Examine individual changes

'{{For|the weblog software|Movable Type}} {{History of printing}} '''Movable type''' is the system of [[printing]] and [[typography]] that uses movable [[Sort (typesetting)|components]] to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual letters or punctuation). The world's first known movable type system for printing was created in [[China]] around 1040 A.D. by [[Bi Sheng]] (990–1051) during the [[Song Dynasty]];<ref name="needhamb">{{cite book|last=Needham|first=Joseph|title=The Shorter Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 4|year=1994|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=14|isbn=9780521329958|quote=Bi Sheng... who first devised, about 1045, the art of printing with movable type}}</ref> When this technology spread to [[Korea]] during the [[Goryeo Dynasty]] in 1234, they made the metal movable-type system for printing. This led to the printing of the [[Jikji]] in 1377, the oldest extant movable metal print book. The diffusion of both movable-type systems was, however, limited:<ref>Zhou He (1994): "Diffusion of Movable Type in China and Europe: Why Were There Two Fates?", in: ''International Communication Gazette'', Vol. 53, pp.&nbsp;153–173</ref> They were expensive, and required an enormous amount of labour involved in manipulating the thousands of ceramic tablets, or in the case of Korea, metal tablets required for scripts based on the [[Chinese character|Chinese writing system]], which have thousands of characters. Around 1450, [[Johannes Gutenberg]] invented an improved movable type mechanical printing system in [[Europe]], along with innovations in casting the type based on a [[matrix (printing)|matrix]] and [[hand mould]]. The more limited number of characters needed for European languages was an important factor.<ref>Beck with, Christopher I., ''Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present'', Princeton University Press, 2009, ISBN 978-0-691-15034-5</ref> Gutenberg was the first to create his type pieces from an alloy of [[lead]], [[tin]], and [[antimony]]—the same components still used today.<ref>[[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]. Retrieved November 27, 2006, from [[Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD]]—entry 'printing'</ref> For alphabetic scripts, movable-type page setting was quicker and more durable than [[woodblock printing]]. The metal type pieces were more durable and the lettering was more uniform, leading to typography and [[font]]s. The printing press was especially efficient for limited alphabets. The high quality and relatively low price of the [[Gutenberg Bible]] (1455) established the superiority of movable type in Europe and the use of printing presses spread rapidly. The printing press may be regarded as one of the key factors fostering the [[Renaissance]]<ref>Eisenstein, Elizabeth L., ''The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe'', Cambridge University Press, 1983</ref> and due to its effectiveness, its [[Spread of the printing press|use spread around the globe]]. The 19th-century invention of [[hot metal typesetting]] and its successors caused movable type to decline in the 20th century. ==Precursors to movable type== ===Letter punch and coins=== [[File:Tetradrachm 5th century BC athens detail.jpg|right|thumb|Movable type traces its origins to the punches used to make [[coin]]s: the reverse face of a [[Tetradrachm]] [[Ancient Greek coinage|Greek coin]] from [[Athens]], 5th century BC, featuring letters and the owl symbol of [[Athena]].]] The technique of imprinting multiple copies of [[symbol]]s or [[glyph]]s with a master ''type'' punch made of hard metal first developed around [[3000 BC]] in [[Sumer|ancient Sumer]]. These metal punch types can be seen as precursors of the letter punches adapted in later millennia to printing with movable metal type. [[Cylinder seal]]s were used in [[Mesopotamia]] to create an impression on a surface by rolling the seal on wet clay.