Woodblock printing was a technique used for printing text, images or patterns as a method of producing multiple copies on paper or fabric, some of the earliest examples of printing on cloth date back to before 220 CE; it originated in China and was used widely throughout East Asia where it was chiefly used to print religious imagery. 14th An artist would carve a mirror image of a design into a wooden block using a
knife, chisel, or sandpaper to create a relief pattern where the non-printing
areas were cut away. The surface of the block would be inked and recesses
remain ink free, a roller is then used to transfer the ink to the material it
is pressed against, but these methods of reproduction were expensive and time
consuming. The woodblocks were not sufficiently durable and would split and
splinter after repeated use, this caused prints to become distorted and would
call for a fresh carving to be made out of another block, these blocks would
also be rendered useless and discarded as a marginally different impression was
needed. The stamping technique had blocks sit on top of the material with the
print facing downwards where a hammer would be used to tap the back of the
block to transfer the print, this was commonly used for European woodcuts in
the 14th century. Weighted presses were another way to transfer designs
and one of the earliest surviving books printed using this technique was an
ancient Buddhist text called The
Diamond Sutra created in 868, China. The rubbing technique had the
block facing upwards on a flat surface with the material on top where the back
of the material would be rubbed with a flat piece of wood or hard pad, this
took over the stamping process in the 15th century.
Woodblocks are carefully prepared
as a relief pattern, where negative space was cut away with a knife, chisel or
sandpaper.
Moveable type is the system of printing typography that uses moveable
components to reproduce the elements of a document, usually individual letters
and punctuation. The first known movable type system for printing was created
in China sometime in the 11th century by Bi Sheng, his system involved the
production of hundreds of individual characters that were made out of baked
clay. His invention allowed him to print copies of documents fairly quickly
although the types made from clay were too fragile for large-scale printing. In
the late 14th century a Korean monk named Baegun developed a metal movable
type system, the Jikji, which was used to print Buddhist sayings and is the
oldest extant movable metal type. Neither system was widely used due to the
mammoth and impractical task of casting and composing individual pieces of type
as the Chinese and Korean written languages are made up of thousands of
different characters.
The Jikji’s full name is a Korean
treatise on Seon Buddhism, which can be translated to Anthology of Great Buddhist
Priests’ Zen Teachings.
Mainz, Germany was
previously an important, influential and rich city during medieval times but
two bouts of the plague brought about its downfall in the 14th century and
it became a city of the past. When Johannes Gutenberg was born in this bankrupt
city between 1397-1404 (his is exact birth date is unknown), almost everybody
was illiterate as there were no freely available sources of knowledge as handwritten
books were expensive and would take years to complete. There is little evidence
about his early years but his father was a known merchant whose work brought
him into contact with the city’s goldsmiths and Gutenberg helped him at a mint
working as a blacksmith and goldsmith, producing coins.
It is likely, but not known that he studied at university and came into contact with the books that were handcrafted by scribes because he was an intellectual and later became an engineer. He knew that there was a growing demand for books and there was a great fortune to be had for the inventor of a mechanism that could produce exact copies of a text quickly and efficiently. It is thought that growing up in the heartland of the German wine industry inspired him with its wine presses as his invention would become an evolved form of these simple presses, but turning a basic piece of engineering into a precision machine was only part of the challenge he faced.
It is likely, but not known that he studied at university and came into contact with the books that were handcrafted by scribes because he was an intellectual and later became an engineer. He knew that there was a growing demand for books and there was a great fortune to be had for the inventor of a mechanism that could produce exact copies of a text quickly and efficiently. It is thought that growing up in the heartland of the German wine industry inspired him with its wine presses as his invention would become an evolved form of these simple presses, but turning a basic piece of engineering into a precision machine was only part of the challenge he faced.
The screw wine press exerts
controlled pressure in order to free the juice from fruits to avoid crushing
the seeds.
