Synthesized answer
For an initial technical "discovery" to evolve into a fully realized and impactful "invention" like copper-plate printing, more had to be done beyond the initial observation [1]. The discovery in 1450 that blacking in incised lines could transfer to paper by pressure was not the complete invention [1].
The passages suggest that crucial elements include a progressive development from an imperfect to a perfect method [2]. Furthermore, the invention of printing relied on preceding improvements in mechanical processes, such as paper-making, ink-making, and engraving [5]. For instance, the invention of typography was dependent on the invention of printing ink made with oil, which itself was a significant invention that preceded the invention of types [4]. The passages also note that the invention of printing was influenced by a general need for books or printed matter and by recent developments in mechanical processes [2].
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
← Index The Invention of Printing by Theodore De Vinne Additional Notes and Corrections → 2442618 The Invention of Printing — Additional Notes and Corrections Theodore De Vinne ADDITIONAL NOTES AND CORRECTIONS. Page 24. In the second line of foot-note, change two-thirds to four-ninths. 27. The exact date of the complete invention of copper-plate printing is unfixed. Vasari says that Finiguerra's discovery was made in 1450, but that the Italian practice of making plate prints began about 1460. It is obvious that the alleged discovery in 1450 of the feet that the blacking placed in incised…
f fifty years. If the statements of some historians could be accepted, this period should be contracted to thirty years. There is no disagreement, however, as to the order of their introduction. Xylography, the rudest method, was the first in use; typography, a more useful method, soon followed; copper-plate printing, the artistic method, was the proper culmination. The order of invention was that of progressive development from an imperfect to a perfect method. The introduction of three distinct methods of printing, by different persons and in different places, but during the same period,…
art, of a totally new principle, which has nothing in common with wood and metal engraving, he ascribes … to Gutenberg. In Gutenberg's mind, the grand idea arose that all words, all writing, all language, all human thoughts, could be expressed by a small number, a score of different letters, arranged according to the requirements; that, with a large quantity of those different letters, united as one whole, a whole page of text could be printed at once, and, repeating this process continually, large manuscripts could be swiftly multiplied. … This thought, this idea, begot the invention of…
ack and oil, may think that an ignorance of this mixture, or an inability to discover it, is ridiculous and inexcusable. Modern printing ink is but one of many inventions which could be named as illustrating the real simplicity of a long delayed improvement. Simple as it may seem, the mixing of color with oil was a great invention which wrought a revolution in the art of painting. This invention, attributed by some authors to unknown Italian painters of the fourteenth century, and by others to Hubert Van Eyck of Holland, at or about the beginning of the fifteenth century, immediately…
needs many Supports…Telegraph…Schools…Libraries…Expresses. Post-Offices…A Premature Invention would have been Fruitless. The stamps of the ancients, and the impressions from the seals of metal, found in deeds and conveyances of the lower ages, prove nothing more than that mankind walked for many centuries upon the borders of the two great inventions of typography and chalcography, without having the luck to discover either of them, and appear neither to have had any influence on the origin of these arts, nor to merit any place in their history. Lanzi. S OME notice of the material and moral…
More questions about this book
- The quote from Fox's Acts and Monuments asserts that through printing, "truth discerned, falshood detected, and with finger pointed." Beyond simply disseminating information, what does this specific phrasing imply about the transformative power of printing in shaping public discourse and critical thought?
- Given the text's mention of "unfixed" dates, "alleged discoveries," and disputed attributions (like those rejected by Passavant), what inherent challenges do historians face when attempting to establish definitive timelines and origins for significant technological breakthroughs, and what does this reveal about the nature of historical evidence itself?
- By outlining the separate stages for copper-plate printing (discovery vs. practice) and lithography (suggestion vs. practical shape vs. patent), how does the text challenge the common narrative of invention as a singular "eureka" moment, instead presenting it as a complex, iterative, and multi-faceted process?
- De Vinne dedicates his work to an individual for "instruction about types, not to be had by reading." In a book dedicated to the *invention of printing*, what does this statement suggest about the fundamental limitations of textual knowledge, and what kinds of understanding, particularly in technology, might only be gained through experiences "not to be had by reading"?