By the middle of the 15th century, when the growth of European cities, education and the development of culture gave rise to the need for mass book production. Scribe monks, who traditionally copied books in their cells, could no longer meet the needs of their time.
The invention of book printing
The invention of printing was the greatest discovery of humanity. It was made around 1445 by a resident of the German city of Mainz, jeweler Johann Gutenberg (c. 1400-1468).
Gutenberg was the first in Europe to use a printing press with movable metal letters for printing.
In addition to the invention of the printing press itself, Gutenberg's invention included a number of additional technical innovations. He invented a collapsible typeface, a type-casting apparatus, a special alloy for the production of type letters, and even a special composition of printing ink.
By the 40s of the 15th century. historians attribute the first attempts at printing. Gutenberg's apprentices and apprentices quickly spread their teacher's invention to European countries.
Gutenberg bible
In the first half of the 50s, the first printed book was published in Mainz. It was a superbly published 42-page Bible that rivaled the finest handwritten books. It was called the Gutenberg Bible.
Traditionally, it is considered the starting point of the history of typography in Europe.
The second - 32-page Bible came out around 1458-1460. and received the name "Bamberg Bible".
Among the first books published by Gutenberg was Donatus, an initial grammar of the Latin language by the Roman author Elius Donatus. Donat was the first textbook for all literate people of the Middle Ages.
In the Middle Ages, Latin was the main language of science and remained so for more than one century. Thus, "Donats" in the 15th century. a great many were published, but to this day in excerpts no more than 365 editions have survived.
For books for elementary education, there were scholarly works. Works by Roman authors were published: "Geography" by Strabo, "Natural History" by Pliny, "Geography" by the Greek scientist Pliny. Euclid's popular Principles of Geometry were published 6-7 times a year.
Published in the 15th century. also works of ancient Roman and Greek authors: "Iliad" and "Odyssey" by Homer, "Comparative Biographies" of Plutarch. The works of authors of the XIV-XV centuries were published: "The Divine Comedy" by Dante, poems by Francesco Petrarca and Villon, a collection of novels by Giovanni Boccaccio "The Decameron".
Incunabula books
Books published before December 31, 1500 were called incunabula - "lullaby books". In the early years, they bore a resemblance to handwritten books. Illustrations, capital letters, multicolor splash screens and endings were not printed at first, but were completed. And only gradually the handwritten initial gave way to printed engravings, which were carved from wood, and then from copper.
The first books, like the handwritten ones, did not have a title page. The title and author were indicated at the end. Only by the end of the 15th century.
all this information began to appear on the first page.
The largest collections of incunabula are collected today in the British Museum in London, in the US Library of Congress in Washington and in the National Library in Paris.
There is also a collection of incunabula in Russia. Stored in the Department of Rare Books in the State Public Library named after M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin in St. Petersburg. For their storage, in the last century, the "Cabinet of Faust" was equipped in the style of a medieval library.
The invention of book printing has had and still has an undeniable influence on the development of all mankind.