<ref name="Clair">{{cite book|last1=Clair|first1=Kate|last1=Busic-Snyder|first1=Cynthia |title=A Typographic Workbook: A Primer to History, Techniques, and Artistry|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Lf0iDYCr6w0C|year=2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-39988-0|page=4}}</ref> They were used to "sign" documents and mark objects as the owner's property. Cylinder seals were a related form of early typography capable of printing small page designs in relief (''[[cameo (carving)|cameo]]'') on wax or clay—a miniature forerunner of [[rotogravure|rotogravure printing]] used by wealthy individuals to seal and certify documents. By 650 BC the ancient Greeks were using larger diameter punches to imprint small page images onto [[coin]]s and [[token coin|tokens]]. The [[graphic design|designs]] of the artists who made the first coin punches were stylized with a degree of skill that could not be mistaken for common handiwork—salient and very specific types designed to be reproduced ''[[ad infinitum]]''. Unlike the first typefaces used to print books in the 13th century, coin types were neither combined nor printed with [[ink]] on [[paper]], but "published" in metal—a more durable medium—and survived in substantial numbers. As the portable face of ruling authority, coins were a compact form of standardized knowledge issued in large editions, an early mass medium that stabilized trade and civilization throughout the [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean]] world of [[Classical antiquity|antiquity]]. MARIAH WAS HERE! ===Seals and stamps=== {{Main|Mudbrick stamp|Cylinder seal|Phaistos Disc}} [[File:Stamp Lasha Louvre AO27586.jpg|thumb|right|Brick "stamp mold" for the King of [[Larsa]], [[Sin-Iddinam]]. (for Sun God, Utu, [[foundation deposit]] of temple) ]] [[Image:PhaistosDiskLarge.jpg|thumb|right|A replica of the [[Phaistos Disc]]]] Seals and stamps may have been precursors to movable type. The uneven spacing of the impressions on brick stamps found in the [[Mesopotamia]]n cities of [[Uruk]] and [[Larsa]], dating from the [[2nd millennium BC]], has been conjectured by some archaeologists as evidence that the stamps were made using movable type.<ref name="brickstamps">{{cite book|last=Sass|first=Benjamin|last=Marzahn|first=Joachim |title=Aramaic and Figural Stamp Impressions on Bricks of the Sixth Century B.C. from Babylon|year=2010|publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-06184-1|pages=11, 20, 160|quote="the latter has cuneiform signs that look as if made with a movable type, and impressions from Assur display the same phenomenon}}</ref> The enigmatic [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] Phaistos Disc of 1800–1600 BC has been considered by one scholar as an early example of a body of text being reproduced with reusable characters: it may have been produced by pressing pre-formed hieroglyphic "seals" into the soft clay. A few authors even view the disc as technically meeting all definitional criteria to represent an early incidence of movable-type printing.<ref name="Herbert E. Brekle">Herbert E. Brekle, "Das typographische Prinzip", ''Gutenberg-Jahrbuch'', Vol. 72 (1997), pp.58–63 (60f.)</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://themodernantiquarian.com/site/10857/phaistos.html#fieldnotes |title=C.Michael Hogan, '&#39;Knossos Fieldnotes'&#39;, The Modern Antiquarian (2007) |publisher=Themodernantiquarian.com |accessdate=2012-08-15}}</ref> Recently it has been alleged by Jerome Eisenberg that the disk is a forgery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article4318911.ece|title=Phaistos Disc declared as fake by scholar|last=Alberge|first=Dalya|date=2008-07-12|work=[[Times Online]]|accessdate=2008-09-01}}</ref> ==History of movable type== {{Further|History of printing in East Asia}} Prior to the development of metal movable type, most printing was done using blocks carved from wood. [[Woodblock printing]] was used extensively in East Asia, and created the world's first [[print culture]]. ===Ceramic movable type=== [[Bi Sheng]] (990–1051) developed the first known movable-type system for printing in China around 1040 AD, using ceramic materials.<ref name="tsien"/><ref name="Man">Man, John ''The Gutenberg Revolution:The story of a genius that changed the world'' (c) 2002 Headline Book Publishing, a division of Hodder Headline, London. ISBN 0-7472-4504-5. A detailed examination of Gutenberg's life and invention, interwoven with the underlying social and religious upheaval of [[Medieval Europe]] on the eve of the Renaissance.