but the oldest known printed text came from China.
CalledThe Diamond Sutra, its a Buddhist scroll that was published around 868 CE.
Photo:Daniel Chodowiecki(Public domain)
The blocks were cut specifically for a project, and they couldnt be reused for another one.
He carved individual letterforms into clay and baked them into hard blocks.
When inked, they were pressed against paper.
Photo:Stock Photosfrom marekuliasz/Shutterstock
Chen improved on wooden text by developing a process that made the blocks more durable.
These advancements madeNung Shuthe first mass-produced book that the world had ever seen.
But his invention didnt appear until 150 yearsafterChen and 78 years after Baekun.
Photo:A page from Diamond Sutra(Public domain)
Gutenberg was a political exile from Germany and began experimenting with printing while living in France.
By 1450, he had returned to his Mainz home and developed the famousGutenberg press.
The Gutenberg printing press had several innovations on Chens machine.
Jikji– the earliest known book printed with movable metal type, 1377. (Photo:Bibliotheque Nationale de France[Public domain])
The most notable is that the formerly wooden blocks were now made of metal.
Additionally, each letter was its own block, and those blocks were produced on a large scale.
They fit together in a way that the lines of the letters were consistent and appeared uniform on paper.
Photo:Gutenberg Taking an Impression(Public domain)
There were other aspects of the Gutenberg press that made it one of the worlds most successful innovations.
Photo:Gun Powder Ma(CC BY-SA)
So, how did the Gutenberg press work?
The crux of the invention was a heavy wooden screen with a long handle used to turn it.
Photo:Gun Powder Ma(CC BY-SA)
The Gutenberg Bible
The first thing to come out of Gutenberg’s print shop was the Bible.
Crafting this Bible was no small feat; Gutenberg used 300 letter blocks and 50,000 sheets of paper.
