HUM 303 Final Project

Printing Press
The Ancient Catalyst of Culture DeVry University
Humanities 303

Printing Press, the Ancient Catalyst of Culture

How did we get to the latest art form of printing, the wireless printer? Through years of evolutional design and determination, this technology was possible. The printing press allowed people to learn different styles of the art of printing, education, arts, literature, and cultural differences quicker, and learning was more widespread, in addition; it provided the world with the most efficient means of communication of the written word through mass production. I will show how the decision of humankind to advance the printing presses worthiness did advance literacy in many cultures. Through the printing presses, humble beginnings of block printing to the latest technological advancements, the printing press has continued to evolve in one form or other.
The printing presses evolution would not be complete without some prior knowledge of how it all began; therefore, a little history is necessary to fully understand the evolutional picture of communicational needs and the printing press. In ancient times before the beginning of a written dialogue, when reading and writing was nonexistent, communication was nothing more than some obscured hand drawings on clay tablets or cave walls. Communication was limited to the imagination of the ancient artist who wanted to explain life’s surrounding and how to survive. The validation of communications in religion, life and death, and even war through pictorial drawings are further evidence of a crude method of interacting between humankind.
From a wooden press to a steam press, to automatic presses to digital and eventually automatic digital presses, the evolution of the printing press has made major advancements in the

last 600 years and it’s not done yet. Speed has also increased in later models along with many finishing procedures like folding, stapling, and making of booklets (Grainger, 2010). In the past and certainly in the present, wireless printing is just one of many changes in printing over the years. Although, this did not come without many problems and even war, all at which enhanced the expeditious need of the printing press.
Many events lead to the improvement on the Chinese form of printing and the cutting-edge invention of Johannes Gutenberg‘s printing press in 1450. At the height of the Hussite crisis in the early 1400 's, authorities ordered 200 manuscripts of heretical writings burned. Quickly both sides of the war crisis realized quite well the significance of that act. All those handwritten manuscripts would be hard to replace if they were destroyed. Replacing them would not only be a time consuming, but at that time, trained scribes would be hard to find. (Butler, Chris 2007) During this time-period, most of the scribes worked for the Church only. The persons involved in the Hussite crisis were heretics (a professed believer who maintains religious opinions contrary to those accepted by their church or rejects doctrines prescribed by that church) in addition, the church would not intentionally loan out their remaining scribes to copy the works of the heretics. Because of the lack of mass media (the printing press) and the inability to spread the word of their movement, the Hussites movement remained confined mainly to the borders of their homeland of Bohemia (Foley, Peter 2011).
The rise of towns in Western Europe sparked trade with the outside world all the way to China. That exposed Europeans to three things important for the invention of the printing press: rag paper, block printing, and mysteriously the Black Death. The survivors of the Black Death,

which was brought to Western Europe through trade routes, inherited the property of those who did not survive, and thus made them wealthier. During that time, the textile industry was the leading source of income. Those supported by their newly found wealth spent money on clothes, which eventually wore out and created an abundance of rags, which could be used for printing. That made it cheaper than sheep or calfskin used to make books at that time. The Black Death also killed off many monks who scribed books (Butler, Chris 2007). That resulted in a higher cost to copy a book and the cost of paper was very low at the time. Therefore, the Black Death and rag paper mutually created an incentive for the invention of the printing press.
During the rise of towns in Western Europe, a mining boom sparked, particularly in Germany. A goldsmith from Mainz, Germany, Johannes Gutenberg was the one that created a durable and interchangeable metal type that allowed you to print many different pages using the same letters repeatedly in different combinations rather than making a new wooden block after it used or worn out. Gutenberg also combined all the elements of movable type, rag paper, the squeeze press, and oil based inks to invent the first printing press in 1451.
Around 868 AD, the culture of China was the life-beginning era of the printing press and eventually the beginning of advanced societies around the world. With the invention of the first block printing in China primitive as it was, over the years humankind began to evolve into people of knowledge. Although, some reports show that block printing originated in Asia instead of China around 750-751 CE, Supposedly, through excavation a Buddhist Sutra was discovered in a Korean pagoda (Asala, Joanne 2005-2009).

