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Printing Press: When Paper And Technology Got Into A Relationship

Printing Press: When Paper And Technology Got Into A Relationship

Interestingly, the Printing Press is a machine, but it has played a crucial role in giving life to human emotions. How can we even forget reading Champak, Raj Comics, Tinkle Comics, and our favourite magazine in childhood and being all excited for the next edition? Here is a collection of the facts that will shed light on the journey of the Printing Press:

1. The Printing Press is a mechanical device that prints information on a print medium by applying pressure to an inked surface, transferring the ink to the print medium.

Printing Press

via pinterest

2. This machine was a crucial improvement in the ancient printing methods because it was much faster than repeatedly brushing or rubbing the print medium to transfer ink.

Printing

via history

3. It is said that ‘The Diamond Sutra’ from China, a Buddhist book during the Tang Dynasty, is the oldest known printed book. It was printed using block printing. It is the method that utilizes panels of hand-carved woodblocks in reverse.

The Diamond Sutra

via pinterest

4. The credit for the invention of the Printing Press goes to Johannes Gutenberg, a German inventor and goldsmith. By inventing the Printing Press in 1440, Gutenberg began the Printing Revolution.

Johannes Gutenberg

via thoughtco

5. The Gutenberg Press was inspired by the existing screw presses that could print nearly 3600 pages per workday. On the other hand, hand-printing could print only 40 pages, and hand copying produced even fewer.

Printing

via youtube

6. Gutenberg’s invention of the Printing Press turned out to be a game-changer. It led to a reduction in the time and labour required to print each book, reducing the cost of the books while making it easier to print multiple copies of a single book.

Printing Press

via history

7. Breakthrough in the communication field, the wide circulation of ideas and information became easy because of the Printing Press. People were introduced to diverse opinions and perspectives through books.

8. Within just a few decades, printing activities drastically increased across Europe due to the invention of the Printing Press. By the end of the 15th century, printing spread from a single print shop in Mainz, Germany, to nearly 270 cities in Eastern, Western, and Central Europe.

Printing activities

via history

9. Gutenberg’s Press was further modified time and again to increase its functionality and efficiency. Lord Stanhope doubled the output of Gutenberg’s press to 480 pages per hour, and Friedrich Koenig further increased it to 1100 pages per hour.

10. In 1843, Richard M Hoe invented a steam-powered rotary Printing Press, which could print millions of copies of a page in one day. The throughput of this Printing Press was nearly 8000 pages per hour.

Strangely enough, when Gutenberg printed Gutenberg Bible using red ink, the masses mistook the ink to be human blood. John Fust, the man who funded Gutenberg’s Printing Press, was even accused of black magic due to this very reason!

 

What we thus learn is, ‘Superstitions are not the “haq & amanat” of Indians alone, right?’

Blog Edited By Ritika Gupta

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