Printing press

A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an <a href="/facts/Ink/Y7Wj0YQS">inked</a> surface resting upon a <a href="/facts/Printing/ta4QpeDE">print</a> medium (such as <a href="/facts/Paper/FUETwwKV">paper</a> or <a href="/facts/Cloth/PJrVeM5S">cloth</a>), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the cloth, paper, or other medium was brushed or rubbed repeatedly to achieve the transfer of ink and accelerated the process. Typically used for texts, the invention and <a href="/facts/Global_spread_of_the_printing_press/UGFgtImC">global spread of the printing press</a> was one of the most influential events in the second millennium.
In <a href="/facts/Germany/paluuWBX">Germany</a>, around 1440, the <a href="/facts/Goldsmith/L1xlgt2o">goldsmith</a> <a href="/facts/Johannes_Gutenberg/HkQISRmx">Johannes Gutenberg</a> invented the <a href="/facts/Movable_type/EscMKqoy">movable-type</a> printing press, which started the <a href="/facts/Printing_Revolution/ta4QpeDE">Printing Revolution</a>. Modelled on the design of existing <a href="/facts/Screw_press/13ULaoUl">screw presses</a>, a single <a href="/facts/Renaissance/4D9Bc6KU">Renaissance</a> movable-type printing press could produce up to 3,600 pages per workday, compared to forty by <a href="/facts/History_of_typography_in_East_Asia/94IL0sHa">hand-printing</a> and a few by <a href="/facts/Scribe/E6Kq8CJG">hand-copying</a>. Gutenberg's newly devised <a href="/facts/Hand_mould/sP0lWma6">hand mould</a> made possible the precise and rapid creation of metal <a href="/facts/Movable_type/EscMKqoy">movable type</a> in large quantities. His two inventions, the hand mould and the movable-type printing press, together drastically reduced the cost of printing books and other documents in Europe, particularly for shorter print runs.
From <a href="/facts/Mainz/vT0TxGjz">Mainz</a>, the movable-type printing press spread within several decades to over 200 cities in a dozen European countries. By 1500, printing presses in operation throughout <a href="/facts/Western_Europe/YmWlV59w">Western Europe</a> had already produced more than 20 million volumes. In the 16th century, with presses spreading further afield, their output rose tenfold to an estimated 150 to 200 million copies. The earliest press in the <a href="/facts/Western_Hemisphere/g8YNNRQG">Western Hemisphere</a> was established by Spaniards in <a href="/facts/New_Spain/NYaDwcqK">New Spain</a> in 1539, and by the mid-17th century, the <a href="/facts/Early_American_publishers_and_printers/ylH8ov0D">first printing presses arrived in British colonial America</a> in response to the increasing demand for <a href="/facts/Bible/SqkRTKCh">Bibles</a> and other religious literature. The operation of a press became synonymous with the enterprise of printing and lent its name to a new medium of expression and communication, "<a href="/facts/Newspaper/q4waJGVL">the press</a>".
The spread of mechanical movable type printing in Europe in the <a href="/facts/Renaissance/4D9Bc6KU">Renaissance</a> introduced the era of <a href="/facts/Mass_communication/h8IIGLVK">mass communication</a>, which permanently altered the structure of society. The relatively unrestricted circulation of information and ideas transcended borders, captured the masses in the <a href="/facts/Reformation/9ClEbhnL">Reformation</a>, and threatened the power of political and religious authorities. The sharp increase in <a href="/facts/Literacy/GpXB3QbJ">literacy</a> broke the monopoly of the literate elite on education and learning and bolstered the emerging <a href="/facts/Middle_class/6EUq9Mue">middle class</a>. Across Europe, the increasing cultural self-awareness of its peoples led to the rise of proto-<a href="/facts/Nationalism/IECpIhm0">nationalism</a> and accelerated the development of European <a href="/facts/Vernaculars/DEmxDgM3">vernaculars</a>, to the detriment of <a href="/facts/Latin/pM3Kge85">Latin</a>'s status as <a href="/facts/Lingua_franca/dlGrD7ra">lingua franca</a>. In the 19th century, the replacement of the hand-operated Gutenberg-style press by steam-powered <a href="/facts/Rotary_press/Nj4XAfhw">rotary presses</a> allowed printing on an industrial scale.

Printing press open-in-new

Printing press