2 ms·

> was movable type And even then, Chinese had already used movable type ~400 years before Guttenberg, possibly even for "serial numbers" on printed banknotes.

by qwytw 2y ago

> was movable type And even then, Chinese had already used movable type ~400 years before Guttenberg, possibly even for "serial numbers" on printed banknotes. The oldest surviving book printed with movable type was published in the late 1370s in Korea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jikji https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jikji. Even woodblock printing, while it was seemingly know in Europe or at least the Byzantine Empire since the 11-13th centuries only became heavily commercialized and widespread around the same time as Gutenberg's press pretty much in parallel with it (for playing cards, illustrated books etc.). There was something special about Europe in the 1400s. I'm not downplaying his skills/ingenuity but Gutenberg's greatest achievement was doing what he did at the right time and place. It seems there wasn't enough demand for books/printed materials that would have justified the needed investments anywhere else.

wrp 2y ago
Another thing about the development of movable type. I've heard that Gutenberg's main contribution was the development of an alloy that made metal type feasible, and that the (earlier) Korean solution was to use ceramic type.
- qwytw 2y ago
  They also tried bronze and copper as well (mainly for money which used a mix of plate and movable type). The transition from wood to bronze metal type might have independent in Korea, though. They even had a pretty extensive printing industry as far as we can tell but it was fully controlled by the state/emperor and non official printing was illegal. I'm certainly not an expert but at least in China's case the type of inks they used didn't really work well with metal or even ceramic type which probably made the process relatively inefficient. Butyeah, Guttenberg invented a new alloy, ink, moulding method which made the process much cheaper and more effective.
christkv 2y ago
I think it coincided with a growing demand of reading material as the merchant class expanded.

by qwytw 2y ago

wrp 2y ago

Another thing about the development of movable type. I've heard that Gutenberg's main contribution was the development of an alloy that made metal type feasible, and that the (earlier) Korean solution was to use ceramic type.

qwytw 2y ago
They also tried bronze and copper as well (mainly for money which used a mix of plate and movable type). The transition from wood to bronze metal type might have independent in Korea, though. They even had a pretty extensive printing industry as far as we can tell but it was fully controlled by the state/emperor and non official printing was illegal. I'm certainly not an expert but at least in China's case the type of inks they used didn't really work well with metal or even ceramic type which probably made the process relatively inefficient. Butyeah, Guttenberg invented a new alloy, ink, moulding method which made the process much cheaper and more effective.

christkv 2y ago

I think it coincided with a growing demand of reading material as the merchant class expanded.