The history of the printing press beyond Gutenberg

The history of the printing press traces the development of printing, from woodblock printing for texts on paper in Tang China by the 7th century to Johannes Gutenberg's press, which combined previously known mechanical presses with a process for mass-producing metal type.

2 articles, 1 video, 1 book · about 1 hr 20 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   the history of the printing press · Wikipedia · 60+ min read

   The rise of printing was greatly influenced by Mahayana Buddhism. According to Mahayana beliefs, religious texts carried the Buddha's word and held sacred power capable of warding off evil spirits. Chinese seals used in the history of the printing press were mostly square or rectangular, with a flat base and reversed characters, and stamped on paper. These characteristics are very close to those of block printing. The Islamic world employed ṭarsh, a block printing method, from 900 to 1444, and its appearance in 10th century Muslim Spain marked Europe's first known exposure to block printing. The method evolved from wooden blocks to carved lead and tin matrices by the 1200s, and it is disputed whether it originated from Chinese printing.

2. Read
   The Oldest Book Printed with Movable Type is Not The Gutenberg Bible: Jikji, a Collection of Korean Buddhist Teachings, Predated It By 78 Years and It's Now Digitized Online · Open Culture · 4 min read

   Korean movable-type printing predates Gutenberg: the oldest extant text printed with movable type predates Gutenberg (born in 1400) by 23 years and the printing of his Bible by 77 years. That text is the Jikji, a collection of Buddhist teachings printed in Korea in 1377.

3. Watch
   

   Techno-Anxiety? We've Been Afraid of Disruptions Since the Printing Press | Big Think · YouTube · 5 min watch

   In a video, developmental psychologist Alison Gopnik discusses how people have feared the effects of new technologies, including the printing press, and how such innovations have transformed society. This historical perspective connects the printing press to broader concerns about technological change.

4. Book
   The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe · Bookshop.org

   Elizabeth Eisenstein's The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge University Press, 1983) condenses her 1979 study of print. It traces how early print workshops affected the Renaissance, the Reformation and the rise of modern science.

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