Johannes Gutenberg
Johann Gutenberg (Heinzfleischi) was born into a noble family in Mainz no earlier than 1394 and no later than 1399. The date of Gutenberg's birth for anniversaries is conventionally considered to be June 24, 1400. He was a famous, and hereditary, jeweler; he knew how to polish precious stones, cast jewelry from precious metals, and make gold frames for mirrors. It would seem, earn as much as you can and enjoy life. But Gutenberg had a dream. He wanted to print books.
Gutenberg's printing press
In 1440, Gutenberg made a real revolution in printing by inventing movable type - individual letters that made it possible to type a wide variety of texts. The very first printed book is considered to be the so-called “Book of the Sibylline” (a poem in German), the publication of which is dated by researchers around the end of 1445. Hence the invention of printing can be dated no later than 1445. The work was carried out in the strictest secrecy: the invention undermined the foundations of the activities of scribes, who were capable of doing anything just to preserve their craft. One also had to be wary of the clergy, in whose hands there was a monopoly on reading and writing. In addition, news of a new method of making books would immediately lead to a drop in their value. Therefore, Gutenberg's books, like all the first books, imitated Gothic manuscripts, they were even passed off as handwritten.
Until 1456, with virtually no outside material support, he cast no less than five different types, printed the Latin grammar of Aelius Donatus (several sheets of it have come down to us and are kept in the National Library in Paris), several papal indulgences and two Bibles, and . After this, Gutenberg, by a court decision, was forced to give the printing house to an unscrupulous partner, a man who practically did not sponsor the activities of the book printer, but tried to squeeze every possible extra penny out of Gutenberg’s printing house for himself.
Gutenberg had to start from scratch. In 1460, he managed to publish a work by Johann Balbus from Genoa called (Latin grammar with dictionary). Gutenberg died in 1468, not the most successful businessman, but a man who forever changed the history of the world thanks to the invention of printing. His invention quickly spread throughout all European countries. By 1500, printing houses operated in more than 200 cities in different countries, and the total number of printing houses was close to 2000.
Page from Catholicon
There are no real, authentic images of Gutenberg. All his portraits date back to a later time and are the fruit of the imagination of artists.
In addition to the font, Gutenberg also owned other inventions: a press for printing letters; thick black opaque printing ink, convenient for applying to dozens of tiny letters; an alloy for casting individual elements of the font - not too soft, but not too hard, which made the font not fragile, but durable; a type-cast hand-held device that ensured the standardization of type and mass production. The device was a hollow metal rod with a removable lower wall made of soft metal, on which a letter pattern was stamped using a hard stamp - a punch. The font was cut using the smallest tools (this is where Gutenberg's cutting skills came in handy!). Gutenberg's inventive genius gave birth to both the grid (from then on, all modular elements of type were placed and limited by the space of the frame) and various types of type thanks to the opened possibility of mechanical reproduction of letters. Thus, grid and type, the two main components of graphic design, have been used for over 500 years!
Thus, Johannes Gutenberg has the credit of creating the entire printing process as a whole. For the 15th century, his invention was more than innovative, and the letter became the first standard part in the history of world technology.
Gutenberg's famous work is a printed 42-line Bible (the so-called Mazarin Bible). This is the only book reliably published by Gutenberg, and was printed in Mainz around 1450. Its design goes back to handwritten biblical texts that were in circulation in those days. This was reflected, first of all, in the division of the page into two columns and in the forms of letters in the style of German “black” or Gothic writing. Hand-drawn elements of climbing plants were added later to enhance the decorative effect. The design imitates a handwritten style, but it is transformed by means of graphic design - through the use of an orderly, unified font placed within a grid.
Gutenberg Bible spread
In fact, Johannes Gutenberg did not invent printing. To think so means to adhere to the so-called Eurocentric approach, in which it is customary to put the achievements of Europeans in first place, forgetting that the Egyptians, Chinese, Indians, Arabs and other peoples contributed a lot to the world treasury. But the German jeweler and inventor certainly deserves special attention.
