Global spread of the printing press

The global spread of printing with movable type was a process that began with the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in Germany in 1450 and lasted until the introduction of the printing press in all parts of the world in the 19th century. Genealogical presents Gutenberg's printing press represents the prototype of the modern printing with movable type; virtually all of today's printed products can be attributed to a single source: Gutenberg's printing press.

Spread of the printing press

The following is a selection of: Meyers Lexikon, 4th edition, 1888-1890, entry " art of printing ( spread of the invention) ." The majority of the information comes from this entry if not supported by other sources.

Germany

Rest of Europe

Italy

In the 15th century printing presses were set up in 77 Italian cities. At the end of the following century in Italy there was a total of 151 different places in which had been printed at least once, of which 130 (86%) north of Rome were. Over the two centuries total 2894 printers in Italy were active, of which only 216 were active in southern Italy. Approximately 60 % of the printers in the country were located in six cities (Venice, Rome, Milan, Naples, Bologna and Florence), where the concentration of printers in Venice was particularly high ( about 30 %).

Switzerland

France

In addition to these cities, there were a small number of smaller cities where printers were also active.

Spain

Belgium

Netherlands

Hungary

Unstable political conditions in the country forced many printer several times to change the location, so that in the course of the 16th century. 20 printers were active in 30 different locations.

Poland

In the 15th and 16th century printing presses were set up in Poznań, Vilnius, Lvov and Brest- Litovsk.

Bohemia

Although the first edition of the Trojan Chronicle bears the date 1468, but it was a handwritten document found on the same date. Therefore, most researchers tend to later dating. Since 1486 was printed in Latin in Brno and later in Olomouc.

England

Denmark

Sweden

Portugal

Royal and Ducal Prussia

Croatia

Serbia and Montenegro

By the early 19th century, the printing could not develop due to the political situation ( as, inter alia Ottoman rule ); the pressure of Serbian books and magazines took place in Venice and Vienna mainly.

By the target year 1501, ie the year of publication, to which a pressure ceases to qualify as incunabula, printing presses were set up in 236 different European cities. It is estimated that 20 million books were printed for a population of perhaps 70 million people in this period in Europe.

Scotland

Romania

Iceland

Norway

Ireland

Russia

Until the reign of Peter I the letterpress in Russia remained limited to the Moscow Printing was founded by Fyodorov. In the 18th century the annual book production rose from 147 titles in 1724 to 435 (1787 ), but remained inhibited in their development by government censorship and widespread illiteracy.

Latvia

Georgia

Greece

Greek books printed since the 15th century in Italy and the Ottoman Empire, especially in Constantinople and Smyrna Opel.

Greenland

Rest of World

Latin America

North America

Africa

South Asia

Southeast Asia

Inner Asia

Due to religious objections forbade Sultan Bayezid II in 1483, printing in Arabic in the Ottoman Empire at the death penalty. Only by the Jewish (1515 Salonika, 1554 Adrian Opel, 1552 Belgrade, 1658 Smyrna ) and the Greek and Armenian community of book printing in the alphabets was operated. 1727 issued Sultan Ahmed III. his permission for the erection of the first printing press with Arabic letters, which published some secular works on Ottoman ( printing religious literature remained prohibited ).

Australasia

Far East

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