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A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. Typically used for texts, the invention of the printing press is widely regarded as one of the most influential events in the second millennium,〔See (People of the Millennium ) for an overview of the wide acclaim. In 1999, the A&E Network ranked (Gutenberg no. 1 on their "People of the Millennium" countdown ). In 1997, Time–Life magazine picked (Gutenberg's invention as the most important of the second millennium ); the same did four prominent US journalists in their 1998 resume (1,000 Years, 1,000 People: Ranking The Men and Women Who Shaped The Millennium ). The (Johann Gutenberg ) entry of the Catholic Encyclopedia describes his invention as having made a practically unparalleled cultural impact in the Christian era.〕 ushering in the period of modernity.〔; ; ; 〕 Movable-type presses using cast ceramics were employed in China from the early years of the last millennium. In 1377, the first movable metallic types were invented in Goryeo Dynasty in Korea, which were used to print Jikjishimcheyojeol or simply Jikji, which is the oldest extant movable metal print book. The printing press was introduced to the West in the Holy Roman Empire by Johannes Gutenberg, around 1440. Gutenberg, a goldsmith by profession, devised a hand mould to create metal movable type, and adapted screw presses and other existing technologies, to create a printing system. The mechanization of bookmaking led to the first mass production of books in Europe.〔: 〕 A single Renaissance printing press could produce 3,600 pages per workday,〔 compared to about 2,000 by typographic block-printing prevalent in East Asia, and a few by hand-copying.〔Ch'on Hye-bong 1993, p. 12: 〕 Books of bestselling authors like Luther or Erasmus were sold by the hundreds of thousands in their lifetime.〔; 〕 Within several decades, the printing press spread to over two hundred cities in a dozen European countries.〔 By 1500, printing presses in operation throughout Western Europe had produced more than twenty million volumes.〔 In the 16th century, with presses spreading further afield, their output rose to an estimated 150 to 200 million copies.〔 The operation of a printing press became synonymous with the enterprise of printing, and lent its name to a new branch of media, the press.〔: 〕 In 1620, the English philosopher Francis Bacon wrote of printing as one of three inventions that had changed the world.〔Francis Bacon: "Novum Organum, Liber I, CXXIX" − Adapted from the 1863 translation: 〕 In the 19th century, the replacement of the hand-operated Gutenberg-style press by steam-powered rotary presses allowed printing on an industrial scale, while Western-style printing was adopted all over the world, becoming practically the sole medium for modern bulk printing, today typically using offset printing techniques. == History == (詳細はウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Printing press」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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