Johann Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg was born between 1397 and 1400. in the city of Mainz. The German inventor of printing in Europe came from a family of Mainz patricians. After the death of his father in 1419, Johann, as a result of the struggle of the patricians with the guilds of Mainz for the right to govern the city and the victory of the latter, was expelled from the city. Before returning to his native Mainz in 1448, Gutenberg lived in Strasbourg, where he conducted research in the field of printing, selected companions and taught them his art, the meaning of which was kept secret.
Gutenberg invented printing from type, a tool for casting type, a printing alloy (hart), and a printing press. Movable convex letters were cut out of metal in reverse form. Lines were typed from them. Using a press and paint, the text was imprinted on paper. Gutenberg's earliest known imprints are the "Fragment of the Last Judgment" (excerpt from the Sibylline Book) (c. 1440) and twenty-four editions of Aelius Donatus's Latin grammar (surviving only in fragments). The font of the first editions of Gutenberg, called Donato-calendar, is a copy of the handwritten Gothic font (texture) used in the copying of liturgical books. It was modified and improved in editions of 1455–1457. Small type of the same group was first used by Gutenberg in indulgences. It was used as a highlight in publications of the Donato-calendar group. To set up a printing house, Gutenberg received a loan from the moneylender Johann Fust. Johann cast no less than five different fonts. He printed several papal indulgences and two Bibles. Gutenberg tried to get a deferment in paying interest to his creditor, but Fust sued the printing house for himself to pay off the debt. The court materials found confirmed the copyright of Johannes Gutenberg.
The apotheosis of Gutenberg's printing art was the forty-two-line Bible in two volumes (1452–1456). A new font (narrower) was cast for the Bible, which retained the abbreviations and ligatures characteristic of handwritten books. The decor of the book (initials, ornaments) was reproduced by hand. A total of thirty-five copies were printed on parchment and one hundred and sixty-five on paper.
Presumably, at the same time as the Bible, Gutenberg participated in the preparation of the Mainz Psalter (1457), in which multi-color printing and printed decoration were used for the first time. Around 1459–1461 In Bamberg, Gutenberg printed a thirty-six-line Bible, typed in the latest version of the Donato-calendar font. At the Mainz Archbishop's Printing House he published the Catholicon (1460), a dictionary outlining Latin grammar.
Subsequently, Johannes Gutenberg was able to release another edition. He was accepted into the service by Elector Adolf, but soon died (1468). The location of his grave is unknown, and the portraits were made in later times. A number of European cities have monuments to Gutenberg. The best monument was the fairly rapid spread of printing.
In 1450–1500 In two hundred and sixty European cities, one and a half thousand printing houses appeared, which printed 40 thousand publications with a circulation of over 10 million copies, which bibliophiles call incunabula. In 1491, the first book was printed in Krakow in Slavic script - Cyrillic. In 1522, the first Slavic printing house appeared in Vilnius. At first, an anonymous printing house operated in Moscow, and Ivan Fedorov, who published the Apostle in 1564, is considered the first Russian printer.
The German Johann Gutenberg, whose biography is described in this article, had a tremendous influence on the entire world around him. His invention truly changed the course of history.
Ancestors of Johannes Gutenberg
Since he was born and lived in the fifteenth century, very little information about him has been preserved. In those distant times, only prominent political and church figures were honored to be included in documentary sources. However, Johann was lucky. His work was appreciated by his contemporaries; information about him is found in various historical descriptions of that time.
It is known for certain that Johannes Gutenberg was born into a wealthy family of Friele Gensfleisch and Elsa Wirich. This happened around 1400.
His parents married in 1386. The mother came from a family of cloth merchants, so their union was considered unequal. From time immemorial, in the city there was a struggle between the patricians (the upper strata of the burghers, the father's family) and the guilds (artisans, the mother's family). When the confrontation in Mainz escalated, the family had to leave so as not to endanger their children.
In Mainz, the family had an estate named after the father's surname, Gensfleisch, and the Gutenberghof farmstead.
It is possible that the inventor had a knighthood, although his mother's background and his own activities contradict this. However, there is an ordinance signed by the French king Charles the Seventh, in which Gutenberg's name appears.
Childhood and youth
A brief biography of Johann is not contained in any of the ancient sources. It can be restored only from fragmentary data. That is why reliable information about the first years of his life simply does not exist.
