How Did Printing Begin?

LucyB    Copy Machines     Johannes Gutenberg, printing press

As we pace between our desks and the printer each day at work, we rarely stop to think about how commercial printing all began. The printing press started its life way back in the second millennium AD; the first systems were assembled by a German goldsmith by the name of Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany, around 1440.

The first books were produced in an assembly-line style; during the Renaissance, a printing press could print about 3,600 each workday. Printing spread rapidly, and by 1500, printing was in full swing throughout Western Europe. In 1620, English philosopher Francis Bacon felt confident in declaring that printing had changed the face of the world.

Copiers: Back in the Day…

Sarah    Copy Machines     carbon copies, carbon copying, carbon paper, copy clerks, letter press, office copier, printing press

Even if your office copier occasionally malfunctions, you’ve still got to be happy it’s there – centuries ago, copying even a single page was a much more time-consuming process. Let’s take a look at some copying methods of the past:

By hand: Ouch! Until the end of the 18th century, the only duplicates were handwritten by copy clerks, a fixture at most offices. Even after the first typewriter was invented in 1874, hand copying remained popular throughout the subsequent decades.

By letter press: Drawing on a method used by the Chinese around the 8th century, letter press copiers emerged in the late 1700s and featured the legendary (and confusing) backwards-to-forwards transition also evident in the printing press.

By carbon paper: Still alluded to in email CCs and BCCs, carbon copying was invented in 1806 and uses sheets of carbon paper to replicate handwritten marks. In fact, certain industries continue to use carbon copying today!

Pushing a button sure sounds easier than any of that, doesn’t it?