Large-scale printing of paper money notes, using movable bronze type, was introduced during the Chinese, Northern Song dynasty in 1216, when many financial transactions were too large for the exchange of heavy bronze coins. Forgers got the death penalty.
Around 1230, Koreans invented a bronze type by adapted the method of casting coins. A mold was formed by pressing a wood cut character into soft clay. Bronze was then poured into the mold.
Block printing first came to Europe, as a method for printing on cloth, from the Muslim world, and was common by 1300. Images printed on cloth for religious purposes could be quite large and elaborate. The oldest known book printed with movable metal type is the Korean, 'Selected Teachings of Buddhist Sages and Son Masters' dated 1377.
When paper became readily available in Europe, around 1400, the printing technique was used for small woodcut religious images and playing cards. A very large numbers of these were produced from about 1425.Around the mid-fifteenth-century, books with both text and images carved in the same block were often printed as a cheaper alternative to hand copied manuscripts and books printed with movable type.
Johannes Gutenberg started work on his printing press around 1436, in partnership with Andreas Dritzehen and Andreas Heilmann (a paper mill owner), and by 1450, he had developed the first movable type printing system in Europe. He made his type pieces from an alloy of lead, tin, antimony, copper and bismuth (An innovation still used today). He developed an oil-based ink, created a softer, more absorbent paper and adapted the screw-press (used to press grapes in wine making) for printing. Movable type setting and printing with a press was faster than woodblock printing and the metal type pieces were more durable. The lettering being more uniform permitted the development of more fonts. The high quality and relatively low price of the 1455 Gutenberg Bible proved the superiority of movable type for European languages and the printing press rapidly spread throughout Europe.
Before printing presses were introduced in Europe, most material was hand copied in Latin. Afterwards, the number of books increased and, while many were printed in Latin, more and more were in the various languages of Europe. However, Latin remained an international language until the eighteenth century.
Printing technology revolutionized the dissemination of information. It helped to create universal education and the technological and scientific revolution leading to the modern world economy. Within four centuries of the invention of Gutenberg's printing press, the number of books printed in Europe increased from a few million to around one billion copies.
Samuel Hartlib wrote in 1641, "the art of printing will so spread knowledge that the common people, knowing their own rights and liberties, will not be governed by way of oppression".
But there were many objectors. In the Muslim world, printing in Arabic was opposed. In the sixteenth century, it was a sin for Turks to print religious books. In 1515, Sultan Selim issued a decree making the practice of printing punishable by death. Ibrahim Muteferrika established the first press for printing in Arabic in the Ottoman Empire, against opposition from the calligraphers (who hand copied religious works). It operated from 1729 to 1743 and printed up to 1,000 copies each of 17 works in 23 volumes, all on non-religious subjects.
German printing guilds banned Jews, so Hebrew printing began in Rome in 1470, but local Italian (Catholic) rulers were authorized to grant or revoke licenses to publish Hebrew books.
Initially, most books were about religion and subject to censorship, with extreme penalties for printing unapproved material. In 1584, William Carter was executed by hanging, for printing a pro-Catholic pamphlet, in protestant England.
Reading was considered unsociable, rebellious and the cause of dangerous emotions.
Why? If women were taught to read, they could read love notes!
But gradually, more people gained access to books and printing guaranteed that later generations would be able to build on the intellectual achievements of the past.
Early in the 19th century, Germany had few industries and investors so, in 1804, Friedrich Gottlob Koenig travelled to England to pursue his dream of building a steam driven press. In London, he met watchmaker Andreas Friedrich Bauer and together they completed their first machine in April 1812.
On 29 November 1814, John Walter, worried about angering his employees, secretly used one of these high-speed, steam-powered printing presses to print an edition of The Times newspaper in London. The press could print both sides of the paper at the same time and at a rate of 1,100 sheets per hour, far faster than existing printing presses.
Koenig returned to Germany in August 1817 after disagreeing with a partner, Thomas Bensley, who wanted sole rights to the new machine. He chose an abandoned monastery in Würzburg for his new factory and the company Koenig & Bauer AG is still operating there 200 years after its founding.
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Middle Era
Non-FictionJesus and Muhammad adopted the Hebrew's belief in one God and Christianity and Islam spread throughout the world. The Chinese were using gunpowder in the 9th century and, by the 13th , cannon dominated the battlefields. Paper money appeared in China...
