The Breakthrough of Typographic Printing | 21of the typographic era and of ‘printed memory’, but indeed also a period of
increasing visualisation, ranging from the depiction of saints to artistic images,
and from emblems to cityscapes and maps. The latter were compiled and
released in print in the sixteenth century, demonstrating a thitherto largely
unknown spacial knowledge (Würgler 2009: 7, 118). Up to ten thousand
copies could be created from a single woodblock. The demand for this – pri-
marily religious – commercial art can be ascribed to late medieval lay piety, a
way of life which stands for individual religiousness.
Concurrently, the process-like nature of the ‘media revolution’ also accen-
tuates Gutenberg’s invention in itself. His printing technique is considered to
be a groundbreaking compilation of the previously named innovations; hence
the term ‘printing’ defines Gutenberg’s stroke of genius rather imprecisely.
Consensus prevails that the core element of his invention is not so much his
pressing technique – a concept which he adapted from the working methods
of the winemakers in the Rhineland – but rather his casting method, which
facilitated identical, precise and unlimited reproduction (Neddermeyer 1998:
8; Giesecke 1991: 71, 106).
Gutenberg’s motives for his invention are disputable. In recent research,
the supposition that Gutenberg sought to discover quick and easy ways of
mass production, as may seem to be the case in retrospect, has been put into
perspective. Michael Giesecke above all has argued that Gutenberg was much
more intent on pursuing a plan to improve writing aesthetically and create an
even and harmonious script (Giesecke 1991: 138–43). The sumptuous design
of his Bible in particular supports this thesis. According to Giesecke, it was
precisely because Gutenberg did not strive for simple and quick reproduction
technologies that his invention triumphed, on account of the aesthetic superi-
ority of his mechanical production devices. Nonetheless, Gutenberg was also
a man of business who endeavoured to make a good economic profit and not
merely defray high investment costs, and he indeed achieved his financial goal.
This is corroborated by the fact that Gutenberg printed functional literature
that was in high demand and promised a high profit, at a rapid pace, including
for instance essential grammar books, letters of indulgence, and broadsides.
Even his magnificent Bible had a high profit margin (Kapr 1988: 180, 193;
Stöber 2000: 25–27). Uwe Neddermeyer actually opined that the invention
arose in the German-speaking world precisely because the demand for inor-
nate functional literature was higher than for example in Italy, where a some-
what larger market for sumptuous books had developed (Neddermeyer 1998:
379). Ultimately, it is Gutenberg himself who links these research positions by
having proved that it is possible for aesthetic and economic aims to comple-
ment one another.
From Mainz, the printing technique spread across Europe over the
following centuries. Printing was already practised in 90 cities in 1480,