There are no records of his baptism. However, some researchers believe that his birthday is June 24, 1400 (the day there is also no exact information about the place of his birth. It could be either Mainz or Strasbourg.
Johann was the youngest child in the family. The eldest son's name was Frile, there were also two girls - Elsa and Patze.
After graduating from school, the young man studied handicraft, deciding to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors on his mother’s side. It is known that he achieved the highest skill and received the title of master, since he subsequently trained apprentices.
Life in Strasbourg
Johannes Gutenberg lived in Strasbourg from 1434. He was engaged in jewelry making, polishing precious stones and producing mirrors. It was there that the idea of creating a machine that would print books arose in his head. In 1438, he even created an organization under the mysterious name "Enterprise with Art." The cover was the making of mirrors. This fellowship was organized jointly with his student Andreas Dritzen.
Around this time, Gutenberg and his team were on the verge of a brilliant discovery, but the death of his companion delayed the publication of his invention.
The invention of printing
The starting point of modern book printing is considered to be 1440, although there are no printed documents, books or sources from that time. There is only indirect evidence according to which a certain Waldfogel, starting in 1444, sold the secret of “artificial writing.” It is believed that this was John Gutenberg himself. Thus, he tried to get funds for the further development of his machine. So far it was just raised letters made of metal and carved in its mirror image. In order for the inscription to appear on the paper, it was necessary to use special paint and a press.
In 1448, the German returned to Mainz, where he made a deal with the moneylender I. Fust, who paid him eight hundred guilders annually. The profits from the printing house were to be shared as a percentage. But in the end this arrangement began to work against Gutenberg. He stopped receiving the promised money for technical support, but still shared the profits.
Despite all the troubles, by 1456 Johann Gutenberg's press had acquired several different fonts (five in total). At the same time, the first grammar of Aelius Donatus, several official documents and, finally, two Bibles were printed, which became historical monuments for printing.
Gutenberg's 42-line Bible, printed no later than 1455, is considered Johannes's magnum opus. It has survived to this day and is kept in the Mainz Museum.
For this book, the inventor created a special font, a variety. It turned out to be quite similar to the handwritten one due to the many ligatures and abbreviations that were customary for scribes.
Since existing inks were not suitable for printing, Gutenberg had to create his own. Due to the addition of copper, lead and sulfur, the text in the book turned out to be blue-black, with an unusual shine; red paint was used for headings. To combine two colors, one had to run the same page through the press twice.
The book was published in a circulation of 180 copies, but few have survived to this day. The largest number is in Germany (twelve pieces). There was one copy of the first printed Bible in Russia, but after the revolution the Soviet government sold it at auction in London.
In the fifteenth century, this Bible was sold for 30 florins (3 grams of gold per coin). Today, one page from the book is valued at $80,000. There are a total of 1272 pages in the Bible.
Litigation
Johannes Gutenberg was twice brought to justice. This happened for the first time in 1439, after the death of his friend and companion A. Dritzen. His children claimed that the machine was actually their father's invention.
Gutenberg easily won the case. And thanks to his materials, the researchers learned at what stage of readiness the invention was. The documents contained words such as “embossing”, “printing”, “press”, “this work”. This clearly indicated that the machine was ready.
It is known for certain that the process stopped due to the lack of some parts left by Andreas. Johann had to restore them himself.
The second trial took place in 1455, when I. Fust filed a lawsuit against the inventor for non-payment of interest. The court ruled that the printing house and all its components were transferred to the plaintiff. Johannes Gutenberg invented printing in 1440, and fifteen years later he had to start all over again.
Last years
Having barely survived the consequences of the trial, Gutenberg decided not to give up. He joined the company of C. Gumeri and published in 1460 the work of Johann Balbus, as well as a Latin grammar with a dictionary.
In 1465 he entered the service of Elector Adolf.
The book printer died at the age of 68. He was buried in Mainz, but the location of his grave is currently unknown.
Spread of printing
What Johannes Gutenberg became famous for attracted many people. Everyone wanted easy money. Therefore, many people appeared who pretended to be the inventors of printing in Europe.
Gutenberg's name was recorded in one of his documents by Peter Schaeffer, his apprentice. After the destruction of the first printing house, its workers dispersed throughout Europe, introducing new technologies in other countries. Their teacher was Johannes Gutenberg. Printing quickly spread to Hungary (A. Hess), Italy (Sveichneym), and Spain. Oddly enough, none of Gutenberg's students went to France. Parisians independently invited German printers to work in their country.
