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The exact definition of printing is sometimes disputed, as it could be said printing dates back thousands of years. However, printing in its modern form is commonly said to be ancestrally linked to an invention by Johannes Gutenberg in 1435, in German. He used a wooden type printing machine for printing 30 copies of the Bible on vellum (made from calf leather).
In the 1730s, William Caslon created a metal type printing machine. Compared to wooden types, metal types were very durable and considered a milestone in printing. A major drawback to these machines was that they were very time-consuming. The compositor had to fix the individual metal types on the composing stick one by one. Words were separated using dummy metal types. Lines were separated by inserting metal strips between the lines.
Letterpress printing is perhaps the oldest method of printing. In this method, the letters and images to be printed are projected out of the so-called "relief plate". Letters and images are embossed on the relief plate. After that, hot metal types were introduced. In this new technology, the compositor sat before a keyboard and simply typed the text. Every keystroke sent a coded message to create type on the fly using molted metal.
This the end of - Essex printers
