Johannes Gutenberg

Brief Bio

Johannes Gensfleish Gutenberg was born into a noble family in the city of Mainz, Germany in 1397. As a young boy, Johannes grew up as the son of an upper-class merchant where he familiarized himself with the trade of goldsmithing. Around the age of 15, the Gutenberg family relocated to the city of Strasbourg for unknown reasons, however it is presumed that the move was due to political reasons. Eight years later Johannes enrolled as a student at the University of Erfurt. Over the course of the next 20 years, Johannes studied miscellaneous trades and it is at this time that he began his initial experiments with movable type.

Idea Development

Prior to Johannes Gutenberg’s development of the printing press, he dabbled in similar trades such as metalworking, casting, punch-cutting, and stamping. It wasn’t until he moved back to Mainz in 1448, settling his career as a goldsmith that he began to create the metal molds and cast letters that would soon lead to the invention of the printing press. Realizing that he may be on to something, Gutenberg took out a loan from his brother-in-law and in the next two years set the press operation in motion. To finance his project, Johannes turned to Johann Fust, a wealthy moneylender. Johann Fust provided Gutenberg with an 800-guilder loan that he used to set up a workshop. Johannes began test printing in 1454 and during this time period found that church-related projects yielded a highly profitable market. He used this knowledge to contract a production project in which he produced nearly 200 42-line Bibles. Unfortunately, a dispute between Gutenberg and Fust led to a court case where Fust obtained all control over the Bible printing workshop and half of all printed Bibles. Leaving Gutenberg bankrupt and jobless, his name never appeared on any of this printed material. This Bible, known as the Bible of 42 lines, is the oldest surviving printed book in the western world today.

Johannes Gutenberg passed away in 1468.

The Printing Press

Using the printing press was more than just a simple operation. It took several careful steps to effectively produce a page of printed type. The process of setting each page, loading the press, inking the type, pulling the impressions, hanging the sheets, and distributing the type could take up to 12 hours at a time. The printing press process begins by arranging the type in a frame to create a “forme”. The next step is aligning the parchment on to the “bed” and applying ink to the type. Once the type and bed are aligned, the bed is rolled under the platen while pressure from above is simultaneously applied leaving an inked impression on the paper once it is removed. It was common for as many as 4 to 5 workers to execute this process at once. If working quick and efficiently, two workers could print around 3,600 pages per working day. The development of the printing press revolutionized the world of print.

This photo illustrates three men working on the press at once.