# History of Printing
Confidence: high
Last verified: 2026-05-22
Generation: ai_assisted


## TL;DR

Printing (woodblock: China, ~200 CE) → movable type (Bi Sheng, China 1040 CE; Gutenberg, Germany 1450 CE) → printing press → mass literacy, Reformation, Scientific Revolution. Gutenberg Bible (1455): first major book printed with movable type. Printing was the 'Internet of its day' — democratizing knowledge and transforming society.

## Core Explanation

Gutenberg: goldsmith turned inventor — metal movable type, oil-based ink, wooden press adapted from wine press. Print run: ~180 Gutenberg Bibles. Impact: standardized texts, spread ideas rapidly, weakened Church monopoly on knowledge (Reformation pamphlets), enabled Scientific Revolution (peer review, journals). Industrial printing: steam press (1814, The Times). Offset lithography (1904, dominant 20th century). Digital printing (1993+). E-books vs. print — complementary, not replacement.

## Further Reading

- [The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe (Elizabeth Eisenstein, 2nd Ed)](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/printing-revolution-in-early-modern-europe/)