Johannes Gutenberg's work on the printing press
began in approximately 1436. Having previously worked as a professional
goldsmith, Gutenberg made skillful use of the knowledge of metals he had
learned as a craftsman. He was the first to make type from an alloy of lead,
tin and antimony, which was critical for producing durable type that produced
high-quality printed books and proved to be much better suited for printing
than all other known materials. To create these lead types, Gutenberg used what
is considered one of his most ingenious inventions, a special matrix enabling the quick and
precise molding of new type blocks from a uniform template. His type case is estimated to
have contained around 290 separate letter boxes, most of which were required
for special characters, punctuation marks, etc.
If you want to see how Gutenberg's printing press works, watch this video:
The Bible was the first book printed by Gutenberg with movable types in the west and the first major book produced on a printing press anywhere in the world.
