Gutenberg's Press and the Bible That Spread Printing #Shorts
Pack: 04 - Gutenberg's Press and the Bible That Spread Printing
Instagram · TikTok · Watch on YouTube
Around 1450, in Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg was perfecting a new way to make books.
- Britannica dates Gutenberg's work on movable-type printing to about 1440–1450. His key step was casting metal type accurately in large numbers, so letters could be set, printed and reused. Movable metal type had been used earlier in Korea. (Britannica; Library of Congress)
- His Bible is dated about 1454–1455 (the Harry Ransom Center gives 1454–1456). About 180 copies were printed, roughly 145 on paper and 35 on vellum. (Library of Congress; Harry Ransom Center)
- Fewer than 50 copies survive; the Library of Congress counts 49 that survived into the 20th century, only 21 of them complete. (Library of Congress)
- By 1500, presses had spread to hundreds of European cities, which together put out roughly 10 million books. (Library of Congress)
Sources
- Britannica, "Johannes Gutenberg"
- Library of Congress, Gutenberg Bible exhibit
- Library of Congress blog, 2018
- Library of Congress, "Incunabula: The Art & History of Printing in Western Europe, c. 1450-1500"
- Library of Congress, Incunabula research guide
- Harry Ransom Center, UT Austin, "Gutenberg Bible"
Images
- The Invention of Book Printing (Nova Reperta, plate 4), about 1600. Jan Collaert I after Stradanus. CC0 (The Met).
- Metal movable type (modern photo). Willi Heidelbach. CC BY 2.5.
- Gutenberg Bible on display at the Library of Congress. MC BSU. CC0.
- Gutenberg Bible, Genesis page, about 1455. Printed by Johannes Gutenberg. Public domain.
- 15th-century printing towns of incunabula (map). NordNordWest. CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.