The final point in the history of the creation of book printing was set by Anthony Van der Linde in his work in 1878.
Gutenberg studies
The personality of the European pioneer printer has always been popular. Researchers from many countries did not miss the opportunity to write any work about his biography or activities. Even during his lifetime, disputes began about the authorship of the invention and the place (Mainz or Strasbourg).
Some experts called Gutenberg the apprentice of Fust and Schaeffer. And despite the fact that Schaeffer himself called Johann the inventor of printing, these rumors did not subside for a long time.
Modern researchers call the main problem that the first printed books did not have a colophon, that is, a mark of authorship. By doing this, Gutenberg could have avoided many problems and would not have allowed his legacy to languish.
Little is known about the identity of the inventor also because there is no personal correspondence or reliable image of him. The amount of documentary evidence is insufficient.
Johannes Gutenberg invented unique typefaces that helped establish and confirm his legacy.
In Russia, interest in studying the life of the first printer appeared only in the middle of the twentieth century. The 500th anniversary of the invention of printing was celebrated at that time. The first researcher was Vladimir Lyublinsky, a representative of the scientific community of Leningrad.
In total, more than 3,000 scientific works have been written and published in the world (including a short biography of Gutenberg).
Memory
Unfortunately, no portraits of Johann survived during his lifetime. The first engraving, dating back to 1584, was written in Paris to describe the inventor's appearance.
Mainz is considered not only the hometown of Johann, but also the place of invention. Therefore, there is a monument to Gutenberg, his museum (opened in 1901).
An asteroid and a crater on the Moon are named after him.
A man named Hans Gensfleisch, or Johann (Henne, Hengin, Hanssen) Gutenberg was born in the last years of the 14th century in the large German city of Mainz. He was the youngest of the children from the second marriage of the Mainz patrician Friele Gensfleisch and a non-patrician, the daughter of a cloth merchant, Elsa Wirich.
The parents of the inventor of printing belonged to the Mainz patrician families: father - Friele Gensfleisch, mother - Elsa Wirich zum Gutenberg; the latter name belonged to her family home in Mainz. Friele and Elsa had two sons and a daughter; the youngest received the name Johanna Gensfleisch zum Gutenberg. The Gensfleisch had the hereditary privilege of minting coins, which makes it clear that the youngest son was familiar with jewelry making. His nickname apparently comes from his father's farmstead in Mainz (his father was designated Zum Gutenberg posthumously; during his lifetime he was called Zum Laden).
During the guild uprising, some members of the Gensfleisch family and related families were forced to leave Mainz. This fate befell Johann's family as well. According to another version, the Gutenberg family moved to neighboring Strasbourg for the reason that the city was in a feudal feud with its overlord, the Bishop of Nassau.
Nothing is known for certain about Johann’s childhood and youth. The exact year of his birth has not been established, and no baptismal records have been found. It is accepted that he was born between 1394-1399. Conventionally, his birth is celebrated as the day of John the Baptist - July 24, 1400.
As for his education, there is no reliable information about his training and education, but he possessed knowledge of Latin, at least passively, which means he studied at a parish, city or monastery school. But he thoroughly knew the jewelry business and had the title of master, without which he would not have the right to teach, and Gutenberg taught jewelry technology in Strasbourg.
Certain biographical information about Gutenberg's life begins only in 1434. A reliable document shows that Gutenberg lived in Strasbourg at this time. There he was engaged in a business close to the traditions of his family: he was a goldsmith. Being gifted with outstanding technical abilities, Gutenberg combined with this main activity others, such as grinding stones used for jewelry. His first printing experiments date back to 1440, apparently, these were: “Grammar of the Latin language” by Aelius Donatus, an astrological calendar, papal indulgences.
In 1444, Gutenberg left Strasbourg and returned to Mainz and began preparing to print the complete Bible in Latin.
Gutenberg brought a fully developed idea for an invention to Mainz, and in 1445 or 1446 he began the continuous printing of books.
Printing primarily deprived monastic scribes of income. It didn’t cost them anything to declare his creation the devil, and the inventor a servant of Satan.
