Home » Johannes Gutenberg

Johannes Gutenberg

The first thing that pops up in our heads whenever we take the name of Johannes Gutenberg is the Printing press and the print culture. Being a European blacksmith and later a goldsmith, he took time and worked hard to establish the printing press and make the print culture widely in vogue and popular among the populace.

This breakthrough invention made his name shine like gold over the pages of history. Here to talk about him would really unravel a lot about his life, his thoughts, his strategy and his own struggles. Belonging from a very ordinary family background it was not a piece of cake for Johannes Gutenberg to invent the print culture and to bring the printing press to fruition.

Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gutenberg

 

About his life; Johannes Gutenberg

He was basically a metal worker and belonged from Germany. Despite of quite an ordinary family background he was really very ambitious and had an iron determination as well. To invent the print culture was all about thinking big, thinking different and thinking out of the box.

Johannes Gutenberg worked hard and didn’t trim the cells of belief in the winds of change. Johannes Gutenberg, didn’t at all harp on the same strings and instead of going with the conventional flow, he came out of the cocoon and did hit the brownie points to chalk out the idea of printing press and flesh out the thought as well. To implement the entire thing was really unconventional and tough for the time as the age was medieval.

Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gutenberg

 

The basic thought from which this idea was conceived: To replace the handwritten books which were more like manuscripts and less like books. The thought of replacing the convention of hand written books was itself unconventional.

Block printing was the inception

 To start with his massive idea, the first step had to be taken and that was block printing, this mainly meant to have a wooden block that was cut out in shape of the letters and was meant to be the basic mould of the typed letters on the paper. The gaps were filled with ink so that the shaped impression could be printed upon the paper surfaces. This was the pioneering process per se.

Later progressions made in this field 

Local books were being printed, this lead to printing of the Bible later, rather much later. Johannes Gutenberg did open an array of workshops in Europe. He reached this crescendo of fame after experimenting a lot with his works, the printing technology and his ideas, as ideas grow in wild profusion.

With the passage of time the clarity of printing got better and the quality also increased. Soon sharp letters were printed on papers; many printing machines were installed in the press buildings. It took time for the printing press to flourish as social acceptance and technical growth matters. As a whole Johannes Gutenberg is a shining example of a legend that has his name carved in gold upon the pages of history.