When Johannes Gutenberg began building his press in 1436, he was improbable to have realized that he was giving birth to printing which would take centre stage in the social and industrial revolutions which followed.
Printing before was undoubtedly laborious and the rewards limited. In many cases, moulds in wood had to be made for the typeface, although in time this was almost exclusively taken over by independent type founders.
A number of books were written in the first half of the century on calligraphy and there was much experimentation with typefaces. But perhaps the most important of these was the extended use of Roman in the second half of the century. It generally became accepted that type should be in keeping with the working qualities of steel, and Roman therefore replaced the earlier Gothic styles throughout most of Europe.
Books were scarce then until they were associated with the term "Incunabula" in 1639. It truly illuminated the craft and transition from the manuscript tradition to print tradition. Eventually, as the printer diminished his attachment to the manuscript tradition as the competition forced the printer to adopt new formats wider dimensions have been opened to explore more. The infancy of printing is easy to reckon but hard to live with nowadays. Complicated world needs a fast and competitive ways to go along well.
Though, the transition to print was not an easy process but as we can see, it has gone a long way of innovation and remarkable development - from calligraphy - to engraved metal plates - to manuscripts and finally to digital printing. Inflate your imagination - where will this lead us in the coming future?
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