In his 30’s he
travelled down the River Rhine to Strasbourg where his experiments in printing
would first begin. Strasbourg was a bustling city with trading links all across
Europe and beyond which made it a far more promising business base than the
bankrupt city of his birth. The central cathedral was more than the
ecclesiastical heart of the city as it also ran the city with its paperwork,
legal documentation and printing services, making it a focal point for the
city’s money-makers. He knew how important the church was and the slow rate of
duplicating books called for a new technology, this was a tremendous money
making opportunity because a new, efficient way to print would make knowledge
less expensive and accessible to all. By the late 1430’s Gutenberg had struck
up a partnership with three of these venture capitalists to fund his work and
was ready to start experimenting.
He employed a carpenter to work on his machine and other craftsmen from the city’s guilds; he worked not in the city but in a secluded hamlet downstream, away from prying eyes of potential competitors who were also trying to come up with a means for printing text. While they worked on the press they also needed a second revenue stream in order to support themselves, Gutenberg came up with the idea to create and sell holy mirrors to pilgrims. There was a great pilgrimage planned to the Cathedral of Aachen where thousands of pilgrims would be coming to see relics that go on display every four years in Europe, there would be so many of them that getting close enough to see the relics for themselves would be impossible. The metal mirrors were concave and were held up to act like a satellite dish today, where they were hoped to capture healing rays from the relics. Local makers couldn’t keep up with the demand for them so Gutenberg stepped in using the press he was developing to print out mirrors but as luck would have it, another outbreak of the Plague caused the pilgrimage to be postponed, which halted the income that was to be made from selling holy mirrors. Also during this misfortunate time, one of Gutenberg’s business partners died and his partnership began to collapse, which left him heavily indebted and struggling.
He employed a carpenter to work on his machine and other craftsmen from the city’s guilds; he worked not in the city but in a secluded hamlet downstream, away from prying eyes of potential competitors who were also trying to come up with a means for printing text. While they worked on the press they also needed a second revenue stream in order to support themselves, Gutenberg came up with the idea to create and sell holy mirrors to pilgrims. There was a great pilgrimage planned to the Cathedral of Aachen where thousands of pilgrims would be coming to see relics that go on display every four years in Europe, there would be so many of them that getting close enough to see the relics for themselves would be impossible. The metal mirrors were concave and were held up to act like a satellite dish today, where they were hoped to capture healing rays from the relics. Local makers couldn’t keep up with the demand for them so Gutenberg stepped in using the press he was developing to print out mirrors but as luck would have it, another outbreak of the Plague caused the pilgrimage to be postponed, which halted the income that was to be made from selling holy mirrors. Also during this misfortunate time, one of Gutenberg’s business partners died and his partnership began to collapse, which left him heavily indebted and struggling.
There aren’t any surviving
machines from this early period and an illustration has never been discovered
of what they look like, the earliest illustration of a printing press was in
the Danse
Macabre from 1499, some 50 years after
Gutenberg completed his press.
His idea was to create individual letters that were durable and since letters
could be arranged into any format, reusing and resetting the type could print
an infinite variety of texts quickly and efficiently. Although he needed a
system for mass-producing these individual letters and so looked for help at
the guild of goldsmiths where a crucial technical breakthrough made Gutenberg’s
idea a practical proposition. He discovered which metals worked best for each
stage of his process, steel was used to craft the punch, copper or bronze was
soft enough to create the matrix mould and a mixture of lead, tin and antimony
was strong enough to hold up the pressure of the press. This process is called the punch matrix system where experienced
craftsmen first created a punch, an individual letterform that was carved
backwards into the end of a steel bar using a sharp file. The punch would go on
to be hardened and tempered before a matrix would be made by striking the
letterform into a softer metal bar made of copper or bronze, to create an
indent of the letterform that was right reading. The matrix would then be
attached to the bottom of a type mould, also invented by Gutenberg, a handheld
device of two halves that fit together to create a cavity in which a wrong reading
letter would be produced by pouring the molten compound of lead, tin and
antimony into it. The mould was then shook to avoid air pockets and the
letterform would be ready to remove, the cast would be released and cleaned of
any unnecessary appendages and is then levelled for use. Wrong reading letters
were critical for the press to be a success as the text will be right reading
when printed on paper.
