PRINTING
Printing refers to the process for reproducing text and images using a master template. The history of printing is
one of many smaller inventions that spanned centuries and nations. Ancient Mesopotamians used carved
cylinder pieces to stamp or “seal” clay tablets (circa 3500 BC). China invented woodblock printing sometime
before 220 AD and 1,200 years later Germany’s famous Gutenberg Printing Press arrived.
Cylinder Seal of
Pu-abi (original
seal on left with
modern
impression on
right), Ur
(southern Iraq),
2600-2400 BC.
British Museum,
London. A
queen would
have worn this
as a piece of
jewelry and
used it as a
royal seal for
important
communication.
WOODBLOCK PRINTING &
MOVABLE TYPE
The invention of papermaking was a crucial element in the
development of printing, and Ancient China made this
possible by taking existing stone slab texts and rubbing
graphite on paper (a technique still used today).
The Chinese were the first to use early block printing and
movable type. Sometime before 700 AD, they invented
woodblock (xylographic) printing, making it possible to
reproduce thousands of pages per day. This technique uses
wooden blocks that have characters or images carved out &
then stamped onto paper (a technique still used today by
artists).
By the 1100s, China had progressed to movable type (the
same invention that would independently arrive in Europe
400 years later when it was introduced by Gutenberg). This
took the block printing concept and added movable
components and new materials such as ceramic to the mix.
This technique spread to other parts of Asia who adapted
their own techniques. Korea invented the first metallic type
in 1377 and Japan utilized teams of four highly skilled
craftsmen called Ukiyo-e to cover all aspects of the process
(publish, design, cut and print).
FUN FACT: By 1600, China had produced more
books than the rest of the world combined.
Jikji, 1377 Korea, oldest known book printed with movable metal type
WOODBLOCK
PRINTING
HAEINSA
TEMPLE
LIBRARY
(Korea) houses
the Tripitaka
Koreana, a
collection of over
80,000
woodblocks from
the 13th century.
DEGE SUTRA
PRINTING
HOUSE
(Sichuan province
China) was built in the
7th century and houses
200,000 Tibetan wooden
board books.
EARLY PRINTING
PRESS
Before 1450 when Johannes Gutenberg
invented the printing press, Europe’s
estimated available manuscripts totalled in
the thousands. By 1500, scholars estimate
over 9 MILLION books had been printed
across Europe. During this time, books for
“the common man” began to emerge.
WATCH HOW IT WORKS:
https://youtu.be/vJb7rHUWOt8
EARLY
PRINTING
PRESS
William Caxton showing specimens of his printing to King Edward IV and his Queen. The Graphic, June 30, 1877
MODERN PRINTING PRESS
Bulk printing as we know it today began in the 1800s, made
possible by industrializing countries with steam power, cheap
paper, and mechanical knowledge. Creative publishers cashed in
on these new possibilities and began printing cheap paperback
stories that would appeal to the general public. In the UK, penny
dreadfuls (small unbound books for 1 penny each) did very well,
as did dime novels in America. Braille books began to be printed
for the blind.
By the 1930s, small pamphlets gave way to paperbacks which
remain very popular today world-wide. Printing technology has
progressed so far that there are now print on demand vending
machines which allow customers to select a book and have it
printed in minutes!
PRINT ON DEMAND
The first Espresso Book Machine was installed in 2007 at the
New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business
Library. Current models of this on-demand printer give users the
choice of millions of books plus the option to self-publish their
own books. This technology has spread globally and can be
found in the Philippines, South Africa, United Arab Emirates,
Russia, Japan, Dominican Republic, Egypt, and all over Europe.
HANGING BY A STRING!
Cheap paper pamphlet
books remained popular in
parts of Nigeria as late as
1970 and are still popular
in parts of Brazil where
they are called literatura
de cordel (“string
literature”) named so
because they are sold by
hanging them up on street
markets.
For more info visit:
www.loc.gov/folklife/Symp
osia/litcordel/about.html