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Typography, type-founding, and typeface design began as closely related crafts in mid-15th-century Europe with the introduction of movable type printing at the junction of the medieval era and the Renaissance. Handwritten letterforms of the mid-15th century calligraphy were the natural models for letterforms in systematized typography. [1]
Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg [a] (c. 1393–1406 – 3 February 1468) was a German inventor and craftsman who invented the movable-type printing press.Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg's invention of the printing press [2] enabled a much faster rate of printing.
Woodblock printing had been known in China for centuries. It was innovations in type casting that made for Gutenberg's breakthrough of commercially printing. [1] Although using matrices was a technique known well before his time, Johannes Gutenberg adapted their use to a conveniently adjustable hand mould, enabling one to easily and accurately cast identical multiple instances of any character.
Gutenberg was the first to create his type pieces from an alloy of lead, tin, and antimony—and these materials remained standard for 550 years. [9] For alphabetic scripts, movable-type page setting was quicker than woodblock printing. The metal type pieces were more durable and the lettering was more uniform, leading to typography and fonts.
The global spread of the printing press began with the invention of the printing press with movable type by Johannes Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany c. 1439. [1] Western printing technology was adopted in all world regions by the end of the 19th century, displacing the manuscript and block printing .
The history of typography may refer to: History of Western typography, for the history of typography in Europe and the wider Western world;
It is the art of a type designer to develop a pleasing and functional typeface. In contrast, it is the task of the typographer (or typesetter) to lay out a page using a typeface that is appropriate to the work to be printed or displayed. Type designers use the basic concepts of strokes, counter, body, and structural groups when designing typefaces.
Today, practically all movable type printing ultimately derives from Gutenberg's movable type printing, which is often regarded as the most important invention of the second millennium. [103] [104] [105] Gutenberg is also credited with the introduction of an oil-based ink which was more durable than previously used water-based inks.