Gutenberg and the Printing Press

Before the middle of the fifteenth century, every book in Europe was a precious object. Most were copied by hand, one letter at a time, by monks working in quiet rooms. A single Bible could take years to finish, and only churches, universities, and the very wealthy could afford one. Reading and writing were skills known to a small part of the population.

Around 1450, a goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg began to change this in the German city of Mainz. Printing was not a new idea. Craftsmen in China and Korea had printed with carved blocks and even with movable type centuries earlier. Gutenberg's achievement was to combine several technologies into a system that was fast enough, and cheap enough, to be practical in Europe. He developed a metal alloy that could be cast into small, uniform letters that were durable and could be reused. He adapted a screw press, similar to those used for wine and olives, to press the inked letters evenly against paper. And he mixed an oil-based ink that stuck to metal type and left a crisp, dark impression.

With this system, a printer could arrange the letters for a page, print hundreds of copies, and then rearrange the same letters for the next page. The famous Gutenberg Bible, finished in the mid-1450s, showed what the technique could achieve. By the year 1500, printers across Europe had produced millions of books.

The effects were enormous. As books became cheaper, more people learned to read, and ideas traveled farther and faster than ever. Scientists could share discoveries with colleagues in distant countries. Reformers could spread arguments about religion to thousands of readers at once. Historians often count the printing press among the most influential inventions in history, because it changed who could learn, who could argue, and who could be heard.