That such a danger for Gutenberg was quite real is proven by the burning of the first copies of the printed Bible in Cologne, as the work of Satan.
From under Gutenberg's printing press around 1445. The so-called “Book of Seville” was published - a poem in German. Currently, it is not known in any copy, and until the end of the 19th century no one suspected its existence. In 1892, a small piece of paper was discovered in Mainz - all that remained of a book that had approximately 74 pages, each with 28 lines. This piece of paper, due to its content, is called the “fragment of the Last Judgment,” is kept in the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz. Further, in addition to several donations, he printed an astronomical calendar for the year 1448, i.e. there is every reason to believe that it was printed no later than the end of 1447.
Gutenberg's first works were small brochures and one-sheets; for larger works he had no capital and had to seek it from others. At the beginning of 1450, Gutenberg entered into a community with the wealthy Mainz burgher Johann Fust, who lent him money. At the beginning of 1450 The project for a major publication began to take over the thoughts of the pioneer printer - a grandiose project at that time. It was intended to publish the full text of the Bible in Latin. It was for this work that Gutenberg had to borrow huge sums of money from Fust. There is news that an independent workshop was equipped for printing the Bible.
In 1450-1455, Gutenberg printed his first Bible, called the 42-line Bible because it had 42 lines of text typed and printed on each page in two columns. In total it has 1282 pages. All artistic elements are illustrated by hand. Part of the circulation is made on paper, and part is printed on parchment.
For a long time, the first Bible was revered as the first printed book in general. But still, it is the first book, because the books published earlier, in terms of their volume, rather deserve the name of brochures. In addition, this is the first book that has come down to us in its entirety, and with a fairly large number of copies, while all those that preceded it have survived only in fragments. In terms of its design, it is one of the most beautiful books, and as for the cost in the 19th and early 20th centuries, such fabulous sums were not paid for any other book. Unfortunately, after printing began, a rift occurred between Gutenberg and Fust, which led to Gutenberg's removal from the work of the second printing house. In the midst of work on the Bible, Fust demanded repayment of the loan. As a result of the inability to pay most of the debt, a lawsuit arose that ended tragically for Gutenberg: he lost not only his printing house, but also a significant part of the equipment of his first printing house. The lost items apparently also included matrices of the first Gutenberg type; the font itself, already badly damaged, remained the property of Gutenberg. The ingenious creative plan of Gutenberg and Schaeffer was completed, apparently, by Schaeffer alone, and the profits received after the publication of the Bible flowed into the pocket of Johann Fust. But the most severe blow was that the secret of printing ceased to be a secret, and thereby Gutenberg lost the monopoly of the use of the process he had invented. Under such conditions, he could not withstand the competition of his rich rival and, having published several small books, had to stop business. He managed to resume printing only for a short time, in 1460-1462. After the sack and fire of Mainz on October 28, 1462, Gutenberg no longer acted as a printer. At the beginning of 1465, the Archbishop of Mainz (Bishop of Nassau), as a reward for his services in printing, included Gutenberg in his court staff, which at that time amounted to a pension. Gutenberg died on February 3, 1468 and was buried in Mainz in the Franciscan Church.
The invention of printing by Johannes Gutenberg - section Journalism and the media, Books in Germany in the 14th – 17th centuries The invention of printing by Johannes Gutenberg. Johannes Gutenberg Was...
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Books in Germany in the 14th – 17th centuries
The book, as a product created in the sphere of material production, has a material form, distinguished by the originality and individuality of its elements. At the same time, it has an impact on the most subtle sphere of history. Germany is the birthplace of European book printing. Creation of a printing press and publication of books typed using movable...
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Prerequisites for creating printed books
Prerequisites for creating printed books. The 14th-15th centuries were the Renaissance for European countries, which is associated with the development of early capitalist relations - cities, crafts, trade, money circulation
Subjects and types of publications
Subjects and types of publications. The humanistic movement brought to life many bright, talented works of journalistic and fiction literature. Was closely associated with German humanists
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Subject and design of the book
Theme and design of the book. The theme of the German book reflected the spiritual crisis that German society was experiencing. The book market was dominated by publications that were of no ideological interest.
