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Johann Gutenberg
Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (circa 1398 - February 3, 1468), a German metal-worker and inventor, achieved fame for his contributions to the technology of printing during about the 1450s, including a type metal alloy and oil-based inks, a mold for casting type accurately, and a new kind of printing press based on presses used in wine-making. Tradition credits him with inventing movable type in Europe, an improvement on the block printing already in use there. By combining these elements into a production system, he allowed for the rapid printing of written materials and an information explosion in Renaissance Europe.
Gutenberg was born in Mainz as the son of a merchant named Friele Gensfleisch zur Laden, who adopted the surname "zum Gutenberg" after the name of the neighborhood into which the family had moved.
Block printing, whereby individual sheets of paper were pressed into wooden blocks with the text and illustrations carved in, was in use in Europe and East Asia long before Gutenberg. The Koreans and Chinese knew about movable metal types at the time as well.
It is unclear whether Gutenberg knew of these techniques or invented them independently. It is often suggested that Marco Polo must have come across movable type printing on his journeys and thus indirectly inform Gutenberg. Some also claim Laurens Coster as the first European to invent movable type.
Gutenberg certainly introduced efficient methods into book production, leading to a boom in the production of texts in Europe, in large part due to the popularity of the Gutenberg Bibles, the first mass-produced work, starting on February 23, 1455. Gutenberg was a poor businessman, and made little money from his printing system. He became engaged in several lawsuits, resulting in his forfeiting his printing equipment to Johann Fust, his partner. He died in Mainz in 1468.
Although Gutenberg was unsuccessful in his lifetime, his invention spread quickly, and news and books began to travel across Europe far faster than before. It fed the growing Renaissance, and since it established a scientific community, was a major factor in originating the Scientific Revolution. Literacy also increased as a result. Gutenberg's inventions are sometimes considered the turning point from the Mediaeval Era to the Early Modern Period.
The Gutenberg Bibles surviving today are sometimes called the oldest surviving books printed with movable type, although the oldest surviving book is the New Code of Etiquette by Yi Gyu-bo, published in Korea between 1234 and 1241. As of 2003, the Gutenberg Bible census includes 11 complete copies on vellum, 1 copy of the New Testament only on vellum, 48 substantially complete integral copies on paper, with another divided copy on paper.
The term incunabulum refers to a western printed book produced between the first work of Gutenberg and the end of the year 1500.
There are many statues of Gutenberg in Germany, one of the more famous being a work by Thorvaldsen, in Mainz, which is also home to the Gutenberg Museum.
The Gutenberg Galaxy and Project Gutenberg commemorate Gutenberg's name.
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Further reading
- Michael H. Hart, The 100, Carol Publishing Group, July 1992, paperback, 576 pages, ISBN 0806513500