Gutenberg, Johann 321Longman, 2000); John Julius Norwich, The Other
Conquest(New York: Harper and Row, 1967).
guns and gunpowder SeeFIREARMS; WEAPONS AND
WEAPONRY.
Gutenberg, Johann (Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden)
(1394/1400–1468)German printer
Johann Gutenberg was born Johann Gensfleisch zur
Laden in Mainz sometime between 1394 and 1400. He
was the third child of the patrician Freile zum Gens-
fleisch and his second wife, Else Wirick zum Gutenberg,
whose surname Johann took. Gutenberg’s studies and
apprenticeship were unclear, except that he learned the
trade of a goldsmith while living in Mainz. His father was
exiled in 1411 and about 1428 the family left Mainz
because of a revolt of craftsmen against the patrician class
ruling the town. In 1430 Gutenberg established himself
as a craftsman in Strasbourg, where he remained until
1444 or later.
INNOVATION OF TYPOGRAPHYGutenberg’s experiments in printing began during his
years in Strasbourg. He was already familiar with the
techniques of xylography, a process used to make books
and other printed matter in Europe since the 14th cen-
tury. Typography, however, was reproduction by means a
small separate block or type of lead used for each sign or
character.
By 1444, he appeared back in Mainz. By 1450 he had
a printing plant, for which he had borrowed 800 guilders
from a financier, Johann Fust (ca. 1400–66), to produce
tools and equipment. In December 1452 Gutenberg had
to pay off his debt but could not. They concluded a new
agreement, under which Gutenberg received another sim-
ilar loan and Fust became the dominant partner in the
enterprise. By then Gutenberg already printed with mov-
able type. In spite of their successes, their relationship
eventually soured in 1455. Fust sued Gutenberg for 2,000
guilders, and in 1455 the partnership was dissolved. Fust
won the court action and thereby acquired Gutenberg’s
materials and tools.
THE GUTENBERG BIBLE
Provenance of many of his printed works of this period is
unclear, and there are no printed works surviving with
Gutenberg’s name on them. From the mid-1450s are
dated the monumental 42-lines in two columns per page
Gutenberg BIBLES, in three big folio volumes. When the
first copies appeared in early 1456, Gutenberg, the main
creator of the work, was no longer in the partnership.
Fust continued printing successfully with Gutenberg’s
equipment; in the meantime Gutenberg had to start all
over again. It is believed that the fruit of his work in
these years were a 36-columnar-line Bible and an ency-
clopedia. Since Gutenberg never put his name on any of
his works, all ascriptions are hypothetical.
In 1462 Mainz was sacked. Fust’s printing office was
destroyed and Gutenberg suffered losses as well. Many
typographers left Mainz and scattered their know-how.
Gutenberg remained in Mainz, but was again reduced to
poverty. He requested the arch episcopal court to award
him a pension and obtained it on January 17, 1465.
Gutenberg’s position at the court gave him some eco-
nomic support and he carried on his printing activities.
The work of this final period in his life have remained
unknown.
Gutenberg may have become blind in the last months
of his life, living partly in Mainz and partly in the neigh-
boring village of Eltville. He died in Saint Victor’s parish
in Mainz probably on February 3, 1468, and was buried
in the church of the FRANCISCANSin that town.
See alsoPRINTING, ORIGINS OF.
Further reading: Douglas C. McMurtrie, ed. and
trans., The Gutenberg Documents: With Translations of the
Texts into English, Based with Authority on the Compilation
by Dr. Karl Schorbach(Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1941); Lotte Hellinga, Caxton in Focus: The Beginning of
Printing in England(London: British Library, 1982); Janet
Thompson Ing, Johann Gutenberg and His Bible: A Histori-
cal Study(New York: Typophiles, 1988); Albert Kapr,
Johann Gutenberg: The Man and His Invention,trans. Dou-
glas Martin (Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1996); Pierpont
Morgan Library, Gutenberg and the Genesis of Printing
(New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, 1994).