</ref> As described by the Chinese scholar [[Shen Kuo]] (1031–1095): :''When he wished to print, he took an iron frame and set it on the iron plate. In this he placed the types, set close together. When the frame was full, the whole made one solid block of type. He then placed it near the fire to warm it. When the paste [at the back] was slightly melted, he took a smooth board and pressed it over the surface, so that the block of type became as even as a whetstone.'' :''For each character there were several types, and for certain common characters there were twenty or more types each, in order to be prepared for the repetition of characters on the same page. When the characters were not in use he had them arranged with paper labels, one label for each rhyme-group, and kept them in wooden cases''.<ref name="tsien">{{cite book|last=Tsien|first=Tsuen-Hsuin|title=Paper and Printing|volume=vol. 5 part 1|series=Needham, Joseph ''Science and Civilization in China:''|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1985|ISBN= 0-521-08690-6|pages=201–217}}</ref> :''If one were to print only two or three copies, this method would be neither simple nor easy. But for printing hundreds or thousands of copies, it was marvelously quick. As a rule he kept two forms going. While the impression was being made from the one form, the type was being put in place on the other. When the printing of the one form was finished, the other was then ready. In this way the two forms alternated and the printing was done with great rapidity''.<ref name="tsien"/> In 1193, Zhou Bida, an officer of Southern Song Dynasty, made a set of clay movable-type method according to the method described by Shen Kuo in his ''[[Dream Pool Essays]]'', and printed his book ''Notes of The Jade Hall'' 《玉堂杂记》.<ref name="Yinong">Xu Yinong ''Moveable Type Books'' (徐忆农 活字本) ISBN 7-80643-795-9</ref> As late as 1844 there were still books printed in China with ceramic movable types.<ref name="Yinong" /> However, Bi Sheng's fragile clay types were not practical for large-scale printing.<ref>Sohn, Pow-Key, "Early Korean Printing," ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', Vol. 79, No. 2 (Apr.–Jun., 1959), pp.96–103 (100)</ref> Sohn Pow-Key claimed that Bi Sheng's baked clay was "fragile" was refuted by facts and experiments, Bao Shicheng (1775–1885) wrote that baked clay moveable type was "as hard and tough as horn"; experiments show that baked clay moveable type is hard and difficult to break, a clay moveable type dropped from a height of two metres onto a marble floor remained intact. Korea could have tried clay movable type, but with little success, probably due to misinterpration of Shen Kua's description "as thin as coin", which likely referred to the depth of the character matrix, not the total length of the moveable type body. The length of clay movable types in China was 1 to 2 centimetres, not 2mm, thus hard as horn.<ref>Pan Jixing, A history of movable metal type printing technique in China 2001 p22</ref> ===Wooden movable type=== Wooden movable type was also first developed around 1040 AD by [[Bi Sheng]] (毕昇) (990–1051), as described by the Chinese scholar Shen Kuo (1031–1095), but was abandoned in favour of clay movable types due to the presence of wood grains and the unevenness of the wooden type after being soaked in ink.<ref name="tsien"/><ref>Shen Kua: Dream Pool Essay</ref> In 1298, [[Wang Zhen (official)|Wang Zhen]], a governmental official of Jingde, [[Anhui]] province, China, re-invented a method of making movable wooden types. He made more than 30,000 wooden movable types and printed 100 copies of Records of Jingde County (旌德县志), a book of more than 60,000 [[Chinese characters]]. Soon afterwards, he summarized his invention in his book ''A method of making moveable wooden types for printing books''. Although the wooden type was more durable under the mechanical rigors of handling, repeated printing wore the character faces down, and the types could only be replaced by carving new pieces. This system was later enhanced by pressing wooden blocks into sand and casting metal types from the depression in copper, bronze, iron or tin. This new method overcame many of the shortcomings of woodblock printing. Rather than manually carving an individual block to print a single page, movable type printing allowed for the quick assembly of a page of text. Furthermore, these new, more compact type fonts could be reused and stored.<ref name="tsien"/><ref name="Man"/> The set of wafer-like metal stamp types could be assembled to form pages, inked, and page impressions taken from rubbings on cloth or paper.