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- c. 1398 - 1468 Life of Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the printing press. 1418 Johannes Gutenberg is enrolled at University of Erfurt. 1439 Johannes Gutenberg 's business venture of mirrors sold to pilgrims fails. 1440 To appease investors in his mirror business, Gutenberg unveils his printing press.
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Explore the timline of Johannes Gutenberg. Johannes Gutenberg (l. c. 1398-1468) was the inventor of the printing press (c. 1450) who seems to have developed the device from wine and oil presses of the time.
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- Life
- Invention of the press
Johannes Gutenberg is known for having designed and built the first known mechanized printing press in Europe. In 1455 he used it to print the Gutenberg Bible, which is one of the earliest books in the world to be printed from movable type.
What did Johannes Gutenberg do to change the world?
The type of mechanized printing press that Johannes Gutenberg created in the 15th century made it possible for the first time in Europe to manufacture large numbers of books for relatively little cost. Books and other printed matter consequently became available to a wide general audience, greatly contributing to the spread of literacy and education in Europe. Gutenberg did not, however, invent printing with movable type, which occurred in Korea in the 14th century.
Where did Johannes Gutenberg work?
Available records indicate that Johannes Gutenberg spent most, if not all, of his working life in the cities of Strassburg (now Strasbourg, France) and Mainz (now in Germany).
Johannes Gutenberg (born 14th century, Mainz [Germany]—died probably February 3, 1468, Mainz) German craftsman and inventor who originated a method of printing from movable type. Elements of his invention are thought to have included a metal alloy that could melt readily and cool quickly to form durable reusable type, an oil-based ink that could be made sufficiently thick to adhere well to metal type and transfer well to vellum or paper, and a new press, likely adapted from those used in producing wine, oil, or paper, for applying firm even pressure to printing surfaces. None of these features existed in the European technique used up to that time for stamping letters on various surfaces or in woodblock printing. Gutenberg’s printing press was considered a history-changing invention, making books widely accessible and ushering in an “information revolution.”
Gutenberg was the son of a patrician of Mainz. What little information exists about him, other than that he had acquired skill in metalwork, comes from documents of financial transactions. Exiled from Mainz in the course of a bitter struggle between the guilds of that city and the patricians, Gutenberg moved to Strassburg (now Strasbourg, France) probably between 1428 and 1430. Records put his presence there from 1434 to 1444. He engaged in such crafts as gem cutting, and he also taught a number of pupils.
Some of his partners, who became aware that Gutenberg was engaged in work that he kept secret from them, insisted that, since they had advanced him considerable sums, they should become partners in these activities as well. Thus, in 1438 a five-year contract was drawn up between him and three other men: Hans Riffe, Andreas Dritzehn, and Andreas Heilmann. It contained a clause whereby in case of the death of one of the partners, his heirs were not to enter the company but were to be compensated financially.
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Inventors and Inventions
When Andreas Dritzehn died at Christmas 1438, his heirs, trying to circumvent the terms of the contract, began a lawsuit against Gutenberg in which they demanded to be made partners. They lost the suit, but the trial revealed that Gutenberg was working on a new invention. Witnesses testified that a carpenter named Conrad Saspach had advanced sums to Andreas Dritzehn for the building of a wooden press, and Hans Dünne, a goldsmith, declared that he had sold to Gutenberg, as early as 1436, 100 guilders’ worth of printing materials. Gutenberg, apparently well along the way to completing his invention, was anxious to keep secret the nature of the enterprise.
After March 12, 1444, Gutenberg’s activities are undocumented for a number of years, but it is doubtful that he returned immediately to Mainz, for the quarrel between patricians and guilds had been renewed in that city. In October 1448, however, Gutenberg was back in Mainz to borrow more money, which he received from a relative. By 1450 his printing experiments had apparently reached a considerable degree of refinement, for he was able to persuade Johann Fust, a wealthy financier, to lend him 800 guilders—a very substantial capital investment, for which the tools and equipment for printing were to act as securities. Two years later Fust made an investment of an additional 800 guilders for a partnership in the enterprise. Fust and Gutenberg eventually became estranged, Fust, apparently, wanting a safe and quick return on his investment, while Gutenberg aimed at perfection rather than promptness.
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Sep 25, 2023 · Johannes Gutenberg Timeline. September 25, 2023 by The Historian. Johannes Gutenberg was a German inventor and printer born around the year 1400 in Mainz, Germany. He is best known for introducing the printing press to Europe in the 15th century. Gutenberg’s groundbreaking invention included movable metal type, an innovative oil-based ink ...
Jul 25, 2022 · Johannes Gutenberg (l. c. 1398-1468) was the inventor of the printing press (c. 1450) who seems to have developed the device from wine and oil presses of the time. Gutenberg’s printing press not only revolutionized book making but literally changed the world in that ideas could now be shared over long distances with a wider audience than ever ...
- Joshua J. Mark
Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (c. 1393–1406 – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who invented the movable-type printing press. Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg's invention of the printing press enabled a much faster rate of printing.
May 7, 2018 · Goldsmith and inventor Johannes Gutenberg was a political exile from Mainz, Germany when he began experimenting with printing in Strasbourg (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) in 1440.
Apr 27, 2020 · Johannes Gutenberg (born Johannes Gensfleisch zum Gutenberg; circa 1400—February 3, 1468) was a German blacksmith and inventor who developed the world’s first mechanical moveable type printing press.
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