Printing Press Essay Example For Students

Printing Press Essay I believe that everyone has heard the phrase, The pen is mightier than the sword. This statement I cannot argue, but the point I want to make is that the printing press is the mightiest of them all. The origin of printing itself was only the first stage in the development of books as we know them. To understand the modern book, one should know of its history and realize the gradual process it came from since the pre-written manuscript. THERE WERE FOUR DISTINCT PHASES IN THIS METAMORPHOSIS (Butler xi). 1. In the beginning, this was just a means for performing a writers work more quickly, neatly, and cheaply than was possible by hand labor (Butler xi). 2. Only gradually did the early printers and their clients understand to accept the technical limitations of typography and to exploit its peculiarities (Butler xii). 3. The discovery of true publication (Butler xiii). 4. The printed book entered into the fourth phase of its metamorphosis it became a major factor in history (Butler xiii). The origin of the mechanical process was the first step in books as we know them today (Butler xi). The earliest scribe, like the public, had learned to read in pen-written volumes and was unaware of anything else (Butler xi). The printers problem was to invent a method for producing mass quantities of a standardized product (Butler xi). The printer was not free to produce a new product which might serve the same purpose as the old one (Butler xi). His goal was simply to copy the manuscript but to do this mechanically (Butler xii). The printers task was far more difficult than we imagine (Butler xii). Many parts of the manuscript, which were time-saving and labor-saving tools for the scribe, were only additional hindrances for the printer (Butler xii). As printers and their customers learned to accept the technical limitations, the book they produced took on new forms and developed new cultural potentials (Butler xii). Calligraphic ornaments were replaced by those of typographic style, and all sorts of new facilities were provided for the reader title pages, illustrations, maps, tables, indexes, etc. (Butler xii). The discovery of true publication was different than the manuscript economy. Under the manuscript economy, a writer responded to current demands. He copied books to order, or, if he built up a stock in anticipation of sales, it was of the volumes most frequently asked for school and university textbooks and standard works in theology, law, or medicine, constantly used by professional students and practitioners (Butler xiii). The printer, however, soon went beyond this and realized the potential of publication (Butler xiii). To expand his business, he undertook to create new demands (Butler xiii). The printer searched through old libraries for whatever books he thought the people might buy, if they were made available (Butler xiii). He also provided new works brought to him by living authors, and, finally, he came to order on his own, undertaking journalistic accounts of recent happenings (Butler xiii). In response to his initiative, the world learned to read books and not merely to study them (Butler xiii). The publishers made people read for its own sake (Butler xiii). This became the habit of educated men a practice forgotten since the collapse of Roman civilization (Butler xiii). Books became a major factor in History. Publishers made known that the book could not only inform and entertain the masses but also affect their thoughts and actions (Butler xiv). It was used to spread new beliefs, to sway mens opinions, to win their support, and to arouse their passions (Butler xiv). During the first century of printing, the press became a potent weapon of public appeal and propaganda (Butler xiv). Modern man makes constant use of printed materials (Butler 1). People accept their presence in their lives as a matter of course -almost like the air we breathe and the ground we walk on (Butler 1). Unless our attention is drawn to it, we never notice the extent of our obligations to the printer (Butler 1). Yet, there is hardly a thing that we do or a source of delight that we enjoy that does not involve somehow, directly or indirectly, the use of typography (Butler 1). Our familiarity with the work of the printer has thus rendered us almost unconscious of their presence, very few of us have much curiosity about the processes which are used to make them (Butler 4). The Plant Cell Essay Thesis The sad part is that not one of these printers has told us when and how he began to print on his own account (De Vinne 492). What is known about the introduction of printing in many of the large cities has been collected from dates of books and the indirect references of early chronicles (De Vinne 492). The activity of the early printers is remarkable. The huge task of preserving the literature of the world was adequately done at a very early date (De Vinne 511). There were not many books that appeared to be salable and profitable, and some were hard to get, and copies were obtained with much hardship but almost every important book was found and printed (De Vinne 511). The attention of the literary world was taken by storm, not by the possibilities of future usefulness in printing, but by the growing inexpensiveness of books (De Vinne 511). The early printers offered their books at lower than the market prices of manuscripts, but in a few years they were compelled to cut prices lower (De Vinne 511). The market was quickly glutted, and the prices fell sharply and irretrievably (De Vinne 511). At the close of the 15th century the price of many books had been reduced by 80% (De Vinne 511). Many early printers failed to make their business profitable. The failure was caused by the printers selection of bulky theological writings which cost a great amount of money, and were salable to a small class (De Vinne 512). It was mistakenly thought that printing would receive its great support from clergymen (De Vinne 512). The first printers printed almost exclusively in Latin, and the books could be read only by the learned, and purchased only by the wealthy (De Vinne 512). It was soon realized that printing could not be supported by the clergy (De Vinne 511). Nearly all books were printed in Latin (De Vinne 512). In Italy the revival of classical literature opened a new door for the publisher, but the demand for Latin authors was limited (De Vinne 513). In this country and in others, eagerness for books in the native language was made clear; for books that plain people could read; books that represented the life and thoughts of the living and not of the dead (De Vinne 513). The world was getting prepared for new teachers and for a new literature for Luther and Bacon, for Galileo and Shakespeare (De Vinne 513). Modern Technology As inaccurate as early printed books may have been, they were more correct than those of the copyists. The mistakes of a faulty first edition were soon made known and the faulty editions were made perfect (De Vinne 541). One of the benefits of printing is that it has prevented the accidental or intentional debasement of texts (De Vinne 541). The inferiority of the tools of the early printing office is glaring when comparing them with those of our time. The improvements that have been made are ones that have been mostly made in this century (De Vinne 541). There has been no change in the theory, and there have been but few changes in the elementary processes of printing (De Vinne 541). Printing is done quicker, cheaper, with more neatness and accuracy, with more consideration for the convenience of the reader, with new features of artistic merit, and in varieties and quantities so great that there is no comparison between early and modern productions but the fact remains that this is the same kind of work it was in the beginning (De Vinne 541). It has not been made obsolete by lithography, or other inventions of our era (De Vinne 541). The method still keeps its place in history at the head of the graphic arts (De Vinne 541). From buying concert tickets to paying a couple of hundred dollars each semester for books, printing impacts our lives greatly. It is hard to name an activity in which we do not use some item that is printed. BIBLIOGRAPHY Butler, Pierce. The Origin of Printing in Europe. Chicago London: The University of Chicago Press. De Vinne, Theo. L. The Invention of Printing. New York: Francis Hart Co. , 1876. Republished by Gale Research Company Book Tower, Detroit, 1969.