24 August 22

Around this time in August, 1456, Johannes Gutenberg completed building his "printing press," the first mechanical way to produce identical copies. At least that's the conventional story. Gutenberg used his press to print the Bible, and that achievement spread rapidly through western Europe. So my library-books tie celebrates the wonder of books! The actual history of printing goes back at least 400 years before Gutenberg (1400-1468), apparently originating in China and Korea. "The fantastical idea that Gutenberg alone invented the printing press ignores an entire continent and several centuries of relevant efforts." "Perhaps it should be Choe Yun-ui whose name we remember, not Gutenberg’s."