10 Econ Printing Press Invention

A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a surface to transfer an image. The printing press was one of the greatest inventions of all time because it allowed knowledge to travel into one country to another and diffuse different influences in different cultures. The printing press was created in Germany by the goldsmith Johann Gutenberg in 1439. Although both woodblock printing and movable type printing technologies were already developed in ancient China a few hundred years prior, those devices were different than the printing press. The Gutenberg press was much more efficient than manual copying and still was largely unchanged in the eras of John Baskerville and Giambattista Bodon. German printer Friedrich Koenig would be the first to design a non-manpowered machine—using steam. Having moved to London in 1804, Koenig soon met Thomas Bensley who secured financial support for his project in 1807and had it patented in 1810.The first production trial of this model occurred in April 1811. Koenig and Bauer sold two of their first models to The Times in London in 1814, capable of 1,100 impressions per hour. The first edition so printed was on November 28, 1814. They went on to perfect the early model so that it could print on both sides of a sheet at once. This began the long process of making newspapers available to a mass audience and from the 1820s changed the nature of book production, forcing a greater standardization in titles and other metadata. Their company Koenig & Bauer AG is still one of the world's largest manufacturers of printing presses today.

Timeline of Printing Press

1436: Johannes Gutenberg's partnered with Andreas Dritzehan to further work on the printing press. 1439: The systems involved were first assembled in Germany by the goldsmith Johann Gutenberg. 1800: Lord Stanhope had constructed a press completely from cast iron, reducing the force required by 90% while doubling the size of the printed area. 1804: German printer Friedrich Koenig would be the first to design a nonmanpowered machine. 1807: Koenig soon met Thomas Bensley and secured financial support for his project. 1814: Koenig and Bauer sold two of their first models to The Times in London. 1833: In The United States, the rotary printing press was created by Richard M. Hoe.