Block printing was becoming more popular, which involved carving each page of a text into a block of wood and pressing each block onto paper. Because these processes were so labor-intensive, books were very expensive, and only the rich could afford them.
He was trained as a goldsmith, gem cutter, and metallurgist. For some time he lived in Strasbourg, most likely in the late s to early s.
By then, he had been losing money in his business and began looking for a way to make money to pay off his debts. He started working on a device that would make it possible to print texts using movable blocks of letters and graphics. These blocks, used with paper, ink, and a press, would make it possible to print books much faster and more cheaply than ever before.
He used metals that he was familiar with — lead, antimony, and tin — to cast blocks of letters and symbols, and he created a linseed- and soot-based ink of the consistency he believed to be ideal for printing on handmade paper. Again, as Gutenberg never put his name on any of his works, all ascriptions are hypothetical. In Mainz was sacked by the troops of Adolph II. Fust's printing office was set on fire and Gutenberg suffered losses as well, the same as other craftsmen. In consequence of this disaster many typographers left Mainz, and through their dispersion they also scattered their until now so jealously protected know-how.
Gutenberg remained in Mainz, but he was again reduced to poverty, and he requested the archiepiscopal court for a sinecure, which he obtained on Jan. The works from this final period in his life are unknown because of lack of identification.
Reportedly, Gutenberg became blind in the last months of his life, living partly in Mainz and partly in the neighboring village of Eltville. He died in St. Victor's parish in Mainz on Feb.
His physical appearance is unknown, though there are many imaginary depictions of his face and figure, including statues erected in Mainz and Strassburg. He died on February 3, , and was buried in the church of the Franciscan convent in the nearby town of Eltville, Germany. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives.
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Fust continued printing the Gutenberg line Bibles, eventually publishing about copies, of which only 22 exist today. Virtually bankrupt, Gutenberg is believed to have started a smaller printing shop in the town of Bamberg around The oldest surviving manuscript from the early Gutenberg press is that of a fragment of the poem "The Sibyl's Prophecy," which was made using Gutenberg's earliest typeface between — The page, which includes a planetary table for astrologers, was found in the late 19th century and donated to the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz in While printers had been using movable type made of ceramic or wood blocks for centuries, Gutenberg is generally credited with the invention of practical movable metal type printing.
Instead of individually hand-carved blocks of wood, Gutenberg made metal molds of each letter or symbol into which he could pour molten metal, such as copper or lead. Great quantities of each molded metal letter could be produced far more quickly than carved wood letters. The printer could thus arrange and rearrange the individual metal letter slugs as often as needed to print several different pages using the same letters. For most books, setting up individual pages for printing with movable metal type proved far faster and economical than woodblock printing.
The high quality and relative affordability of the Gutenberg Bible introduced movable metal type to Europe and established it as the preferred method of printing.
Although historians can't pinpoint when the first book was created, the oldest known book in existence was printed in China in CE.
Called "The Diamond Sutra," it was a copy of a sacred Buddhist text, in a foot-long scroll printed with wooden blocks. It was commissioned by a man named Wang Jie to honor his parents, according to an inscription on the scroll, though little else is known about who Wang was or who created the scroll.
Today, it is in the collection of the British Museum in London. By CE, Chinese printers regularly were using carved wooden blocks to print scrolls. But these wooden blocks wore out quickly, and a new block had to be carved for each character, word, or image that was used. The next revolution in printing occurred in when Chinese printers began using movable type, individual characters made of clay that could be chained together to form words and sentences.
According to some historians, Gutenberg continued to work with Fust, while other scholars say Fust drove Gutenberg out of business. After , he seems to have abandoned printing entirely, perhaps as a result of blindness. In January , Adolf von Nassau-Wiesbaden, the archbishop of Mainz, recognized Gutenberg's achievements by granting him the title of Hofmann—a gentleman of the court. The honor provided Gutenberg an ongoing monetary stipend and fine clothing, as well as 2, liters gallons of grain and 2, liters gallons of wine tax-free.
Gutenberg died on February 3, , in Mainz. With little notice or acknowledgment of his contributions, he was buried in the cemetery of the Franciscan church at Mainz.
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