Transcript The Printing Press

Mr. Barchetto
Notes #7
THE PRINTING PRESS REVOLUTION
The Basics
Geographic Location: Western Europe
Time period: 1450
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Printing Press--a machine for printing books
Invented by Johannes Gutenberg
Germany, 1450
Were there books before the printing press?
In the Middle Ages handwritten by monks
 took a long time; very expensive
 pages made of parchment or vellum
sheep skin
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calf skin
Gothic Script- font that was hard to read
Vellum
Parchment
Were there books before the printing press?
In China first book printed in 868BC
 Paper
 Ink
 Moveable
type- individual letters on wood or clay blocks
that are arranged to form words
The Printing Press
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press
….but he was no genius!!
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he knew that printing
technology already existed
he combined existing
technology and his own ideas
Result: printing press!
The Printing Press
Chinese Paper
replaced parchment
and vellum
Carolingian Script
new font that was
easier to read
Printing
Press
Moveable Type
Gutenberg made
metal letters
Wine Press Screw
pressed paper
against metal
moveable type
Carolingian Script
Gothic Script
Wine Press Screw
Carolingian Script
Paper
Moveable type
The Printing Press
First book printed on a
printing press using
metal moveable type:
The Gutenberg Bible
c. 1470
Effect of Gutenberg’s Printing Press
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Books were cheaper to make and
cheaper to buy
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Books were small & easy to carry
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Most people could afford them
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Printed in languages other than Latin
Effect of Gutenberg’s Printing Press
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Literacy increased in Europe
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New ideas (science) spread quickly
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Organized system of spelling,
grammar, punctuation
Organized book format: Title, table of
contents, page #’s, index
Most laity required interpretation of
the Bible by church officials.
 The advent of cheap, widely-available
Bibles allowed many to interpret the
Bible for their self.
 Moveable type allowed the spread of
Martin Luther’s Reformation of the
Catholic Church.
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Allowed the acquisition of new
and radical ideas.
 Facilitated communication
between scientists.
 Helped to usher in the Scientific
Revolution (The Scientific
Method).
 Standardized information.
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Means of permanently recording
information.
 Allowed spread of information to
be much more rapid.
 Increased access to prior
information, which could be
expanded upon.
 Exact citing of references (one
author, one work, one piece of
information).
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Standardized language in Europe.
Written materials were not common or
sufficiently circulated to provide a
standard of proper writing styles.
Dialect and spelling conventions that
made their way into print became the
standard.
Most other dialects and variant
spellings died out over time.
Created a Middle Class from
the peasant society.
 Hand printed books were only
affordable to the Upper Class.
 Affordable books allowed
Lower Class to become
educated and gain rights.
 Before moveable type, it was
impossible to change social
standing.
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Honors Class Activity: