Gutenberg—Hao Hem Mekem World Kamap Beta!
FROM MAN WEA RAET FOR WEKAP! LONG GERMANY
WANEM samting wea olketa workim insaed wan thousand year wea go pas nao affectim iu tumas? Waswe, hem telephone, or television, or kar? Maet no eniwan long olketa hia. Staka savvyman say, hem nao way for print withim machine. Man wea kasem big nem from hem workim firstfala gud way for print hem Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden, wea pipol savvy long hem olsem Johannes Gutenberg. Hem kam from wanfala rich famili so hem no need for duim training wea planti nara man mas duim.
Olketa kolem samting wea Gutenburg tingim and workim olsem “barava maeti contribution bilong Germany for apim living bilong man.” Evri copy long nambawan work bilong hem wea stap yet—wea olketa kolem 42-laen Gutenberg Bible—savvy kasem staka selen tumas.
Golden Mainz
Gutenberg hem born long Mainz, long or klosap long 1397. Mainz wea stap saed long Rhine River, garem samting olsem 6,000 pipol long dat taem. Olketa kolem Golden Mainz, from hem stap midolwan long olketa big taon. Olketa archbishop long Mainz nao pipol for choosim Holy Rul Bilong Rome. Mainz hem garem big nem tu from olketa man long there wea workim gold samting. Youngfala Johannes learnim staka samting abaotem work long metal, insaed diswan hem way for karvem olketa leta long metal. From samfala raoa long politik, hem ranawe go long Strasbourg for samfala year, wea hem teachim and katem olketa ston wea garem hae price. But, main interest bilong hem nao long secret work long wanfala niu samting wea hem startim. Gutenberg trae for kamap expert long hao for duim printing withim machine.
Kleva Tingting Bilong Gutenberg and Selen Bilong Fust
Gutenberg kam back long Mainz and go ahed long olketa samting wea hem traem. Hem askim kaon long Fust wea givim hem 1,600 gulden—bigfala selen tumas sapos iu tingim hao olketa wea savvy work gud kasem nomoa samting olsem 30 gulden long wanfala year. Fust hem wanfala barava kleva bisnisman wea luksavvy hao diskaen bisnis savvy garem profit. Wanem kaen bisnis nao Gutenberg hem tingim?
Kleva eye bilong Gutenberg lukim hao samfala samting olketa workim staka tumas, wea evriwan barava semsem. Example, olsem coin wea olketa mintim, and bullet wea olketa castim insaed metal. So why nao iumi no printim staka page bilong raeting wea luk sem and then joinim olketa for workim olketa buk wea luk sem? Olketa wanem kaen buk? Hem tingim Bible, wanfala buk wea kost tumas and samfala nomoa garem copy long hem. Goal bilong Gutenberg hem for workim staka Bible wea luk sem, and mekem hem no kost tumas olsem olketa wea man raetem, but no lusim way wea hem luk naes. Hao nao for duim diswan?
Klosap evri buk olketa copyim long hand nomoa, needim bigfala care and taem. Pipol traem finis for printim page bilong olketa raeting taem olketa karvem raeting insaed wanfala page long blok bilong wood. Wanfala Chinese man wea nem bilong hem Pi Sheng karvem finis tu olketa leta wanwan long clay ready for printing nao. Long Korea, olketa iusim copper leta wea olketa karvem, long wanfala printing factory bilong gavman. But printing wea iusim olketa leta wea iu savvy muvim—for arrangim moa olketa leta wanwan long nara page—needim staka leta tumas, and no eniwan faendem eni way for workim yet. Datwan nao waitim Gutenberg.
From hem work withim metal bifor, hem luksavvy hao best way for duim printing hem for iusim olketa leta wea iu savvy iusim moa wea iu workim from, no clay or wood, but metal. Bae olketa shape-im insaed wanfala mold, no karvem or beikim insaed oven. Gutenberg needim mold for shape-im full 26 leta bilong alphabet—olketa small and big leta—and olketa double leta, olketa mark, olketa saen, and namba. For evri samting hia, hem needim 290 different kaen raeting, and staka long each wan.
Start for Work
Stael bilong raeting wea Gutenberg choosim for buk bilong hem nao Gothic script long Latin langwis, wea olketa monk iusim for copyim Bible. Withim experience bilong hem long metal work, hem karvem evri leta and mark long opposite way, long way wea apim lelebet datfala leta from level bilong steel. (Piksa 1) Then hem iusim disfala steel stamp for punchim datfala leta go long metal wea no mas strong, maet copper or brass. Samting wea kamaot from diswan hem wanfala stretfala leta wea sink insaed long datfala soft metal, olketa kolem diswan wanfala matrix.
Next step hem for workim wanfala mold for shape-im samting, wea barava showimaot kleva bilong Gutenberg. Size bilong mold hem olsem hand bilong man and hem open long top and bottom. Olketa mekem matrix bilong wanfala leta pas long bottom bilong mold, and pourim wanfala mix bilong metal wea melt insaed from antap. (Piksa 2) Datfala mix—tin, lead, antimony, and bismuth—hem kwiktaem kamap cold and strong.
So long wansaed disfala mix from mold garem leta wea opposite and wea ap lelebet, olketa kolem diswan type. Olketa duim olsem go kasem taem olketa garem haomas olketa needim. Then olketa aotem matrix from mold and putim matrix bilong nara leta moa. So, kwiktaem nomoa olketa savvy workim haomas leta and mark olketa laekem. Hae bilong olketa leta semsem nomoa, olsem hao Gutenberg hem laekem.
Printing savvy start nao. Gutenberg choosim samfala part long Bible wea hem laek for mekem copy. Then withim wanfala stik, hem joinim olketa leta for kasem wanfala word, and olketa word for kasem olketa laen bilong word. (Piksa 3) Long bilong evri laen hem semsem. Hem iusim wanfala spesel tul for divaedem page for garem tufala sekson bilong raeting. (Piksa 4)
Olketa lockim disfala page bilong raeting antap wanfala flat bed bilong wanfala press and then tuwetem lelebet withim blak ink. (Piksa 5) Datfala press—wea klosap semsem withim press for mekem wine—bae pasim ink from olketa leta go long pepa. From diswan iu garem page wea fulap long raeting. Olketa iusim moa ink and moa pepa go kasem taem olketa kasem haomas copy olketa needim. Bikos iu savvy muvim leta, olketa savvy iusim moa olketa leta long nara page.
Nambawan Printing Work
Workshop bilong Gutenberg, wea garem samting olsem 15 go kasem 20 workman, finis printim first Bible long 1455. Olketa workim 180 copy. Evri Bible garem 1,282 page, withim 42 laen long wan page, and tufala sekson bilong raeting. For taemapem olketa buk—evri Bible garem tu volume—and olketa stael raeting wea olketa paintim long heding and first leta bilong evri chapter, different pipol nao duim.
Iumi savvy tingim haomas leta nao olketa needim for printim Bible? Evri page garem 2,600 leta. Sapos iumi say sixfala man nao stretem olketa leta for Gutenberg, and olketa hia duim threefala page long wanfala taem, olketa bae needim samting olsem 46,000 piece. Iumi savvy meanim hao mold bilong Gutenberg for shape-im leta nao key bilong diskaen way for print.
Pipol sapraes tumas taem olketa markem olketa Bible: Evri word hem long sem position. Hard tumas for duim olsem sapos iu raetem long hand. Günther S. Wegener raet and say hao disfala 42-laen Bible hem “barava semsem and balance, fit gud tugeta and luk naes tumas, wea mekem olketa man for print for longfala taem bihaen barava sapraes tumas long disfala nambawan work.
Trabel Long Selen
But, Fust hem interest for lukim selen winim nambawan work bilong Gutenberg. Hem no kasem back selen bilong hem kwiktaem olsem hem laekem. Tufala partner hia raoa, and long 1455—taem olketa Bible gogo ahed for finis—Fust stop nao for givim kaon moa. Gutenberg no savvy peim back selen and lusim kot case wea kamaot bihaen. Hem lusim samfala printing machine bilong hem and olketa type bilong Bible go long Fust. Fust startim printing factory bilong hemseleva withim gudfala workman bilong Gutenberg, Peter Schöffer. Bisnis bilong tufala, Fust and Schöffer, kasem gud nem wea Gutenberg work hard for kasem and kamap first printing bisnis long world wea work gud.
Gutenberg trae for go ahed long work bilong hem and startim nara printing factory. Samfala savvyman say hem nao bihaenem samfala printing bilong mek-15 century. But no eniting kasem nambawan and kleva work bilong 42-laen Bible. Long 1462 nara trabel moa happen. From wanfala raoa midolwan olketa bigman bilong Catholic, olketa burnim and stealim evri samting long Mainz. Gutenberg lusim workshop bilong hem for mek-2 taem moa. Hem dae sixfala year bihaen, long February 1468.
Present Bilong Gutenberg
Samting wea Gutenberg startim hem go raon kwiktaem. Kam kasem year 1500, printing factory stap long 60 taon long Germany and 12-fala nara kantri long Europe. “Way for duim printing mekem bigfala change long way for story,” The New Encyclopædia Britannica hem say. “Winim 500 year bihaen datwan staka gudfala change kamap for mekem gud moa way for print, but main idea bilong hem stap semsem nomoa.”
Printing hem changim laef long Europe, bikos for kasem savvy hem open for evriwan nao. Nius and story start for kasem evri man, wea start for garem moa savvy long olketa samting wea go ahed raonem hem. Printing mekem evri langwis mas garem way for raet for man savvy meanim. So, olketa stretem and keepim gud way for raetem English, French, and German langwis. Staka pipol aftarem samting for readim. Bifor Gutenberg, samfala thousand manuscript nao stap long Europe; 50 year bihaen hem dae, staka million buk nao stap.
Bigfala change bilong mek-16 century bae nating happen sapos way for print withim machine no kamap. Olketa transletem Bible go long Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, and Slavonic langwis, and olketa printing machine mekem hem easy for printim staka thousand copy. Martin Luther iusim gud olketa printing machine for givimaot message bilong hem. Hem win long olketa samting wea hem trae hard for duim, but olketa narawan, wea stap bifor factory bilong Gutenberg, olketa fail. Dastawe Luther storyim printing machine olsem way bilong God “for talemaot tru religion raonem world”!
Olketa Copy Bilong Gutenberg Bible Wea Stap Yet
Haomas Gutenberg Bible nao stap yet? No longtaem go nomoa olketa say 48—samfala no full wan—stap raonem Europe and North America. Wanfala copy wea luk naes tumas nao hem Bible wea olketa raetem long strong pepa wea stap long Library bilong Congress long Washington, D.C. Then, long 1996, olketa faendem wanfala interesting samting: Wanfala sekson moa bilong Gutenberg Bible olketa faendem long wanfala church library long Rendsburg, Germany.—Lukim English Wekap! bilong January 22, 1998, page 29.
Iumi thankiu tumas hao price bilong Bible hem distaem fitim eniwan! Hem tru, diswan no meanim iumi savvy goaot and baem wanfala 42-laen Gutenberg Bible! Wanem nao price bilong wanfala? Gutenberg Museum long Mainz kasem wanfala copy long 1978 for 3.7 million deutche marks (distaem olsem $9.6 million). Kost bilong disfala Bible distaem hem tu-three taem moa big winim datfala price.
Wanem nao mekem Gutenberg Bible spesel tumas? Professor Helmut Presser, director bifor bilong Gutenberg Museum, tingim threefala reason. First wan, Gutenberg Bible hem first Bible wea olketa printim long West withim leta wea iu savvy muvim. Mek-tu, hem nao firstfala Bible olketa printim. Mek-three, luk naes bilong hem barava tumas nao. Professor Presser raet hao insaed long Gutenberg Bible, iumi lukim “Gothic raeting long barava best bilong hem.”
Pipol evriwea owe-im samting long Gutenberg for kleva work bilong hem. Hem putim tugeta mold for shape-im samting, metal wea mix, ink, and press. Hem mekem machine for print and mekem world kamap beta.
[Olketa piksa long page 16, 17]
1. Olketa iusim steel stamp for punchim datfala leta go long copper matrix
2. Olketa pourim mix bilong metal insaed long mold. Taem mix hem strong, type wea kamaot garem piksa bilong leta
3. Olketa arrangim type insaed wanfala stik for spellim word, wea mekem laen bilong raeting
4. Olketa divaedem olketa laen hia insaed tufala sekson
5. Olketa putim page bilong olketa leta hia long flat bed bilong press
6. Wanfala copperplate raeting bilong Gutenberg, long samting olsem 1584
7. Distaem, kost bilong wanfala copy bilong Gutenberg Bible hem staka million dollar
[Credit Line]
Pictures 1-4, 6, and 7: Gutenberg-Museum Mainz; picture 5: Courtesy American Bible Society
[Credit Line long page 16]
Background: By Permission of the British Library/Gutenberg Bible