<ref name="Man"/> In 1322，a Fenghua county officer Ma Chengde(马称德) in Zhejiang, made 100,000 wooded movable types and printed 43 volume Daxue Yanyi (大学衍义). Wooden movable types were used continually in China. Even as late as 1733, a 2300 volume, 《武英殿聚珍版丛书》, was printed with 253500 wooden movable type on order of the [[Yongzheng Emperor]], and completed in one year. A number of books printed in [[Tangut script]] during the Western Xia (1038–1227) period are known, of which the [[Auspicious Tantra of All-Reaching Union]] that was discovered in the ruins of [[Baisigou Square Pagoda]] in 1991 is believed to have been printed sometime during the reign of [[Emperor Renzong of Western Xia]] (1139–1193).<ref name="zhang-yuzhen-2003">{{Cite journal | author=Zhang Yuzhen (张玉珍) | title=世界上现存最早的木活字印本—宁夏贺兰山方塔出土西夏文佛经《吉祥遍至口和本续》介绍 | trans_title=The world's oldest extant book printed with wooden movable type | journal=Library and Information (图书与情报) | year=2003 | issue=1 | url=http://www.zhg1.cn/science/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=244&Page=1 | issn=1003-6938 }}</ref> It is considered by many Chinese experts to be the earliest extant example of a book printed using wooden movable type.<ref name="beijing-daily">{{Cite news | author1=Hou Jianmei (侯健美) | author2=Tong Shuquan (童曙泉) | title=《大夏寻踪》今展国博 | trans_title='In the Footsteps of the Great Xia' now exhibiting at the National Museum | newspaper=Beijing Daily (北京日报) | date=20 December 2004 }}</ref> ===Metal movable type=== [[File:JikjiType.gif|thumb|left|Korean movable type from 1377 used for the [[Jikji]];[[File:Korean book-Jikji-Selected Teachings of Buddhist Sages and Seon Masters-1377.jpg|printed page]]]] The transition from wood type to metal type occurred in 1234 during the [[Goryeo Dynasty]] of [[Korea]] and is credited to [[Choe Yun-ui]]. A set of ritual books, ''Sangjeong Gogeum Yemun'' were printed with the movable metal type in 1234.<ref name=christensen> {{cite web |url=http://www.rightreading.com/printing/gutenberg.asia/gutenberg-asia-1-introduction.htm |title=Did East Asian Printing Traditions Influence the European Renaissance? |author=Thomas Christensen |accessdate=2006-10-18 |year= 2007 |publisher = Arts of Asia Magazine (to appear) }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last= Sohn |first= Pow-Key |title= Printing Since the 8th Century in Korea |date=summer 1993 | journal = Koreana | volume = 7 | issue = 2 | pages = 4–9 }}</ref> Examples of this metal type are on display in the Asian Reading Room of the [[Library of Congress]] in Washington, D.C.<ref>[http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/world/world-record.html World Treasures of the Library of Congress]. Retrieved 26 December 2006.</ref> The oldest extant movable metal print book is the [[Jikji]], printed in [[Korea]] in 1377.<ref>Michael Twyman, ''The British Library Guide to Printing: History and Techniques'', London: The British Library, 1998 [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0802081797&id=KXoaalwyOjAC&pg=PA21&lpg=PA21&dq=korea+gutenberg+surviving&sig=4QBhy9ty1jbXJASJcUzFBDfKbGo online]</ref> The techniques for bronze casting, used at the time for making coins (as well as bells and statues) were adapted to making metal type. The following description of the Korean font casting process was recorded by the [[Joseon dynasty]] scholar Seong Hyeon (성현, 成俔, 1439–1504): :At first, one cuts letters in beech wood. One fills a trough level with fine sandy [clay] of the reed-growing seashore. Wood-cut letters are pressed into the sand, then the impressions become negative and form letters [molds]. At this step, placing one trough together with another, one pours the molten bronze down into an opening. The fluid flows in, filling these negative molds, one by one becoming type. Lastly, one scrapes and files off the irregularities, and piles them up to be arranged.<ref name=christensen/> A potential solution to the linguistic and cultural bottleneck that held back movable type in Korea for 200 years appeared in the early 15th century—a generation before Gutenberg would begin working on his own movable-type invention in Europe—when [[Sejong the Great of Joseon|King Sejong the Great]] devised a simplified [[alphabet]] of 24 characters ([[hangul]]) for use by the common people, which could have made the typecasting and compositing process more feasible. Adoption of the new alphabet was stifled by the Korea's cultural elite, who were ''"...appalled at the idea of losing Chinese, the badge of their elitism."''