Johannes Gutenberg is known as the inventor of the printing pressand he is also the first person in Europe to employ a movable type printing method. One of his most well-known achievements is the Gutenberg Biblewhich is a highly-aesthetic 42-line Bible that shows remarkable printing quality.

Johannes Gutenberg was born in Mainz Germany, between the years 1395 and 1400. He was the youngest son of Friele Gensfleisch zur Laden, a successful merchant, and Else Wyrich, a shopkeeper's daughter.
Not much is known about his younger days, but some accounts say that he probably started trading as a goldsmith at an early age. A political uprising in 1411 forced many families to leave Mainz, and Gutenberg and his family relocated to the Eltville am Rhein, where they stayed in his mother's inherited estate. Later on, he moved to Strasburg, where some of his mother's relatives were residing. In 1437, Gutenberg joined the Strasburg militia as a goldsmith member, and he offered instructions for cutting and polishing gems to tradesmen.

It was also in Strasburg that Gutenberg started working on his inventions of printing equipment. One of his inventions was the letterpress which had a mold for every alphabet. The molds were cast with the same amount of alloy, and they were arranged in even lines to form words and sentences, which were then put together in a form to make up a page. The form would be inserted in the printing press, and printer inks that were similar to the paints of Flemish painters would be applied to the letters. Then, the letters would be printed on sheets of paper to produce up to thousands of copies in a short duration of time. The letters could be taken off from the form and rearranged to make new pages. The letterpress made it possible for books to be printed faster and at a lower cost. Gutenberg also designed a font that comprised of 300 characters which included ligatures and flourishes, to recreate hand-written Gothic script. Another of his inventions was the variable-width mold for type-casting from metal.


In the year 1450, Gutenberg managed to convince a wealthy man called Johann Fust to give him a loan of 800 guilders. With the money, he was able to set up a workshop at Hof Humbrecht. Then, Fust and Gutenberg decided that they would work together to print a Bible, and they made the Gutenberg Bible in 1455. Around 180 copies of the Bible were printed, on paper as well as vellum. Other materials that were printed by Gutenberg were Latin grammar texts and indulgences for churches.

Johannes Gutenberg passed away on the 3rd of February, 1468. By the time of his death, his printing inventions were already used in many countries throughout Europe. Many improvements were made to Gutenberg's printing method since his time, and today, it is still one of the most important methods of mass communication. Printing has made it possible for information to be disseminated to the masses, through books, magazines, newspapers, brochures, and other materials, and it will continue to benefit the world for many years to come.

This was written by Printerinks.com, your home for printer inks and laser toner.