Two halves of a hand-mould for
casting type, the rat-tail spring held the halves firmly together as molten
metal was poured into the top.
The components of the punch
matrix system.
Both the machine
and type needed to withstand the rigours of printing and repeated use so he
needed a precision machine that could apply even pressure to a page. The
process of creating a punch would create up to two letters per day, which meant
that almost a year was devoted to the creation of punches for over 300
characters used in the Gutenberg Bible. Around 300 different sorts of type were
needed for the production of the Bible; these include upper and lowercase
letterforms, punctuation marks, ligatures, special characters, and common
abbreviations. But all of that time devoted to creating the punches was worth
it as the revolutionary type mould device allowed him to make many identical
letters quickly and cheaply where roughly 4,000 letters could be produced per
day. The Gutenberg Bible shows that approximately 2,600 individual pieces of
type was required to create a single page. Compared to woodblock printing,
movable type page settings were more efficient and durable because the metal
type pieces were uniform and set the perfect example for the creation of
typefaces and fonts. He also developed his own ink using linseed oil, soot with
high quantities of copper, lead, and sulphur as he needed a different solution
to the water-based inks that were common during this time, an oil-based ink
would thicker and adhere to the metal type and not run off. It is believed that
the guild of painters helped with this concoction as it consists of similar
compounds used by oil painters of this period.
Almost nothing is known about how Gutenberg set his type or printed the bible but what is known today comes from the traditional printing techniques from later years. A compositor worked from a manuscript setting type by arranging the pieces on a composing stick, a shallow adjustable tray in which type is arranged. Metal strips called quads were used to create space between words and leads were used to create space between lines of text; furniture were blocks of metal or wood that filled in the space around the type in the chase. Once a line was complete it was moved off the composing stick and onto a board known as a galley, when enough lines were stacked on top of one another to make a page or column they were locked into a metal frame called a chase using sliding wedges called quoins that lock type and spacers into place. The chase would be placed into a form where it was then placed into the bed of the press where a hardwood block called a planer would be used to ensure that the type was at an even height, ready for printing. The ink-ball tool was then used to apply ink to the type, they were balls of wool covered in leather and attached to wooden handles that were coated with an oil-based ink. After dampened paper was placed over the inked chase the bed would be moved beneath the platen, which was brought down to apply even and downward pressure, thus leaving behind impressions of type in ink on the paper. The puller would take the printed sheet off and check the quality of the print job, seeing that the impressions are of a good standard while the inker would reapply the ink to the type. After printing, the sheets were hung up to dry and once the ink had thoroughly dried the sheets could be put through the press again on the other side.
Almost nothing is known about how Gutenberg set his type or printed the bible but what is known today comes from the traditional printing techniques from later years. A compositor worked from a manuscript setting type by arranging the pieces on a composing stick, a shallow adjustable tray in which type is arranged. Metal strips called quads were used to create space between words and leads were used to create space between lines of text; furniture were blocks of metal or wood that filled in the space around the type in the chase. Once a line was complete it was moved off the composing stick and onto a board known as a galley, when enough lines were stacked on top of one another to make a page or column they were locked into a metal frame called a chase using sliding wedges called quoins that lock type and spacers into place. The chase would be placed into a form where it was then placed into the bed of the press where a hardwood block called a planer would be used to ensure that the type was at an even height, ready for printing. The ink-ball tool was then used to apply ink to the type, they were balls of wool covered in leather and attached to wooden handles that were coated with an oil-based ink. After dampened paper was placed over the inked chase the bed would be moved beneath the platen, which was brought down to apply even and downward pressure, thus leaving behind impressions of type in ink on the paper. The puller would take the printed sheet off and check the quality of the print job, seeing that the impressions are of a good standard while the inker would reapply the ink to the type. After printing, the sheets were hung up to dry and once the ink had thoroughly dried the sheets could be put through the press again on the other side.