<ref name="Man"/> Proliferation of movable type was also obstructed by a "[[Confucianism|Confucian]] prohibition on the commercialization of printing" restricted the distribution of books produced using the new method to the government.<ref name="Burke"/> The technique was restricted to use by the royal foundry for official state publications only, where the focus was on reprinting Chinese classics lost in 1126 when Korea's libraries and palaces had perished in a conflict between dynasties.<ref name="Burke">Burke</ref> In the early 15th century, however, the Koreans invented a form of movable type that has been described by the French scholar Henri-Jean Martin as '[extremely similar] to Gutenberg's'.<ref name="Briggs 2002 pp.15-23">Briggs, Asa and Burke, Peter (2002) A Social History of the Media: from Gutenberg to the Internet, Polity, Cambridge, pp.15-23, 61-73.</ref> [[File:Removeable type book.jpg|thumb|A page from bronze movable-type book by [[Hua Sui]], printed in 1490]] ===Metal movable type elsewhere in Asia=== In the beginning of the 12th century, movable type was used in large scale for the printing of paper money issued by the Northern Song Dynasty. A copper block printed paper money dated between 1215-1216 in the collection of [[Luo Zhenyu]]'s ''Pictorial Paper Money of the Four Dynasties'', 1914, shows two special characters one called ''Ziliao'', the other called ''Zihao'' for the purpose of preventing counterfeit; over the ''Ziliao'' there is a small character (輶) printed with movable copper type, while over the ''Zihao'' there is an empty square hole, apparently the associated copper metal type was lost. Another sample of Song dynasty money of the same period in the collection of Shanghai Museum has two empty square holes above ''Ziliao'' as well as ''Zihou'', due to lost of the two copper movable types. Song dynasty bronze block embedded with bronze metal movable type printed paper money was issued in large scale and in circulation for a long time.<ref>A History of Moveable Type Printing in China, by Pan Jixing, Professor of the Institude for History of Science, Academy of Science, Beijing, China, English Abstract, p273</ref> In the 1298 book ''Zao Huozi Yinshufa'' (造活字印书法/造活字印書法) of the Chinese official [[Wang Zhen (official)|Wang Zhen]], there is mention of [[tin]] movable type, but this was largely experimental.<ref>近世又铸锡作字, 以铁条贯之 (rendering: In the modern times, there's melten Tin Movable type, and linked them with iron bar, [[Zao Huozi Yinshufa]] (造活字印书法)</ref> There's also some claims of more early Chinese metal movable type, some dates back to 1148 AD.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbkx.com/2003-1/382.shtml |title=印刷术发明权的论争并未止息-出版科学 |publisher=Cbkx.com |date=2009-11-11 |accessdate=2012-08-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://engine.cqvip.com/content/ts/97615x/2002/000/011/gc42_ts6_7033714.pdf |title=印刷术发明权的争论并未止息——访著名学者肖东发教授-【维普网】-仓储式在线作品出版平台-www.cqvip.com |publisher=Engine.cqvip.com |accessdate=2012-08-15}}</ref>{{verify source|reason=''translation needed--what sources is this I cannot tell if they are reliable sources even''|date=February 2012}} [[Hua Sui]] introduced bronze type printing to China in 1490 AD.<ref name="tsien"/> In 1574 the massive 1000 volume encyclopedia [[Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era]] 《太平御览》/《太平御覧》 were printed with bronze movable type. In 1725,the [[Qing Dynasty]] government made 250,000 bronze movable-type characters and printed 64 sets of the encyclopedic ''[[Gujin Tushu Jicheng]] Complete Collection of Illustrations and Writings from the Earliest to Current Times'' 《古今图书集成》/《古今圖書集成》. Each set consisted of 5040 volumes, making a total of 322,560 volumes printed using movable type. During the [[Mongol Empire]] (1206–1405), printing using movable type spread from China to Central Asia.{{clarify|reason=which others? names of cultures please. It beats saying "among others..."|date=February 2012}} The [[Uyghur people|Uyghur]]s of Central Asia used movable type, their script type adopted from the Mongol language, some with Chinese words printed between the pages, a strong evidence that the books were printed in China.