On February 3rd in the Year 1468, Johannes Gutenberg died.
Now, I’m sure some of you are wondering who Johannes Gutenberg was. Well,that’s what I’m here for my “little Scholars”.
Johannes Gutenberg was the Inventor of the Movable Type Printing.
He was born between 1394 and 1404. His Exact Birth year is Unknown. Gutenberg was born in the German City of Mainz . He was the youngest son of an Upper-Class Merchant Father and Shopkeeper Daughter Mother.
Here’s an Excerpt from Wikipedia to explain how he came up with the Idea of the Printing Press:
“Around 1439, Gutenberg was involved in a misadventure making mirrors for pilgrims to Aachen, and when the question of repaying the money came up, Gutenberg is said to have promised to share a “secret”. It has been widely speculated that this secret may have been the idea of printing with movable type. Legend has it that the idea came to him “like a ray of light”.
At least up to 1444, he lived in Strasbourg, most likely in the St. Arbogust suburb. It is not clear what work he was engaged in, or whether some early trials with printing from movable type may have been conducted there. After this, there is a gap of four years in the record. In 1448, he was back in Mainz, where he took out a loan from his brother-in-law Arnold Gelthus, presumably for a printing press.
By 1450, the press was most likely in operation, and a German poem had been printed, possibly the first item to be printed there. Gutenberg was able to convince the wealthy moneylender Johann Fust for a loan of 800 guilders. Peter Schoeffer, who became Fust’s son-in-law, also joined the enterprise. Shoeffer had worked as a scribe in Paris and designed some of the first typefaces.
Gutenberg’s workshop was set up at Hof Humbrecht, a property belonging to a distant relative. It is not clear when Gutenberg conceived the Bible project, but for this he borrowed another 800 guilders from Fust, and work commenced in 1452. At the same time, the press was also printing other, more lucrative texts (possibly Latin grammars). There is also some speculation that there may have been two presses, one for the pedestrian texts, and one for the Bible. One of the profit making enterprises of the new press was the printing of thousands of indulgences for the church, documented from 1454–55.
In 1455 Gutenberg brought out the 42-Line Bible , commonly known as the Gutenberg Bible of which about 180 were printed, most on paper and some on Vellum .”
At least up to 1444, he lived in Strasbourg, most likely in the St. Arbogust suburb. It is not clear what work he was engaged in, or whether some early trials with printing from movable type may have been conducted there. After this, there is a gap of four years in the record. In 1448, he was back in Mainz, where he took out a loan from his brother-in-law Arnold Gelthus, presumably for a printing press.
By 1450, the press was most likely in operation, and a German poem had been printed, possibly the first item to be printed there. Gutenberg was able to convince the wealthy moneylender Johann Fust for a loan of 800 guilders. Peter Schoeffer, who became Fust’s son-in-law, also joined the enterprise. Shoeffer had worked as a scribe in Paris and designed some of the first typefaces.
Gutenberg’s workshop was set up at Hof Humbrecht, a property belonging to a distant relative. It is not clear when Gutenberg conceived the Bible project, but for this he borrowed another 800 guilders from Fust, and work commenced in 1452. At the same time, the press was also printing other, more lucrative texts (possibly Latin grammars). There is also some speculation that there may have been two presses, one for the pedestrian texts, and one for the Bible. One of the profit making enterprises of the new press was the printing of thousands of indulgences for the church, documented from 1454–55.
In 1455 Gutenberg brought out the 42-Line Bible , commonly known as the Gutenberg Bible of which about 180 were printed, most on paper and some on Vellum .”
If you wanna know more about Johannes Gutenberg and his Invention check out Wikipedia.
That’s it for today my busy little Scholars. I hope you all learned something.
