Gutenberg and the Printing Press

Gutenberg was born in Germany as the son of a merchant. His father worked in a mine, so Gutenberg learned the trades of a blacksmith and goldsmith. Little is known about the rest of is early life and education. In 1444 the press was perfected and revealed, by 1450 it was in full operation. Gutenberg’s experience in the field of metalworking allowed him to design a high quality durable type. It was said that his type case had 290 separate slots for letters and special characters. A printing type is the letter or special character that are inked then stamped onto paper. Before each section of print had to be cast for each new project. But with Gutenberg’s printing press the types could be moved around and it made things easier to print. He was also the first person to use an oil based ink instead of water. Which made everything last longer. As a project Gutenberg decided to make copies of the bible. That way everyone had a copy. It was the first big project using the movable printing press type. Once more printing presses were made, ideas could be copied and spread faster than ever before. Literacy rates rose as a result of more access to books.