<ref>Chinese Paper and Printing, A Cultural History, by Tsien, Tsuen-Hsuin</ref> ===Metal movable type in Europe=== {{Main|History of Western typography|Spread of European movable type printing}} [[File:Printing towns incunabula.svg|thumb|left|The [[Printing Revolution]] in the 15th century: Within several decades around 270 European towns took up movable type printing.<ref name="ISTC">{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/istc/index.html |title=Incunabula Short Title Catalogue |author= |work= |publisher=[[British Library]] |accessdate=2 March 2011}}</ref>]] [[File:European Output of Printed Books ca. 1450–1800.png|thumb|European output of movable type printing from [[Johannes Gutenberg|Gutenberg]] to 1800<ref>Buringh, Eltjo; van Zanden, Jan Luiten: "Charting the “Rise of the West”: Manuscripts and Printed Books in Europe, A Long-Term Perspective from the Sixth through Eighteenth Centuries", ''The Journal of Economic History'', Vol. 69, No. 2 (2009), pp.&nbsp;409–445 (417, table 2)</ref>]] [[Johannes Gutenberg]] of [[Mainz]], Germany is acknowledged as the first to invent a metal movable-type printing system in Europe, the [[printing press]]. Gutenberg was a [[goldsmith]] familiar with techniques of [[punchcutting|cutting punches]] for making coins from moulds. Between 1436 and 1450 he developed hardware and techniques for casting letters from [[matrix (printing)|matrices]] using a device called the [[hand mould]].<ref name="meggs58-69">{{cite book|author=Meggs, Philip B.|title=A History of Graphic Design|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc|year=1998|pages=58–69|isbn=0-471-29198-6}}</ref> Gutenberg's key invention and contribution to movable-type printing in Europe, the hand mould was the first practical means of making cheap copies of letterpunches in the vast quantities needed to print complete books, making the movable-type printing process a viable enterprise. Before Gutenberg, books were copied out by hand on scrolls and paper, or printed from hand-carved wooden blocks. It was extremely time-consuming; even a small book could take months to complete, and the carved letters or blocks were very flimsy and the susceptibility of wood to ink gave such blocks a limited lifespan. Gutenberg and his associates developed oil-based inks ideally suited to printing with a [[printing press|press]] on paper, and the first Latin [[typeface]]s. His method of casting type may have been different from the hand mould used in subsequent decades. Detailed analysis of the type used in his 42-line Bible has revealed irregularities in some of the characters that cannot be attributed to ink spread or type wear under the pressure of the press. Scholars conjecture that the type pieces may have been cast from a series of matrices made with a series of individual stroke punches, producing many different versions of the same glyph.<ref> {{cite conference | first = Blaise | last = Agüera y Arcas | coauthors = Paul Needham | title = Computational analytical bibliography | booktitle = Proceedings Bibliopolis Conference ''The future history of the book'' | publisher = [[Koninklijke Bibliotheek, National Library of the Netherlands|Koninklijke Bibliotheek]] |date=November 2002 | location = [[The Hague]] ([[Netherlands]])}} </ref> It has also been suggested that the method used by Gutenberg involved using a single punch to make a mould, but the mould was such that the process of taking the type out disturbed the casting, creating variants and anomalies, and that the punch-matrix system came into use possibly around the 1470s.<ref> {{cite web |url=http://www.open2.net/home/view?entityID=15599&jsp=themed_learning%2Fexpanding_viewer&sessionID=-1161756493749&entityName=object |title= What Did Gutenberg Invent?—Discovery |accessdate=2006-10-25 |year= 2006 |publisher = BBC / [[Open University]] }} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> This raises the possibility that the development of movable type in the West may have been progressive rather than a single innovation.