Print Culture-2 Flashcards
how did paper first reach the europe?
For centuries, silk and spices from China flowed into Europe through
the silk route. In the eleventh century, Chinese paper reached Europe
via the same route. Paper made possible the production of
manuscripts, carefully written by scribes.
what did marco polo bring back from china and introduce in italy?
, in 1295, Marco Polo,
a great explorer, returned to Italy after many years of exploration in
China. As you read above, China already had the technology of
woodblock printing. Marco Polo brought this knowledge back with
him. Now Italians began producing books with woodblocks, and
soon the technology spread to other parts of Europe
what type of print did rich aristocracy and monarch use
Luxury
editions were still handwritten on very expensive vellum, meant for
aristocratic circles and rich monastic libraries which scoffed at printed
books as cheap vulgarities. Merchants and students in the university
towns bought the cheaper printed copies.
what is vellum
A parchment made from the skin
of animals
what happened as demand for goods increased
As the demand for books increased, booksellers all over Europe
began exporting books to many different countries. Book fairs were
held at different places. Production of handwritten manuscripts was
also organised in new ways to meet the expanded demand. Scribes
or skilled handwriters were no longer solely employed by wealthy
or influential patrons but increasingly by booksellers as well. More
than 50 scribes often worked for one bookseller.
did the production of manuscript help in meeting the demands
(or)
disadvantages of manuscript writing by scribes
But the production of handwritten manuscripts could not satisfy
the ever-increasing demand for books. Copying was an expensive,
laborious and time-consuming business. Manuscripts were fragile,
awkward to handle, and could not be carried around or read easily.
Their circulation therefore remained limited.
as manuscripts declined, what took over
With the growing
demand for books, woodblock printing gradually became more
and more popular. By the early fifteenth century, woodblocks were
being widely used in Europe to print textiles, playing cards, and
religious pictures with simple, brief texts.
the people’s demand was growing rapidly what could be done
There was clearly a great need for even quicker and cheaper
reproduction of texts. This could only be with the invention of a
new print technology. The breakthrough occurred at Strasbourg,
Germany, where Johann Gutenberg developed the first-known
printing press in the 1430s
what were the factors that enabled gutenberg to produce the printing press
Gutenberg was the son of a merchant and grew up on a large
agricultural estate. From his childhood he had seen wine and olive
presses. Subsequently, he learnt the art of polishing stones, became a
master goldsmith, and also acquired the expertise to create lead
moulds used for making trinkets. Drawing on this knowledge,
Gutenberg adapted existing technology to design his innovation.
how did gutenberg draw inspo from childhood
The olive press provided the model for the printing press, and moulds
were used for casting the metal types for the letters of the alphabet.
By 1448, Gutenberg perfected the system. The first book he printed
was the Bible. About 180 copies were printed and it took three
years to produce them. By the standards of the time this was fast
production.
The new technology did not entirely displace the existing art of
producing books by hand. substantiate
printed books at first closely resembled the written
manuscripts in appearance and layout. The metal letters imitated the
ornamental handwritten styles. Borders were illuminated by hand
with foliage and other patterns, and illustrations were painted. In the
books printed for the rich, space for decoration was kept blank on
the printed page. Each purchaser could choose the design and decide
on the painting school that would do the illustrations.
explain the spread of printing press in europe
In the hundred years between 1450 and 1550, printing presses were
set up in most countries of Europe. Printers from Germany travelled
to other countries, seeking work and helping start new presses. As
the number of printing presses grew, book production boomed.
The second half of the fifteenth century saw 20 million copies of
printed books flooding the markets in Europe. The number went
up in the sixteenth century to about 200 million copies.
