Printing History

Printing is know to have been first developed in the seventh century (600-699) in Korea and China where printing from wooden blocks was developed.

The Diamond Sutra

A copy of the Chinese version of Diamond Sūtra by Aurel Stein, was dated back to May 11, 868. It is, in the words of the British Library, "the earliest complete survival of a dated printed book.”

Material

Print was developed in Europe by craftsmen. The earliest printing took the form of illustrated sheets printed from carved wooden blocks. The craftsmen made and decorated it by hand. Most of craftsmen were unknown.

Language

The books that did exist were mostly written in Latin and owned by the Church and the very rich.

The Alphabet:

Johannes Gutenberg

Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg was a German blacksmith, goldsmith, printer, and publisher who introduced printing to Europe in 1450.

Spread of print

In 1471 printing had spread to Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and France.

In 1480 it had spread to Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Holland, Belgium and England.

In 1500 printing had spread to almost every part of Europe, including Portugal, Denmark, Austria and Sweden

Print in 1800’s

By the end of the 1800’s even more efficient machinery could print 30,000 to 40,000 copies an hour.