First printing press in Europe

Gutenberg was the son of a merchant. Since his childhood he had seen wine and olive presses. He also learnt the art of polishing stones, and became a master goldsmith and also became an expert in creating lead moulds. Such moulds were used for making trinkets.

Gutenberg used his knowledge to bring innovation to the print technology. He used the olive press as the model for the printing press and used the moulds for casting the metal types for the letters. Gutenberg perfected the system by 1448. The first book printed by him was the Bible.

Initially, the printed books resembled the written manuscripts in appearance and layout. In the hundred years between 1450 and 1550, printing presses were set up in most parts of Europe. The growth of the print industry was so good that about 20 million books appeared in the European markets in the second half of the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth century, this number went up to about 200 million copies.