Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos

printing: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

The Information Architects maintain a master list of the topics included in the corpus of  Encyclopædia Britannica, and create and manage the relationships between them.
The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Photos and Videos

A modern printing press that uses UV technology
Friedrich Koenig's mechanical platen press
stop-cylinder printing machine
Linotype
Johannes Gutenberg, wearing a fur-trimmed robe, examines his first printed proof sheet with two assistants in a workshop beside an early printing press.
book printing
Painting of a person with a headscarf reading a newspaper, with blue and white text overlaid reading: How the middle class learned to read.
See a working model of an early hand printing press
Illustration of vintage printing press with bold text reading Gutenberg's printing press and a blue arrow pointing to the press, against a purple background.
See All Videos and Images →

Related Topics and References

Topics
Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

default image
Ambroise-Firmin Didot
French printer and typesetter
default image
François Didot
French printer and bookseller
default image
Pierre François Didot
French publisher and printer
default image
Pierre Didot
French printer and typesetter
default image
Henri Didot
French printer and typesetter
default image
Hyacinthe-Firmin Didot
French printer and typesetter
default image
Léger Didot
French printer and typesetter
default image
François-Ambroise Didot
French printer and typesetter
default image
Firmin Didot
French printer and typesetter
default image
William Morris
British artist and author
Johannes Gutenberg
Johannes Gutenberg
German printer
William Byrd
William Byrd
English composer
William Caxton
William Caxton
English printer, translator, and publisher
default image
Thomas Morley
British composer
British publisher Robert Maxwell in a suit and patterned tie, seated and looking to his right, 1991.
Robert Maxwell
Czechoslovak-born British publisher
default image
Henri II Estienne
French scholar and printer
default image
Aldus Manutius
Italian printer
default image
Giovanni Mardersteig
Italian printer
default image
Robert Foulis
Scottish printer
William Smellie
William Smellie
Scottish publisher and scientist