|
|
|
|
|
Gutenberg, Inventor of Movable Type > 
Gutenberg, Johannes, German printer and pioneer in the use of movable type, sometimes identified as the first European to print with hand-set type cast in molds. Detailed records of Gutenberg's life and work are scant; his name does not appear on any of the works attributed to him. He was born around the year 1400, perhaps as early as 1394, probably in Mainz, and trained as a goldsmith. His family later settled in Strasbourg. In 1438 Gutenberg entered into a partnership with Andreas Dritzehn to conduct experiments in printing. Returning to Mainz in about 1450, Gutenberg formed another partnership, with the German merchant and moneylender Johannes Fust, and set up a press on which he probably started printing the large Latin Bible associated with his name, as well as some smaller books and leaflets. The Bible, known variously as the Gutenberg Bible, Mazarin Bible, or 42-Line Bible, was apparently finished before the end of 1456. German printer Peter Schöffer, Fust's son-in-law and Gutenberg's apprentice, may have helped to print the work. Johannes Gutenberg originated the technique of printing from movable type. Gutenberg used hand-set type cast in molds to print multiple copies of manuscripts. Whereas scribes copied manuscripts by hand before Gutenberg’s invention, copying became mechanized and much faster after the invention. The invention of movable-type printing facilitated an easier exchange of ideas throughout Europe and helped spread the ideas of the Renaissance.
|
