Gutenberg’s press would allow a small team of printers to set and replicate pages at previously unimaginable volume. Individual letters (known as movable type) would be cast from metal, then arranged together to form words, sentences, and paragraphs. They would then be smeared with oil-based ink and pressed against sheets of vellum or paper (another early medieval Chinese invention, only recently imported to the west) from Italy, as many times as required, printing identical leaves. Although all this was an expensive, difficult process that required considerable care and attention on the part
...more