An example of a composing stick
with modern moveable type and the various parts needed to set up a page of
movable type.
A quoin key tightens up the form
before the chase is transferred to the printing press.
Gutenberg intended to demonstrate that his invention could produce a book as
beautiful as any manuscript, he was aware of the greatest users of books which
included monasteries, universities, nobility, and royalty. He selected a
particularly fine and accurate manuscript which was beautifully handwritten to
serve as the model for his work. His Bible showcased a typeface that was
heavily influenced by the Blackletter script writing style of the monk scribes
in their manuscripts where the monk’s abbreviations helped him to create clean
margins. His typeface featured tall, narrow letters formed by sharp, straight
angular lines with dramatic thick and thin strokes and serifs that created a
highly stylised yet legible font. The general sort of Blackletter used by Gutenberg
in his bible is called Textura, the most calligraphic form of Blackletter. He
wanted the finest alphabet and so created variants of characters that were
slightly narrower and slightly wider so that the lines of text would always
appear set in a justified paragraph alignment so that there was no unnecessary
or unsightly white space between the text. He was a driven perfectionist so his
type was so much more beautiful that it need to have been.
An example page from Gutenberg’s
Bible with rubrication yet no illumination.
Sometime between 1444 and 1448 he returned to Mainz as Strasbourg was being
terrorised by a marauding band of French mercenaries called the Armeniacs.
There is little information on his activities for the next ten years although
it is believed that he spent his time turning his ideas from conception into
invention. In need of more funding, he created a partnership with a new
investor called Johann Fust, which gave him the cash he needed to set his press
running. The exact date of the completion of the printing press is debated
although the invention of movable type mechanical printing technology in Europe
is credited in 1450. The first print job he tested using the press was a Latin
grammar book, as the Bible was far too ambitious at this stage. To show the church
that his invention provided an opportunity and not a threat he printed
documents like papal indulgences, dispensation for sins, to show off his new
technology. The church saw the advantages this machine brought them and
supported him, although there was still one issue to resolve as handwritten
books were made using vellum and the production and harvesting of this material
was time-consuming and costly.
Indulgences were printed on
vellum around 1452 and given to Catholics who prayed for forgiveness for their
sins.
He wanted his bibles to be of the finest quality and believed that they would
all be printed on vellum, however some calculations revealed that only a few
could be produced using this material as it would take 140 calves to make
enough vellum for a single copy of the bible. This meant that he could not
complete a print run of 180 Bibles, as it would take 25,000 calves in order to
do so and although the Chinese had invented paper between the years 105 - 220
AD, it was a new commodity in the west. Gutenberg now needed a system for
mass-producing paper and coincidently in Basel, Switzerland, a paper mill was
set up around the same time that he had completed the printing press. The paper
here was made from cloth rags that were mashed to a fine pulp via large hammers
powered by a waterwheel, once it had reached the right consistency the pulp was
transferred to a large vat where it is heated and stirred. A framed rectangular
sieve was then submerged into the mixture and lifted out lying horizontally,
the excess water is shook off and the frame is removed to reveal a sheet of
damp paper which is placed on a sheet of felt and layered with other sheets
until dry. The papermaking process was a fine art as the paper had to have the
right texture and absorbency, so it was time consuming, but not nearly as time
consuming as producing vellum and as a result, most copies of the Bible were
printed on paper.
Woodcut
by Jost Amman, from Piazza Universale by
Tomaso Garzoni 1641.
Gutenberg
attempted to print the red rubrics at the start of each chapter of the Bible,
where each page was to be printed first in black and when dry was realigned to
receive a second printing of the red initials. However this practice proved to
be too time-consuming and difficult and was consequently stopped in favour of
creating spaces for rubric capitals to be added by hand. The first printed
books printed on the press were made to look as much as possible like
traditional manuscripts, the Gutenberg Bible was conventionally illuminated and
rubricated before use; although the process of rubrication, illumination and
binding of the printed pages would take several months to complete. The
differences between Gutenberg’s Bible and handwritten manuscripts were the
number of lines on a page and the economical use of paper, he also started to
print an edition of the bible with up to 180 copies whereas scribes would take
an order for a book before the work would begin. He planned to decrease the
amount of money needed to invest in the project as large amounts of money were
already invested into his equipment and materials before any money was made
from sales, he did this by increasing the number of lines on a page from 40 to
42. His first edition of the Bible ran to 180 copies which each contained more
than 1,200 pages. His books were solid and robust as they were made to be
turned too all the time, so the Bible was bound into two volumes with
leather-covered wooden boards.
