The Printing press is here in Europe, but the Chinese have had it since 500 AD. We know that the Arabs have traded for presses with the Chinese, and also that the Arabs won a battle against the Chinese and gained knowledge about paper as a spoil of war. In 1440 Johannes Gutenberg built the first printing press in Mainz, Germany.

We traveled there to meet Johannes Gutenberg.

Johannes Gutenberg

He tells us that the first time they used the printing press was to copy Bibles but now they use it for everything.

- How many types of forms are there in a printing press?

- In the press we use two forms of letters, movable types and block printing. Movable type printing means that we use separate letters in metal that can be combined to build words. Block printing uses letters carved in wood. You dip the whole block in ink and then press it onto the paper.

- Do you still have only one factory, or have you started more?

- We had only 2 factories in 1460 but the business grows steadily so we expect to have at least 10 in 1470. We also have had severe financial problems during the whole research period, but these are solved by now.