German blacksmith, goldsmith, printer, and publisher
1398 CE
to 1468 CE
Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg (c. 1398 – February 3, 1468) is a German blacksmith, goldsmith, printer, and publisher who introduces printing to Europe.
His invention of mechanical movable type printing starts the Printing Revolution and is widely regarded as the most important event of the modern period.
It plays a key role in the development of the Renaissance, Reformation, the Age of Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution and lays the material basis for the modern knowledge-based economy and the spread of learning to the masses.
Gutenberg is the first European to use movable type printing, in around 1439.
Among his many contributions to printing are: the invention of a process for mass-producing movable type; the use of oil-based ink; and the use of a wooden printing press similar to the agricultural screw presses of the period.
His truly epochal invention is the combination of these elements into a practical system that allows the mass production of printed books and wis economically viable for printers and readers alike.
Gutenberg's method for making type is traditionally considered to have included a type metal alloy and a hand mold for casting type.
The use of movable type is a marked improvement on the handwritten manuscript, which was the existing method of book production in Europe, and upon woodblock printing, and revolutionizes European book-making.
Gutenberg's printing technology spreads rapidly throughout Europe and later the world.
His major work, the Gutenberg Bible (also known as the 42-line Bible), has been acclaimed for its high aesthetic and technical quality.
