The Culture of Print, Part 1
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The document discusses the history of printing and the innovations of Johannes Gutenberg. It describes how Gutenberg developed the first movable type printing press around 1450, allowing for mass-produced exact copies of books. This enabled the spread of printing technology across Europe in the late 15th century. It also provides background on the early history of book copying and Chinese movable type.
The Culture of Print, Part 1
- 1. The Culture of Print, Part 1 Presentation by Mindy McAdams Week 7.1 / MMC 2265
- 2. Lewis Mumford, 1895 – 1990 Studied at the City College of New York and the New School for Social Research (never finished his degree) Magazine work: 1920s: Associate editor of The Dial, an influential literary journal Wrote architectural criticism, as well as commentary on urban issues, at The New Yorker for more than 30 years
- 3. Lewis Mumford, 1895 – 1990 "He preferred to call himself a writer, not a scholar, architectural critic, historian or philosopher" (Eugene Halton, biographer) Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964) and the National Medal of the Arts (1986) Famous books include: Technics and Civilization (1934) The City in History (1961) – won the National Book Award
- 4. Early Books in Europe Monks copying books: About 500 C.E. through 1500 C.E. Starting about the 1100s, universities paid scribes (who were not monks) to copy books; stationer shops prospered Gutenberg finished printing his Bible (on a press) in 1455/56 C.E. Estimated 8 million books printed by 1500
- 6. Movable Type The Chinese used a system of “movable characters” about 1045 C.E. — 400 years before Gutenberg Chinese used woodblocks and, later, blocks of fired clay to print Chinese characters onto cloth and, later, paper
- 7. Movable Type Chinese invented paper about 100 C.E. (or maybe earlier) Complexity of Chinese writing system limited printing production to shorter texts
- 8. Movable Type Did Gutenberg know about Chinese movable type? The Travels of Marco Polo, “published” in 1299 Described China, the Mongol empire, India and Africa Marco Polo, an Italian, had spent 24 years in the East One of the most popular books in medieval Europe — hundreds of copies
- 9. Hand-lettered, illustrated text of The Travels of Marco Polo, c. 1300
- 10. Gutenberg Johann Gutenberg, born about 1400 C.E. in Mainz, Germany His family was upper-class, so he was most likely educated in Latin Evidence shows he was a goldsmith and worked also with other metals He started experiments with metal type and a letterpress in the 1440s
- 11. Role of Paper How to manufacture paper: Arabs first brought that knowledge to Spain in the late 1100s First paper mill in Germany was founded in 1390 — barely 50 years before Gutenberg’s movable type Before paper was available, European books were copied onto parchment (sheepskin) or vellum (calfskin) Gutenberg used paper imported from Italy
- 12. Gutenberg’s Bibles Each copy: Almost 1,300 pages Size: About 16 inches by 12 inches Most Gutenberg Bibles were bound in two volumes (they are big ) Typical binding: Leather over wooden boards The U.S. Library of Congress’ Gutenberg Bible is one of three perfect examples printed on vellum that have survived 48 relatively complete copies of the Gutenberg Bible survived into the 20th century Source: Octavo.com
- 13. Gutenberg’s Invention Developed a process to cast the individual letters with metal alloy and precisely adjust the mold to guarantee uniformity (size and shape) of the metal type Divided text into the smallest components: The 26 letters of the Latin alphabet
- 14. Metal Type
- 15. Type Case (or Job Case)
- 16. Gutenberg’s Process Used screw presses to press the ink-covered metal type against the paper Press was made of wood until about 1800 After 1800, the hand-operated press was made of iron
- 17. Spread of Printing Technology The result: A large number of exact copies of a single book could be produced in a short amount of time Printing process spread rapidly through Europe 1470s: First printed book in English
- 18. Mass Production (1) Eli Whitney, born in 1765, Massachusetts Patented the cotton gin in 1794 Many historians mark this as the start of mass production in the world However … Gutenberg’s press made possible the mass production of hundreds (even thousands) of identical books
- 19. Mass Production (2) One edition of a book in the early years of printing: 200 to 1,000 copies Any copy might be transported far from the place where it was first printed Another printer might set up a new edition of that same book and print many more copies Competition among printers: Led to copyright laws (1662, England)
- 20. Timeline 1452 – Leonardo da Vinci born 1453 – Constantinople falls to Muslim conquerors; Greek scholars flee to Italy 1456 – Gutenberg’s first printed Bibles 1474 – Michelangelo born 1492 – Columbus lands on American shore 1498 – Vasco da Gama sails around the Cape of Good Hope; reaches India 1517 – The Protestant Reformation begins
- 21. The Culture of Print , Part 1 Presentation by Mindy McAdams University of Florida