The first copies of his Bible were displayed at the Frankfurt trade fair in 1454 and caused a sensation, everyone was talking of the perfection of the volumes and people said that Gutenberg’s typeface, even in the early stages, was an example of perfection. The quality of the printed bible compared to handwritten manuscripts sparked a debate as some considered printing superior for the consistency of layout, accuracy of text and large, legible letters whereas some believed that handwritten forms were more beautiful. His bible was viewed as a signpost to the future showing that a new age of information was dawning in Europe fuelled by the power of the printed word. The demand for books became even more urgent as universities were starting up all across Europe and Gutenberg’s Bible was so influential that all of the Bibles printed in Europe were based on his model. Books were sold in sheets straight from the printing press or gathered and stitched with a plain protective cover usually made of paper or limp vellum. More important books such as the Bible were bound in leather-covered boards with elaborately decorated bindings embellished with stamp designs, gold leaf and even precious stones.
The first copies of his Bible were displayed at the Frankfurt trade fair in 1454 and caused a sensation, everyone was talking of the perfection of the volumes and people said that Gutenberg’s typeface, even in the early stages, was an example of perfection. The quality of the printed bible compared to handwritten manuscripts sparked a debate as some considered printing superior for the consistency of layout, accuracy of text and large, legible letters whereas some believed that handwritten forms were more beautiful. His bible was viewed as a signpost to the future showing that a new age of information was dawning in Europe fuelled by the power of the printed word. The demand for books became even more urgent as universities were starting up all across Europe and Gutenberg’s Bible was so influential that all of the Bibles printed in Europe were based on his model. Books were sold in sheets straight from the printing press or gathered and stitched with a plain protective cover usually made of paper or limp vellum. More important books such as the Bible were bound in leather-covered boards with elaborately decorated bindings embellished with stamp designs, gold leaf and even precious stones.
The Bible was printed in Latin
and features blue and red rubrics on introductory pages to different chapters.
Some decorated capital letters
feature gold leaf gilding and are embellished with leafy tendrils, floral
spirals, and geometric lilies.
In 1455,
Gutenberg’s business partner Johann Fust asked him to repay the money he had
borrowed despite Gutenberg not having made any profit from his press yet as it
had only just started running, the 1550 guilders Fust demanded to be repaid
could not be recovered and so a lawsuit followed. The court voted in favour of
Fust and Gutenberg was made to pay back 2026 guilders, plus interest and also
lost all rights to his printing presses, type, premises and sheets already
printed for the 42 line Bible. Fust took up the printing business with Peter
Schoeffer who was Gutenberg’s foreman throughout the development of the press
and movable type, Schoeffer’s close association with Fust led to speculation
that Gutenberg was the victim of a conspiracy to gain inside knowledge of the
presses and ultimately take control of the press industry.
Soon after the troublesome affair, Gutenberg travelled to a village two miles outside Mainz where he had family roots that helped him get back on his feet and even set up a new printing workshop, but he never enjoyed the riches which his invention earned for his former business partner. However his work was recognised and he was knighted and awarded a pension in 1465, so that when he did succumb the world knew that he founded the modern art of printing.
Soon after the troublesome affair, Gutenberg travelled to a village two miles outside Mainz where he had family roots that helped him get back on his feet and even set up a new printing workshop, but he never enjoyed the riches which his invention earned for his former business partner. However his work was recognised and he was knighted and awarded a pension in 1465, so that when he did succumb the world knew that he founded the modern art of printing.
