Book for september 12
The German Gutenberg was the first one who printed books.
He used letters that were cut out from wooden blocks (beech tree wood) in German 'Buche'
The german word for book is Buch and a letter is 'ein Buchstabe'
Plantin from Antwerp was the one who re-invented the printing system.
He used metal letters, they lasted longer and the printing was sharper.
The metal characters were stored in a letter closet, each character had an own place in the drawer and each drawer had a different lettertype or a different size for the same type.
This is a closet we have here at home. It is original from the Plantin printing house in Antwerp.
This one is about 100 years old.
so today a picture of the ancestor of a book - Buch - ...
http://www.pbase.com/johanops/image/103031252greetings, JOhan
Last edited by johanops on Fri Sep 12, 2008 8:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.