Renaissance Printing

Gutenberg and the First Printing Press

The steps to printing a book.

Put the steps of printing a book in order. See if you can find them in the picture!

-The printed pages are hung up to dry.

-One worker reads a manuscript, another picks the letters out and makes the words. First each word is put in a row and then they are put together in a frame to make a page.

-Workers sort tiny letters into boxes, one box for each letter.

-A worker spreads ink on each page.

-The inked page is put face down on the paper and a screw is turned to press it down hard.

-The master printer oversees the work.

-A boy stacks the pages together. Later they will be bound into a book.



Can you see how the whole page
is engraved on the block?

Block printing was the earliest form of printing.  The letters were carved into a wooden block.  Gutenberg invented moveable metal type.  The year it was invented is unknown but it was widely known by 1450.  The first book he printed was the Forty-Two Line Bible.  The invention of the printing press encouraged the development of cheaper paper.

 

Making paper

The skill of printing soon spread from Germany and printing presses were set up in Italy, France, the Netherlands and England. A man named William Caxton set up a press in London near Westminster Abbey. He was a very famous printer. 

Here are some revision questions on the topic.

1. Explain the term 'vernacular'.

2. What impact did the printing press have on the Renaissance?

3. List the effects the printing press had on Europe.