Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg was a German inventor and craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable-type printing press.
22 Facts About Johannes Gutenberg
2.
Johannes Gutenberg's work led to an information revolution and the unprecedented mass-spread of literature throughout Europe.
3.
Johannes Gutenberg has been commemorated around the world and is a frequent namesake.
4.
Johannes Gutenberg was born in Mainz, a wealthy city along the Rhine, between the 14th and 15th centuries.
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Johannes Gutenberg probably spent his earliest years at the manor, which existed beside St Christoph's.
6.
Johannes Gutenberg's father Friele Gensfleisch zur Laden was a patrician and merchant, likely in the cloth trade.
7.
Johannes Gutenberg appears to have been a goldsmith member enrolled in the Strasbourg militia.
8.
Around 1439, Johannes Gutenberg was involved in a financial misadventure making polished metal mirrors for sale to pilgrims to Aachen: in 1439 the city was planning to exhibit its collection of relics from Emperor Charlemagne but the event was delayed by one year due to a severe flood and the capital already spent could not be repaid.
9.
Until at least 1444 Johannes Gutenberg lived in Strasbourg, most likely in the St Arbogast parish.
10.
Johannes Gutenberg was able to convince the wealthy moneylender Johann Fust for a loan of 800 guilders.
11.
Johannes Gutenberg's workshop was set up at Humbrechthof, a property belonging to a distant relative.
12.
In 1455 Johannes Gutenberg completed his 42-line Bible, known as the Johannes Gutenberg Bible.
13.
Johannes Gutenberg died in 1468 and was buried likely as a tertiary in the Franciscan church at Mainz.
14.
Between 1450 and 1455, Johannes Gutenberg printed several texts, some of which remain unidentified; his texts did not bear the printer's name or date, so attribution is possible only from typographical evidence and external references.
15.
In 1455, Johannes Gutenberg completed copies of a beautifully executed folio Bible, with 42 lines on each page.
16.
Johannes Gutenberg's early printing process, and what texts he printed with movable type, are not known in great detail.
17.
Whether Johannes Gutenberg used this sophisticated technique or a somewhat primitive version has been the subject of considerable debate.
18.
However, recent evidence suggests that Johannes Gutenberg's process was somewhat different.
19.
The 19th-century printer and typefounder Fournier Le Jeune suggested that Johannes Gutenberg was not using type cast with a reusable matrix, but wooden types that were carved individually.
20.
Johannes Gutenberg's invention had an enormous impact on subsequent human history, both on cultural and social matters.
21.
The scholar of paper history, Thomas Francis Carter, drew parallels between Cai Lun, the traditional inventor of paper during the Eastern Han dynasty, and Johannes Gutenberg, calling them "spiritual father and son" respectively.
22.
Two operas based on Gutenberg are G, Being the Confession and Last Testament of Johannes Gensfleisch, known as Gutenberg, Master Printer, formerly of Strasbourg and Mainz, from 2001, with music by Gavin Bryars; and La Nuit de Gutenberg, with music by Philippe Manoury, premiered in 2011 in Strasbourg.