The process of printing one page was very slow because the whole block had to be carved for every line of text; consequently, it took months to print one book and was very labor intense. The advancement of language arts and pictorials like playing cards and money were the result of the block-printing era. China also developed paper and different paints, which further help in the development of the printing press. The desire of knowledge and the ability to express themselves was inherent through the written word by coping text.
The Middle Ages saw numerous inventions; however, the one that had the greatest impact on society was the movable type printing press. Once again, the basic printing press was originally developed in China (as was paper itself). During the medieval era, however, the printing press was enhanced using movable letters, or types, which constituted the plates within the press. This allowed books to be printed more efficiently, at a greater rate, and at a lower cost. In turn, knowledge and literacy became more widespread. What it means to be literate is not an absolute standard even now. This was even truer in the Middle Ages when the majority of the population could not read at all, a certain percentage could read and not write, and the only way to be ‘literate’ at the time was if a person could read Latin.
The only type of literacy was threw pictures at church that told stories of the bible; also the church had control of what was depicted in those paintings and how they were explained to the illiterate of the time. Medieval authors used the term writing, whether they were actually carrying out the process of putting the words to parchment themselves, or whether they were dictating. One imagines that scribes of this type must have been rather like 20th century typists who could not only render the words of the master in the appropriate medium of the day, but

may have exerted a little influence over such matters as spelling, style and grammar; educated, undervalued and ultimately anonymous.
Advancements of the printing press over the years could be compared to the advancements in transportation, i.e. from walking, to horse and buggy, to bicycles, and finally automobile. The printing presses life over the last 600 years and especially the last fifty years has exploded by improvements to existing printing methods and with newer printers being invented in what seem to be no more than blink of an eye; this proves that printing techniques are forever changing. If it had not been for the prior inventions of paper and inks by China, the printing press might still be a vivid image in one’s mind. China’s block printing started the revolution in printing and could be considered the catalyst of printing; in addition, hundreds to thousands of books ranging from mathematics to science to Confucian Classics were printed. Johannes Gutenberg of Germany later improved on this. His improvements to the block printing slowly increased the literacy rate of the Europeans because of the mass production of books and educational information. As more books became available, the price lowered and book fairs were more common, which helped increase the literacy rate (Whipps, Heather. 2008). Printing presses did not change much until the end of the nineteenth, early twentieth century. Type was still set by hand. Monotype and Linotype, a mechanical process using a keyboard much like a typewriter, was incorporated into the printing process. This improved speed and efficiency.
Although some of the printing techniques I have discussed are still used today, many have been revolutionized by the invention of computers. Photocopiers came into play around

Mid-1940. It was very cumbersome to use and very expensive. The first automatic photocopier (1959) that could copy seven copies a minute later followed that (Grainger, 2010).
Desktop printers did not show up until 1984. It was very expensive, but not hard to use. Over the years, technology and quality improved and the price eventually began to fall to where the average person can afford a desktop in their home. Today, a student using a personal computer is simultaneously doing the jobs of author, editor, and compositor [.http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/educator/modules/gutenberg/books/printing/]. A student today can print right form his or her personal computer with a push of a keystroke. What would have taken hours or days 600 years ago, now takes seconds.
Printing drove the most radical transformation in the conditions of intellectual life in the history of western civilization. Printing changed the way ideas can be stored and transmitted that did have far-reaching consequences. Printing at the time was an urban technology; and the market for print media was overwhelmingly an urban demand as well. European cities played a central role in the emergence of modern idea-based capitalist economic growth. Urban life generated social contacts that fostered the circulation of information and innovation. Cities were seedbeds of capitalist business practices. Cities produced the economic ideas and social groups that transformed the European economy.
Print media played a key role in the development of skills valuable to merchants. The ability to calculate interest rates, profit shares, and exchange rates was associated with high returns for merchants engaged in large scale and long-distance trade. Those abilities learned through print media developed in the 15th century are still used today in small and large scales.

