Printing Press

Evolution of Writing

In the past, writers used a tool such a knife to write in clay tablets.

Later, people wrote with a pen on papyrus.

papyrus

Early Process

• Parchment was made from animal skin
• Bought, brought to the monastery, and rubbed smooth by an assistant, before the copying could begin
• Lines had to be spaced exactly, marked by knife incisions

Much later, they began to use paper.

Life Before Gutenberg

• Books could be found only in monasteries, places of education, and in the homes of the very wealthy
• As copying was a laborious process, only texts that held wide appeal were reproduced
• Not surprisingly, the Bible was the primary text

Scribes

• Scribes were responsible for copying manuscripts, while “illuminators” created the illustrations
• Illuminators added stylized fonts, gold trimming, and beautiful color to the tomes
• Worked in special rooms called scriptoriums
• Scribes and similar trades formed guilds, similar to today’s unions

In that time, books were very expensive.

Johannes Gutenberg

• Trained as a metallurgist and goldsmith
• Hailed from Mainz, Germany. Born around 1399
• Used his skills in metalworking to aid in the construction of his most important invention
• The Printing Press
• First mass-marketed book he produced was the Gutenberg Bible

The Printing Press

• Before the invention of the printing press, books and written materials had to be copied by hand.
• The printing press began to change that. This new machine allowed people print entire pages of text and even make multiple copies!
• The printing press mechanised book production and made the whole process much easier, faster and cheaper!

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The Printing Press

• Inspired by the wine press, which uses a similar technique
• Constructed mainly of wood
• Letters were carved onto movable “keys”. These were coated with ink
• First Book produced “The Bible”

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Firstly, the printer created a copy of the text. They did this using small metal letters, or movable type, which they arranged in a wooden tray. 

The movable type was coated in ink and a piece of paper was placed over the letters.

A metal handle was used to apply extra pressure and ensure a clear print!

The printer then slid the tray under a heavy press. The pressure of the press caused the ink on the metal letters to be transferred to the paper.

But how did the printing press work?

Books

• Allowed books to be mass produced
• Naturally, knowledge would be available to many more people
• Created an intellectual revolution in all areas of thought—philosophy, science, and religion
• Since the layperson could buy a Bible now, it was open to individual interpretation
• Culture moved from oral to literate

The printing press allowed for far more varied kinds of written materials to appear besides books: pamphlets, chapbooks, newsbooks and broadside ballads were some examples.

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They were usually smaller in size, had fewer pages and were printed on lower quality paper. This made them cheaper than books, which were still quite expensive due to their binding and large quantity of paper sheets. Consequently these new types of prints were more accessible to a wider public.

Pamphlets were a popular form of cheap literature and they could cover a wide range of topics, from politics to witchcraft, and even news (these were called newsbooks).

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• A folio was composed of a sheet of paper folded only once, resulting in a larger pamphlet with 2 leaves and 4 pages of printed text.

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• In a quarto the sheet was folded twice, forming a slightly smaller pamphlet with 4 leaves and 8 pages of printed text.

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• An octavo was made by folding the paper sheet three times, resulting in a small pamphlet with 8 leaves and 16 pages of printed text.

The size of a pamphlet varied depending on how many times the paper sheet was folded in order to create the pages:

Octavo: Thomas Middleton, No wit [or] help like a woman's (1657) [Wing M1985] // Shelfmark: PR2714.M7 1657 (Eberly Family Special Collections Library, PSU Libraries)

Quarto: Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the greate ... the second parte (1606) [STC 17428a] // Shelfmark: PR2669.A1 1606 (Eberly Family Special Collections Library, PSU Libraries)

Folio: Fernando de Rojas (trans. James Mabbe), The Spanish Bawd (1631) [STC 4911] // Shelfmark: PQ6427.E56 1631 (Eberly Family Special Collections Library, PSU Libraries)

Photo by: Clair M. L. Bourne.

Octavo (folded thrice)

Quarto (folded twice)

Folio (folded once)

Effects: Religion

• Helped spread Catholicism
• Spread great opposition to the Church and spurred new ideas about religion.
• Printing of the Gutenberg Bible
• Once people could now own their own Bible they felt that they could develop their own relationship with God

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Luther’s 95 Theses

• In 1517, the 95 Theses were nailed to a church door. They were written in Latin.
• Luther’s intention: NOT TO BREAK WITH CHURCH, BUT REFORM IT!
• Criticized:
1. Indulgences
2. Power of Pope
3. Wealth of Church
• God’s Grace won by FAITH ALONE!

Excommunication

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• In 1520 Pope Leo X excommunicated Luther.
• Excommunication- expelled him from the church.
• Holy Roman Emperor Charles V passed measures to suppress Luther’s writings.
• Lutheran princes in Germany issued a protestatio or protest.
• Hence the term Protestant!

Spreading Luther’s Ideas

• Martin Luther’s ideas quickly spread due to the printing press.
• Luther’s supporters quickly printed many copies of the Theses, and they were distributed throughout Europe.
• The Church called on Luther to recant, but he refused- instead he urged Christians to reject the tyranny of Rome and wrote that the Church could only be reformed by secular authorities

Luther Beliefs

• Translated parts of Bible, so everyone could read it
• All towns should have a school
• Banned indulgences
• Simplified mass.
• Clergy could marry

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The Pope Strikes Back

• Pope Leo X (the Medici) excommunicated Luther in 1521
• Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor,�held a religious council called the �Diet of Worms
• From this council/trial Luther’s teachings were found to be false
• Luther still refused to give up his �ideas, and Charles V declared him an �outlaw, making it a crime for anyone in the empire to help him
• However, Luther’s strong defense of his faith and ideas won many Europeans to his cause

Lutheranism

• Luther’s ideas gained a following due to the printing
• Followers called themselves Lutherans, and adopted many of the changes Luther suggested, including:
• Led services and used a Bible �translated into the vernacular
• Rejected 5 of the 7 sacraments �because they weren’t �mentioned in the Bible (and the �Bible is the sole source of �religious truth)
• Simplified the elaborate ritual of the mass
• Banned indulgences, pilgrimages, and prayers to saints
• Allowed the clergy to marry