How The First Printing Press Revolutionised Medieval Society

Stephen Fry takes a look inside the story of Johann Gutenberg, inventor of the world's first printing press in the 15th century, and an exploration of how and why the machine was invented.

[korefaust]

Schoeffee is my 14th great-grandfather, which makes Fust my 15th. Alix Christie wrote a fictional book called Gutenberg’s Apprentice. I've known of the story for 10/11 years, but now more than ever, I'm glad my ancestors are being acknowledged.

[MattyMcFly_]

Anything with Stephen Fry in gets my vote, I just wish there were more adverts in it

[Zerodghjj]

I'm surprised Edison didn't take credit for inventing the printing press.

[yihchiehseeto]

Paragraph Extract - The world's first movable type printing technology for paper books was made of porcelain materials and was invented around AD 1040 in China during the Northern Song Dynasty by the inventor Bi Sheng (990–1051).[1] The earliest printed paper money with movable metal type to print the identifying code of the money was made in 1161 during the Song Dynasty.[2] In 1193, a book in the Song dynasty documented how to use the copper movable type.[3] The oldest extant book printed with movable metal type, Jikji, was printed in Korea in 1377 during the Goryeo dynasty.

[steevf]

This was from 2008. This channel is great as it brings back these older documentaries! Also, why hasn't Stephen Fry been knighted yet?

[musicianwren]

The English dry humor is perhaps one of the best parts of this documentary.

[acepilot]

“Perhaps he looked like you, or me... unlikely, he would’ve been burnt if he looked like me”

[marionoh]

As a matter of fact, mobile printing press is a Korean invention of XIV C. The book known as Jikji ( 1337 ) which is a collection of Buddhist teachings, was printed in Korea, using movable press, in 1377. That is 70 years before Gutenberg's alleged "invention". It is time for us westerners to start curing our westerncentric vision of History.

[narcky]

His nose on a side, it made me remember my nephews when one fainted on a concrete floor and the other received a blow on a fight. Both brothers have that nose, but on opposite sides.

[ludmilakovarova]

What a nonsense... Printing press was in use years before Gutenberg. His invention was quite different: he invented the alloy used for the moveable types - before that, printing was done from carved wooden plates that did not last long.

[closiewoo]

How does this channel have the rights to upload all this content? It seems very legit, just interested why these are okay to be shared on a public platform :) Not that I'm complaining! Love having so many documentaries available!

[seanomalley]

Who else here is watching Ascendance of a Bookworm? It’s gotten me interested in this topic.

[jchappy]

anyone got a video on how the actual machine was made im really intrigued

[lakrids-pibe]

11:24 The year 1400 is when *Geoffrey Chaucer* dies, He was an english poet and author, best known for The Canterbury Tales.

(I'm not british, so his name doesn't mean much to me)

[jasonuren]

Quite Interesting 😉. Frustrating that you get multiple ad breaks that can't be skipped though. Every single one.

[terrirushford]

I will not dispute the influence Gutenberg had on Europe, however, he did not invent the printing press nor was he the first to use movable type. There were printed books 600 years before Gutenberg and wood block printing was common. The Chinese had movable type in the 6th century but it was too cumbersome for the language to catch on. This is common knowledge for anyone who has studied the history of graphic arts.

[Alkis]

And of course: A banker fucked up the guy who brought about the printing revolution in Europe.

[shaneyofcourse]

Anyone else think the guy in the thumbnail looks like Alex Horne?

[qzorn]

gee, i thought is was 2 kids playing in Gutenberg's work shop and they were stamping out smiley face mud pies. then Gutenberg said move over kids i have an idea. Mmmm

[markgarin]

Sorry, but what about the complexity of figuring out page dual side printing issues, two page printing, did the have enough copy set to keep pages set up, or did they tear each page Down???