Printing Comes To Europe:,

 

 

Printing Comes To Europe:

Movable Typography - Guttenberg:

 

 

Movable type is the system and technology of printing and photography that uses movable component to reproduce the elements of a document usually on the medium of paper.

The world's first movable type printing technology for printing paper books was made of porcelain materials and was invented around 1040 AD in China during the Northern Song Dynasty by the inventor BI SHENG The oldest extant book printed with movable metal typeJIKJI was printed in Korea in 1377 during the Goryeo dynasty.

The development of the printing press in Europe may have been influenced by various sporadic reports of movable type technology brought back to Europe by returning business people and missionaries to China. Some of these medieval European accounts are still preserved in the library archives of the Vatican and Oxford University among many others.^[5] However, none of these early European accounts before Gutenberg discuss printing.

Around 1450, Johannes Gutenberg introduced the metal movable-type printing press in Europe, along with innovations in casting the type based on a matrix and hand mold. The small number of alphabetic characters needed for European languages was an important factor. Gutenberg was the first to create his type pieces from an alloy of lead, tin, and antimony—and these materials remained standard for 550 years.

For alphabetic scripts, movable-type page setting was quicker than woodblock printing. The metal type pieces were more durable and the lettering was more uniform, leading to typography and fonts. The high quality and relatively low price of the Gutenberg Bible (1455) established the superiority of movable type in Europe and the use of printing presses spread rapidly. The printing press may be regarded as one of the key factors fostering the Renaissance  and due to its effectiveness, its use spread around the globe.