Religious, intellectual and political freedom served as rallying cries for the Europeans who were drawn to the American colonies. Stephen Daye, a printer 's apprentice, brought the continent 's first press to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1638. The Daye’s printed a broadside and an almanac in their first year. In 1640, they produced 1700 copies of the first book printed in the colonies, the Bay Psalm Book. (Jones International, 1994-99) The printing press quickly became central to political and religious expression in the New World. Print was at the heart of the dissemination and defense of visionary ideas that shaped the American Revolution.
The printing press produced new face-to-face interactions in addition to books and pamphlets. (Rand Corp. 1994-2012) Printers ' workshops brought scholars, merchants, artisans, and mechanics together for the first time in a commercial environment bookshop and the houses of printers became meeting places and temporary residences for intellectuals. Print technology also produced advancing new forms of data collection. Early adopters of the printing press attracted booksellers, universities, and students. Adoption of the printing press also fostered backwards linkages: the printing press attracted paper mills, illuminators, and translators. As in today’s society, the printing press continues the purpose as it did in its infant stage, bringing information from around the world to now a laptop and to the updated printing press sitting at the other end of the house.
Communication is the essence of the human race. This is how we gather and understand information. It is how we learn, teach, and grow as a civilization. Communication in the ancient days was pictorial on clay tables and cave walls. As we progress as humankind, the need for more and quicker information and the ability to store that information becomes a necessity to

survive. Mass media for communication in early times was non-existent. Literacy rates were very high and the ability to educate the masses was impossible. The printing press improved the speed, quality, and the cost of printing. With the printing press, books became more available and the cost was lower. The printing press also helped jog the stagnant economies. Merchants began making and spending money. As the printing press evolved over time, computers came into play that allowed improvements like photocopying and desktop copiers were available.
The printing press is truly the ancient catalyst of culture. The information within this report substantiates the thesis. The decision of humankind to advance the printing presses worthiness did advance literacy in many cultures. It would be hard to envision a world without the invention of the printing press. Thank God, it takes only one has to imagine how different it would be.

References

Asala, Joanne (2005-2009). Compass rose horizon. Printing Press. Retrieved September 14, 2012, from: http://www.compassrose.com/publishing/printing-press.html

Butler, Chris (2007). The flow of history. The invention of the printing press and its effects. Retrieved from: http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/west/11/FC74

Foley, Peter (2011). Peterfoleycreative. A 3D visual embodiment of the publication ‘The Gutenberg Galaxy: the making of the typography man. Retrieved September 14, 2012, from: http://peterfoleycreative.com/virtual_worlds.html Grainger, Ian (2010). The Evolution of Printing. Retrieved from: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Evolution-Of-Printing&id=5157339
Harry Ransom Center (n.d.). The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved from: http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/educator/modules/gutenberg/books/printing/.
Jones International (1994-99). Printing: History and development. Retrieved from: http://www.karmak.org/archive/2002/08/history_of_print.html
Whipps, Heather (2008). Livescience. How Gutenberg changed the world. Retrieved from: http://www.livescience.com/2569-gutenberg-changed-world.html

References: Asala, Joanne (2005-2009). Compass rose horizon. Printing Press. Retrieved September 14, 2012, from: http://www.compassrose.com/publishing/printing-press.html Butler, Chris (2007). The flow of history. The invention of the printing press and its effects. Retrieved from: http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/west/11/FC74 Foley, Peter (2011). Peterfoleycreative. A 3D visual embodiment of the publication ‘The Gutenberg Galaxy: the making of the typography man. Retrieved September 14, 2012, from: http://peterfoleycreative.com/virtual_worlds.html Grainger, Ian (2010). The Evolution of Printing. Retrieved from: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Evolution-Of-Printing&id=5157339 Harry Ransom Center (n.d.). The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved from: http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/educator/modules/gutenberg/books/printing/. Jones International (1994-99). Printing: History and development. Retrieved from: http://www.karmak.org/archive/2002/08/history_of_print.html Whipps, Heather (2008). Livescience. How Gutenberg changed the world. Retrieved from: http://www.livescience.com/2569-gutenberg-changed-world.html