| Who invented the printing press? If you were a good | | | | just mentioned, he also found the time to mess |
| little scholar and paid attention at school, as all of us | | | | around with inks and come up with a new oil based |
| did, in retrospect at least, then you would probably | | | | ink to replace the water based ones that they had |
| have given the answer as: Johann Gutenberg. At | | | | been using at that time. One can only assume that |
| least that is the answer that you were meant to | | | | he led a solitary life. |
| have given or else this article is going to hold very | | | | After the invention of Gutenberg's press authorship |
| little interest for you. | | | | became meaningful and profitable and suddenly |
| The thing is, and it was given away a bit in the | | | | people discovered that if they weren't careful, others |
| opening paragraph, Johann Gutenberg only invented a | | | | could steal the very ideas out of their heads and |
| certain kind of printing press. He didn't invent the first | | | | claim them as their own. Thus copyright laws of |
| one. In order to find out who invented the first | | | | intellectual property rights were born. Out of the |
| printing press we have to go much further back and | | | | great, come the devious, and new ways have to |
| a little east. | | | | thought up to thwart them. |
| Far East, China to be exact, where so many things | | | | In 1812 another pair of Germans, Friedrich Koenig and |
| originated, something many Westerners conveniently | | | | Andreas Friedrich Bauer invented the Steam-powered |
| forget. It was 1040 and Bi Sheng is the person who | | | | Press. It could print over 1000 copies of a page an |
| is credited with inventing the first movable printing | | | | hour vs the 240 copies that the Gutenberg press |
| press. He made it with porcelain components. It | | | | could do. It seems there was no stopping the |
| remained in use for around two hundred years and | | | | Germans. They were going to take over the world |
| during that time it was transmitted to Korea, where | | | | one printing press at a time. |
| it was also used until they went one better. They | | | | Fortunately for us the US wasn't going to take this |
| invented a metal press around the year 1230 during | | | | kind of rampant runaway triumphant behaviour lying |
| the Goryeo Dynasty. That can't have pleased the | | | | down. In 1833, Richard M Hoe, invented the Rotary |
| Chinese too much. They kind of ruled Korea. They | | | | Printing Press. This press didn't deal with mere |
| viewed it as a province of China. It must really have | | | | thousands of copies; it did millions of copies a day. |
| irked them to have the provincial yokels out smart | | | | You can always count on the Americans to go large. |
| them technology wise. | | | | By this stage someone (could have been the |
| We have to go even further back than that though | | | | Germans, could have been the Americans, could even |
| if we want to find the earliest examples of printing. | | | | have been the Chinese, my research did not cover it) |
| Block printing is about as far back as printing history | | | | had managed to reduce the size of the press in |
| goes (according to a certain well know online | | | | order to use it for smaller jobs. Coincidentally it was |
| encyclopaedia), dating as far back as 627. It was | | | | called a jobbing press. It was used for business cards, |
| used fairly widely, examples being found across the | | | | letterheads and envelopes and the like. Commercial |
| Far East and Europe. It was mainly used for pictures | | | | printers were born and a whole new job market |
| though and I guess the Chinese wanted something | | | | opened up. |
| more practical for their writing, hence the | | | | These days we use Offset Printing Presses, usually in |
| development of the porcelain press. | | | | combination with lithographic practice. There is a |
| Our friend, the German engraver Gutenberg, is only | | | | rubber mat involved and water and oil and somehow |
| third in the printing press hierarchy and he only | | | | the water is repulsed and all of this results in |
| comes along in 1440. A full 400 years after the | | | | consistently higher image quality. Its technical. |
| Chinese invented their press. He makes up for his | | | | It's been quite a journey, from cruddy blocks to high |
| tardiness though by coming up with a special alloy | | | | tech rubber mats and oil and water. It's been a global |
| consisting of lead, tin and antimony (which is quite an | | | | journey, with just about the whole world contributing |
| interesting metal if you look it up). The new press | | | | something to the creation of the ready availability of |
| made books that were more durable and of a higher | | | | the written word. Now if only we could do something |
| quality than those that were previously printed. He | | | | about the appalling illiteracy rates that plague great |
| also used a special matrix to make a new type of | | | | swathes of Africa, South America and Asia (where |
| printing block. It seems that Gutenberg was quite the | | | | literacy was practically born), we might be allowed to |
| overachiever because in addition to all of the things | | | | call ourselves civilized. |