<ref>{{cite book |author = James L. Adams |title = Flying Buttresses, Entropy and O-Rings: the World of an Engineer |year = 1991 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] }}</ref> Gutenberg's movable-type printing system spread rapidly across Europe, from the single Mainz printing press in 1457 to 110 presses by 1480, of which 50 were in [[Italy]]. [[Venice]] quickly became the center of typographic and printing activity. Significant were the contributions of [[Nicolas Jenson]], [[Francesco Griffo]], [[Aldus Manutius]], and other printers of late 15th-century Europe. Despite some conjectures (see<ref name=christensen/>), there is [[History of typography in East Asia#Possible influence on European use of movable type|no evidence]] that movable type from the East ever reached Europe. ==Type-founding== [[Image:Fi garamond sort 001.png|thumb|upright|'''A piece of cast metal type''', [[Garamond]] style '''[[long s]] [[i]]''' [[Ligature (typography)|ligature]]. See also: [[Sort (typesetting)]].]] Type-founding as practiced in Europe and the west consists of three stages. '''[[Punchcutting]]:''' If the glyph design includes enclosed spaces ([[counter (typography)|counters]]) then a counterpunch is made. The counter shapes are transferred in relief ([[cameo (carving)|cameo]]) onto the end of a rectangular bar of [[mild steel]] using a specialized [[engraving]] tool called a [[burin|graver]]. The finished counterpunch is hardened by heating and quenching ([[tempering (metallurgy)|tempering]]), or exposure to a cyanide solution ([[case hardening]]). The counterpunch is then struck against the end of a similar rectangular steel bar—the letterpunch—to impress the counter shapes as recessed spaces ([[intaglio (printmaking)|intaglio]]). The outer profile of the glyph is completed by scraping away with a graver the material outside the counter spaces, leaving only the stroke or lines of the glyph. Progress toward the finished design is checked by successive ''smoke proofs''; temporary prints made from a thin coating of carbon deposited on the punch surface by a candle flame. The finished letter punch is finally hardened to withstand the rigors of reproduction by striking. One counterpunch and one letterpunch are produced for every letter or glyph making up a complete font. '''[[Matrix (printing)|Matrix]]:''' The letterpunch is used to strike a blank die of soft metal to make a negative letter mould, called a matrix. '''Casting:''' The matrix is inserted into the bottom of a device called a ''hand mould''. The mould is clamped shut and molten type metal alloy consisting mostly of [[lead]] and [[tin]], with a small amount of [[antimony]] for hardening, is poured into a cavity from the top. Antimony has the rare property of expanding as it cools, giving the casting sharp edges.<ref>{{cite web | title = Answers.com page on antimony | work = McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology | publisher = McGraw-Hill | date = 2005-01-01 | url = http://www.answers.com/topic/antimony | accessdate = 2009-06-30}}</ref> When the type metal has sufficiently cooled, the mould is unlocked and a rectangular block approximately 4 centimeters long, called a ''[[sort (typesetting)|sort]]'', is extracted. Excess casting on the end of the sort, called the ''tang'', is later removed to make the sort the precise height required for printing, known as "type height". The type-height was quite different in different countries, the Monotype Corporation Limited in London UK produced moulds in various heights: * 0.918&nbsp;inches : United Kingdom, Canada, USA * 0.928&nbsp;inches : France, Germany, Swiss and most other European Countries * 0.933&nbsp;inches : Belgium height * 0.9785&nbsp;inches : Dutch height A Dutch printers manual <ref>Blankenstein A.H.G., Wetser Ad: ''Zetten, uitgebreide leerstof, deel 1'', p.26, Edecea, Hoorn, The Netherlands, 5th edition, (~1952)</ref> mentions a tiny difference between French and German Height: * 62.027 points Didot = 23.30&nbsp;mm = English height * 62.666 points Didot = 23.55&nbsp;mm = French height * 62.685 points Didot = 23.56&nbsp;mm = German height * 66.047 points Didot = 24.85&nbsp;mm = Dutch Height Tiny differences in type-height will cause quite bold images of characters. ==Typesetting== [[Image:Metal movable type.jpg|right|thumb|A case of cast metal type pieces and typeset matter in a [[composing stick]]]] {{main|Typesetting|Type case}} Modern, factory-produced movable type was available in the late 19th century. It was held in the printing shop in a ''job case'', a drawer about 2&nbsp;inches high, a yard wide, and about two feet deep, with many small compartments for the various letters and ligatures. The most popular and accepted of the job case designs in America was the [[California Job Case]], which took its name from the Pacific coast location of the foundries that made the case popular.