The Printing Press

  • Jan 29, 1282

    Medieval Times

    A fourth development was the early success of medieval papermakers at mechanizing paper manufacture. The introduction of water-powered paper mills
  • Jan 1, 1300

    Recorded Creation

    Block printing first came to Christian Europe as a method for printing on cloth
  • Jan 1, 1400

    Production

    Images printed on cloth for religious purposes could be quite large and elaborate, and when paper became relatively easily available. The medium transferred very quickly to small woodcut religious images and playing cards printed on paper.
  • Jan 1, 1432

    Producing More

    Block-books, woodcut books with both text and images, usually carved in the same block, emerged as a cheaper alternative to manuscripts and books printed with movable type. These were all short heavily illustrated works, the bestsellers of the day, repeated in many different block-book versions
  • Jan 29, 1480

    Expansion

    there were printers active in 110 different places in Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, England, Bohemia and Poland. From that time on, it is assumed that "the printed book was in universal use in Europe.
  • Technological Advances

    Iron presses were developed, some of which could be operated by steam power.
  • Modern Day

    A multicolor method was developed by John Pilsworth of San Francisco