Johann Gutenberg

The man, The myth, The legend

By:

Mitchell

Birky

And

Jeffrey

Freitag

The Birth of a Legend

• Born around 1400 in Mainz, Germany

• Named after the house he was born in

• Nothing is known about his first 15 years

Resurface

• In March, 1434, lived in Strausbourg Germany

• 1437, worked as gem polisher

• Also recorded a broken marriage in 1437

The Printing Press

The Printing Press

• Around 1439, he appeared Aachen Germany as a mirror maker.

• In order to pay off debts, he had to invent something

• The idea of the printing press is said to have come from this debt

The Creation

• Johann took out a loan in 1488, presumably for a printing press

• By 1450, printing press was said to be operational

42 Line Bible

• In 1455, Gutenburg published his “Gutenburg Bible”

• Printed over 180 copies

• First mass produced copy

1450-1455

• Gutenburg printed many texts:

– Ars Minor

– Several Church Scripts

Late Life

• Won many awards– Hofmann– Credited as the inventor of

typography

• Widely renowned for changing literature forever

• Died in February 1468

Works Cited

• "Johannes Gutenberg." Wikipedia. 2 Feb. 2007. 5 Feb. 2007

<http://www.wikipedia.org>.

• Streissguth, Thomas. Communications: Sending the Message. Minneapolis, MN: The Oliver Press Inc., 1997.