<ref>[http://www.amateurpress.org/bundle/camp194.htm National Amateur Press Association], Monthly Bundle Sample, Campane 194, ''The California Typecase'' by Lewis A. Pryor (Edited)</ref> Traditionally, the capital letters were stored in a separate drawer or case that was located above the case that held the other letters; this is why capital letters are called "upper case" characters while the non-capitals are "lower case".<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=ewSglB2f7qYC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=capital+uppercase+typesetting+term&source=web&ots=6tr9ttWJM7&sig=XVBi9LMycbrSTaYzeK4fPI7r8ZI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result Glossary of Typesetting Terms], by Richard Eckersley, Charles Ellerston, Richard Hendel, Page 18</ref> Compartments also held spacers, which are blocks of blank type used to separate words and fill out a line of type, such as ''em'' and ''en'' quads (''quadrats'', or spaces. A ''quadrat'' is a block of type whose face is lower than the printing letters so that it does not itself print.). An em space was the width of a capital letter "M" &ndash; as wide as it was high &ndash; while an en space referred to a space half the width of its height (usually the dimensions for a capital "N"). Individual letters are assembled into words and lines of text with the aid of a [[composing stick]], and the whole assembly is tightly bound together to make up a page image called a ''forme'', where all letter faces are exactly the same height to form a flat surface of type. The forme is mounted on a [[printing press]], a thin coating of viscous ink is applied and impressions made on paper under great pressure in the press. "Sorts" is the term given to special characters not freely available in the typical type case, such as the "@" mark, etc. == Metal type combined with other methods == [[File:Ceramic type 02.jpg|thumb|Ceramic type from the collections of [[University of Reading]].]]Sometimes it is erroneously stated that printing with metal type replaced the earlier methods. In the industrial era printing methods would be chosen to suit the purpose. For example, when printing large scale letters in posters etc. the metal type would have proved too heavy and economically unviable. Thus, large scale type was made as engraved wood blocks as well as ceramics plates.<ref>Meggs, Philip B., Purvis, Alston W. "Graphic Design and the Industrial Revolution" ''History of Graphic Design''. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2006. p.139.</ref> Also in many cases where large scale text was required, it was simpler to hand the job to a [[Sign painting|sign painter]] than a printer. Images could be printed together with movable type if they were made as [[woodcut]]s or [[wood engraving]]s as long as the blocks were made to the same type height. If [[Intaglio (printmaking)|intaglio]] methods, such as copper plates, were used for the images, then images and the text would have required separate print runs on different machines. ==See also== *[[History of western typography]] *[[Odhecaton]] — the first sheet music printed with movable type *[[Type foundry]] *[[Typesetting]] ==References== {{Reflist|2}} ==Literature== *Nesbitt, Alexander ''The History and Technique of Lettering'' (c) 1957, [[Dover Publications|Dover Publications, Inc.]] ISBN 0-486-40281-9, Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 57-13116. The Dover edition is an abridged and corrected republication of the work originally published in 1950 by Prentice-Hall, Inc. under the title ''Lettering: The History and Technique of Lettering as Design''. *The classic manual of hand-press technology is :{{Cite journal | first = Joseph | last = Moxon | title = Mechanick Exercises on the Whole Art of Printing | date= 1683–84 | edition = ed. Herbert Davies & Harry Carter. New York: Dover Publications, 1962, reprint | postscript = <!--None--> }} ==External links== {{Commons category-inline|Printing letters}} {{Typography terms}} {{Letterpress}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Movable Type}} [[Category:Book arts]] [[Category:Chinese inventions]] [[Category:Typography]] [[Category:Relief printing]] [[Category:World Digital Library related]] [[ca:Tipus mòbil]] [[pt:Prensa móvel]]'