The beginning of printing in Europe

The beginning of printing in Europe is primarily due to the invention of paper in China. At the time of book publishing, at least two-thirds of the manuscripts created were on different-quality paper of different quality.

The earliest information about the technical details of book publishing dates back to the 2nd century. BC. E. They are contained in the founding of archaeologists in Greece (on the island of Crete) Festistkogo disk. It was made of clay. Stamped or typed letters were placed on it. The stamping method was common in the East.

The methods of printing existed at different times in various forms. In Chinese chronicles, you can find information about a blacksmith, whose name was Pi Shen. He between 1041 and 1048 made of clay letters. According to the same chronicle, the blacksmith invented a cash register where the letters were kept. However, the editions have not reached our days.

Based on archival and museum evidence, historians suggest that the beginning of printing in Europe could be laid in Egypt and Byzantium. The difficulty is only in confirming the theory, since there are no books published at that time.

The beginning of printing in Europe is associated with many names. For example, in history there is information about a certain Prokop Waldfogel. He possessed 48 metal letters and other instruments. However, the books he published were not preserved.

Among other persons in history there is also Jean Brito, and doctor Pamfilio Castadi. About the court printer of the King of France Nicola Jansone, who published books in Venice and Paris, several sources say.

The beginning of printing in Europe is closely connected with the church service from the Netherlands. His name was Laurence Jansson Bonfire. It is assumed that he seized the secret of printing from the eastern Armenian refugees. Closer to old age, Bonfire made mobile letters for his grandsons and printed several editions. These books have survived, but there is no evidence that they were made by Bonfire.

In many European cities there are monuments to people who are more or less connected with printing. However, their priority in the invention of printing technology is not proved by history. The idea of the publication was more clearly embodied in the middle of the 15th century.

According to many scholars, the merit of the invention of the publication of books is rightfully assigned to Gutenberg. It is with this name that the beginning of book printing in Europe is connected. The date to which his first printing experiments relate are the year 1440. At this time in Strasbourg, he was engaged in publishing the grammar of the Latin language Donat, astrological calendar, papal indulgences. After a while, returning to his hometown of Mainz, Gutenberg began to work on the publication of the complete Bible.

The 42-line Bible in Latin was published in 1453-1454. The pages of the book (total 1282) contained 42 lines, arranged in two columns. The elements of the decoration of the edition were made by hand.

After the death of Gutenberg in 1468, the printing business was continued by his students. They spread the news of the invented master of technology publications throughout Germany, and then Europe. Guttenberg created not only the first printing equipment, but also came up with a method of making a font and a word-like form. In addition, he owns the idea of creating a special alloy composition for casting letters.

The history of printing in Russia began in the middle of the 16th century. The founder of the printing business in the Moscow state was Ivan Fedorov. The first book (dated) - "The Apostle" - was published in 1564 by the Moscow Printing Yard. On its creation worked Fedorov and his assistant Peter Mstislavets. By the 17th century, several printing houses existed in Russia. However, until the end of the 18th century, printing equipment did not undergo significant changes. Peter 1 changed only the font - introduced a civilian instead of the Old Slavonic letter.