Bedtime Companion
Today marks the 550th anniversary of the first book printed from movable type!
Johannes Gutenberg published the Bible on this day in 1452. The three-volume work in Latin was printed in 42-line columns and, in its later stages of production, was worked on by six compositors simultaneously. The invention of movable type is credited with the trend of inexpensive books and widespread literacy in later centuries. Some historians believe that the printing press fueled the spread of democracy!
Parents, imagine the pressure of reciting bedtime stories if there were no books! Today's intimate domestic scene, painted by William Sergeant Kendall, has a book at its compositional if not its metaphorical heart.
Pictured: William Sergeant Kendall, 1869–1938, An Interlude, 1907, oil, 44 1/8 x 43 1/4 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of William T. Evans.
Today marks the 550th anniversary of the first book printed from movable type!
Johannes Gutenberg published the Bible on this day in 1452. The three-volume work in Latin was printed in 42-line columns and, in its later stages of production, was worked on by six compositors simultaneously. The invention of movable type is credited with the trend of inexpensive books and widespread literacy in later centuries. Some historians believe that the printing press fueled the spread of democracy!