Page 16 - All About History - Issue 18-14

Mass Media

How to

This small handle will PRESSING Also known as a
Bar
Rounce
roll the bed holding the MATTERS ‘Devil’s Tail’, this
paperundertheplate handle will turn
by using a windlass the screw that puts
mechanism. pressure on the platen.

OPERATEA

PRINTING

THE BEGINNING OF A WORLDWIDE
REVOLUTION, EUROPE, 16TH CENTURY

5 EXPENSIVE When Johannes Gutenberg invented
movable-type printing in 1439 it was to a
BOOKS world where only the elite had access to Platen
handwritten manuscripts and books. In
CODEX LEICESTER 1455heproduced180copiesofhis42-line This flat wooden plate
will press against
,
Bible selling for 30 florins each – three the paper to transfer
16TH CENTURY, ITALY years’wagesforaclerk,butcheaperthan the ink and make an
Leonardo da Vinci’s original impression.
collection of scientific writings was the handwritten alternative. It ignited the
purchased by Bill Gates for $30.8 printing revolution that would change the
million (£19 million) in 2013. faceoftheworld.Usheringintheeraofmass Frisket Tympan Bed
communication, his invention contributed Calleda‘bed’ora
MAGNA CARTA to the Renaissance, the scientific revolution, This oiled sheet of paper covers Asheetofpaperorclothis ‘coffin’,thisisaflat
mountedinaframetohelp
the areas of the paper that need
the Reformation and opened the world of to stay ink free, usually around to regulate the pressure on stoneareaofthepress
1215, ENGLAND that holds the forme
One copy of the Magna Carta, education and knowledge to the masses. the edge. thepaperbeingprinted.
in place.
which introduced constitutional
law in England, was sold for $21.3
million (£13.2 million) in 2007.
ST CUTHBERT’S
GOSPEL
7TH CENTURY, ENGLAND
This pocket gospel book is the
oldest surviving example of
Western bookbinding. It was sold in
2012 for $14.3 million (£8.8 million).
BAY PSALM BOOK

1640, USA
The first-ever book printed in the
USA, a surviving first-edition copy
of the Bay Psalm Book sold for
$14.2 million (£8.7 million).
ROTHSCHILD Cast your letters Compose your book
PRAYERBOOK First,youneedtocreatethelettersyou’llbeusingin Each page of your book needs to be composed by
01 your press. This is done by hammering a hard metal 02 hand, in a process known as manual typesetting. The
punch that displays the letters back to front into a soft copper individuallettersrequiredareputtogetherinto words, then
16TH CENTURY, BELGIUM
This Flemish devotional book broke
the record auction price for an bar, resulting in a ‘matrix’ that is then filled with molten metal. linesoftext,whichisalltiedtogetherintoabundle. Because
illuminated manuscript by selling When cooled the metal letter type is removed and this process, any mistake will cost a lot of time and money, a galley proof is
for $13.4 million (£8.3 million). knownasmovabletype,ensuresallthelettersareidentical. made from this initial bundle and checked by a proofreader.

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