The Printing Revolution in the Renaissance
Outline Books in the Middle Ages Paper Making Block Printing Moveable Type and Johann Gutenberg The Impact of the Printing Press
Books in the Middle Ages Books written by hand by monks in monasteries Often very valuable Kept in monasteries, sometimes chained to shelves What are the problems with this?
Books in the Middle Ages A Medieval ‘Book of Hours’
Image from the Golf Book, British Library
Paper Making Invented by Chinese c. AD 105 Previously used parchment (sheep or goat skin, rubbed smooth with pumice stone) Muslim world made use of paper and bequeathed it to Europe c. 12th Century AD
Block Printing The Diamond Sutra, British Library, AD 868
The Invention of Movable Type
Working with a printing press
Movable Type
The beginning of the Gutenberg Bible, volume 1, Old Testament, Epistle of St. Jerome.
The Impact of the Printing Press Most important early printer was Aldus Manutius, owner of the Aldine Press in Florence Produced many works from Greece and Rome Development of new type faces Gradually more books in languages other than ancient Greek and Latin Allowed the writings of men such as Dante, Boccaccio, Macchiavelli, Erasmus to reach a much wider audience
Page from a 16th Century book showing a Pomegranate Tree
Anatomy of a Horse
The Five Orders of Architecture (Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola (1507-1573)