18th Century Printing Press: Ink-Tresting Facts About Printing Methods

If you go into detail about the timeline of the printing press, you will see that its invention began a million years ago in China as woodblock printing during the T'ang dynasty.

The invention of the printing press dates back to the year 1440 and was invented by Johannes Gutenberg. Since then, the printing industry has never looked back and has continued to add ink-printed materials to pages across the world.

In the 18th century, most printed materials such as newspapers and magazines, along with the printing of books, started to roll out around the world. With changes in the machinery of the printing press (i.e.

in the piston steam engine), the time taken to produce written content was reduced with the quick circulation of printed paper. The printing process, along with its quality, has improved in comparison to the way it was in history.

Both demand and supply have consecutively increased compared to the 15th century. The printing business underwent a revolution in its progress.

Around 337,000 books were printed in the 18th century. Along with the industrial revolution, the industry's demand for workers increased, giving more employment to people.

The printing press has changed a lot over time and throughout history. In 1725, there were 75 printers in London, and by 1785, there were 124 pieces of printing machinery.

The print shop system was more in trend in London during the industrial revolution. The media and press were prevalent, especially private presses.

The printing office of Horace Walpole, also known as the fourth duke of Orford, or the poet William Blake, one of the most famous poets of the 18th century, all experimented with printing. The printing press industry's introduction was brought about by Johannes Gutenberg, but later, with the help of many scientists, many new technological techniques were added.

These included the rotary press in the mid of the 19th century by Richard March Hoe. Germany is the country that is known to have printed the world's first newspaper.

The press industry has evolved to the present day, from inked paper to digital platforms. The revolution of the printing process no doubt created a history of its own, all beginning with Gutenberg's invention.

If you enjoy reading this article about the history of the printing press and printing on paper through the usage of wood, then do read some interesting and surprising fun facts about 1927 inventions and 1960 inventions. 

What were the negative effects of the printing press?

Although the printing press helped the industry, at the same time, the technique of the printing industry or printing process (i.e., the usage of toxic ink along with the exploitation of middle-class workers and children) had a negative effect on society in the 18th century.

The inked paper printing process in a printing office or factory was toxic. It affected the environment in many ways.

The fumes were harmful to people and created pollution in the environment. The fumes had a very high prevalence and had a bad impact on the health of people. Even leftover ink or discarded ink created problems for many people as it was toxic.

Apart from that, as the industrial revolution was at its peak in the 18th century, most lower and middle-class people were subjected to labor harassment, even including small children. They were forced to work on low wages. That is why rules were eventually made to stop children from being allowed to work in factories.

When it comes to the influence on an individual in society by the media, printed paper no doubt contributed to the effects on people's lives that occur due to certain rituals and norms created by society. The women of society were more subjected to this in the past.

Earlier, reading was often done in gatherings, but the easy availability of paper made individuals more solitary when it came to reading.

Apart from these negative effects, it helped people connect with each other in a better way. Printing onto paper was cheaper and faster. It also made written content more easily available for the public to read, and new developments or ideas could easily spread throughout the country. The middle and lower classes could also work on their reading abilities.

How did the printing press affect culture?

The printing press no doubt affected the spread and influence of culture on each individual in society in both positive and negative ways.

It is up to the individual to determine how deeply they can connect with the words inked on paper. The old traditional trend of scriptoriums came to an end with an increase in the usage of printing presses.

Scriptoriums were places in sacred places where people used to sit and spend time writing the scriptures on paper. The scriptures could be read in universities too, which were previously limited to monasteries or sacred places.

Richer and more influential people could easily reach out to spread their messages, which had a greater influence on the lower and middle classes. People were so influenced by the inked words printed on paper that they wanted to read more and later began to add their own ideas and thoughts.

It also helped people use words to exert control over people and society. People were obliged to follow their words because the words had such a great impact on them. With regards to religion, printed words no doubt had a great influence on society. However, science is considered to have benefitted the most from the printed word.

The printing press has no doubt had a great impact on people.

How were pictures printed in the 1800s?

In the 18th century, there was more usage of metallic trays to print pictures, or what is called a stereotype.

This would exactly copy an image from real life. Before that, wooden blocks and rubber plates were used by people to print pictures, but in the 18th century, much more companies used metallic trays to print pictures.

Later, with the invention of the rotary press and steam engine, the printing of images became more prominent. It was in 1878 that the invention of the photogravure became more prominent with its usage.

The first photograph ever printed was in the year 1839. The first picture printed in a newspaper was in the year 1880, in the Daily Graphic on March 4.

Even so, to print words, wooden blocks and iron frames were used, making it possible to print 480 pages in one hour. The Daily Courant was the first daily newspaper in Britain in 1702.

In 1704, the Boston News-Letter was the first newspaper in North America in the then colony of Britain. In 1709, the first modern copyright law was named the Statute of Anne, which also came from Britain.

How were copies made in the 1800s?

In 1800, copies were made with a method called 'book pressing'.

Although James Watson invented duplicating machines or mechanical copiers, they were not widely used in business. Even in the middle of the 17th century, such machines were made, but people in business did not use them.

A freshly-inked document was used by a person and placed on a soft sheet of half-transparent paper on an inked surface. Then, the person pressed the two sheets at the same time, making the ink print on the other sheet.

This enabled the user to make it readable by turning and reading through the back of the paper. The Gutenberg invention could make a copy and print words, even through the back of paper.

It was in the 19th century that carbon paper and typewriters were introduced to make copies in a more convenient way. Copying made work spread more easily for a better industry and even to meet the demands of the people. The later copy-print method was replaced by typewriters and carbon paper later on.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for '18th century printing press: ink-tresting facts about printing methods', then why not take a look at '1966 inventions' or '1968 inventions'?