Editorial Design

The evolution of the printed page

ad 105 Paper is invented in China.

770Relief printing is practised in China.

868The world’s earliest dated printed book, a Chinese Diamond Sutra text, is created using woodblocks.

Early 15th century Professional writers join the ranks of monks in writing books as trading and wider education lead to more books for the upper and middle classes in Europe. In Paris, these writers form themselves into a guild – publishing has arrived.

1450In Mainz, Germany, goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg invents movable type (also known as ‘foundry type’ or ‘hot type’), and five years later uses it to begin a print run of 180 copies of the Gutenberg Bible.

1457Gazette, claimed to be the first printed newspaper, is printed in Nuremberg, ...